Abyssal Awakening

Resonance, the power that manifests with the harmony of Three Sigils.

Once a Hunter receives three Sigils of the same classification, they link together to form a new power.

The first Resonance grants the Hunter armour or a modified body. A catalyst to further enhance their abilities and bring out dormant potentials within the Sigils.

A power that modifies itself based on the Sigils and understanding of the user.

For Alice, her first Resonance has two states due to the two souls that share one body.

First was Alyss's resonance. With this Resonance, she gained two major abilities. As long as she had blood to burn for the flames, it would keep her alive. The flames will mend any wound she receives. The second was that she could use her enemy's attack to fuel her own.

It effectively allowed her to fight a war of attrition without too much issue so long as she's not exhausting herself faster than the enemy could attack.

The Second was Alice's own resonance, one that caused red spider lilies to blossom. Rather than the tenacity afforded by Alyss's resonance, Alice's was one of raw offensive power. A state that forgoes all defence in favour of ending the fight in overwhelming fashion.

In this state, all of her attacks gain a new level of speed thanks to compressing blood mirrors to accelerate the slashes across space forcefully.

If the first Resonance gave the Hunter a garment or body suitable for their power, the second granted them the land they needed to perform.

A personal realm that harmonised with their output.

Unfortunately, most of the information Alice had on second Resonances was mostly outdated since she rarely allowed it to go through. After all, allowing it to deploy was detrimental as it essentially erased her control over the battlefield they fought in.

And with most of her abilities being tied to the Void and teleporting, that was not something Alice was willing to give up.

Then there was also the special case of Qiu Qiu who could converge the power of her Second Resonance into her own body, further amplifying the First Resonance.

If the First gave a body suitable for power and the Second gave a realm suitable for power, what was the Third?

The Third Resonance is the last step before becoming an Apostle. The last step, the pinnacle of mortal power.

Law of Death, Law of Execution, Law of Shadows, Law of Duality. The Laws that a Lord unlocks upon obtaining their ninth Sigil is one that harmonises with the title that the Abyss grants them.

Much like Authority granted by becoming an Apostle, unlocking the Law allowed one to control whatever their title governs.

The abilities afforded to them are not something Sigils can simply contend with.

Around Kazira, spectral patterns of her Sigils started to lift from her body, floating behind her and transforming into a halo of sorts. The halo itself was segmented into thirds, one for each Resonance.

With all nine Sigils now lit up, a 10th began to manifest within the centre of the Ring.

The icon of a single blade within a crown.

[I know her Lord title now.] Cayla muttered in dread. [Kazira – Abyss Lord of Tyranny.]

'Okay well isn't that just f*cking ominous. Pray tell, what kind of ability does the Law of Tyranny give her?' Alice's smile twitched as she slashed a circle around her before conjuring blood mist to offset the oppressive aura around her.

[I don't know! The Laws the title bestows are different for everyone. Kazira is not the same holder of the title as the one in the past and I doubt their Sigils are the same. Just play it by the ear and I'll try figure something out!] Cayla scrambled as she needed to finish her experiments and fast.

If Kazira was now using the Law of a Lord against Alice, it wouldn't be something that she could copy.

Authority was different, it acted as a passive power that activates with certain gestures.

Meaning that authority could be copied by Alice.

But a Lord's Law? That was Resonance. And in all of their experiments in the past, Alice had never been able to copy someone else's resonance. It has always been her own, even if she gets nine Sigils from people.

With Cayla not being able to help, Alice didn't hesitate to try and create some distance between them.

However. . .

"!!!" Alice's pupil constricted.

She felt as though her body was sealed by an immovable force. A constant pressure crushing all her limbs, preventing her from increasing the distance between them.

With Alice now being locked in place, Kazira flashed forward. Her blade in hand and divinity coursing through the weapon.

Alice couldn't dodge this!

Now that Zal-Ka'Rith borrowed Kazira's old body, Alice needed to face this unstoppable strike herself!

Gritting her teeth, Alice took a step forward and adjusted her grip on her blade.

*CLANG!!!

It was a haphazard guard that she put up at the last moment.

With both Authorities of War clashing, Alice's body was sent crashing back. Tumbling across the ground before slamming into the walls of this barrier that kept them in combat.

'Sh*t! Okay I know you have no information on the Law of Tyranny but can you at least give me more information on how the base thing works?! How many abilities do I need to figure out? Is there a counter?' Alice shouted while Cayla didn't even bother glancing up.

[Three! Unlike Authorities, the Laws of a Lord are limited to three Laws per use and this usually applies to everyone in range! Usually! There are some exceptions. They have certain commands to choose from granted by their Sigils and powers.]

'It's probably safe to assume the first Law is one where you can't retreat or choose to take a step away. When we took a step forward, the pressure disappeared.' Alyss frowned.

'Then there's two more we need to watch out for!'

Tagging in, Alyss gripped her sword and stood a step forward.

*CLANG!!!

Bridging the gap in an instant, she tried to slash at Kazira's neck only for her blade to be parried off to the side.

Vector Manipulation!

Alice took over and the portion of her body seized by Vector Manipulation instantly turned to blood!

Her main body was still in front of Kazira!

Void Flux – Cleave!

Using the blood that was flung to craft another sword, Alice then swapped their locations using the Void and slashed down from behind!

Yet her blade changed path in mid air, unable to reach Kazira.

With Alice being surprised that her attack wasn't able to hit, Kazira grabbed her by the ankle and tried to pull her into the air.

But with Alice's body now modified with Physical Resonance, it was easy to separate that portion of her body.

'That's probably the second Law. Can't strike from behind or some sh*t.' Alice clicked her tongue.

She couldn't retreat nor could she advance with her strike.

'It won't be that simple. Otherwise, the Authority of War would've overridden the Law. It's probably something closer to attacks from behind will miss.' Alyss furrowed her brows.

Tagging back in, Alyss shifted her body to the side in an attempt to hit Kazira with another slash.

*CLANG!!!

Once more, their weapons clashed head on, forcing both sides back as a gap was created once more.

'Unintentional retreat is accepted. Attacks from behind won't work.' Alice summarised.

Taking a deep breath, Alice noticed that the halo behind Kazira was shining in all three parts.

There's a good chance that the third is already in effect and it was up to Alice to try and figure it out.

Clenching her fist, motes of blood began to manifest around her as Alice slammed her palms down!

Briar thorns and metal pillars burst out from the ground, changing the environment they were in!

*KRK!!!

Unleashing a horizontal slash, Kazira cleaved the pillars in half as energy pulsed out around her.

"!!!"

In front of her, Kazira saw needles of blood and understood that Alice was resorting to poison.

During their first fight, it was her arrogance that blinded her to the illusion that Alice had cast.

This time, she won't fall prey to the same trick. After all, she had already abandoned that arrogance.

One by one, she will break down Alice's tricks.

Analysis!

Rusted chains slapped away the needles while Kazira shifted her body and parried an invisible strike from the right!

*CRACK!!!

"TCH!" Clicking her tongue in annoyance, Alice didn't think Kazira would be able to pinpoint where she was while using the Mirror Jester.

She wanted to make Kazira believe that she was going to rely on poisons once more to bridge the gap.

However, Kazira wasn't hasty.

Unlike before, Kazira was now respecting and reacting towards Alice's movements.

In this battle, she was no longer the aggressor. Their roles had switched.

Both of them were on a timer.

Would Kazira's vessel fail her first or would Alice run out of the Authority she siphoned from Kazira.

Twisting their bodies, both of them took this chance to clash weapons once more to create the gap between them.

Kazira adjusted her grip on her sword and stared at Alice.

This wasn't an opponent she could defeat with fanciful attacks and abilities targeted towards large crowds.

This was a duel, a battle of souls.

A clash of willpower and the desire to live. To see tomorrow.

Kazira discarded the notion of using abilities that wouldn't bring her victory. She didn't need anything fancy, just the reliable options that brought her this far!

Abilities and attacks that will help her win this duel!

Alice was the same.

She could sense the change within Kazira.

This oppressive aura. . .

Perhaps it is only when she lost her body did the Apostle of War truly appear.

In front of her was an opponent who knew full well how dangerous she is and Alice couldn't find any gaps in her defence.

Closing her eyes for a moment, Alice calmed her mind and steadied her blade.

Her gaze fully focused on Kazira and Kazira alone.

Since there were no gaps in defence, she'll create one!