Abyssal Awakening

Watching this endless barrage of cannon balls fire towards the Traders, Alice figured that there was probably no need for her to intervene too much.

If the enemy was able to block Darrow's strike that she couldn't even perceive, then there was no way for her to help.

"The Sea Splitter is more of a gimmick I developed when I was younger than anything." Darrow explained after noticing Alice's thoughts.

He's seen that kind of gaze far too many times now for him to not realise what's going on in his mind.

"A gimmick?" Alice tilted her head in confusion.

"I won't say more since it'll be boring that way. See if you can figure it out." Darrow laughed.

Pulling his arm back, veins bulged on his forearm as he released two more Sea Splitters.

Two black and red arcs of energy rushed forward while the spectral arms deflected them to the side.

"Yeesh, seems like I can't use the Sea Splitter anymore. Whoever is controlling those hands knows how to see through this gimmick." Darrow smirked while resting his cutlass on his shoulder.

After the first slash was blocked, he wanted to be sure that the enemy was indeed seeing through this gimmick rather than pure luck.

Which is why the second wave had one true and one false. One of the slashes had the gimmick while the other didn't.

If it was pure luck, one of them would've hit.

But the fact that both were deflected properly meant that they could indeed see through the smoke and mirrors.

A troublesome opponent.

Adjusting his coat, Darrow was about to jump towards the traders when he noticed Alice making a small arc using her blood.

His pupils constricted in surprise as a wide smile appeared on his face.

One hint!

That's all it took for her to figure it out!

"F*cking hell… No wonder I couldn't detect it." Alice muttered, making a miniature Sea Splitter using her own blood.

The technique itself wasn't anything complicated. It's frankly just a powerful slash similar to Void Flux – Cleave. But what sets it apart is the fact that Darrow could adjust where the true slash was!

Now that she knew the gimmick, she understood that during their spar, the slash was a lot faster than the visual phenomenon!

Since it was a spar with no killing intent, the first layer of her defence was nullified.

And with the second, since her mind was too focused on the visual phenomenon, by the time the slash approached the thin zone that she established, it was already too late.

Naturally, he could adjust this so that the slash is slower than the visual cues as well.

A tricky attack that becomes much easier to dodge once you stop focusing on the visual cues and target the slight hints of energy coming from the true slash.

"Where did a girl like you pop out from?" Darrow asked as her adaptability was frankly freaky.

Even if he didn't give her the hint, she'd probably figure it out sooner rather than later.

"A vial of weird sh*t." Alice shrugged before standing up.

Rolling his eyes, Darrow figured that Alice was probably joking not realising that it's the truth.

"Follow me closely and don't fall into the water now." Darrow laughed.

###

Looking at the barrier that was holding under the constant barrage of attacks launched by Darrow, a robed person walked towards the front of the ship.

They could sense Darrow approaching with another aura.

A… strange one.

"Keep the strange one occupied. Darrow is mine to handle." They ordered as the other robed figures began pulling out different weapons.

*CRACK!!!

A fracture appeared on the barrier around the ship before breaking under the pressure.

Darrow could be seen grabbing Alice by the back of the shirt and a wide grin on his face.

Twisting his body, he threw Alice towards the crowd of robed figures and slashed down with his cutlass.

*BANG!!!!

The robed figure immediately deflected the cutlass off to the side and pinned it down with her scythe.

"Hmm, it doesn't seem like you're the source of those strange arms. But that scythe, where did you get it?" Darrow questioned as he recognised the craftmanship of that scythe.

A weapon that had given him a bit of trouble in the past.

Upon hearing this question, the robed figure paused momentarily before slashing up with the scythe but Darrow managed to dodge out of the way.

Kicking his cutlass towards the figure, he was surprised to see them block using the pommel.

His smile slowly disappeared as he recognised this fighting style but he couldn't be sure.

Therefore, he decided to go a little serious.

Pulling out a cigarette, he took a deep breath as a mist began to roll in from all sides, obscuring the vision of the robed figure.

"You know, the owner of that scythe gave me a bit of trouble. But I still made sure to bury that weapon where she rested. So the fact that you're carrying it means that you looted their grave didn't you?" Darrow asked as his voice echoed from every direction.

However, upon hearing his question, the figure only seemed to grow angrier as they twirled the scythe above their head and slammed it down, causing red and purple crystals to erupt from the ground.

A crimson energy linked between the crystals, forming a ritualistic circle beneath her.

"Die!" They shouted out, releasing a tightly woven net of slashes all around them in an attempt to dispel the mist and cut Darrow to pieces.

"I quite enjoy my current life so I'll have to reject your offer." Darrow's voice rang out behind them as they glanced back in surprise.

He was completely unharmed!

Using their own body weight to counter the weight of the scythe, they swung towards him while creating distance between the two of them.

But to their shock, the weapon phased through Darrow's body as he grabbed the robe hiding their identity.

Looking at the strange robe in his hands, Darrow glanced up at the woman who was glaring at him with hatred.

She had light purple hair tied into a ponytail, a mourning attire with a pair of black gloves and a pair of black shoes. From her head, a single black horn jutted out from the side with the tip dyed the same purple as her hair.

"You're the spitting image of your mother, you know that right?" Darrow revealed a nostalgic smile, tossing the robe to the side as the woman gritted her teeth.

"Don't you dare mention her!"

Lifting her scythe, a purple light erupted from the centre as the world around him began to shift.

But before it could take hold, cracks formed across the space on the ship.

*SHATTER!

Widening her eyes in shock, the woman glanced up in confusion when her Personal Realm failed to establish itself.

"You didn't need to do that, I have it handled." Darrow called out with a chuckle.

"Should've said so earlier. Even made me waste some of my energy." Alice clicked her tongue in annoyance.

Recalling her personal artifact, she dodged the wild swing of another robed figure and slashed up with her blade.

However, the robed figures dodged everything she threw at them as though her actions were predetermined.

"Just focus on yourself, I'm busy catching up with an old enemy's daughter." Darrow waved his hand dismissively.

"Suit yourself." Alice shrugged.

It wasn't like she cancelled out the personal realm out of worry for him. Rather, that realm was about to drag everyone into it including her.

Without her own realm to protect herself, Alice wasn't going to take that kind of risk.

With Darrow occupying himself with the strange open, Alice scratched her hair and looked at the group of robed figures that refused to get hit.

"I'm already annoyed I lost earlier. So why don't you guys drop this annoying sh*t and stop dodging!" Slamming her hand down, the power of duality erupted with her in the centre as crimson threads formed a spider web around them.

The moment one of them stumbled over due to their motor functions being flipped, Alice sensed it through the threads and grinned.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Bingo."

Void Flux + Void Step!

Firing a Void Flux using the properties of a failed Void Step, the spark of destruction flickered through the Void and manifested in front of the robed figure before detonating!

The time it took for Alice to fire the attack was less than that of a second. The moment he stepped onto the threat, his fate was sealed!

"ARGGG!!" Letting out a scream of pain, the figure was sent crashing back as the robe on his body broke apart from the attack.

This allowed Alice to get a full view of what he looked like.

She could see a middle aged man with the upper half of his face 'modified'. His teeth was exposed with no lips to keep them hidden, sunken cheeks and strange artificial skin as white as snow.

The upper half of his face could be described as a strange eyeless mask with horns but that wasn't quite accurate either. The bone beneath the skin peeled away from the skull and caused the skin to stretch from the tip to the skull. This tip created a strange horn from his forehead while wild long hair flowed down to his waist.

Strange black bands wrapped around his arms and legs while a cloth made from the same material fluttered around his waist.

But the strangest of all was that Alice couldn't sense the Abyss's influence on them!

They were completely free from side effects or Sigil powers!