...

....

...

'This... is bad.' Avius clenched his bleeding arm, looking at the others; all the scouts were dead. Iris was injured, and while they could heal others, she couldn't heal herself.

"Where are you, Keres..."

A laugh echoed into his ears; it made them bleed from how horrific it was. He wanted to think this was a dream, but it wasn't; it couldn't be, the pain was too real to be an illusion.

He looked at his hand, trying to stop the bleeding, ripping some of his cloth off, and wrapping it around his wound, the fabric turning red in seconds. But that was everything he could do.

I mean, he had more important things to worry about.

...

Like the Abyss standing in front of them.

They hadn't even had time to realize what had happened, since after Keres left to see what the heck was going on inside the Marketplace, the Abyss appeared out of nowhere, and they had tried to capture him, just like planned.

But what they didn't expect was the sheer power it had. In the fraction of a second, when his vines caught his legs, some sort of substance shot away from it. The Abyss's physical form, Abyssal matter.

He had read about it; it was a substance that had forgotten what it was supposed to be, coming to become a sticky liquid, that, if wished, can take whatever form the Vessel wants. It was powerful.

The Abyssal matter that shot out turned into spikes, catching them off guard and piercing his arm. He had tried to get his staff, but the Abyss had used its physical form to grab it from him, creating a tentacle with a grip that couldn't be shaken.

And sadly for him, his bane didn't allow him to use any of his powers unless he used a staff, so he was completely useless. With him were only some scouts, who were quickly murdered/

...

And Iris.

The girl had almost been killed, since after grabbing his staff, the tentacle also hit her as it was coming down. Hitting her into a war. And because she was only a reader, she was too fragile.

He hadn't expected the Abyss to be this strong, since it had been hiding before; he had expected it to be weak, that being the reason why it didn't try fighting them like Cain had done. It was a shameless strategy, yet one that had worked until now.

He watched as the Abyss got closer. Two giant tentacles emerged from its back, their sharp ends pointed at him. His eyes flashed as he saw the tip getting closer to him.

...

And yet, nothing had happened.

...

'Huh?'

Avius opened his eyes, seeing that the Abyss was still there, just that, it looked to be fighting itself. The figure smashed its head into the wall, as if trying to get something out.

This... battle continued for a while before the Abyss suddenly stopped, leaving as fast as it arrived.

But while he was stunned and speechless, he couldn't just sit there. As the Abyss left, he rushed to Iris. The girl was in a dangerous shape, with blood flowing from her head. He cursed under his breath, blaming himself for not being able to protect her and the others.

...

"What happened here?"

'Keres?'

Avius looked back, seeing the young princess who looked stunned to see this scene, welcoming him back. He looked to be confused, but as his eyes met Iris's, he frowned, filling with anger.

Summoning a bottle, he approached Iris, making her drink whatever was inside.

"I assume that is a healing potion?" Avius asked, but to his horror, Keres didn't even look at him; it was as if he hadn't even heard him. He had never seen him act like this; it was so strange.

He was actually scared for his life.

Keres was one, if not the strongest person, besides the King, at the moment. With the rise of the vessels, that might have changed. He had someone in mind who might be able to get stronger than he was, but he's too young.

Well, at his age, the Prince was already close to becoming a Bearer, but still.

He's someone who is born once in hundreds of years. And yet, he wasn't chosen by anyone.

Honored, yet not chosen, an honored bastard.

The name fits him even more when you realize that his sister, who doesn't have the talent he has, was chosen by the Gods. Ironic either way, but that never made him envy her.

And seeing how worried he was for her now, it was easy to realize this.

...

"What happened here?"

His voice was calm, and yet he didn't dare even look at him.

"The Abyss, it did it."

Keres clenched his fist, trying not to lose control.

"Ask father if we can change the plan."

...

"I wish not to capture him. Only death would be a worthy punishment."

...

...

"Damn it, I should have thought about this."

Aether felt his whole body tremble under him, as he wobbled around, using anything he could to support himself.

Mental Fortitude: 21/100

Status: Subject is is critical risk of being taken over by the Abyss.

While forcing himself to produce essence to feed to his essence, and going against his body's will, he had not only hurt his physical body, but had also completely ravaged his mental fortitude.

It had fallen under twenty, and with his losing himself, it was easy for the Abyss to take over. He actually didn't expect to remember what happened, as he knew that whenever it took control, he tended to forget what happened. Only now, after getting his mark, did he start remembering what happened.

He had tried his best to raise his mental fortitude, but it had only seemed to fall, as he, too, fell in desperation. But in the end, he was able to regain himself, just in time before the Abyss did something very bad.

Injury Iris was already a great mistake, since while he didn't think the King was going to come, not because he wouldn't want to, but the mage probably wouldn't tell him.

But Keres... he knew he wasn't going to let that go.

And to be honest, he really wanted to kill him for killing his master and betraying her. But it wasn't the time. He wasn't strong enough.

But while having an angry Habinger want you dead isn't the best thing, if he hadn't stopped the Abyss, that mage would have died. Then, the King would have definitely come to get him, and he couldn't run away from a Breaker, even more so one with his truth. He could just stop his affinity and find him.

In the end, things were bad, but they could have been even worse. His plan still succeeded, even if things were going to be harder now. He was really glad he made them think the lantern didn't work, since if he didn't, Keres wouldn't be so patient as to search carefully.

Killing anything inside the shadows, even more if there was a human figure there.

And while he was going to have to hide better, it wasn't for long. He was either going to take a long nap after this, but after he woke up, the Withered would have probably already turned on the Blue Rose, with his rebellion starting, under Riven's command, until he woke up, of course.

Then he was going to take charge, with Riven being his right hand, and Lyra his left.

The mage and his group are going to be bound to retreat. With everyone trying to exile them, it was going to be impossible to find someone specific in a sea of people, and they couldn't kill everyone. So they are going to have to go back.

Of course, after that, they were going to start the real rebellion. A part of them are going to stay inside the Withered, trying to make the lives of nobles buying from the Marketplace, or just wandering around, a living hell.

His part, though, the ones he chose to join him alongside Riven and Lyra are going to try and make the army of the Blue Rose fall, assassinating the ones fighting in the war against his Kingdom, and the reinforcement when they came through.

And if possible, they were going to try and get inside the district.

Of course, though, they weren't strong, so they were going to have to do some stories to raise their sync, and hopefully get to Seeker. And it was possible. With people respecting them, they didn't have to worry about surviving inside the Withered, and with their number, he was sure he could clear some Reader's books.

But that was for the future.

Now... all he wanted was some rest. For his eyelids to close, and not to open for a long, long time. And to say the truth, it was deserved, and needed, of course. His essence was non-existent at this point.

...

...

"Didn't you say there was no rest for the wicked?"

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