Abyssal Awakening

Ria had witnessed this before, albeit only a small sign of the true power.

A harmonisation of multiple resonances outside of the traditional three Sigil Resonance that most Hunters could use.

Each Resonance held a power of its own, whether that is to bolster her power of control or to change the properties of her body. All three layered and woven in perfect harmony.

The realm held its breath, the flood of energy erupting from Alice's body cast a trembling shadow behind Ria and Luke.

What was a calm flow of energy within Alice now transformed into a chaotic surge, a wild tsunami of destructive potential restrained within that small frame.

Ria felt herself subconsciously taking a step back.

The sheer density of energy surrounding Alice was enough to choke a man, stopping them from breathing out of fear. Cold sweat rolled down Ria's cheek as she forced herself to smile.

Despite calculating this possibility, seeing it head on now left doubts of their plan.

Thankfully, Alice was allowing them the first move.

Resonance!

Activating her Resonance, a set of armour manifested around Ria while Luke activated the King piece on her.

Passive bonus – Resonance enhancement!

Her eyes shifted to an electric blue as she began to gather charges around her body.

She didn't know how much Alice has improved overall. But she got a slight idea thanks to her spar with Rosalyn.

But even if she got a slight idea, facing it head on was still a daunting task.

Regardless, she'll face the challenge!

Taking a deep breath, Ria placed her hand against the hilt of her blade.

"Alice, how confident are you at surviving hits?" Ria asked.

This was a spar but if she holds back, she won't be able to tell how she measures up to her friend.

"As long as my head is intact and you don't have anything to stop my regeneration, I should be okay." Alice reassured.

Hearing this, Ria nodded her head before closing her eyes.

All Sigils active!

*RUMBLE!!!

Different to a Second Resonance, arcs of lightning began to crackle around them as Ria began to impose a realm onto her surroundings.

The Sixth Sigil that she obtained after Nyzel allowed herself to be defeated. A Sigil that allowed Ria to construct a realm that benefited her!

Lightning Sovereignty!

*BANG!!!

As Ria's eyes snapped open, the realm was opened in its entirety. Thunder clouds loomed overhead while a water like surface expanded below.

Taking a step forward, Ria's entire body transformed into lightning.

Shinsei Raikiri! Two Fold Lightning!

However. . .

"A straight line is pretty predictable!"

*CLANG!!!

Catching the first strike using her hand covered by Void Fang, Alice pushed it to the side before dodging the Two Fold Lightning strike that came afterwards!

The fastest part of Ria's strike was the second part, that instance when the afterimages overlap the weapon. Dangerous but not unavoidable.

"I know. But that's why Luke is important."

En Passant!

*KRK!!!!

Alice widened her eyes as a slash cleaved through her left shoulder!

Snapping her fingers, a singularity spun to life between them, forcing Ria to retreat.

In the time it took for Ria to retreat, Alice had already regenerated her arm.

Energy funnelled into Cayla as Alice's vision shifted.

Rather than strands of energy, there was a faint echo around Ria's blade.

One that causes the surroundings near the blade to suffer the same kind of attack.

In essence, a guaranteed hit even if the main weapon misses.

But more importantly, the chessboard that Luke set up the moment Ria activated her Sigil!

It wasn't like a standard second Resonance. Like how Restriction works, Alice could see that Luke must've reduced some of the functionality in order to impose the chessboard outside of his personal Realm.

Before she could fully note this down in her mind, Ria acted once more!

Shinsei Raikiri!

*RUMBLE!!!

Appearing from behind, she cleaved up with Alice forcing her body to transform into blood.

Yet despite the main attack missing, she could still feel the lightning striking the other parts of her!

Even though her attack 'technically landed', Ria wasn't feeling enthusiastic. She could tell that this method of attacking won't defeat Alice in this spar.

The key to defeating Alice to beat her before she can analyse everything!

The moment the fight starts, an invisible timer is activated. During this time, Alice is mostly focused on using her instincts to dodge, her skills to counter and deal damage.

But once the timer finishes and she analyses what she needs, the fight is basically over. She has a counter for everything you want to do and more.

At that point, you simply have to run and hope you never run into her again!

However, it hasn't reached that stage yet!

'I still have time!'

Adjusting her grip, Ria unleashed a flurry of slashes with Alice being forced to create some gap between them.

Slamming her palms down, Alice created a surge of blood to give her some much needed space!

Shinsei Raikiri! Two Fold Lightning!

*RUMBLE!!!

To Ria's shock, she watched as her second strike was swallowed by a precise cut of Void, including the area affected by En Passant!

"Triggered Cast. Once I get enough information, I can set up a passive set of skills that will only trigger if the conditions are met." Alice explained with a grin.

Now that her Triggered Cast was in place, Ria's Shinsei Raikiri won't work anymore!

"So it's just for Two Fold only right? What about this one?"

Jumping back, Ria aimed two fingers at Alice and slashed down!

Every attack, every hit, every passing moment during Lightning Sovereignty would charge her opponents with 'static'! And once Ria was satisfied, it could be discharged all at once!

Raijin!

Alice's pupils constricted as her senses warned her of an overwhelming amount of danger coming from all directions! Countless slashes all concentrated into a single area!

But that wasn't everything. Each slash was also enhanced by the power of En Passant so dodging it was futile!

Except. . .

Opening her palm, a singularity spun to life, whipping Alice's hair in all directions.

The pattern in her eyes have shifted to match her adjustment of power.

Against an attack that targets the space itself, the best way to counter would be to interact with the space it's targeting!

Spatial Lock!

Clenching her fist, Alice crushed the singularity and froze the space around her. Anything that approached would be frozen in mid air!

Before Alice could say anything, Ria smiled, flicking her finger and turning all the attacks to herself instead.

"!!!"

Alice panicked, Ria didn't have regeneration like she did. What was she looking to achieve by aiming the attacks on herself?!

Seeing all the attacks change direction, Alice decided to trust in her gut feeling.

Slamming her palm down, blood mist began to envelop her body.

Castling!

Alice and Ria swapped places!

*RUMBLE!!!

Countless slashes intersected, creating a densely packed network of cuts that left behind crackling lightning and burn marks. Yet to both Ria and Luke's surprise, Alice wasn't there!!!

"Aiya~ That was a close one. I'm glad I'm made an illusion using Mirror Jester otherwise that would've been pretty bad." Alice's voice rang out behind Luke.

During that last moment, Alice created an orb of blood to act as the main node then wrapped it with her blood mist. Creating an illusion after that was simple.

What she didn't expect was to see the two of them swap places. Had she ignored her gut feeling. . . This spar might be over.

But now that she's behind Luke-

"I've been waiting for the moment you tried to go for me."

Promotion!

Beside Alice, two bishop pieces appeared and transformed into silhouettes of herself!

Quickly ducking down, Luke had them fire two Void Fluxes at point blank!

"Yikes, looking back, my old Void Flux's are pretty damn weak and flimsy." Alice sighed, creating two tiny sparks and flicking it towards the Void Fluxes.

Piercing the centre, her spark dismantled the Void Flux in an instant!

Shinsei Raikiri! Two Fold Lightning!

*RUMBLE!!!

Two void cuts appeared above and behind Alice as her triggered cast swallowed Ria's attack once more.

As she swallowed these attacks, she couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

Surely. . . This wasn't everything right?

Selen managed to discover a skill to prolong perception to defeat her.

While Ria's slash was impressive, it hasn't quite left the same impact as Selen's skill.

As her friend, Alice had high expectations for them.

Rolling across the ground, Luke summoned another Bishop piece and overlayed it with himself.

Aiming two fingers at Alice, a spark was created.

"I thought I told you my old Void Flux was flimsy, shouldn't you update it already?" Alice sighed, scratching her hair.

Dashing forward, she was about to extinguish the spark when Luke grinned.

"Who said I haven't done so already?"

Behind him, 8 pawns were promoted to Bishops along with a King and Queen piece!

The veins on the back of his hand bulging as Luke could feel the obscene amount of power coursing through his body.

Even with all of this, he still couldn't mimic the full power of Alice's attack.

8 Pawns all transformed into Bishops to fully enhance casting, the powers of the King and Queen to multiply and boost.

And yet it still fell short. His body simply couldn't handle this much energy.

However. . . The most impressive attack he's seen to date. He'll recreate a fraction of its power!

Void Axis!

*BANG!!!!

A misfire!

The blood vessels in Luke's arm burst apart as he held back a cry of pain.

Even though the set up was correct, he was still lacking!

But even though his attack wasn't successful, his goal was still achieved.

He bought some time!

Ria hovered in the air, her blade in hand, her eyes closed in concentration.

Second Resonance!