Chapter 423: The Memory Of Ashes
The two sedans drove through the gates of the Morgenstein estate before gradually coming to a stop in front of the mansion.
They had just returned from their attack at the guild, Clustervayne
The doors opened one after another as Beatrice and those accompanying her exited from the cars and made their way toward the entrance.
Lady Morgenstein had this satisfied smile as she climbed the steps leading into the mansion.
It seemed as though none of them had noticed the figure suspended high above the estate.
Several meters above the mansion, a pair of enormous black wings stretched across the sky. It was Abaddon watching them in complete silence.
As an Angel, he had a supernatural sense of awareness and had noticed the moment these group acted within the city. From there, he traced them all the way back to this place.
Ever since the dark angel came to this city, all he had done was go after the blessed who were in search of the mistress, even without meeting with his matron or given the explicit instructions to do all of these.
"Found you all." he whispered, then slowly raised his right hand, gathering large amounts of darkness around him.
Dozens of long, spear-like projectiles began forming in the air around his body. They multiplied rapidly until they surrounded him from every direction, their dark surfaces radiating a murderous aura.
Those he had traced to this place had all gone into the mansion, and therefore didn’t see this part coming.
The angel then lowered his hand towards the mansion and countless projectiles rained down upon the mansion, engulfing its entirety in ruin and chaos.
There was no warning nor declaration to this attack as his intention was to kill everyone in this ambush.
The dark spears continued falling one after another, piercing through every level of the mansion as dark element explosions happened from different the property.
Eventually, the assault stopped, leaving an aftermath dust and shattered remains of the building.
Abaddon observed it all with this indifference in his expression, until he noticed the inhabitants of the house beginning to make their way out from different sections.
Beatrice stepped out, with about twenty different blessed.
At the same time, several members of the Morgenstein family began emerging from the smaller buildings surrounding the main residence. Some carried weapons, while others already had glowing magic circles hovering around their hands, prepared for another attack at any moment.
The Angel’s expression didn’t change, even though the targets inside the mansion he had specifically targeted came out unscathed.
Beatrice, however, seemed to have been fuming. There was this nasty scowl on her face as she looked up into the sky to meet the view of the angel.
The destruction of her family’s house was not what she had envisioned for herself today.
There was a woman floating beside her, whose entire body radiated a brilliant pink glow that it appeared almost unreal.
She had glowing eyes of pink light, and her hair were long strands of flowing energy. Her entire body was composed of swirling pink energy, while both her hands and feet emitted an even brighter light.
Her name was Magenta, and she was the reason everyone was still alive.
Although, it was all thanks to Beatrice’s Danger Precognition family trait; a trait that allowed members of the Morgenstein family to perceive danger before it happened.
Under normal circumstances, that trait only activated moments before an attack, usually a few seconds at most.
But Beatrice was no longer ordinary. Becoming a Blessed had significantly enhanced her innate skills, so instead of seeing danger a few seconds before it occurred, Beatrice could now perceive threats nearly two minutes before they happened.
Which meant that before Abaddon had even begun his assault, she already knew an attack was coming, and where it was coming from.
The moment she entered the mansion, she immediately instructed Magenta who was inside to activate her ability.
So when the spear descended, everyone inside the mansion had already been placed under a protective pink bubble created by the floating woman beside her.
Magenta was also one of the Blessed coming from outside of Gritnia, who played the role of a hero in a her own country.
As one chosen by the High-Goddess Hyoneta, she had been granted the power to assume this ethereal form and manipulate an extraordinary energy unlike anything possessed by ordinary Awakened.
-
Abaddon then slowly descended from the sky in preparation to fight them all, head on.
A dark spear suddenly rose from below, lifting itself from the ground before floating into his left hand.
He twirled it around before bringing it down against the ground, causing an impact that sent a powerful shockwave spreading across the estate.
Of course at this time, none of the Blessed needed anyone to tell them that a Dark One was standing before them.
Beatrice’s eyes narrowed as she stared at the fallen angel.
"Everyone," she began, "I believe we all understand what’s standing before us...It seems we’ll have to carry out one of the very duties we were called here to fulfill."
One of the Blessed, a heavily built man, launched himself into the air as mana erupted from his body. His muscles expanded, and a powerful aura burst outward as he shot toward Abaddon.
However, the moment he closed the distance, Abaddon raised the dark spear towards the hulky man, instantly elongating its size.
The man crossed both arms in front of himself in an attempt to block, but that didn’t matter as the spear pierced straight through him. His strength was only at Harmonic state, and ofcourse could not truly compare to the Angel.
That act began the battle of one against many.
It wasn’t just the Blessed who attacked, but vampire of the Morgenstein family had joined the battle as well, coming at him one after another.
Most of them were met with the dark spear that crushed through their defenses before impaling them. One guy had his attacks stopped entirely as Abaddon caught his fist and hurled him into those charging from behind.
Then Magenta floated into the air and extended both hands to release a brilliant beam of pink light toward him.
Abaddon immediately folded his wings around himself, which protected him against the beam that crashed into them, forcing him backward slightly.
Even amongst the blessed here, Magenta was pretty powerful, especially given that she had reached a Unified State Of Resonance with her deity, and was this close to achieving a complete state.
However, he had successfully defended against the attack.
And the very moment the beam disappeared, he spread his wings apart again and stretched his right hand toward Magenta, without wasting another second.
Then he activated his peculiar ability.
And the instant he did, Magenta felt something devastating happen to her body.
Her ethereal form suddenly plummeted from the sky and crashed into the ground.
The impact stunned her greatly, but that wasn’t all.
Her body felt as though it was still falling further down as her senses became abruptly seized by the experience of an endless descent through the cold and lightless void of space.
She felt this pressure force itself around her entire body, crushing her muscles, which burrowed deeper until it reached her bones and organs.
Her breathing became erratic and her stomach twisted as an overwhelming sensation of weightlessness and acceleration consumed her.
Her skin felt as though it was splitting apart, and the energy composing her ethereal body began fluctuating uncontrollably as cracks of pink light spread across her form.
She screamed, and her body curled instinctively as she clutched at herself, but there was nothing she could hold on to.
There wasn’t an illusion, nor any sort of mind control.
Infact, what Magenta was physically experiencing, was the the exact same consequences that the fallen angel himself, had once endured.
This was Abaddon’s true divine ability; The Memory of Ashes.
This ability was separate from the control of darkness granted by the Mistress; and it allowed him to replicate an experience he had personally suffered and force another person to undergo those exact same effects.
The severity of the attack depended entirely on the depth of the memory itself. So the greater the anguish, the more devastating the reproduced experience became.