CHAPTER 800: MAKING USE OF SELEN’S POWER

Dragging Selen away from the camp, Caera took the lead and they ventured into Terminus.

Selen was naturally worried about the state of the camp. Having helped in nearly everything, she understood how precarious their situation was.

Not only was more than 80% of the civilians who lived in the capital gone, but those that remained were struggling against the miasma of Terminus.

If they don’t find a way out of here soon, things will take a turn for the worst.

"Where are we going? If it’s just killing something shouldn’t you be able to handle it yourself?" Selen asked curiously.

Caera was strong. Far too strong.

Strong enough where not even the two Lords under Verona could do anything about her.

So the fact that she needed her help of all things, and to kill a beast at that, seemed a little improbable.

"This is Terminus we are talking about. Even for myself, I have to be careful. The beasts trapped down here are those that were banished for their danger after all~" Caera chuckled sticking out her tongue.

However, Selen couldn’t quite believe that excuse.

The look of doubt was clear in her eyes.

"My~ You don’t need to be so on guard. The successor would be saddened if I did anything to you after all. But I’m not lying, we are out here to hunt down a beast amongst other things." Caera shrugged.

"When the Queen failed her ascension, she forcefully anchored the spiralling divinity into her right arm and severed it. However, nothing is so simple. Since she had been cultivating that Divinity for a while and wanted to ascend, it’s only natural that the soul is heavily entwined with that power." She began to explain, flicking her wrist and swatting away a camouflaged beast with a tentacle.

The beast was right behind Selen and she didn’t even notice.

"You see, with the soul being so heavily involved, cutting it away will naturally have its downsides. She’s lost around 50% of her soul with that cut. Maybe even more and it wasn’t a clean cut either. There are still traces of that false divinity clinging onto her, corrupting her."

Hearing this, Selen furrowed her brows.

"Then shouldn’t we remove the rest of the corruption? Or would that be cutting too much of her soul?"

"It’ll be too much. She’s already struggling to stay conscious and speak, what makes you think she can survive another cut? The beast we’re going to hunt down is one that helps supplement the soul." Caera laughed, glancing back at Selen.

"However, killing the beast wouldn’t benefit us at all. So we need to capture it. What better person for the job than you?"

Selen scratched her hair. She’ll admit it, her skill was helpful in this aspect. But it still doesn’t change the fact that Caera could just overpower the beast on her own to capture it.

"But before we capture the beast, I’ll need your help to restore an old lab of mine."

"You know that I can’t reverse time right?" Selen furrowed her brows.

While she may have the powers of Miralith, reversing time was still something beyond her scope of powers. Even for Miralith, such an act felt impossible.

"Oh I’m fully aware. I’m not asking for you to reverse our time. No, I just want you to help me manipulate it to a certain extent. So that we can find the right era." Caera chuckled.

Her explanation didn’t help as Selen was more confused than ever.

"Right era?"

Caera rolled her eyes.

If it was Alice, she probably would’ve guessed it by now.

"The Inverted World. I’m going to kill a Lord and forcefully open an Inverted World. The conditions are a little strict but I’m pretty sure I can make it happen.

"The only issue is making sure it captures the right memory. So instead of killing a handful and hoping they latch onto the right time frame then failing, I’ll have you adjust the era it latches onto. Surely that’s doable for you right?" Caera rolled her eyes.

There’s no doubt that whatever remains of Ayr was beyond repair. Making use of them was impossible unless Selen could turn back time. But even for a god, this was an impossible feat.

So Caera settled with an alternative.

"I... I’m not sure." Selen frowned, she never tried such a thing before. In fact, she’s only ever interacted with the Inverted World once never mind trying to manipulate the era captured within.

"I’m sure you’ll do fine~ If Miralith holds the potential to do so then so can you." Caera waved her hand dismissively.

Selen sighed.

She couldn’t help but wonder if everyone from Ayr had the same thought process.

Shaking her head, Selen followed behind Caera.

###

"I think we should change up the training a little." Syrion withdrew his blade from Gwen’s neck.

Another day, another defeat. And not a single step closer to her goal.

"Change? How so?" Gwen sighed, panting from the exhaustion as sweat rolled down her cheeks.

"I think it’s better for you to see what you are lacking rather than trying to find it blindly. Perhaps the method worked for you in the past but it’s clearly not working now. So you need to shift your mentality a little." Syrion explained.

Tapping his chin, he got an idea.

With Alice testing out her new prototype, this was the perfect chance.

"Alice!" Syrion called out as Alice’s ears twitched.

She poked her head out from the window and saw the two looking up at her.

"What is it?"

"Come down here, I got a new style of training that might be suitable for the two of you."

Alice’s interest was piqued as she made her way down.

She was still working on her new prototype so this might be a good moment to test it out.

"What kind of training are we doing?" Alice asked curiously.

"One where you don’t fight back."

"Oi, what kind of training is that?" Alice’s smile twitched.

"Gwen is having issues with making up new plans on the spot and you’re having issues with Vision. So I’m thinking you two can supplement what the other lacks. Gwen can observe your movements to understand what she’s lacking when it comes to making up new plans.

"Meanwhile, you can observe Gwen and see what she’s doing for Vision while she’s attacking." Syrion clarified.

Thinking about it for a moment, Alice nodded her head.

"Alright, I need to test out the new defensive properties of my technique anyways."

With Alice agreeing, Syrion clapped his hands.

"Perfect. Gwen, focus on attacking. Don’t fall into a rhythm. Don’t worry about things getting too dangerous, I’ll step in if needed."

Taking a few steps away from Gwen, Alice took a deep breath.

Resonance!

Tiamat’s wings unfurled behind her, linking Alice to the world around them.

The power of duality spread through her body, splitting her fifth Sigil in half as the crown above her head shimmered.

Bloodline Release!

*RUMBLE!!!

From Alice’s shadow, a silhouette of a crying lady appeared. A wicked smile that sent haunting chills down the spine of any who saw it.

Alice’s eye twitched momentarily as her vision began to shift.

The world unravelled into energy and information, directly being injected into Alice’s mind.

Blood dripped from her nose.

"I’m ready."

###

Seeing Alice’s powers, I’m once again reminded how strange she is.

The collision of opposing energy within her body.

Corruption that seeped through every vein.

Then there’s that... silhouette behind her.

It didn’t feel like a normal technique. It felt... different.

Even now, my body was trembling ever so slightly. My instincts telling me not to fight whatever was in front of me, regardless of the fact that this was simply training.

I aimed my hand towards Alice. My intent was clear, I’ll test out her defences first with my spells.

. . .

Blood moved guard Alice before my attack could even formulate.

"Are you just going to stare at Alice? Why don’t you fire an attack or two?" Syrion called over.

He’s right, I can’t just stand here gawking.

This is my chance to understand how Alice fights, how I should change my fighting.

Sorry Alice, I’m going all out.

###

Gwen stomped down, a flaming spear appearing next to her as she activated her resonance.

Gritting her teeth, she threw the first javelin that split into five.

*CLANG!

Alice destroyed the javelin with ease.

She could see it, the flow of energy faster than before. The moment even the slightest hint of energy was being gathered, her body was already reacting.

The triggered cast she put into place was doing its job.

From above, she sensed the convergence of energy and created a blood mist to counter.

The best defence against spells was to interrupt the formation process!

[Everything is within expectations. Seems like this is fine so long as you focus on defending.] Cayla reported while Alice defended against the attacks being thrown at her.

She didn’t even need to move from her spot as her automated defence was working on its own.

Her soul directly receives information and reacts instinctively.

Of course, this has the downside of not telling the different between a feint and the real attack since it’s reacting to everything being thrown at Alice.

But with a bit of fine tuning, this could work.

*BANG!!!

Alice tilted her head just in time.

A physical attack thrown by Syrion while merging with Gwen’s attacks.

"I thought this was sparring between me and Gwen!" Alice shouted out, quickly stepping to the side in order to avoid Syrion’s barrage.

Her automated defence still handling Gwen’s onslaught but it was beginning to falter with Syrion cutting apart her blood.

"I never said I wasn’t going to join." Syrion shrugged.

Even though he sounded nonchalant, there was a light of appreciation in his eyes.

Clicking her tongue, Alice slammed her hand down, creating a pool of blood beneath her.

With both of them attacking her and one even being able to cut apart her spells, Alice had to put more filters in place.

To use her energy efficiency and extend her time in this state.

Summoning Void Fang, Alice countered. Physical attacks against physical, spell based against spells.

She’ll adapt based on the patterns shown!

Cayla didn’t say anything. She couldn’t say anything.

She was watching as more and more triggered casts were put into place in real time!

If this continues...

’Alice will be able to block everything automatically.’