Abyssal Awakening

When it comes to Alice, she was always an anomaly.

Her first resonance has two states, one with Alyss and one with herself. Both undergo certain amounts of transformation throughout their journey.

As her 'body' changes, so does her resonance. From her awakening manifesting in the form of red spider lilies to the Eldritch energy that turned the lilies black.

But second resonance doesn't quite follow that rule. Instead, it takes into account of everything before crafting a realm most suitable for the Hunter.

For Rosalyn, that's the Crimson Walpurgis, a land beneath the scarlet moon. A realm that bolstered all of her powers and even removing limiters for certain skills.

Ria had her Crowned Tempest, Heaven's Rift, a land charged to the brim with electricity, allowing Ria to use the entire realm as a catalyst rather than just her own body.

Increasing the output of her strongest skills by leaps and bounds.

Luke's resonance, Checkered Fate, imposed a chessboard onto reality. Further enhancing the rules and actions that his pieces can do while also imposing certain restrictions.

So what kind of resonance would Alice awaken? What kind of realm was suitable for a being like her. The amalgamation of four energy sources, a host of a myriad of souls and the duality of two wardens. The holder of the Abyssal Relics and the future Queen of the Abyss?

Second Resonance – Reverie Of Ruin: Litany of Dual Horizons.

The droplet unfolded like a flower. The ripples of darkness flickering across the water surface before transforming into a cage that swallowed the entirety of Ria's second Resonance.

Reality twisted and the ground beneath them shook.

As the spectator of this fight, Rosalyn had already sent Luke away to safety. But now that she was facing Alice's Second Resonance personally, she almost struck out instinctively, refusing to let such a realm unfold.

Just the fact that it managed to overwrite the surroundings so quickly proved how dominant it was!

When two Second Resonances are activated, they clash for dominion. Both sides battling for absolute control over this specific area.

But Ria's personal realm lost!

'No. . . losing isn't quite accurate. It got swallowed.' Rosalyn frowned.

From the darkness, a broken city unravelled itself.

Like a distance dream or rather, nightmare, the memory clawed its way to the surface. Almost. . .

Alive.

Towers of scorched stone pierced towards the heavens, their ashen silhouettes swallowed by violet flames. It didn't consume the tower, it didn't fade. The flames wrapped the towers in their twisted warmth.

Cinders and ash fell like snow, blanketing the city in the colour of ruin.

Cathedrals crafted from jagged material, twisting into agonizing arches and domes that split like ruptured skulls freshly carved open by a blade. Broken windows mimicking sharpened teeth and spires that fused with an unholy mass of flesh.

Parasites that burst out from within, wrapping stone with flesh and twitching tendrils that spilled out through the gaps.

Thick currents of crimsons filled the streets, a river of blood drowning those that would step amongst the ruins. Hidden within the river were obsidian briars, filled with jagged spikes. Spider lilies that blossomed atop the thorns in twisted beauty.

A garden of destruction, blood and ruin.

Piercing up from the surface of the river, surrounded by lilies, were countless gravestones. Some bigger than others, some twisting over like ribcages.

No names were carved upon their surface, no memory of who they once were. Only the markings of Sigils could be seen etched upon the stone.

And above all of this carnage, far into the bleeding horizon hung a sphere. A false moon radiating a sickening glow. Cracks spread across its surface, gathering at the bottom where rivers of blackened ichor streamed down from its open wound, splitting the sky in two.

Where the black blood touched, flames would erupt. And from within the flames, birthed twisted mounds of flesh.

However, to one's shock, this realm does not only contain visions of destruction.

Through shattered glass, pools of blood and polished stone, within the reflections of this ruinous realm, another world was present.

The other side of the horizon. An overlap of the current cruel vision.

A city that stood unbroken, towering structures untouched by flame nor flesh.

Their marbled surfaces glowing beneath the silver luminance of an unbroken moon. Spectral arcs of light that drifted around the moon, illuminating this city in a serene glow.

A city free of the destruction and ruin that plagued the current realm.

And despite its perfection, despite its peace, it was utterly. . .

Lifeless.

While the ruined city burned, signs of twisted life existed.

While the perfect city stood, its cold isolated perfection ripped the realm of all life.

This was Alice's second Resonance!

Reverie Of Ruin: Litany Of Dual Horizons!

A reflection of two potential futures!

Hovering in the air, Ria grasp her shoulder in pain.

Three Fold Lightning Tribulation, the strongest attack she can muster with every buff given by Luke. One that required stringent requirements before it could be fired.

Yet it was swallowed by the transformation of Alice's Second Resonance.

Looking around her, she couldn't believe the sheer scale of this Resonance.

How much space did it displace? What did it look like from the outside? Was this still within the boundaries that Rosalyn set up?

"You just keep piling on the surprises don't you? How do you expect me to catch up when you pull this kind of stunt?" Ria smiled helplessly as Alice drifted next to her.

"I have to be fast in my growth otherwise it'll be pretty difficult to survive ya know?" Alice laughed.

She didn't expect her second Resonance to look like this either. She simply had a 'feeling' in her heart and she reached out towards it. By condensing that feeling into a single droplet of blood, she imposed her world into reality.

And that world was this realm of contradictions.

Destruction that births life, creation that births death.

A paradox.

"So what exactly does your realm do?" Ria asked curiously. She already knows that this battle was her loss but she still wanted to know what it was capable of.

"Well. . . A lot of it is still a mystery to me. I'm not sure that's supposed to be the case for Second Resonances but mine's not exactly normal so it's to be expected." Alice shrugged.

Raising her hand, she snapped her finger.

*Click!

In that moment, the realms inverted.

At the forefront was the lifeless perfect city, showcasing the signs of ruin through countless reflections. The two cities that overlay each other had swapped places.

"The two cities have their own benefits. This city boosts my Void and Holy attributed skills while the ruined city boosts Eldritch and Abyssal. As for what the gravestones are used for. . . Well it's easier for me to just show you." Alice smiled confidently as she gestured for Ria to follow her.

Landing near a gravestone, Alice tapped her finger on the surface.

Strands of energy began to unravel from the gravestone, transforming into a Sigil.

Using her spare hand, Alice crafted a spear and overlayed the two together.

"Here, catch." Alice tossed the spear over.

There were two markings on the weapon, one from the gravestone and the other resembling Alice's sixth Sigil.

"Huh?" Catching the spear, Ria froze as a flood of knowledge rushed into her mind, causing her to stumble back.

"You're joking. . ." Ria muttered, realising what this meant.

"Nope. Give it a try."

Nodding her head, Ria took a few steps back. There was a hesitant expression on her face.

*RUMBLE!!!

Focusing her gaze, she imbued the energy into the weapon and swung!

*KRKK!!!!

In front of her, a wall of ice was formed! Twisting her body, Ria slammed her heel into the wall, shattering it and transforming the fragments into smaller ice weapons that hovered around her.

Each slash would cause the weapons to follow up in synchronicity. This information in her mind. . . It felt like this was always part of her!

Adjusting her footwork, lightning crackled across her body and manifested on the ice weapons!

Perfect harmony.

That's that this was. There was no sign of rejection between her Sigils.

"One of the main uses of my Second Resonance right now are these Sigils. Think of them as. . . personal relics in the making. If I create a catalyst, I'll be able to turn that catalyst into a relic for you to use." Alice explained.

"Meaning, it's essentially another Sigil for you. But like with all things, there's a drawback when I use it on people other than myself. For the duration of the Resonance, you can only synchronise with one relic. If you get another one or try to replace the one I've given you, it won't work." She shook her head.

"So I'm stuck with this ice power unless you redeploy your Resonance?" Ria asked, playing around with the spear.

Thanks to Alice's sixth Sigil, she was also given information on how to use the Sigil.

"Pretty much." Alice nodded.

"Then what about for you?"

"Fufu~ Even for my standards I'm pretty damn impressed. You see, each side of the horizon counts as its own. . . realm in a sense. An isolated space.

"What happens in one realm stays in that realm. Though the best way to explain would be what happens to my Sigils if I were to swap." Alice chuckled.

"Let's call our realm, Realm A. The one on fire as Realm B and finally, this realm as Realm C. in Realm A, I have my default Sigils. In Realm B, I can swap them out for Allura's power. But as I switch to Realm C, it resets to default and I can choose new ones to swap out. But going back into Realm B swaps me back to Allura's power." Alice explained.

Furrowing her brows, Ria was a little confused when she realised the implications.

In effect, Alice was now in possession of three different sets of six Sigils! One for each realm!