Shadow of the Abyss

"Master! What's wrong?"

Despite nearly seven days passing in the blink of an eye inside his mind, Altair was stunned to learn he'd only been out for less than half a breath. He blinked, looking up at Raven. He shook his head but still remained on one knee, powerless to move.

"I'm… good," He muttered, overcome by a familiar fog of weakness.

[Full Recovery in eight hours]

Altair made a strange face, signaling for Raven to help him up. He could see Tasha and Morrigan's concerned faces but gave credit to what had occurred between the fusion of soul and sword. The fewer people that knew about his Omniscience, the better.

He'd been too weak to even raise his hand to study the weapon he'd created, but he could feel a strange astral force reaching up from the blade hilt up his arm and through his pores.

[Due to the absorption of Soul Essense, recovery time has decreased by five hours]

[Full Recovery in three hours]

Before Altair could echo a few words, Tasha tossed him a Soul Flame as if she were throwing a stone. Raven caught it for her master, offering it up as Tasha said, "Chew it. It should lessen the Soul Exhaustion. Just ignore the screams."

Rather than questioning Tasha as he'd usually do, he followed her direction without hesitation, for he knew she spoke the truth. The moment she'd spoken, his Omniscience confirmed it. Indeed, there were wretched screams that would haunt the dreams of any who heard it, but Altair didn't seem to mind or care. He was caring less about things each day.

"I was just letting him go," Morrigan said, noticing a lack of surprise in his eyes. "Master's orders. It would seem like she doesn't want trouble with a Grimm."

"A Grimm?" Altair questioned this time, noticing his Omniscience oddly silent.

"They're like a Malakh, except rather than Archangels implanting a feather into their bloodline, a Fallen Angel does so."

"Oh yeah… I forgot Grimm's existed." Tasha muttered. "Fallen rarely make them; I think the last recorded Grimm was done by the Eighth Monarch of Hell. Apparently, he liked Loki so much he granted him his feather."

With his recovery time cut down to minutes, he reached up to rub his aching temple. "Then… is this Elder Grim also a Grimm? No imagination on that one."

Morrigan didn't confirm, choosing silence, but she hadn't needed to respond. Her silence was all everyone needed; after all, the use of a true name was especially forbidden to crucible members beneath the eyes of various gods.

"Grimms aren't as useful as Malakh's since they are harder to create and breed when compared to devils and demons, so no fallen goes out of their way to waste resources and a wing that'll take several cycles or dao cycles to recover."

"Let me go…" Varis muttered, clutching his bleeding arm. His face was contorted beyond recognition, and his aura was in disarray.

Projecting his domain, Altair smiled, learning that the blow Morrigan had executed had not necessarily been a physical attack but one that severed a part of his soul. No matter what he did, Varis would never be able to regenerate his missing arm, no matter how many resources he used.

Still, he found her mercy to be too much. With her level of skill, Altair was sure she could have ensured that the wound would never heal. Morrigan certainly had the necessary skill.

"What a shame…" Altair said as the Grimory Ring on his finger turned vaperious. The unnamed sword in his hand whipped across Varis's neck, igniting the skies aflame as a fury that turned the wheel of time ablaze.

[Varis Felled. Exp Gained.]

[Level Up]

[Level Up]

…

…

…

Flames came from the skies like clouds stretching down from the heavens towards Altair with every intention to kill him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Tasha snapped, stepping forward, staying the approaching flame with a swipe of her palm, when a domineering pressure came from the great beyond, turning the rubble to dust and the dust to nothingness.

Be it Tasha or Morrigan, both struck the Earth oppressed by a force threatening to wipe them out of existence. Only Altair and Raven, and strangely, the Malakh, staring blankly, stood on feet protected by a force coming from their depths.

"Elder…Grim…Stop…" Morrigan demanded through clenched teeth, slowly struggling to her feet as she ignited her blood. Tendrils of veins lined her slender jaw as she reached back to her feet alongside Tasha, seething a hatred that seemed to echo from the sin of wrath, for its sigil flashed across her iris.

It lasted less than a heartbeat, but the authority it held was so stifling it shattered the oppressive force, leaving many of the gods to gape.

"The Seventh Prince and Her Majesty Grimmorie will hear of this transgression, Dungeon Master." Tasha choked. "You dare allow this folly!"

The realm quivered and shook as if caught in a storm that could shatter the world. Tangible rage pooled across the great void, which shook and cracked, caving in to reveal a robed man.

He was handsome, with a sculpted face that gave him a rugged appearance, yet it was his authority that demonstrated a regality that knew no bounds.

"Altair Blackwood!" Elder Grim barked, his smoldering eyes igniting into emerald flames. "HOW DARE YOU!"

[Divine Fallen, Conquest frowns at this folly and rises from the shattered husk of the Ancient Gods] Your adventure continues at empire

[Divine Sin, Daddy, has shattered his Temporal Cage and has claimed the freedom to rage]

[Divine Sin, Archeon is furious and demands to know what the Dungeon Master is doing.]

[Divine Being, She Who Hunts, nocks her World Ender Bow]

[Divine Being, Piercing Owl, stands together with the Giants of Old.]

[Supreme Being, Silver Devil aims his gaze towards Elder Grim]n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

[Supreme Being, First Trinity, is set to leave the Principalities]

Perhaps it was due to defying the Origin System to his soul, but Elder Grim remained ignorant of all the system messages arising across everyone else's iris, but all of Babel's Tower shook, awakening several Fell Gods of the folly on the third floor.

Altair was smiling. He stood triumphantly, feeling the Heart of Darkness empower him to stand. Perhaps it had been out of pride, but Altair, despite knowing Elder Grim could fell him with a snap, rose into the skies to stand a head higher than the Fell God in front of him.

He brandished a smile like a deadly weapon and folded his arms. "So you're the elder that foolishly tried to command me."

"I—"

"The fuck is this nasty thing?" Iliana's cold voice came as her palm lashed out from behind Elder Grim.

Before the Tainted Elder could respond or react, death's primal grip took hold of him. His head was nearly torn off his shoulders as he was blasted out of the realm, far beyond Babel's tower, to some unknown realm.

[Myraid Message - Sector 3]

[Origin System will go offline for several minutes. Please stand by]

Iliana winced, wiping her palm with a handkerchief, and stared brightly at Altair. Unlike the previous times they had met, she wore no mask, allowing her amethyst-red eyes and stunning features to be displayed to all. She had been so strikingly beautiful that Altair could only stare, unable to recognize her form before. Her eyes seemed different from what he'd remembered.

"So this was the little Turkey that I was raising." She gave Altair a once over, circling him like prey. "You're definitely cute, and your blood lineage is definitely up there. Skill is mid. But I can definitely feel it. Yeah… you're a prime candidate aside from the twins."

"Twins? Do you mean Ves and Iza?" Altair asked, feeling like they were the ones she was talking about.

"Of course, they are already wielding Almighty Qi." Iliana covered her mouth. "Oops, that was a secret… Well… Guess I'll just give them a present to ask for forgiveness." She smiled, lowering her hands.

"Who… who are you?" Altair asked, unfamiliar with the fiery aura radiating off this being before him.

Iliana grinned, pointed to his tummy, and against his every being, he bent to his waistline to bow. "Don't you know how to greet your master when you see her? Children these days have no respect. I like that."

She strutted over, lifting him by the chin, and found a peculiar look of recognition. "You recognize me now, eh? Good on you, boy. Because I'm going to make you so strong, everything around you will feel like sand."

It had taken a moment, but the Iliana from his memories when he'd seen her as a clone through Tenebrae's eyes was far different, be it her features or her ferocity. Altair felt more so like a rabbit before a tiger about to pounce.

"What? I ain't gonna rape you. Don't look at me like that. Although… you are cute enough." Iliana mused, lifting the boy by the chin with one finger until he stood to his full height. "What say you, boy? Wanna learn how to kill even Abyssals?"