Abyssal Awakening-Chapter 949: A Guide’s Authority

Alice stared at the map. At the red circles, the overlays and small handwritten notes pinned in certain parts.

All of their collective efforts and sacrifices all on display in front of her.

The parts where people ended their journey...

Signal lost.

Then there’s the Nightmare’s system. One where you wanted to avoid death as much as possible yet rewarded you for dying. Their goal is clear.

You couldn’t really say it was unfair either as clearing it with low deaths is clearly possible.

"The real question now is how are we going to meet up with you in the Nightmare." Miki sighed, pushing herself off the table and started to walk while Alice followed behind her.

"I think I have a few methods of doing so. But there’s no guarantees. We’ll have to wait and see." Alice shrugged.

"Plus, I’m only in the second zone right now. Perhaps the other zones that become open to me will have me connect to Grand Cathia."

In her Nightmare, there were several paths that she could take in order to reach the new zones. Monika even mentioned for her to go to the other ones before trying out the northern zone.

"I see... Miss Bai also had methods of tracking progress in the Nightmare. I believe in the days we have free from the Nightmare, we should be able to make a better tracking system. But tracking was one thing, communication was another." Miki frowned.

There were moments in the Nightmare where zones shifted because they didn’t anchor it down properly.

If they could communicate the changes better, their progress will no doubt speed up.

Alice hummed lightly.

Tracking was only one problem they had to deal with. The other would be... Monika.

If Alice was to help out, wouldn’t the witch turn her attention to Grand Cathia?

Right now, Alice didn’t know what her goals are. There was an above zero percent chance that Monika could sabotage Grand Cathia.

Thankfully, there were a few things Alice could try.

One being communicating with Plume.

With her being connected to the branch within-

Alice paused her steps.

She blinked her eyes and realised something.

Since Karina gave her the guide’s authority to travel between branches freely, doesn’t that mean she could directly interfere with the Nightmare of others without the need for the item?

Based on what Miki has mentioned, the summoning had its own flaws such as increasing monster density.

But if she was to simply teleport there, would she count as a natural resident?

[That’s... it’ll probably work.] Cayla spoke up, realising what Alice was hinting at.

[The guides don’t make the zones harder after all. They observe and their presence doesn’t change anything.]

"Something wrong?" Miki asked, noticing Alice suddenly stopping in place.

"Nothing, I just got a slight theory." Alice grinned.

"Theory?"

"If it works the way I think it does, and I manage to link up to a branch in someone else’s zone, I might be able to find a few loopholes." Alice explained.

Hearing this, Miki immediately walked up.

"Explain."

If there were loopholes to be found, the lives of her soldiers could be spared.

Seeing her desperation, Alice gestured for Miki to take a seat and explained her run in with Karina.

Of course, in the process of this, she made sure to leave out Plume and Monika for now.

Miki sat with her arms crossed.

To think they could hand out authorities within the Nightmare like this...

"Are you able to transfer parts of it to anyone? Or is it just you?"

"I haven’t tested it yet so I don’t know. But based on what I know about guides, travel between zones should be possible." Alice shook her head.

"If the only requirements are that you link up to a branch, you should be fine. When summoned, the others who traverse the Nightmare share the same checkpoints as the current ’host’.

"When they rest, they all rest. And after going back to their own Nightmares, whatever they’ve explored remains available to them." Miki explained.

"Let’s keep it as a possibility for now. Suyin can monitor my condition along with the others so let’s see if we can translate that into the map. There’s no guarantee so we should put everything into this basket." Alice reminded as Miki nodded her head.

Watching Miki walk away to make some plans, Alice chuckled before looking for Suyin and Elias.

’Say, Alyss. You know what this means?’

’Hm?’ Alyss raised an eyebrow while relaxing in her bed.

’If we can move to the other zones, this’ll be the first time we’ll be fighting side by side rather than swapping in and out of control.’ Alice grinned.

Hearing this, Alyss blinked for the moment as the realisation settled in.

Once it did, her eyes widened and she sat up on the bed.

’Sh*t, you’re right...’

’Are you thinking what I’m thinking?’ Alice asked.

’Depends. Are YOU thinking what I’m thinking?’

The two of them grinned at each other before high fiving with a loud clap.

Cayla stared at the two idiots and sighed.

[What nefarious plan are you thinking about now?] Cayla rubbed her eyelids.

’Hehe~ We’re gonna jump the sh*t outta whoever shows up.’ Alice gave Cayla a thumbs up.

[. . . Was that the master plan you were cooking up?] Cayla stared at the two and rolled her eyes.

’Well duh, what else would we do?’ Alice tilted her head.

Cayla opened her mouth before giving up.

She needs to remember that in a fight, Alice was all instincts and hardly any thought. She does whatever comes to her naturally.

And Alyss was the same. Only instead of brute forcing things with casting and instinct, she does so by beating the crap out of whoever they’re fighting.

If the two of them were to team up...

Cayla could already imagine the beat down the enemy would get.

The moment they focus on Alyss, Alice would start blasting.

If they turn their focus on Alice, Alyss will start wailing away at their body.

Two rapid animals gnawing at their ankles, making it hard for anyone to fight back properly.

###

Arys had her eyes closed while two radiant tethers were connected to both Allura and Gin.

Due to the situation, she begrudgingly scanned Gin as well.

"Tsk, I can’t remove it. Not while we’re still in the vicinity of Extalia." She sighed, removing the tethers while pulling out a cigarette in annoyance.

"Does it pose any danger? Or is it simply dormant for now?" Gin asked, clenching his fist.

There was a hint of displeasure in his face, this new foreign energy polluting his veins.

"No danger. But it serves as a beacon. One that was immediately installed the moment we stepped foot on this land. Now whenever there is a ’call’ our bodies will naturally react and we’ll be sent to that place." Arys lit up her cigarette and took a deep drag.

Allura was silent during this.

Her eyes were closed and she sensed the flow of this energy.

Within her body, there was now three reservoirs.

One from the remaining authority and divinity bestowed upon her by Velouria.

Another that was slowly leaking with no signs of stopping. Her abyssal energy, her life force. The hourglass counting down the time she has left.

And now, this third reservoir.

The storage of Nightmare energy that coursed through her body.

It was seeking to replace the Abyssal energy in her body, to hijack it and override everything.

To bind her using new rules.

She thought it was going to be a source unique to the strange realm she was just in.

But...

Considering it’s presence, it won’t be an exaggeration to say that it’s trying to expand its influence across the world, not just the nation of Extalia.

"If I was to use this energy, how much damage would it do to my body?" Allura asked, glancing up at Arys.

Gin creased his brows.

He wanted to say something but Arys was faster.

"Lua." Arys glared.

"Didn’t you ask me to extend your time? So why are you fighting again?"

Allura opened her mouth before letting out a sigh.

"Sorry, force of habit."

Scratching her hair, Arys clicked her tongue.

"I expected as much. Someone like you can’t sit still in the first place." Finishing her cigarette in one go, Arys folded her arms.

"I’ll need to examine a few subjects before I can say anything. But what I can say is that as long as you’re in Extalia, this energy will act similarly to Abyssal energy before you basically got super cancer.

"It’ll replenish naturally. And as long as you don’t over cap on usage, you should be able to fight to some extent without using your Abyssal energy. And before you ask, no, it can’t replace the Abyssal energy keeping you alive." Arys shook her head.

"The operation I did on you can’t be resolved so easily. You wanted time, I gave you time. It’s a contract, the final one that’s eating away at your life force. Even if you fill the gaps using energy from the outside or Nightmare energy, it will continue to eat away at what remains.

"Anything you use will be permanent." She warned.

This final contract wasn’t something Allura can find loop holes in. If she was to keep testing the limits, she’ll die.

"I see... Thank you." Allura smiled.

Her sentence confirmed one thing for her though.

While it can’t replace the energy being used to sustain her, it can be used for combat.

Thus, if her reservoir grows large enough where the Nightmare energy can offset whatever Sigil power she was to use...

Glancing down at her hand, Allura snapped her finger and a flame lit up on the tip...