Shadow of the Abyss

"That\'s what Nia wanted to tell me before I tore her heart out." Altair continued, peering down to the nameless forest below. He could still see countless demons foraging about, snapping their fangs into the other, smearing their entrails out in a brawl that usually left the other or both dead.

"oh, Art, she would have died. Either way. You know what demons are like they\'d have raped her until she died. What you did was a mercy."

"I could have sent her into the Serpents—"

With a chop to the head, Ren glared at him with her blood-red eyes. "She wasn\'t your friend. She was an acquaintance, so stop trying to find excuses. And look on the bright side, you big dummy. She now has unlimited potential, an unending lifespan, and probably a sex life. Better than most people."

Altair gave her a wry smile, pulling her down in his embrace.

"Careful, Mr. Blackwood," said Ren, greedily enjoying the heat his body generated. "this is how it starts, you know, you hugging me, me giving you head, and you entering me."

Lord Blackwood found a grin. "That\'s a nice formula."

"Maybe, but I don\'t want you in me when you look so sad." she brushed back his hair that had grown so long this past year.

Altair gave a sullen laugh and looked toward the cloudless skies bathed in sunlight. For two days, they lay there watching the elements carry on before Altair spoke.

"I plan to remove my mask today."

"and Alyssa?" said Ren calmly.

"Up to her. She can become a shadow, leave, or enter the Serpents Outreach. I owe Athena that much." He said, standing up with a baleful look in his eyes. "You handle that. She\'s yours anyway. "

They found Alyssa cupping a bowl of soup within their camp. When she heard the grass churn beneath their boots, she lifted her gaze to meet the scarlet eyes of Altair.

She shook. "Are you here to kill me?"

"Nia is quite alive.\' Altair uttered sharply, snapping his finger as she emerged in a wisp of black smoke. Pale with hair of silver cascading down her shoulders, her amber eyes weighted with presence met with a surprised look on Alyssa\'s face.

Reina, with her cruel smile lifted, spoke, "We\'d like to offer you the chance to join Nia, or we can send you to the Serpents Outreach until we reach somewhere safe."

"M\'lady, what happened to her?" Asked Alyssa, staring at Nia\'s pale grey skin. She was as beautiful as ever, with minor changes to her physique, but her aura was of night and day.

"She died and was resurrected in the image of the Vale," Altair said, resting his palm onto the pummel of Shadowclaw. Cold and hard, he stared unfeelingly at Alyssa, ready to detach her head if she so chooses. "The only one who died was Olivia. It was peaceful, or as peaceful as it gets when someone stomps your head into a paste."

"But it\'s all your choice." Said Ren calmly, noticing the presence of fear on her breath. She grinned. "But know you\'ll be abandoning your alignment to the Gods, Both New and Old."

"So… I\'ll Die?" Alyssa didn\'t know. She took a step back, clutching her throat: To claim she needed to die was all too much. She didn\'t know. "Will I still serve you? Will I—"

"Of course." Reina lied, grinning. "And we will surely have our revenge. We\'ve already figured out who it was. Right Altair?"

Altair found a grin glancing at his naughty wife, so shameless, she was offering up Alyssa without batting an eye.

"Of course,"

"Then don\'t m—"

Her head fell before she could blink, whisked away into ash as her soul was devoured into the Vale. Altair\'s eyes flickered, and an iridescent emerald hue danced along the arcs of his pupils.

"Problem, Nia?"

The newborn shadow bit her lips. "No… Master."

"You\'ll have a new sister soon. Be there to welcome her in the Shadow Realm." He commanded as Nia vanished back into his shadow.

Sliding Shadowclaw into its scabbard with a clink, he removed his mask, turning to Thanatos and Zagreus smiling.

"Is it time to finally let loose?" Said Zagreus as a baleful howl danced across the winds. He laughed. " For Blood and Ash!"

"For Blood and Ash," Said Thanatos, drawing his scythe from out of the darkness.

Altair\'s shadow grew long, and a half smile hung upon his lips. "Let\'s go."

[Divine Sin, \'Daddy,\' says, "WELCOME BACK!!!!!!!]

***

"He\'s back!" Shouted Cedric, standing to his feet. He was missing an arm, but as Amilia injected a serum into his shoulder, the stub of his arm began to budge, wiggling as if something lay hidden there. And from his stub came a new arm wet with a thick sap reminiscent of amniotic fluid.

Amilia nodded, furrowing her brow and turning to Fat Mike, who\'d been in a coma for the last year and a half.

"Yes," Said Amilia calmly. "That was what Admiral Vaiga said."

They\'d only just recently found sanctuary some months back, but it came at a heavy price. Cedric had sacrificed a Circle, and Fat Mike had been forced to call upon the Divinity of the Gods. It was unlikely he\'d ever wake. Not if they couldn\'t make it outside the dungeon.

"Where is Hilda?" Asked Cedric.

"With the Admiral. They\'re expecting you," she said before continuing to tend to the injured silently.

Leaving the medic bay, Cedric briefly glanced at the portal crackling with arcs of scarlet lightning that had been sealed and frowned. He hurried on over to the Admiral Pavillian.

"Cedric, good you\'re here." Vaiga Darkfire said coldly. She gestured him in. "God to see you alive."

Cedric glanced at Commander Sanders and then Vaiga. "What\'s going on?"

"I forgot you only just woke up." Vaiga hissed.

"Altair is back. And he\'s on the move." Sanders said with his large frame that had been built like a mountain barely fitting in a chair Vaiga prepared.

Vaiga brought up the System Map, revealing Altair\'s moving position. "He\'s about a few months away from us. Must have been trying to get here when that alert sounded off," she concluded darkly. "Things are a lot more complicated now. The Lords and Masters of Babels Tower are involved, but we need to get Altair before anyone else can steal him away."

"Admiral, do you have any idea how he\'s been able to live this long? He\'s only a second circle yet—" Sanders began, but Vaiga shook her head, cutting him off.

"No clue, but Amilia confirmed Altair Picked the Surname Blackwood. I\'ve already ordered a few unman Fighter Jets to his location. They should arrive in perhaps an hour if nothing happens, but—"

"Admiral!\' Shouted a hoarse voice, alerting everyone. " The skies are— Hells!"

Vaiga shot outside at a blinding speed, looking up towards the skies draining of color as hundreds of thousands of Demonic Dragons, Wyverns, Winged Bapett, and more came like meteors from the heavens.

The Realm of Yarwin shook as, one by one, the Demons of the Hells struck Yarwin. Demons that had been hounding their encampment day in and day out all suddenly changed location, charging towards Altair within the Rueful Drove.

[DING]

[DING]

[DING]

"Oh shit," said Viaga agast.

[Divine being, \'Golden Pope\' is offering any Divine Spell for Altair Blackwood\'s head]

[Divine Being, "King of Swords," is offering SSS Rank Skill to the first to offer Altair remains to him.]

[Divine Sin, \'Conquest\' shall off ten Soul Coins to any who brings him Altair Blackwood\'s head on a fucking Pike!]

[Divine Seraph, \'Arc Soul\' is willing to grant anyone into the Kingdom of Heaven should they offer Altair Blackwood\'s soul to the Eternal Heavens.]

Vaiga turned, catching sight of hundreds, if not thousands, glowing with the Blessing of the Gods and Demons. Her heart dropped, and her eyes narrowed as she turned to Cedric, grinning, bathed in a corrupted gold light.

"Altair… you\'d better live."

***

"Oh! He\'s pretty close." Syris grinned, resting on a bapett. She giggled. "Seems he\'s got the gods to go wild over him."

"He must be something," said Lady Lyain Orsteen, sharply staring at the system messages of gods, devils, demons, and seraphim filling her chat logs.

Syris hopped off the remains of the Bappett carved into small bite-size pieces and nodded. "Right? He is the strongest person my age. He might be on the level of those within Babels Tower or the Prime Worlds."

Lady Lyain Orsteen wasn\'t convinced. She perked up her glasses with her palm and stared down with her emerald eyes. "What is he?"

"That\'s just it. Not even the Reverend Mother knows. But we can be sure he\'s from an old family." Said Syris, smiling.

"The Old Gods." Murrured Lyain grimly. "My Lady, do forgive my insolence, but nothing good comes from the Old Gods. Their knowledge and power are—"

"Without equal." Said Syris coolly, glancing at her mentor without emotion. "You\'d do well to watch your tongue, Lyain. I\'ve never met an old god that wasn\'t vindictive to some degree. Many of them are Paragons and Chaos Lords. Their knowledge of the Seven Schools of Magic is unrivaled. Come, let\'s go.

We\'ll meet Altair in Visem."