Abyssal Awakening-Chapter 976: Caera Vs The King

Within the monochrome world of Selen’s second resonance, three figures could be seen lunging towards a man sitting upon his throne.

Yet despite his onslaught, he did not move.

Egil crouched down before jumping into the air.

Black armour fully biting down on his flesh as his blood seeped through the gaps of the plates, nourishing the metal.

Twisting his body, a black greatsword appeared in his hands as he cleaved down towards the King.

Without looking up, the King fired a ray of grey energy.

One that would erase the ’present’ if Egil was hit by it.

The key word being if.

Flicking her wrist, Caera substituted Egil with a tentacle as the two attacks collided, cancelling each other out.

Egil appeared not far behind the king, continuing his motion.

Without lifting his hand, a wall of energy burst out from the ground behind him.

He had already ’seen’ this happening.

Selen intercepted. Clasping her hands together, she created a barrier to counter the king’s barrier. If he was speeding up time, she’ll slow it down as much as she can!

’Just countering his movements won’t be enough to entertain him.’ Miralith chuckled, finding this fight rather amusing.

’I know!’ Selen gritted her teeth.

But exposing Perception Manipulation this early was off the table! She had to find a different way to force the king to move first.

The King exhaled slowly through his nose. He was losing patience. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

He tried to lift his hand but the black chains refused to budge.

Veins bulged on his neck as a burst of energy erupted outwards with him in the centre.

Seeing this, Egil quickly threw the black forward, kicking its pommel and jumping backwards to avoid the attack.

Even with the strange nature of his armour, he watched as the blade lost its colour before turning to ash.

"Thou art nothing but a lowly beast donning the skin of man. Tell me boy, are you wearing that armour or is that armour wearing you?" The King asked, catching some of the ash and rubbing it between his fingers.

Egil didn’t respond.

Crouching down, he dashed in a circle, tearing out a chunk of the early and threw it towards the King.

Seeing this giant slab obscuring his vision, the King was unamused.

Just because his eyes granted him vision of the past present and future, it didn’t mean obscuring it would prevent his powers from activating.

Such things didn’t matter.

With a swipe of his finger, an arc of energy cut towards his left as Caera was forced out of hiding.

Dark energy converged into an orb but once it reached a certain size, it touched upon something invisible and dissipated.

"!!!" Widening her eyes, Caera understood that he had placed a ’shell’ there she was gathering power. Once it reached a certain capacity, it’ll collapse whatever attack she was planning.

Something that can only be done if he saw the future.

This was a sign. The King was starting to use more power!

Selen summoned her blade and prepared to step forward.

’Take a step back.’

Without thinking much, Selen did so but as soon as she did, a guillotine of grey energy slammed down from above.

Had she continued her movement, she would’ve been hit!

"Miralith!" The King frowned.

"It would be unfair not to warn her when you start using more power right? Surely a King like yourself wouldn’t fuss over a little assistance from me to her." Miralith took over briefly and blew the King a kiss.

His eye twitched, causing Miralith to laugh before looking towards Caera.

"Corrupt gal! Keep the King occupied for a little while. I’m going to give Selen a little lesson." Miralith requested as Caera widened her eyes.

Keep the King occupied? Without Selen assisting with her time abilities?

But seeing Miralith’s serious gaze, Caera understood that she wasn’t joking around.

And more than that, she knew what she was capable of.

"Fine. Don’t blame me if Selen doesn’t get the power." Caera sighed.

Snapping her finger, dark clouds immediately appeared within Selen’s Second Resonance.

An influx of Eldritch energy rained down in the form of black rain, thick like mud.

Of course, she made sure that Egil and Selen was spared.

The King felt the chains loosen somewhat.

Against this woman, he was allowed to use more of his power!

He stood up from his throne as Caera lunged through a portal but the King acted first.

Reaching forward with his hand, energy converged into a sword while Caera transformed the black mud into a shield.

*RUMBLE!!!

A clash of energy pushed everything in their vicinity away.

Clenching her fist, Caera slammed her fist into the back of her shield, pushing the King back!

Black and purple lightning crackled across her body as she gave chase.

The whites of her eyes flashed back, revealing the invisible arcs the King placed through the air.

Twisting her turning her body through the web of slashes, Caera twisted her body and aimed her foot towards the King.

Black mud converged to form a bow as she drew the bowstring back with her other foot.

Three arrows manifested, each harbouring an intense amount of Eldritch energy.

Even though she tried her best to exclude Selen from the list of targets, these arrows were still affecting the Second Resonance!

*BANG!!!

Firing the bow, Caera flipped backwards and watched as the King flicked down with his finger.

The time in front of him seemed to half before reversing, returning the Arrows towards Caera.

"Tch!"

Parrying her own attack, Caera transformed her own body into black mud and avoided several slashes he sent afterwards.

*CLANG!!!

Egil lunged in from below, a lance in his hands as he tossed it toward Caera.

Catching the weapon, she instantly infused it with Eldritch energy as the metal screamed out in pain before mutating.

For a moment, it felt almost as though Caera breathed new life into this world as the Lance started to grow flesh.

While Caera and Egil were keeping the King occupied, Miralith explained the King’s left and right eyes to Selen.

’One sees the past, the other sees the future. But do you know exactly what they entail?’ Miralith asked as Selen shook her head.

’To see the past, one must be able to access the library of history. The memory of the realm itself. Only then, can you observe all that has already happened.’

’Then is there a library for things that are going to happen?’ Selen asked curiously. She wasn’t sure how exactly future sight worked but Miralith shook her head.

’Future sight is not as simple as that. For this world, the future is merely a construct brought forth by a myriad of choices. Actions leading to a singular outcome.

’His sight simply allows him to see the countless potential choices and pull forth the most likely outcomes. Of course, there are times where the future is unchangeable. But that’s a deeper rabbit hole than you can imagine.’ Miralith chuckled.

’So... the key to beating him... is to guess what I will do in two moves?’

’Not quite. His eyes are ones that allow him to understand you as a person. Your actions, your habits. Your thought process. The sequence of events leading up to each choice.

’Take your earlier action for example. You created a counter flow against his shield to protect Egil right?’ Miralith mentioned as Selen nodded her head.

’Why? Why not take that moment to try land a strike instead? Why did you cover for him.’

Selen frowned.

’Well... That’s obvious-’

’And there you have it. Your internal priorities have already determined that it is impossible for you to let Egil get hit by the wall. A sequence of choices leading up to action.’ Miralith smiled.

’It’s a mind game. Perfect future sight doesn’t exist, variables always happen. No future is set in stone. Even for those that may seem unchangeable, there are always things you can do ’after’ they occur.

’I suppose you can call them loopholes.’

Selen took a deep breath.

’So I have to outsmart him with what I’m least likely to do?’

’You’re on the right track. I can’t spoil everything for you but I think this’ll suffice for a quick lesson. Good luck now, the others are struggling.’ Miralith chuckled.

Caera was forced back.

Sliding against the ground, she slammed her palms against the floor as black mud formed countless weapons that surged towards the king.

With a wave of his hand, a pulse of grey energy erupted, destroying the weapons but Caera wasn’t done.

Biting her thumb, she drew a line of blood on her left arm as dark tendrils of energy started to writhe.

From the ash of the destroyed weapons, they gained new life and shot towards the King.

Having expected this, he shifted his body to dodge while countering only those that would hit his main body.

"Argh! F*cking annoying b*stard." Caera cursed, slowly losing her composure.

No matter how she tried to counter him, he would always have an answer.

Every move, every shift.

Sometimes even where she would land.

Egil had it harder than her. Despite being a front liner, he was relegated to providing support with this strange armour of his.

Thanks to the fact that it was created using Alice strange abilities, she was able to counter the King’s energy to some extent but even that had its limitations.

But to fight at full strength... Caera hesitated.

Doing so would corrupt everything in her vicinity.

"Caera. Trust me and go for it." Selen spoke up, rejoining the fight.

She had to outsmart the King. Even though she wanted to avoid it, she had no choice but to use her trump card.

Caera, realising Selen’s intentions, took a deep breath and calmed her mind.

Dark energy gathered around her body once more as she lunged towards the King.