CHAPTER 852: KARYA

Thinking about the potential of Oblivion, Alice eventually sighed and shook her head.

Oblivion was a realm far beyond her understanding right now. Trying to pierce through the veil and experiment without prior knowledge was stupid.

She didn’t know the dangers nor the rules.

It’s clear that this power is far beyond what she was prepared to handle. After all... Even Theron, the Slayer, could only use this power for a short period of time and his energy became a little unstable afterwards.

She has yet to become a Lord thus the thought of using this power...

While Alice was contemplating about the powers of Oblivion, Elias fell silent at the mention of the Doctor.

Someone who wouldn’t die even after Alice destroyed his physical body. And based on her words, it seems like a physical body didn’t matter much for this man.

Side effects aside, Elias knew full well how important the connection between soul and body is. It’s why people can’t easily shake off the side effects.

And yet this man in question was ignoring this connection completely to achieve an immortal body?

A gimmick.

That’s all Elias could think about.

If this connection could be temporarily separated so that the body doesn’t affect the soul, can’t they make adjustments against side effects easier?

Or was there another factor he wasn’t considering?

Right now, his powers can only ’undo’ certain changes up to a limited period of time. Trying to go further was impossible.

So in order for him to cross this boundary of impossibility...

Elias narrowed his eyes and entertained a certain idea.

’Is one of the people who can undo side effects imposed on others that Alice spoke about... the specimen that the Zenia family had access to?’

Alice was incredibly knowledgeable about this specimen after all. And considering the nature of this secret, sharing the location would be rather risky hence the delays.

"You alright? You look a bit worried. I know the Zenia family is big but it’s not like we’re going to bomb them head on. At least not yet." Alice’s voice rang out as Elias glanced over.

"Huh?"

"If you’re worried about the family targeting you, you can help from the shadows instead." Alice offered, knowing that taking on this task wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea.

She didn’t care much since her family consisted of stupidly strong people who can take care of themselves. But others might not be the same.

"Ah no, I was thinking about something else." Elias shook his head. "I was wondering if some of their research, materials or even the blood may be useful for me.

"Based on what you said about the Doctor, it’s clear that somehow, by separating his soul from the body, he’s able to practically ignore the damage on his main body. So what if... we apply the same when I revert side effects? Would that allow me to go past certain limits?" Elias theorised.

Hearing all of this, Alice leaned back.

"It’s not quite the same as what you’re thinking." She shook her head.

She decided to tell him a little about the solution she has found when it comes to reverting side effects.

"The connection between the soul and body is too important to sever. While the Doctor may seem like what you want to achieve, there are probably large downsides we don’t yet see. Dangers that we don’t yet know.

"When we obtain Sigils from the Abyss, do you know the process that occurs?" Alice asked.

Elias nodded his head.

"I believe a contract is formed right?"

"Yes. A contract is formed where a portion of your soul is taken away and replaced by that power. An equal exchange to some degree. And that soul is stored in a library of sorts. A library that can be used for a few things but mainly for the construction of the Inverted World.

"But the same applies when you drink Abyss Blood. It’s equivalent exchange. Whatever you sought to obtain through that blood, you pay with small fragments of your soul. So when you carve out the side effects, you lose pieces of yourself as a whole.

"To avoid that, you must revoke the contract. But what was gained cannot be undone. So what they avoided must be reapplied. If you drank blood to regenerate your arm, undoing the side effects means that your arm disappears along with it. Do you understand?"

This was the key thing that she learned when helping Arwen.

"And if you want the host to be perfectly fine even after revoking the contract..."

"Something else must take the damage." Elias realised as Alice nodded her head with a smile.

"Yep. Something else must take the damage in the host’s place."

In Arwen’s case, while Alice had the help of the Will to revoke the contract, she still received the power of the Siren in return. A power that, due to her unique constitution, could be turned on or off at will so long as she replaces one of her Sigils.

Unfortunately, because of how useful her Sigil selection is, exchanging it for the Siren sometimes feels like a slight waste. Especially since the hypnotic effect could be cleansed through various methods.

"I get the vessel part. But revoking the contract... How does one even achieve it? When I cleanse side effects, I’m simply undoing what’s occurred and applying my own healing when I can." Elias folded his arms with a large sigh.

"Who knows. But I believe it should be something heavily related to souls and how you can interact with them." Alice waved her hand dismissively.

She’s told him enough for one day. Any more and this’ll be a one sided trade, especially since she wasn’t sure how he would help when it comes to the Zenia family.

"When do you think you can contact your friend again?"

Alice rubbed her chin.

"It’ll have to wait quite a while. A lot of us were separated after what happened in the North. I’m continuing on my journey but I have trust that they’ll be fine. All of them are powerful."

Of course, that didn’t mean that Alice wasn’t worried. But Gwen had already promised her that she’ll look into what happened in the North.

Elias furrowed his brows. He saw what happened in the North through the newspaper.

The fact that she was keeping hope despite what had happened... This level of trust wasn’t something that could be cultivated easily.

"Anyways, that’s enough of that. Let’s just hope the Blood they sell in the store isn’t that expensive. It’ll take a pretty big chunk out of my savings if they are." Alice sighed.

After buying information from the Underground, she might have to do a few odd jobs again to replenish her coffers.

###

"Well well well. Would you look at what the wind blew to my doorstep today. A limp d*ck piece of turd that splattered against my f*cking door, leaving a stink that just won’t f*cking go away.

"What the f*ck do you want Gin." A white haired woman spat out in annoyance while smoking a cigarette.

She wore a white sleeveless collared dress with a black ribbon under the collar. A large black jacket unzipped slightly and pulled in a manner that exposed her shoulders.

Her golden eyes held a light of contempt.

In front of her stood the Abyss Lord of Death.

Someone who’s her opposite and someone she disliked. Not because of his Lordship or who he is. But because of what he did to her in the past.

"Arys I-"

"First of all. Don’t f*cking call me that. We’re not close anymore. Second of all, I can smell a rotting corpse. Is the medicine from your normal supplier not working?" She asked, taking out her cigarette and pointing at the figure sitting with her back against the wall.

Gin opened his mouth and sighed before nodding his head.

"Karya, can you take a look at her?" Gin asked, almost pleading.

If anyone can help Allura, it would be Karya. While she may not be able to undo the curse, she’ll be able to extend what little time they have left.

Karya furrowed her brows. Her eyes darting between Allura and Gin.

"Stay 5 meters away from me. Any closer and I’ll ignore Lua." Karya glared as Gin stepped away.

Walking out of her house, Karya walked past her gate and kneeled in front of Allura.

"Lua... Look at yourself. What did you do this time?" Karya’s gaze softened after seeing Allura’s wounds.

"Arys... Sorry... about this. I know you don’t like the old man... but I can’t exactly move freely right now." Allura smiled apologetically.

"It’s fine. You saved me a bunch before after all. I can forgive something small like this. But... If your old medicine doesn’t work anymore, I’m not sure what else I can do." Karya furrowed her brows.

The old medicine that Allura took was something that was created partially with her help and power. To make something stronger than that... it would be difficult.

"I told Gin... But he was adamant about coming here. Even after all this time, he still believes you-"

"Stop. I don’t care about what he thinks." Karya gritted her teeth.

Scratching her hair, she deliberated in silence.

In the end, she sighed and nodded her head.

"I’ll take a look but I can’t promise anything okay?" Karya tapped the ground beneath her.

Gentle energy began to flow outwards as Karya’s hair began to shift. Parts of it transformed into wings that unfurled, revealing blue and gold eyes hidden in the feathers.

A golden halo spun to life behind Karya, spectral wings and bells tolled.

Gin watched from afar. Complicated emotions flowing through his mind.

But he trusted Karya.

After all... She was his ’opposite’.

The light to his shadow. The life to his death.

Karya, The Abyss Lord of Life.