Abyssal Awakening

Grabbing one of the swords, Alice continued to glare at the woman while jamming the blade into the gaps of the chains that surrounded the arena.

Activating her Sigil, a surge of power flooded her body as she pushed down on the chains in an attempt to break them.

"Glare at me all you want but it doesn't change the truth. You killed her. But that is the face I like to see. I was afraid you know? Afraid that my efforts were in vain and I would've missed such a sight." The woman taunted while Alice continued her attempts to pry the chains apart without a second word.

Seeing that she was getting no response from Alice, the woman frowned.

"Tsk, no fun. Gallard, go knock her out. Tell the hosts I want the most secure bindings for when I take her home with me." The woman sat down on the chair, having full faith in her servant.

Sighing softly, Gallard nodded his head.

"I will do as yo-"

Before he could finish his sentence, the two of them heard a snap from behind as he immediately drew his sword and parried a flying blade that was about to hit the woman.

Glancing back, he could see an enraged Alice standing in front of a pile of broken chains. Her bloodshot eyes glaring at the two of them menacingly as her first Sigil flared with an abyssal might that surged through her body.

'How did she… Even with the first Sigil granting the user a boost in strength, it shouldn't be enough to break chains of this strength.' Gallard thought to himself with a frown.

With the chains now broken, there was nothing blocking them from one another.

Grabbing a dagger from the arena, Alice charged towards Gallard who readied his blade.

"OUT! OF! MY! WAY!" Alice shouted out in pure rage. Slicing the dagger across her palm, she threw her blood towards Gallard.

Seeing this, he immediately held his breath since he knew what her Sigil's ability was. He witnessed it during her fight against Tristan yet it was still a moment too late as he could feel the strength leaving his body.

Widening his eyes, he couldn't believe the potency of her blood as it was something that shouldn't be affecting him. Yet his vision was blurring from the fumes.

Furrowing his brows, he activated his own Sigil ability as he sliced forward with his sword. A ring of crimson energy burst forth as it threatened to cleave Alice in half.

But everything was captured within Alice's vision. Stepping to the side, she dodged the ring of energy before twisting her body, launching the dagger at the woman behind Gallard.

"Forget the previous command! Kill her!" The woman panicked seeing things beginning to get out of hand.

Gritting his teeth, Gallard dashed in front of the woman and parried the dagger.

Activating his second Sigil, a similar ring of energy erupted out around him before expanding out in an instant.

Jumping over the pulse of energy, Alice grabbed her blade while glaring at the two.

She could see it, see how she should proceed with the tools she had available to her. She could feel the bleeding on her palm worsening from her active ability but it was fine. The more blood she sprayed onto this battlefield, the more beneficial it was for her!

Throwing her dagger once more, Alice landed on the ground before pushing as much force as she could into her legs, dashing towards the sword she first threw after breaking the chains.

Blocking the dagger that Alice threw, Gallard wanted to parry Alice's blade but his sword was mispositioned to parry a second time in quick succession. With him having to protect the woman behind him, it was difficult to fight how he wanted.

He would've been fine alone but Alice's attacks were much more relentless than he had expected and it was taking more out of him to fight against the effects of her poison. Even now, more of his strength was being drained with each passing second.

Gritting his teeth, he activated his third Sigil as energy pulsed out from his body, covering him in a crimson glow. The pulse caused Alice to be pushed back as she adjusted the grip on her sword to slow herself to a half.

Three rings appeared behind him as he designated Alice as the target of attack. With the target now selected, the three rings shot towards her.

'Three Sigil bearer!' Widening her eyes, Alice was glad that her first Sigil ability was one that weakened her target otherwise this fight will be much harder than it already is.

Focusing her gaze, she forced her eye to overexert itself as everything in her vision slowed down once more.

Dodging the first ring, she parried the second. But this proved to be a mistake as the ring began to shave off the metal of the blade. Furrowing her brow, she adjusted her grip to save as much of the sword as she could before rolling out of the way for the third ring.

Seeing as how the rings were swerving around to attack her again, Alice gritted her teeth and dashed towards Gallard.

Since they were looping back around, she doubted that Gallard will risk harming himself of the master behind him with his third Sigil ability.

"You did well, if you had more Sigils I'm afraid this wouldn't have been easy for me. But I'm sorry, this is as far as you get." Gallard apologised as a fourth marking appeared above his left eye.

'Four Sigils!'

Widening her eyes, Alice wanted to dodge but was too late.

Around her, crimson rings manifested themselves as her movement was restricted.

Gritting her teeth, she was unable to move a single limb as Gallard sighed in relief. Having finally caught her, he approached Alice and prepared to cut her head off in one swift motion.

But before he could, Alice opened her mouth and spat towards him.

Widening his eyes, he watched as a spray of blood splattered against his face with some getting in his mouth.

'She bit off her tongue!' Gallard thought as he never experienced fighting someone as maniacal as Alice! With her biting off her own tongue, she was able to pool enough blood in her own mouth to spit towards him.

Feeling his vision fluctuate with hallucinations haunting his peripherals, he was unable to concentrate and collapsed onto one knee.

"Run!" Gallard shouted out with difficulty as he was trying to resist the hallucinations from Alice's Sigil. But it was too late.

Having been freed from Gallard's fourth Sigil ability, Alice grabbed her blade before vaulting over him and lunging towards the woman who was paralysed in fear. The initial use of her passive Sigil ability had left her unable to run as she was just an ordinary person.

"W-wait! If you ki-"

Without letting the woman finish her sentence, Alice plunged her blade into the woman's neck. She wasn't going to let the woman have an easy death since she had toyed with Lilia in such a way.

'Since my Sigil is from the Twilight Hunter, my blood should have the same properties the drug counterpart.' Alice thought to herself as she forced the woman's mouth open before holding out her palm, allowing her blood to flow into the woman's mouth.

Watching her eyes widen, Alice continued to feed her blood even after noticing that Gallard had broke free of her Sigil's power.

Seeing him charge towards her, she fed the woman as much blood as possible before dodging out of the way.

Narrowing her eyes, Alice curled her mouth into a grind as she noticed the effects of her blood slowly activating within the woman's body.

Twilight Reflection was a drug that caused you to hallucinate and experience the greatest high. While Alice was unsure of how addictive her own blood was considering it only weakened Sigil users, she was happy to see the woman already beginning to scratch away at her own skin.

Her nails dug deep against her flesh, clawing her skin away before digging against her own flesh.

Glaring at Alice with bloodshot eyes, the woman pointed at Alice before trying to say something. However, with the hole in her throat, only gurgling sounds could be heard but it was enough to activate the slave mark on Gallard's body!

A purple brand appeared on the back of Gallard's neck as he widened his eyes. Pain surged through his body as his body's control was wrestled away from him. Moving against his own will, he charged towards Alice despite his master's condition deteriorating.

Dodging the first few attacks, Alice tried to weaken Gallard with her blood but he seemed to have grown resistant towards the effects. With her already overworking her eye, Alice was unable to react in time as Gallard reached out for her neck and slammed her against the ground.

Pinning Alice against the wall, he slowly tightened his grip.

Struggling for breath, Alice tried her best to pry Gallard's grip from her neck but his strength was firm like the mountains, unmoving.

No matter what she tried, Gallard doesn't seem to react as he continued to tighten his grip.

With her vision blurring and her arms losing strength, the world around Alice darkened as the cold embrace of death welcomed her presence.

*BANG!!!

Crashing through the walls, a ball of flames collided against Gallard, forcing him to drop Alice.

"What the hell happened here." A woman's voice rang out as Alice could feel a pair of arms catching her before she fell to the ground.

Glancing above her, she could see a beautiful woman with long black hair and a pair of pure white eyes looking down at her. Strangely enough, despite this being the first time she's met this woman, there was a sense of connection with her. Something that caused her to feel safe within her presence.

Meanwhile, Allura was angry at herself. At the fact that she was almost too late and at the fact that she didn't make a choice sooner.

Now that she was here, she'll clean up this mess and do what she's meant to do since the beginning.