Shadow of the Abyss

His chest was burning, but his heart was calm… calm as the very Vale he graced.

"Circle him and attack all at once!" One of the three commanded.

The Seven Dark Moon Blades shuddered and hovered over the prince like a crown upon his head. While the eye of sacrilege shimmered, bleeding a deadly insight, blood trickled down the prince's nose as all seven swords, alongside the two in each hand, synchronized with his mind.

Altair pushed his perception out to ten meters, the limit it could reach, and drew a long breath he held firmly, unwilling to release it.

He cycled his mana, and a sound so deafening crackled like a bolt of thunder. So horrid the sound it echoed on for miles to the ears of the Admiral as she whirled from her office towards the large window to see a boy bloodied and beaten, surrounded by seven swords that hovered above him.

She watched, petrified by the sword energy that came like a gale over her base. She watched as Altair's arms peeled away like a knife on fruit. Watched as the trees in the distance became like dust in the breeze. Watched as the Three-Circle Assassins became nothing more than a red mist. Watched as arcs of infernal lightning threaded each blade…

Vaiga Darkfire took it all in, staring as Altair's sword became like a black hole devouring the elements around him. Be it light or darkness, wind or heat, his sword devoured everything until what lay before him was a graveyard of death.

"Hells!!!!!" She cried out only to see a scarlet blur race toward him, pausing as she screamed.

"Art!!!"

Altair, perceiving Ren's existence, stopped, revealing the peeled flesh already reaching his pale white bones, barely tethering any sort of tissue.

Aghast, Ren charged at him, catching his limped body as he collapsed in her arms. She wasted no time, conjuring various refined balms from her ring, and began applying first aid.

'Red Hair,' Vaiga calmly thought and glanced at Iliana, observing them with a bloody head in her hand.

"Yun Da-Eun, " Vaiga lightly called to her assistant. "Put the base on lockdown. And prepare the medical ward for Altair." She stared up in the distance to the various lords, ladies, and paparazzi, wishing to see Altair circling her base a hundred leagues away. "Oh… And tell those insects they have ten minutes to vacate, or they'll be wiped out. That includes the imperial family."

Yun Da-Eun, listening through her comlink, shuddered, hearing the edge in the admiral's voice, and hurried to relay her command. In a matter of seconds, hundreds of fighter jets, drones, and ships left the base, pointing their weapons at the onlookers.

***

With a crossed expression, Amilia Throne snarled. "Woman, I don't know who you are, but Altair is—"

"Let her do her thing." Iliana calmly interceded on Rens's behalf, hanging back with a thin vale smile. Carefully observing Ren casually, refining various balms and potions for her broken prince. "He should have some extensive nerve damage, and every artery should be damaged, alongside his meridians that ruptured from over-taxing himself."

"We know this…" Amilia fired back, glaring furiously at Ren and then her Commander hatefully. She was the doctor here. "But why are you letting this little girl work on—"

"I trust her more than you." Iliana calmly mused, pointing to a half-empty vial that Ren created. "Most of those concoctions were made with Altair blood as a base component. So the effects are double, maybe tripled. That girl is literally rebuilding his body from scratch.

Cellular Reconstruction

Origin Bone Mending

Blood Cycling Balm

Blood Regen Pill

Lesser Yang Balm

Lesser Yin Balm

Lesser Yin and Yang Pill

Cycling through all the various concoctions she created during the past few weeks in case of an emergency. Reina wasted no time drowning her prince in a cocktail of medical herbs and balms, returning him to his former glory in a mere hour and a half.

***

"So it failed, huh." a youthful voice said.

Captain Cedric Vandel stoically nodded before the hologram on his knee. " Yes… it would seem like the boy had a guardian, a new commander, Vaiga, appointed a few days ago. "He said calmly. "She killed our Fifth Circle in a single stroke… it was so quick I didn't even see when she drew her sword. Much less reach for it."

"That's troubling… "The youthful voice said. "Hmmm. There is sure to be an investigation. Are your hands clean?"

"Yes, m'lady. I've already found a scapegoat: Hilda Strobs. In a few week's time, I'll release new evidence that'll implicate her for the death of Jor Silmar."

"Interesting… then see it through. With the Heir to the Strob family buried and dead… we might be able to recover some property. I'll see to the shorting of their stocks and so on. Just keep up your end."

"Yes, m'lady," Cedric said, lowering his head.

***

It wasn't until the dead of twilight that Altiar stirred within the medical ward, opening his eyes, groggy and weak, with an unbearable thirst in the back of his throat, did he wake.

"What a horrible way to wake up." He told himself, feeling a slight pressure on his chest. Altair glanced down, smiling at the teary-eyed Nephilim glaring up at him. "Oh, Evening…"

"Big Dummy…" Ren muttered, pursing her lips angrily. "How could… You… almost…"

Brewing a shelter of tears in the corner of her eye, Altair patted her head, unable to understand why his heart felt so warm. "Did you heal me?" he asked, feeling utterly anew as if all the damage he inflicted on himself was gone.

[Ding]

[Upgrade Available]

[Superior Instincts can be Evolve past its Silver Tier]

"Tier? Skills have Tiers?" he muttered when he felt Ren's burning eye upon him. 'Sorry… My system—"

"Hmph… You're more worried about your system than me! Bully!"

(づ￣ 3￣)づ

"…" Just about determining it was the system sending all these emojis, Altair hesitantly began to test his theory.

"System… Do Skills have Tier!"

(ง •̀_•́)ง

[Ding]

[Updating Admin Rights]

[Update Complete]

[Superior Instincts (D)]

Tier: Silver

Description: A hidden sense developed by the user to help sense what is within the Preconscious Mind.

[Do you wish to upgrade Superior Instincts to Gold Tier?]

"Yes…"

[Ding]

[Requirements]

-Tier Four Core

- Two Mana Circles

"I knew my luck wasn't that good." The boy mused, grinning. " I wonder if I can buy such a thing either on base or on the web. I hope it's cheap… I'm broke."

"A~L~T~A~I~R," Ren spelled out, glaring inches from the boy's face. She shoved him back down on the bed and pressed her fist to her waist. "Rest… And let me run a few scans."

Going with the flow, Altair merely grinned, allowing Ren to do as she pleased, enjoying her worried look. She nodded soon after. "Your Mana roots are still raw but should return to normal in a few more hours, or—"

"After a good meal," The boy finished, as his right eye flashed red, billowing with an air of regality.

Ren rolled her eyes and snagged a blood bag from her ring before tossing it to him. "Eat up. Oh, and Teach said that to come to the beach when you wake. Seems it's time for us to build our second circle."

"Finally!" Altair yelped, cutting the blood bag open with his nail before pouring its contents into a glass cup. He looked up, sensing Ren's peculiar stare, and explained. "I'm not a lowly animal that can't use proper utensils. I've never been one to drink from a milk carton, so this is the next best thing.'

"What's a milk carton?"

"..."

"..."

o((>ω< ))o

***

On the beach overlooking the ebbing flow of the waters against the shores, Iliana stood, looking towards the armed battalion, to the wreckage of ships sinking into the endless seas. To the survivors being fired on by Admirals Darkfire's fleet without a hint of remorse. Blood pooled endlessly through the seawater, staining it red, leaving nothing behind but the cold bodies to be devoured by the seas.

"Gods… I can't wait to return to the Abyss. I miss those days." Iliana moaned, nibbling at her lips, reminiscent of the days within the Primal Chaos that was the Abyss, to the Citadel of endless emerald skies and luscious lands that expanded endlessly over the horizon into cascading seas. "Everything in the myriads is so flimsy, so weak. And Gods, I miss the Queen.

It's been so long since I contacted her… I wonder if she is as bored as I am?"

"Master, are you really that strong?"

Iliana glanced at her masked disciple, perhaps the only decent thing she'd seen in a while. "You've no idea. "She replied, smiling. "The Realm of Godhood is like most other beginnings, but the level of power one commands is so untethered it takes those at the highest peak to bring about order and chaos for there to be balance."

"So even amongst the gods… Such rules follow them."

"It's because they are gods. They allow such laws to rule them." Iliana informed him. "All of life can be defined into two categories: Order and Chaos. And don't confuse these with Good and Evil. There is no such thing.

"What do you mean?" asked Ren.

"On the side of Order, we have the Seraphim, the Angels of the Heavens, while on the side of Chaos, you got the Fallen Angels. They are the arbiters of what is right and wrong. Now. Let me ask you this: if you kill a man for harming Ren here. Are your actions justified?"

"Yes."

"But the Seraphim, the absolute lords of Order, say that all murder is wrong."

"But isn't it for the right reason? To protect someone?" The Prince protested.

"Killing is Killing… You can dress it up with fancy titles and call it self-defense or whatnot. But in the end, someone is dead. And that is a sin."

"Don't Seraphims kill then?" Altair asked, scrunching his brow. Disturbed by the contradiction.

'They play by different rules due to the nature of their existence, but yes. However, this isn't about them but what they represent. Now, the Fallen Angels are a bit different. They thrive on chaos… Lawful Chaos. A good example is a man doing everything right but is cast into hell for a minor infraction in life… a white lie or something that's considered sinful.

The crime doesn't really fit the sentence, but as the arbiters, they can do as they see fit when in bounds to their laws. Similar to a case of self-defense. "

"So... they're like politicians." The prince concluded. "Mother always said politics is all about who can lie best."

"Indeed.' Iliana giggled, impressed. " And within a glance, you can see the imperfection. Those are the most extreme examples. Not all angels or fallen fall into that category. But based on their affiliation, you can practically guess what they represent."

Altair folded his arms."Then… What's my Alignment?"

Iliana smirked beneath her mask. "You had seven people killed and forced a conscious man to kill himself. You are definitely on the chaotic side of things. Neutral Evil or perhaps Lawful Evil."

"And father?"

"He a destroyer. Evil incarnate…"

"... What about you?"

'Me?" Iliana smiled and said with a laugh, " I'm a destroyer boy."