Abyssal Awakening

Crashing down on Lorien's ship, Alice was about to cheerfully call out to them when she noticed the injuries they sustained.

Even Lorien wasn't unscathed as she could see the anger on his face as he clutched the stump where his right arm used to be.

A medic ran over, giving him a vial to drink but he hesitated. Reluctance could be seen in his face but eventually, he caved and snatched the drink.

Gulping it down in one go, the flesh on his shoulder began to bulge and twitch before burning out into a cocoon. From within this cocoon, Alice noticed a flow of energy reconstructing his arm.

However, it was clearly different from before. More… Abyssal.

'A side effect. He's using the side effect to regenerate his arm.' Alice thought to herself.

She had already taken a look around the city. There were no Churches of the Moon for him to go to. No priests to help heal his arm.

Therefore, the only thing he could rely on right now was Abyss Blood.

As the new arm burst out of the cocoon, Alice could see the reptilian markings disappear before returning back to what a normal arm should look like.

"Well well well, seems like you had a pretty rough time didn't you?" Alice smirked as a vein bulged on Lorien's forehead.

"Shut up. Did you deal with Minerva?" He asked, glaring at Alice who shrugged.

"I kept her busy if that's what you're asking about. She'll probably be back tomorrow. And the shipments?"

"They're fine but a box got taken." Lorien spat as he forced himself to stand up.

Giving Alice another glance, he noticed the lack of damage on her body.

"You could've killed Minerva couldn't you?" He asked as Alice stuck out her tongue.

"Perhaps. But your task was simply for me to keep her busy no?" She grinned.

Hearing this, anger filled Lorien's mind as he rushed to grab her but a thick killing intent surged out, freezing him in his steps.

"Touch me and I can promise you that no amount of healing vials will save you from what I'll do." Alice warned with a cold tone.

Choking on what he was about to say, Lorien took a step back as Alice regained her smile.

"You can't get violent with a cutie like me. Otherwise, I'll dislike you okay~?"

"How much?" Lorien spat out.

"What do you mean?" Alice played dumb, taking this chance to mess around with Lorien.

"How much do you want in exchange for killing Minerva." Lorien clarified while Alice tapped her chin.

"While I do need money, I don't need that much. And… Killing Minerva brings quite a few enemies on my back. I'd rather not have that happen."

He wanted to protest but stopped after seeing the look in her eyes. He knew that no matter what he said, there was nothing that he could offer her that would make her kill Minerva.

Except… There was one way.

To entice this girl with whatever's in the box.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

But doing so was very risky and he'd rather avoid it if possible.

'They already claimed one box so it's only a matter of time before they find out what's inside it. At least it should take them a while to open it up.' Lorien thought to himself before letting out a sigh.

As long as he could get the shipments tomorrow, it didn't matter even if he was missing a box or two.

"Forget it then. Let's head back." Lorien clicked his tongue.

Hearing this, Alice raised her eyebrows in surprise but didn't say anything. She had expected him to try and win her over so that she could scam- she meant to earn more money from him.

But if he doesn't want to then so be it.

Leaning against the railings, Alice felt the cool breeze brush past her face as they made their way back to the port.

Once again, she dropped several beads of her own blood to mark down where the shipments were going.

Discover hidden content at empire

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Returning back to the port in a huff, Minerva was clearly annoyed as Alice had just scammed a bunch of Platina from her. Not only that, but she was still intent on taking Lorien's money!

However, if there is one silver lining, that is the fact that they managed to retrieve one of the shipments that Lorien tried to smuggle into the city.

Unfortunately, the container refused to budge no matter what they did. It didn't matter what skill they used to try and break the thing, it seemed to reflect the energy regardless.

"Minerva, Darrow wants a word with you." Virn walked up as Minerva was surprised to see Darrow's right hand man coming to the port.

"Is it that important for you to leave your post?" Minerva raised an eyebrow.

"He simply asked me to deliver a message and I have." Virn shrugged.

Frowning slightly, Minerva sent out orders for them to pack everything up and send the shipment to her residence. She'll sort it out herself once she finishes talking with Darrow.

Once she gave out the orders, Minerva followed Virn and soon, she was standing outside Darrow's room.

Usually, Darrow would be rather laid back and relaxed. No matter what she said or threatened, he wouldn't budge or get mad with her. But this was the first time that he's had Virn call her over so she couldn't help but be nervous.

Taking a deep breath, Minerva entered the room and saw Darrow flipping through some documents while looking at the map.

Silence filled the room as Darrow let out a chuckle.

"What's wrong? Being silent isn't like you." He glanced up as Minerva frowned and clicked her tongue in annoyance.

"Did something happen? Why did you have Virn call me over?" Minerva asked as Darrow leaned back on his chair.

"I simply want to hear about what happened from your mouth." He gestured for her to take a seat.

Even though he was using his usual tone, Minerva could tell that he was being serious.

Taking a moment to sit down, she decided to be upfront and told him everything she knew. While she may argue with him often, he was someone she could trust her back to.

Listening carefully, Darrow furrowed his brows when she started to mention Alice.

He was very familiar with how strong Minerva was at one on ones and close quarters combat. But for her to be dominated this badly could only mean her opponent was someone abnormal.

Then there was also the fact that her fighting style and aura seemed to shift halfway through the fight.

The golden chains that wrapped around her limbs…

None of this was anything that Darrow had heard about before. However, there was one clue. Her appearance.

It was the same as what he had seen on the beach the other night.

The same woman that split the seas with one attack and turned the beach into glass.

Once Minerva finished reporting on everything, she waited for Darrow to respond.

"Good job on signing a contract with her. Though you should've added some preventative clauses in there since there's no real punishment for breaking it." Darrow chuckled as he reached into his drawer and pulled out a pouch before throwing it to Minerva.

"This is?"

"Money. Use that money to help with the contract. Be grateful that she didn't want to kill you otherwise not even I could keep you safe. You're going to intercept the last shipment tomorrow right?" He asked as Minerva nodded.

However, her mind was in shock as this was the first time she'd heard Darrow admitting that he couldn't beat someone outside of Lords.

Was Alice truly that strong?

"Continue what you're doing but simply watch them. Don't intercept, don't interfere. Just watch the exchange." Darrow suggested, causing Minerva to frown.

"Shouldn't we try to stop them at least?"

"We should. But didn't the girl already tell you? She's marked down the locations of the shipments. Once the final shipment is brought into the city, she'll make her move. While I'm against having the battle break out near civilians, it can't be helped if that's what she has planned." Darrow shrugged.

Thankfully, the location of the Underworld is further away from the city than before. Even if a battle was to break out, it should be relatively safe… Right?

However, he considered the demonstration of her power by the beach and became silent.

If she were to unleash that kind of attack, forget the Underworld, the entire city would be wiped off the map.

They were primarily a trading city after all, not a city built for defense.

"Perhaps I should join you tomorrow. I want to see and talk to this Calista personally." Darrow scratched his chin.

Minerva on the other hand was excited. If Darrow was planning on making a move then-

"Don't get your hopes up. I still don't suggest interrupting them since it cuts down the time we have. I simply want to talk to this girl and see what her thoughts are like." Darrow shook his head.

After so many years, it's only natural for him to understand what Minerva was thinking about.

"Tsk."

Letting Minerva leave, Darrow gave his body a stretch and let out a sigh.

He's been occupied by meetings and discussions for so long that this was probably his first real outing in many months. As someone who preferred to go outside, he couldn't help but smile at the thought as a tinge of excitement welled up in his chest.

Even though he knows that he's probably not a match for Alice, he was still tempted to give it a shot. To see where he stood against the new generation.