Abyssal Awakening

"Feris doesn’t want to kill us but that doesn’t change the fact that she’s dangerous right now. You understand that right?" Yama asked, vaulting through the suspended debris hovering in the air.

Noah nodded, sliding through a thin gap before jumping out to grab onto a pipe to swing himself further.

"I know. If we mindlessly throw ourselves in front of her targets, we’ll just be collateral damage. It’s clear that she’s targeting others for ’something’. Even if they try to hide, they can’t evade her senses." Noah nodded.

Glancing up towards the figure in the distance, he could see Feris snapping her head almost ninety degrees as her eyes locked onto a Hunter who had turned invisible.

*Nom~

A simple gesture of her mouth and suddenly a pair of cut off legs materialised on the ground.

He had been killed without being able to run.

"Can’t we just give her the something she needs?" Tobi groaned, carrying Rika on his back.

"Do you even know what that something is?" Rika bopped him on the head.

"Rika’s right. I thought it was fragments but... that’s not it. We’ve already got most of the fragments that Feris wanted when we came here. All that’s left is the big one." Noah turned his eyes towards the final Fragment.

Despite coming into contact with it, Feris hadn’t ’consumed’ it yet. It was there, waiting. Its glow seemed to have increased ominously with each death and Noah understood that whatever Feris was claiming, it must be inside the Hunter’s bodies.

"It’s either lifeforce or Abyssal Contracts." Yama suggested.

These two were the only things he could think about. The only two that had a common link between the people Feris has killed thus far.

It didn’t matter how strong or how weak you were, Feris went after everyone equally.

Man or woman, old or young.

So long as you breathed within this cage, you were a target.

At this point, Noah suddenly froze as his eyes glanced up at Feris then to the Fragment hovering not far away.

"We probably can’t do anything about the main body. But I think we should be able to do something about the fragment."

The source of the issue was the fragment. The moment Feris took a ’bite’, the moment she started collecting these things, something clearly changed inside her.

With the fragment now being filled up ever so slowly, an idea came to mind.

He must stop the collection.

"What if it has some... unforeseen after effects?" Yama furrowed his brows.

If the fragment was being filled up, if they break it, wouldn’t its contents leak?

Then what about Feris’s action of ’eating’? What if the fragment was her second stomach? What if after she comes back, she’s plagued by a constant hunger?

He couldn’t help but over think but Noah exhaled softly.

"We’ll cross that bridge when it comes. Anything is better than what she’s going through now."

They could clearly tell Feris wasn’t herself.

Yama couldn’t help but nod in agreement.

They were a small family. If Feris runs into any issues, all of them will help her through it.

Changing directions, it didn’t take long for them arrive at the fragment but once they got closer, Noah’s expression couldn’t help but turn sour.

From their initial distance, all they could tell was that the final fragment was being slowly filled with a strange light.

But once they got closer, the details were present inside.

A new figure, a new vessel.

Something was being created inside. A woman with what seemed to be black and blue hair.

Her facial details looked like Feris’s twin if she was a little older.

"F*ck." Yama couldn’t help but let out a curse.

Whatever was taking over Feris’s body was making something else for herself.

She wasn’t satisfied with just wrecking havoc with the vessel hovering in the sky. She needed something else.

Tightening his grip around the knife, Yama was about to take a step forward when Noah quickly pulled him back.

*BANG!!!

Space collapsed in front of the group as the vessel inside had opened her eye.

A single crimson eye stared at the group.

Self defence? Instinct?

Noah couldn’t tell.

If she really wanted to kill them, they would be dead.

Yet she made sure to angle the attack differently. To give them plenty of time to react.

Feris was still inside, fighting her own battles.

This was good news to Noah. He decided to call whatever was controlling Feris’s main body as Fragmented Feris.

If Fragmented Feris was controlling the main and Feris could be found in the vessel, separating the two wouldn’t be impossible.

The only issue came with completion. If the Vessel was completed, would Fragmented Feris swap places then ’eat’ Feris?

The chances weren’t zero. And that was concerning for Noah.

"We need to isolate Feris from Fragment Feris. I think the main body might be a lost cause." Noah clenched his teeth.

The main body already had too many fragments absorbed inside it. It’s clear from the moment Feris arrived at the Pit.

She was already showing abnormal signs.

Therefore, their goal should be to see whether or not they can isolate Feris within the vessel.

It’s clear that she had more control over the vessel than she did with her own body at this point.

With things reaching this stage, Noah was regretful.

He wished he had researched topics like this, even if he wasn’t a scientist. All he could rely on was hunches and guesses.

Regardless, the filling of the vessel must be stopped.

It was akin to an ominous timer.

Exhaling softly, Noah was about to take a step forward when he noticed some movement.

The vessel’s lips parted slightly. A single teardrop rolled from her opened eye.

H...e...l...p.

His decision was made up.

"I’ll get you out of there Feris." Noah promised as energy ignited across his blade.

Like the time with the anchors, energy started to form as a portal was created between them and the Fragment.

A guardian.

A silhouette reflecting the changes upon Feris’s main body. A darkness with only a single smiling mouth and a pair of eyes.

"Get ready!" Noah shouted, feeling a chill down his spine.

Immediately, a sequence of cracks formed across the air as Noah ignited the blessing that Feris left within his body.

With a single flick of his wrist, his blade came into contact with the cracks, clashing and crackling.

A stalemate.

Yama didn’t let this moment go to waste as he immediately circled from the side.

*Click

A snap of the finger.

Cubic structures intercepted Yama as it tried to form a cage around him.

"Boost!" Rika shouted, slamming her staff into the ground.

Yama felt a surge of energy through his body and without hesitation, jumped out of the trap.

*BANG!!!

Where he was a moment ago, the space was compressed and erased.

Cold sweat filled his back but he could tell that Feris was trying her best to hold back the Guardian.

The main body was rampaging, the Guardian was stopping them from reaching the Fragment.

And trapped inside, Feris was desperately clinging onto everything, holding them back to the best of her abilities.

The desperation to not let this distorted self kill her family.

"She’s definitely in there! The Guardian has to die!" Noah roared, veins bulging across his arms as his eyes glared at the Guardian.

A fire erupted in his heart. His burning will power to not let Feris suffer.

*CLANG!!!

Pivoting on his ankle, he dodged the cracks of space and twisted his body.

He threw his blade towards Yama!

Without the heavy blade in his hands, Noah lunged forward while arrows were fired from behind to cover his advance.

Seeing the heavy blade flying towards him, Yama’s pupils constricted before several threads were unwrapped around him.

These threads wrapped around the handle of the blade and Yama held his breath.

He twisted his body, redirecting the momentum of the blade back towards Noah.

Even if his arms felt like they were about to snap, he held on until the trajectory was correct!

"NOAH!!!" Yama screamed, his threads snapping as he let go, allowing the blade to fly back towards the Guardian.

Without even turning around, Noah knew his friend understood his plan and jumped.

Noticing this, the guardian narrowed her eyes.

Reaching out with an empty hand, she pulled.

"!!!"

Space was drawn towards her palm as both Noah and the blade was pulled towards her.

"Gah!" her fingers tightened around his throat.

Despite this, Noah had a grin.

He was the tank. The frontliner.

His job was to draw attention!

A flicker of shadow, the ominous glint of the eyes.

Yama appeared behind the Guardian!

A needle was flicked from his finger before being grabbed by his hand.

With the Guardian’s head being held by his left hand, Yama pulled the needle with his right hand towards her eye.

*CRACK! SHATTER!

His eyes widened. His weapon broke before it could even pierce the Guardian’s eye.

*BANG!!!

Infuriated by the worm’s attempt at harming her, the Guardian unleashed an explosion around herself.

A shield protected Yama as he was flung back but Noah wasn’t so lucky.

With his neck being grabbed, he felt the full brunt of her attack.

And as the smoke died down, most of his armour had been broken part.

*COUGH!!!

Coughing up a mouthful of blood, Noah clenched his teeth.

He was still alive, holding on.

He forced his eyes to open.

He saw the shocked expression on the vessel within the fragment.

Feris was there.

She was watching.

Her shock, her fear, everything could be seen by him.

So how could he show her this pathetic side?

"Oi... Guardian..." Noah mumbled as cracks began to form across his body.

His heart slammed against his chest.

How could he possibly fall before rescuing the girl who had stolen his heart so long ago? The girl who looked so beautiful under that sky of stars.

*BANG!!!

Noah grabbed the Guardian’s wrist.

His fingers digging into its flesh, causing it to wince slightly in surprise.

"I won’t die so easily." Noah glared.

Last Stand.

A worthless resonance unless used at the right time.

However...

*CRACK!!!

Noah broke the Guardian’s wrist and stumbled back, picking up his blade.

Despite his exhaustion, despite his damage, he felt power surging through his body.

Putting on the best smile he could, Noah glanced at Feris who was trapped inside the Fragment.

I’ll definitely save you no matter what.