Abyssal Awakening - Chapter 864

Chapter 864: Strange Embryo

“Lilia…” Alice muttered.

Her finger hovered over the trigger. Should she pull the trigger? Should she not?

‘Lilia’ limped. Her head swung from left to right with an ominous rhythm. The timing didn’t match that of an injured person.

Rather, it was perfectly timed without a single fault.

The cracking of her neck sounded almost like the ticking of a clock.

Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick Tock.

Each step, each swing, perfectly timed.

And…

The closer she got, the more her form began to change.

Her flesh started to rip apart with large stitches appearing across her body. Her limbs separated from the main body as mechanical contraptions took the role of helping her keep her ‘shape’.

Red tubes threaded through her skin, through her ribs as blood pumped through her body.

The hissing of cannisters protruding from her back, the gears that clicked with each subtle movement. Her torso split open to reveal the gears and metal that replaced her flesh and organs.

A visage of Lilia’s final moments. A clockwork doll.

Alice bit her lip.

In the end, she stopped aiming at Lilia with her gun.

Do not chase or delve after shadows of familiar ones.

That was the second rule.

Was it because of her obsession? Or was it because of the revenge she had recently fulfilled?

Regardless… Alice closed her eyes for a moment. After that moment passed, her gaze regained its clarity. There was no sadness in her eyes, she didn’t avert her gaze.

And as the mimic finally got within arm’s reach, it raised its mechanical arms ready for an attack, but Alice was already a step ahead.

She had resolved herself…

To kill Lilia for a second time.

She raised her hand without hesitation, her gun barrel pressed against the underside of the mimic’s jaw.

With a soft smile, Alice pulled the trigger.

*BANG!!!

The bullet tore through ‘Lilia’s’ head and the figure dispersed into shadow and ash.

A soft breeze blew past, pulling away some of the ash to reveal a strange crystal of sorts hidden within what remains.

Raising an eyebrow, Alice knelt down and picked up the crystal before holding it against the light.

The crystal was transparent blue in colour. A swirl of different shades blending together like the waves.

And resting in the centre of this was a small curled up crimson embryo pulsing with energy.

Despite how little it was, Alice felt a sense of familiarity.

Not from the Abyss, Void or surface. It wasn’t energy belonging to the realms nor was it Eldritch in nature.

But rather… A strange sense of…

“Divinity?” Alice muttered with a frown on her face.

It was faint and surrounded by an unfamiliar veil. But Alice could tell that it was similar to divinity to some degree.

Yet it was only when attempting this did she noticed the anomalies.

She had been so preoccupied with danger that she didn’t realise she couldn’t see the strands of energy anymore. Cayla had been deactivated for the moment.

It was truly as though she had returned to the state during her time in prison.

Alice sighed and put the crystal into her pocket for now.

She looked at her reflection against the windows once more to confirm.

The Eye of the Abyss was still there, her connection was still present.

But its abilities had been deactivated.

‘How troubleso-!!!’ Alice froze.

Despair dawned on her as tears welled up in her eyes.

Her throat tightened, her heart slammed against her chest. A ringing in her ear.

Air squeezed out of her lungs as she collapsed on her knees.

Since her outfit had changed…

Her pouch was gone.

Meaning…

*Sob…

“My mead…”

Alice lamented the disappearance of her treasures.

She leaned against the windows for an extended period of time, struggling to get over the loss of her mead.

While resting, she also observed the shadows flickering through the fog along with the crystal in her pocket.

There were a few things she noticed.

One was that there didn’t seem to be any ‘humans’ aside from herself.

Whether this was an isolated space or not, she wasn’t sure.

After all, even Cayla and Alyss were separated from her.

Second, the shadows didn’t seem to care about her unless she was within a certain range of them.

Even if they were facing her and should be all means ‘see’ her, they didn’t attack her.

They simply followed their path and continued their way.

As for the Crystal… Alice noticed that if she was to concentrate on it, the embryo would release a soft pulse of energy.

This energy seemed to stimulate something within her as crimson butterflies would appear in the air.

They were made of energy and were only about the size of her palm. Not exactly what she would call big.

But within this fog, their radiance was unmissable.

Alice took a deep breath and calmed her mind.

‘I have no powers, no physical strength. All I can rely on is a pistol that now has 3 shots left. It killed the clone of Lilia in one go but there’s no guarantee that it’ll be the same for the others.’ She spoke to herself, organising the information she’s gathered thus far.

‘The crystal seems to be leading the way to somewhere since the path doesn’t change.’

Once her concentration faded from the crystal, the butterflies would disappear.

Every time they reappeared, the path was the same.

Of course, there’s no guarantee that it truly is the same considering the fact that she only saw the first few parts of the path, but so far this was simply her guess.

‘Well, it’s not like I got anything else I need to do. Might as well check out this place.’ Alice sighed inwardly.

With this thick fog blocking her view, it was hard for her to make out her surroundings properly. What she gathered thus far seemed to be an old city resembling some of the cities she saw in the Abyss.

Take Slaughter Docks for example.

The stone tiles, the way the buildings were shaped.

There was another theory though.

It could also simply be basing the surroundings on her memories.

Lilia appeared and the city resembled the Slaughter Docks. It might not be a coincidence.

Pulling herself up, Alice gave her body a stretch and groaned at the wrist pain she was feeling.

When firing the gun, she wasn’t careful of the feedback from the shot.

Thankfully, it wasn’t bad to the point of rendering her unable to shoot properly, but she figured she couldn’t get away with another haphazard shot like that one earlier.

Focusing on the crystal, the path opened up once more.

Alice trailed behind the butterflies, careful not to step within the range of the shadows.

It wasn’t hard to do since she remembered when the clone of Lilia had turned to her.

The range was roughly 5 meters or so away from her.

Carefully navigating through the fog, her eyes kept darting around.

In her mind, she constantly updated the position of where the shadows were. How they were moving, their speed and their route. Some would walk back and forth, others would follow a wide circle. A few travelled along the same path.

After observing and memorising their patterns, Alice snuck through them without too much issue.

If she considered her bullets to be extra lives, it meant that she could only make three mistakes right now. If she were to make a fourth… She’ll have to run for it and hope she finds a weapon before the shadows catch up.

*BANG!!!

Alice widened her eyes.

From her right, a shadow beast crashed through a stack of boxes. She hadn’t noticed the beast hiding behind cover and walked into range!

“Sh*t!” Alice took aim but it was too late. She didn’t have enough time to line up a good shot.

Gritting her teeth, she ducked down the lunge and rolled across the ground.

She ignored the rain and dirt splashing against her dress or her face. What she needed to do right now was kill this b*stard in one shot!

Alice aimed at the head, ready to fire.

But the shadow took the form of a hunched eyeless monster with flared ribs along its back.

Spikes turned outward, looking almost like the legs of a centipede.

With the way it was positioned, her view of the head was obscured and a perfect shot was hard to take.

“Tch!

Clicking her tongue, Alice pulled herself up and grabbed one of the wooden planks that had dropped earlier from the ambush.

Pivoting on her right foot, she threw the plank with the help of inertia.

. . .

Her throw was so weak the heavy plank simply clattered against the ground by the beast’s feet.

Slowly, it turned its head towards Alice.

“F*ck me.” She cursed while stepping back, her smile twitching at her situation.

The beast got onto all fours, the tiles cracked beneath its claws and it lunged.

Alice dove towards where the beast had burst out from, avoiding the charge.

It was a dead end with a single corpse strewn out on the ground.

In a way, this worked in her favour.

After all, the beast needed to turn into the corner.

She had one opportunity.

One chance to take the shot and kill the beast.

If she were to go out in the open, the chances of accidentally drawing the attention of another beast were high.

And if she were to run, it could quickly spiral and domino into a stampede howling for her death.

Alice got onto one knee and rested her left arm.

Using it as a stabiliser, she took aim towards the entrance.

Her eyes focused and unblinking.

She saw the shadow of the beast looming over the entrance, gradually getting bigger.

It was approaching.

She held her breath, her arm steadied.

The world seemed to freeze as the beast turned the corner.

*BANG!!!