Abyssal Awakening-Chapter 997: Lab

There are moments in life where you meet someone so absurdly strange that you’re forced to stop everything you’re doing and seriously question what the f*ck is going on in their life.

Elias was currently having one of those moments.

When he left the Abyss with Alice, his reasons had been simple.

He wanted to study her blood.

To understand it.

To dissect its properties, refine it, and eventually use it to eliminate side effects. If successful, it would become the magnum opus of his entire life’s work. A breakthrough that could redefine everything they knew about the Abyss.

That was the plan.

A straightforward pursuit of knowledge.

But ever since he started following her...

Nothing had been straightforward.

Every step deeper into her world only seemed to drag him further away from anything he could reasonably define as "normal."

Ther was the Nightmare realm.

A place where death was considered a resource. A space that allowed you to die over and over again so long as your mind and soul could endure it.

In doing so, it granted you power. Power different to Abyssal.

Something... foreign.

But that wasn’t even the worst of it.

Then came how many Sigils Alice could access.

As a six Sigil Hunter, six abilities should have been how many she could use.

SHOULD.

She used more than six.

In fact, with how many abilities she’s been using, it wouldn’t have been a surprise to hear that she was actually a nine Sigil Lord in disguise.

Perhaps even more. But that was impossible.

So how exactly does Alice access more than nine abilities?

It doesn’t really matter. Because he was now being dragged away to the capital.

Capital of where you may ask...

The Capital of Extalia where the heart of the danger lies. Where Lords are common and the creator of the strange realm might be hiding.

People way out of his league.

"Why!? We haven’t even settled things properly in Grand Cathia yet!" Elias protested.

"Why? Isn’t that obvious?" Alice flipped her hair with a smile.

"NO!"

Alice sighed.

"Because someone I see as my mother is in danger. Happy?" She pouted.

Elias paused for a moment before nodding slowly.

"That... does make it a little better." He admitted. "But didn’t Miki say you could intercept her on the way? You don’t actually need to rush straight into the centre of everything."

His brows furrowed as he tried to make sense of her decision.

From his perspective, it was reckless.

Alice wasn’t just heading toward danger. She was actively choosing the fastest route into it, ignoring safer alternatives that would achieve the same result with far less risk.

And that wasn’t even considering the bigger issue.

Suyin’s device still wasn’t complete.

Up until now, Alice had been forced to maintain a stable portal whenever they travelled between regions. Not because it was convenient, but because it was necessary. At any moment, they could run into an unseen boundary. A cut off point that would forcibly reset their memory if crossed incorrectly.

So even if she was to enter battle, this portal must always remain open unless they were in a city.

With that kind of drain on her energy, fights have to be considered carefully less they want the portal to suddenly close mid battle.

"Because it’ll take too long. And I want to see her as soon as possible." Alice shrugged.

"It’s not like traveling will stop you from experimenting, right?" She added with a small glance toward him. "If anything, it should help. You won’t be busy with other things."

Elias clicked his tongue.

She wasn’t wrong.

Now that they were away from Grand Cathia, his time was no longer being divided. No more interruptions from medics, no more being dragged into unrelated responsibilities, no more distractions pulling him away from his work.

"Okay, that makes sense. But then..." Elias gritted his teeth.

He was now approaching the biggest issue.

"Why are we travelling with the Leader of the Underground?"

"Yo~" Faust grinned.

Elias wanted to curse so badly but...

This was a nine Sigil Lord! One wrong word and he’ll be paste!

"Ignore him. Just treat him like a parasite." Alice let out a groan.

"Parasite? How mean." Faust laughed.

"Weren’t you meant to assign a handler to me? So why are you here instead of them." Alice asked while glancing back.

"Handler? Well... yes. That’s because I’m the Handler." Faust chuckled.

"Aren’t you busy with the things happening in the Underground?"

"Oh that I am. Which is why I use this method instead." Faust grinned, snapping his finger.

Thin, mirror like shards began to spread across his body, crawling over his skin in jagged patterns. They reflected the surroundings in warped fragments. Alice. Elias. The road beneath them. The sky above.

Then they began to overlap.

Layer upon layer.

Until Faust was no longer visible.

Just a figure made entirely of broken reflections.

A pulse of light surged through the shards.

And then...

"W-WAIT! LORD FAUST NOT NOW!"

A woman’s voice rang out in pure panic.

Alice blinked.

Elias froze.

The light shattered.

And the figure sitting where Faust once was... changed.

A woman paled, clearly caught off guard. One hand clutching at herself, covering her chest while curled up.

Her other hand summoned abyssal energy in the form of black flames to act as clothes.

They coiled around her body like living silk, wrapping around her waist and chest, forming a shifting layer of false clothing to conceal her body.

Her damp red hair clung to her face and shoulders, droplet of water still tracing her skin.

Elias wasn’t even sure what he’s supposed to say.

His brain, failing to process what he was looking at.

The woman’s face burned bright red with embarrassment and anger.

"Lord Faust! I said not now! Give me a heads up if you’re going to do this!" She snapped. "I just got out of the shower!"

After a slight pause, Faust’s voice came out of her mouth.

"Ahahah... unfortunate timing."

But his response only seemed to anger her more.

Yet this was not the time to lash out since there were two spectators in front of her.

Trying her best to hide her embarrassment, the woman cleared her throat.

"I... apologise for this display. I am the Handler that Lord Faust has assigned to you. However, due to the current situation, he has decided to use a mirror clone instead. When Lord Faust is busy, I will be the one accompanying you on this journey while also relaying your requests to him." She introduced herself with a slight bow.

She kept herself professional, trying her best to ignore the fact that she was half naked right now with nothing but her black flames to cover her body.

Alice glanced above her head.

The Handler noticed this movement as well and smiled.

"Since this is a Mirror Clone, it won’t reflect how many Sigils I have. You may call me Lab, I’m the Abyss Lord of Cinders possessing eight Sigils. Though this clone cannot replicate my powers fully, I assure you that I won’t hold you back during this journey." Lab introduced herself.

Alice raised an eyebrow.

To think Faust was going to employ an Abyss Lord as a handler...

Someone who would be considered to be a trump card reduced to being a messenger.

"How indulgent." Alice muttered, causing Lab to chuckle.

"Indeed. My Lord is rather an indulgent one. I will dress myself in a more befitting manner for our next meeting Lady Alice."

With one last bow, mirror fragments splintered across her body and Faust returned.

"And there you go. While I’m away, Lab will be here to assist you on this journey." He smiled.

"Next time you can explain that rather than swapping out when she just finished having a shower." Alice sighed, turning her attention back on the road.

Next to her, Suyin’s device was humming, warning her of any barriers or invisible targets.

"But that would be too boring." Faust shrugged.

"Boy, you’re also researching her blood right? Why don’t we help each other out a little?"

Elias’s smile twitched.

Did he even had the option to refuse?

Noticing his worry, Faust chuckled.

"I’m not the kind to force someone to work for me. You’re also wanting to figure out the secrets of her blood right? Surely if we compare notes, the progress will speed up." Faust clarified.

Elias glanced over at Alice who simply shrugged.

What he wanted to do was not her problem. It was a transactional relationship after all.

Elias was here to help so long as Alice could provide her blood so that he can figure out a solution to side effects.

They both had something to gain from it.

So if allying with Faust got him closer to his goal, who was she to stop him from doing it?

"I’ll politely decline the offer for now Lord Faust." Elias smiled helplessly.

His response seemed to surprise both Alice and Faust.

Blinking his eyes, Faust let out a laugh before nodding his head.

"Very well. The offer is always on the table if you wish."

For a while, no one spoke.

Only the faint hum of Suyin’s device filled the air, its soft pulses acting as a constant reminder of the invisible barriers scattered across Extalia.

Their next destination was the city of Thalmyra.

Thalmyra was different to Grand Cathia in that there weren’t any nobles there. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to be there, rather the city itself refused. In other words, it could be classified as a ’free city’ to some degree.

And it is also where a rather large branch of the Underground existed.