Abyssal Awakening

With Ciel making her move, an oppressive aura instantly descended the battlefield as everyone felt as though they’ve been strangled and deprived of air.

However, those close to the centre of the pit noticed the pressure was weakened as the clash of two realms denied Ciel usage of her authority.

Regardless, Lords who knew about this kind of authority paled.

If the Realm Ruler was paying attention to this battle, what hope do they have to come out of this unscathed? Even if they claim the authority, could any of them guarantee that they’ll be able to survive what’s to come?

None!

A few of the Lords looked at one another, a silent agreement formed between them as they understood the stakes of this battle had just escalated beyond what they were comfortable with risking.

Yet before any of them could do anything, they noticed a large hazy avatar present in the sky.

A giant like no other, looming over them like a cosmic deity. A single pair of eyes could be seen as they curved into a set of crescent moons.

’She’ was smiling.

Reaching out with one hand, the clouds parted for her fingers as a ’cage’ was created around the pit.

"My dear children, are you enjoying your play date? Seeing as how so many of you are having fun, why don’t we enjoy it to the end. And thus I declare~"

The Lords turned pale.

"Let’s kill and maim each other to our heart’s content~ ❤︎⁠"

Clenching her fist, the entire pit was ’crushed’ as an island was lifted into the sky.

The entire cavity hosting the ’mouth’ along with the fragment and anchors were included. A circle around the area where Ciel’s authority could actually make a difference rather than being blocked off.

"What the hell is she doing!?" Several Lords shouted as one of them tried to break the barrier surrounding this place.

Gathering his authority into a single blade, Abyssal energy converged and he disappeared in a flash.

Countless sword marks rippled through the air as golden sparks appeared around his eyes.

*CLANG!!!

"!!!" His sword bounced off the barrier.

"Cute~❤︎ But that’s against the rules. Which means punishment my dear child." Ciel laughed.

Reaching down with her giant hand, she brought her finger to her thumb.

*Flick~

*BANG!!!

A single flick and the Lord had his upper body decimated into blood mist.

The remaining half hovered for a moment before falling towards the ground.

"Don’t make your mother repeat herself now. Let me see some blood~❤︎"

Those who knew about Ciel trembled.

They knew that if they didn’t start fighting each other quickly, another would be killed.

The worst part? It’s not like they could do anything about this.

She was the Realm Ruler. A Sovereign of the surface.

Unless the Gods were willing to put everything on the line, not even a prayer towards the Sun or Moon could help them in this moment.

Clenching their teeth, a few of the Lords turned their gazes towards one another.

While it may be better to cull the weaklings first, the most dangerous were still other Lords. What if they’re stabbed in the back while trying to kill ants?

Lords must die first!

"ARGH!!!"

Once that understanding was formed, countless personal realms were expanded as a collision of authority erupted over head.

As for those below the rank of Lord, what else could they do but follow? The Lords were fighting and whoever lost meant one less Lord level combatant for their faction. With that kind of risk, the least they could do was kill the others and try to even out the losses.

A bloody battle was restarted as Ciel nodded her head in satisfaction.

Taking a sip from her tea cup, she leaned back and let out a relaxed sigh.

"Do you know what a realm heart desires more than just a vessel?" Ciel asked, surprising the Butler.

"I’m not sure."

"Blood and sacrifice. It needs an obscene amount of death to solidify its presence. Rather evil don’t you agree?" She chuckled.

"But the main reason behind this need for death is to anchor itself. The Realm Hearts are... sentient yet not at the same time. They’re like tiny babes who don’t know any better. They simply hunger.

"These Realm Hearts need blood and death to nurture them into adulthood. If there isn’t enough blood and someone tries to claim the authority, they’ll simply become another sacrifice."

It’s why she couldn’t just claim this heart from the get go. Not only did she have her own, which meant discarding what she already had to claim the Void, but she’ll also become a sacrifice if not careful enough.

So what she needed instead was for Feris to claim the heart. To wait long enough for the fragment to be ’ready’ before Ciel could extract the Authority.

"Is that why you spent so much effort to converge everything into this location?" The Butler asked curiously as Ciel nodded.

Allowing things to progress naturally would’ve taken a long time. At least with this method, they could avoid a lot of the hassle.

Not to mention...

While the realm was still weak, Ciel could still abuse her current authority to some degree to prevent the Gods from intervening. But if she waited and her hold over the realm weakened, she would lose her spot as the de facto sovereign.

"Now, I may need you to do me a favour and ’encourage’ my dear children to fight. We can’t leave everything to the Lords after all."

Exhaling softly, the butler nodded and gave Ciel a slight bow.

###

"Insanity." Noah frowned, seeing the giant avatar looking down on the world.

What Ciel was trying to do was nothing short of insanity. To force this many people to kill one another... For what purpose?

But one thing remained unchanged.

"Seems like she can’t interfere too much with the Void. She can exert power over reality but her hold weakens near the fragment." Yama narrowed his eyes.

"Mnm. Risky as it may be, it seems like our only way out is to claim the power in the centre ourselves. Without it, we’re just lambs to the slaughter. Feris might be able to hold her own but..." Noah didn’t finish his sentence.

Even without saying anything, it’s clear what will happen if nothing is to be done.

Rika clenched her fingers around her arms. Her shoulders trembling as their exit had just disappeared.

The likelihood of death had just increased significantly.

The same with Tobi. Both of them were the youngest in the group aside from Feris and where Yama and Noah were keeping their calm, these two were struggling.

However...

"I think our initial plan can still work." Feris spoke up with a serious expression.

The group turned to her in surprise.

"I noticed it earlier. When she appeared, those near the fragment didn’t feel much of the pressure. Her power must be conflicting with the Void, otherwise why would she hire you to find the location of the fragments?

"I think if we manage to find a way to the centre of the pit, I should be able to find a way to teleport everyone out. But that might require us to destroy the anchor which also means getting in everyone’s way." Feris suggested.

That was their only way out of this situation.

Thinking for a moment, Noah opened his mouth.

"Are you able to teleport us above the anchor? I think if we sneak the destruction of the Anchor before anyone can properly react, we’ll be able to claim the centre fragment without much issue."

Though the problem of the ’maw’ was still hanging over their heads.

"I think I can do that. But..." Feris hesitated.

Once the anchor was down, there’s two things that Feris needed to do.

First, she needed to teleport everyone away. And the second, she needed to pull the fragment away from the maw.

She had to do one but give up another.

"What if you kill the maw instead? If ’space’ is turned back to normal, will you be able to use the Void to gain an advantage over everyone else?" Tobi suggested.

The group froze and stared at the young man.

"What?"

Rika punched him on the arm.

"How do you expect Feris to do something so dangerous? If space is disrupted, don’t you think her power of the Void will struggle against the maw?" Rika pursed her lips but Feris tilted her head.

"I... I think I can do that."

Her reply caused the party to snap their head towards her instead of Tobi.

"The space is only disrupted above the maw. If I force it into the sky with a teleport, we’ll be able to kill it from below. Without anything blocking my use of the Void, the closer I am to the fragment the more I’m able to use it."

Scratching his hair, Noah let out a slight laugh.

"Alright. Since Feris sounds confident, I think this is the best we can do for the moment. The Lords are occupied with a battle of their personal realms. Even if we teleport, I doubt they’ll be able to do much.

"So..." Noah rested his blade onto his shoulder.

"The best time is now right?" Yama folded his arms.

"Wa-wait! Give me some time to prepare myself first! We are just going to jump into the middle of everything you know?!" Tobi widened his eyes.

This was his suggestion but he didn’t think they’d take it so seriously.

"You can prepare yourself as we’re falling from the sky. Feris, are you able to teleport us now?" Noah asked.

With Ciel causing chaos on the battlefield, this was the best opportunity they had. Any longer and the factions would be able to regroup and figure things out.

The current chaos worked to their advantage and they would be fools to squander it.

"Above the anchor right?" Feris smiled as Noah nodded.

Kneeling down, Feris pressed her fingers against the dirt as a portal through the Void was opened up.