Abyssal Awakening - Chapter 929

Capítulo 929: Faith And Myths

*THUD…

Alice continued to punch as the Sentinel beneath her finally stopped moving.

There were several corpses around them, invisible to the naked eye but their durability was far greater than what she had expected.

Without major shifts to the landscape, she wouldn’t be able to kill them quickly.

Of course, there was the option of using attacks like the Void Axis but as mentioned earlier, that attack would change the entire landscape, causing damages later down the line.

One must be responsible for their power unless they have a way to fix things.

Wiping away the blood on her face, Alice saw the other Sentinels slowly fading away.

As the sun rose, the crimson moon overhead faded out of existence as though it never existed.

Alice could see the strands of Nightmare energy faded away with the moon.

“Welp that’s the end of that I guess. Tsk, no corpse left to experiment with.” Alice stood up while Suyin landed next to her.

On her puppet’s wrist, numbers and notes could be seen flashing across a screen.

“We don’t need corpses when I’ve collected a bunch of data. I think I’ll be able to make some weapons that’ll let me take care of these guys alone when you’re away.” Suyin smiled.

“You were recording all of that?” Alice blinked her eyes.

“Of course I did. I even got a point of view. Here, take a look.”

Showing Alice the screen, Suyin revealed that she was actually recording via small drones that sent out when Alice was fighting.

Since she had the battle under control, there was nothing else that Suyin had to do.

“If I get enough data, I should be able to make a machine that replicates it to some degree. Of course the energy source is a slight issue but I’ll be honest, I’m kinda hooked on using Eldritch energy. I mean it’s WAY too adaptive, I can use it with anything.” Suyin started to get excited while Alice quickly make a time out hand sign.

“Don’t get lost in ‘if you could’ and think about ‘if you should’. If you only think about whether or not it’s achievable, you might make something you come to regret, ya know? Especially with Eldritch energy.” Alice warned.

Just like the Zenia family.

They were too focused on whether or not they could and not if they should.

In their pursuit of greatness, they’ve created the monster that’ll end them.

The hybrids, the blood vials.

Everything they chased after.

All of it should’ve been tightly sealed in a box and never opened.

And yet they did.

Suyin paused. She stared at the panel in front of her and shrugged.

“Fair point. What a shame. Because if you weren’t around, Eldritch energy wouldn’t be safe at all.”

“If you want a weapon, there are other methods of getting one. And since I can still sense the contract between me and him, he should be alive and well.” Alice smiled.

“Oh? You know someone who can make a weapon that matches my desire?”

“I mean… If he can’t forge it then I don’t know who can. Sigurd, Abyss Lord of the Forge. We have a slight agreement between us. I can offer him a bit of money and he’ll craft me some of the best weapons using the rare materials he has on hand.” Alice winked.

It’s a shame with what happened in the north, otherwise she would’ve requested a full set of gear for Ria and the others.

But since Gwen was on the cast, the issue should be resolved sooner rather than later. Not to mention the others also being there.

“Heh~ Guess I’ll have something to look forward to. Either way, this is going to be good data for my next weapons. I lack that last bit of piercing power after all.” Suyin chuckled.

Deactivating her combat form, she returned back to her doll state and hopped onto Alice’s shoulder.

Making their way back to the carriage, Elias could be seen slowly waking up.

The same went with Alyss and Cayla.

As for their progression, Alyss was the fastest, reaching the end of the third zone. She was about to challenge the boss when the Nightmare ended.

As for deaths…

She only had one more and that was due to the camp turning into a mimic.

A death that wasn’t unique between them.

Alice suffered it, Alyss suffered it.

And so did Cayla and Elias.

As for Cayla, her zones had a strange change. The dangers they posed decreased significantly after Nyer’s last visit. In fact, it’ll be more surprising if she died at all.

Elias was still stuck in his poison swamp.

After the first zone, the second zone was an underground poison swamp.

Thankfully, with him being cautious and understanding how the swamp worked to some degree, he was able to reduce his number of deaths.

But even with that caution, he died twice. Once to the mimic, once to the swamp.

Once their reports were done, it was Alice’s turn.

She talked about everything she learned about the nightmare, the structure and so on. Her meeting with Plume and the room she was in.

The group was silent during the entire thing.

Cayla noted everything down and… Considering Nyer’s insanity for reviving Velouria, there’s no doubt he plans on creating a vessel using the Nightmare.

To turn fake into real just like what he tried to do in the Inverted World.

Only this time…

“Do you think he’s setting the foundations for an ascension?” Cayla suggested out of the blue.

Right now, she is sitting next to Alice as it was better for the others to hear her thought process.

“Ascension?” Suyin raised an eyebrow.

“Based on previous records and a few estimations on my end, there’s a high chance that Nyer might be setting up for an ascension. As you know, faith and myths are core aspects to a God.

“It dictates their power and the level of influence they hold. Even if they’re strong by birth. By using the properties of the nightmare and taking advantage of those that sink further into the dream, he could be trying to gather faith or create fake myths.

“Through this, if he were to turn the fake into real, wouldn’t a God be born? Born of the Hunter’s faith, of those stuck in the Nightmare.” Cayla explained.

Alice folded her arms.

It made sense. With how the Nightmare is set up, it would explain why reality and dream becomes indistinguishable the deeper you fall.

To the point that death wouldn’t even wake you up.

“So what’s the play then? Shatter the nightmare and wake people up? But those who felt the power they could wield would never agree to it.” Elias asked.

Civilians who were never able to cross the threshold of mentality, the Abyss that doesn’t grant the next Sigil, they have suffered enough already. They would refuse the thought of putting their lives in the control of others ever again.

Thus, the nightmare solidifies its grasp on them.

Suyin glanced down.

If it wasn’t for the fact that her contraptions have allowed her to stay relatively safe thus far, she would be no different.

Her fingers coiled against her arm.

She recalled the fights she had in the past, the bullying she felt from the sects when they realised she could not get even a single Sigil.

The girl abandoned by power.

Even when she created weapons to fight back, she had to prove herself over and over again.

The only thing she heard during that period was:

“You might be fine now but you’ll never be able to beat-”

Every time she surpassed a wall, they would make more excuses to push her down.

Closing her eyes, Suyin took a deep breath.

“If you can’t stop them from clinging onto the nightmare, maybe you should try rerouting the power to yourself. Steal the faith and create the myths with your own hands. Then the Nightmare can benefit you and not them.” Suyin suggested.

Trying to fight the populace would never end well.

Alice nodded.

“I think I’ll talk to Plume some more next time. Her info is limited but we can make certain guesses with the room that she’s in. Not to mention the fact that she can tell me a bit about the structure of the Nightmare.

“If things go well, we might even be able to find one another.” Alice recalled the strange layers that she had to pass through. The labyrinth of dreams that disoriented her completely.

If she could figure out a path through that like what Monika did, they’ll be able to navigate the Nightmare with greater efficiency.

With their goals set out, they continued towards the next city for now.

After all, the Nightmare will be on cooldown for a few nights and it’s their chance to make some preparations in reality.

###

“Tsk… Nightmare is finally over.” A woman groaned as she sat up on her bed.

Around her, several people were in the same situation as each of them flexed their arm momentarily to feel the growth in power.

“Death count, report.” She ordered.

One by one, each of them reported how many deaths they suffered and a tally was made on the board.

“You three, sit still during the next nightmare. No more deaths allowed. You two, explore, you have 3 deaths to spare. Map out the routes so that we’re on the same layer.

“Kali, come with me. We’re going to focus on the defences of the city.” She stood up and threw a jacket over her shoulders.

Tying up her pink hair into a pony tail, she pushed the door open with a fierce look in her eyes.