CHAPTER 31: ALICE’S ABYSS VII

(A/N I’m happy that many people are enjoying my work, but I’m also a bit sad that this might be the last time I’m able to write all the names of the people who are encouraging me. Do know, I’ll always appreciate the gesture, and you can keep it coming, but for today.

Big thanks to: Primordial_Being01; JustYus; Vizium; Lucid_; KaLeo_Gillespie; Talvin; NathanBESH; zea91army; Skibidiohiosigma; Boksyboy;

For the Power stones and Golden tickets, they mean a lot. As usual, please don’t hesitate to comment or drop a review. ENJOY)

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{Ivory Estate, More than 24 hours ago}

High in the sky, hundreds of feet above the Ivory estate. Erevan, the Patriarch of the Chronos family and one of the most revered space practitioners, stood, arms crossed, watching the event take place with a stoic gaze.

He watched his son interact with Evan’s daughter and the Wickle boy, with a smile on his face. Erevan almost felt guilty for what was about to happen, but he stilled his mind; this was an opportunity for his son.

He had always felt guilty for not being around during Orion’s birth, though one year was a relatively short period of time, considering Orion himself was still a baby; he wished he could have seen some of the incredible feats his son had accomplished.

Still, he was satisfied; the past five years had revealed a lot, and the past weeks even more. His talent was outstanding, his genius was far beyond his years, and this didn’t just cover his intelligence; emotionally and behaviorally, he couldn’t have asked for a better heir.

One thing Erevan had learned in his lifetime was the exceptional do not follow a pre-determined path, to be exceptional is to be a pathfinder, to be exceptional is to be different.

He himself and everyone before him had learnt the hard way, and he knew without a doubt, his boy was beyond exceptional, he was proud of it, and he wore it like a mantle. Aurora had given him the best.

And he, as Orion’s father, was determined to make the best, not through regular means, no, he would give him the best teacher history had ever invented, cold, hard experience

.

He watched as Orion’s brows furrowed in reaction to something. Erevan could see it, clear as light, the magic circle engraved under them, "Fascinating," He said with a grin.

Not even the Marquis had sensed anything off, yet Orion had felt it; his attunement to mana was ridiculous.

Erevan had become a true fanatic of Orion; he never showed it to him except in the carriage, where he had accidentally let his real feelings slip. On second thought, it probably wasn’t accidental; Orion needed it at that moment.

He watched how the innocent priest got split cleanly in two. Life had always been reasonably unfair; death was nothing new. Besides, he had never been a fan of that hypocritical church, but that’s a story for another day.

He watched the Marquis’ feeble attempt to retaliate. And then the magic circle did its work; every single one of the attendees was transported far from Ivory City.

His sensitivity to the fabric of space detailed each and every one of their destinations. He could feel Orion’s struggle to resist whatever was happening. For a second there, he could tell Orion was about to succeed, but he forcefully shut him down, manipulating and willingly altering the destination of he and his friends.

He watched as the pitiful Marquis struggled to contain his own attack, his son paralyzed by whatever concoction the traitor fiancée had administered via their kiss. The Tundra family had been planning this for a while; their infiltration was solid and well planned, especially with the help of their new pawn.

His face didn’t waver as he watched the Marquis weep over his son; traitors deserved no pity. His face frowned in distaste as the Marquis loudly proclaimed, dishing out his pathetic version of despair.

He almost had the urge to sever his head from right where he stood, but he felt something that disrupted his thoughts.

A small grin formed on Erevan’s face. "Gotcha," He said before vanishing.

His body blurred through at incalculable speeds, space folding around him as if allowing an intangible presence to pass through; he faced no air resistance of any sort, he simply passed through space as though opening doors.

He stopped, appearing in the sky above a large green forest, his senses spread out, every living and non-living thing already mapped out; nothing could escape him. He contained his aura, unwilling to disrupt the peace of this natural habitat, his physical form being the sole indicator of his presence.

He felt his target move again. He smiled and vanished.

This time, he found himself in a bustling city, with people moving around and going about their day, the markets and traders being especially loud. With a snap of his fingers, he vanished, his physical presence undetectable before coming to the ground. He walked around following his target while subtly concentrating his aura on the target.

’This is amusing,’ He thought, discreetly picking up a sweet from a vendor and treating himself.

The presence vanished again, and he followed, from city to city, terrain to terrain. Fortunately, it had been a while since he’d explored his own territory, and his target had given him the perfect opportunity.

At long last, he found himself back in the forest. He smiled.

"I’m guessing you’ve said your prayers. But I really was unwilling to damage this forest," Erevan said, sweet still in his mouth. No one would believe the Chronos duke had such a side to him. Still, he received no replies.

"Seriously, you should know how pointless it is to hide; your silence will only drag this out. And I know for a fact no one is coming for you." Erevan said with a sigh, while staring at a particular towering tree

No reply.

"You are lucky, if it weren’t for my son, I wouldn’t be the one chasing you down. You should thank him. I’ll grant you a painless death, my subordinates, however, would have shown you ’true despair’ like your partner in crime said." Erevan chuckled.

Something stirred under the canopy of the tree, the shadows of multiple leaves wriggled as if alive before forming the outline of a man.

He wore a pure black hoodie covering his whole face, with tight black camo trousers and boots, no other drop of colour on his body, a true epitome of darkness.

He brought up his gloved hands to his hoodie and pulled it back, revealing his face, pure onyx hair framed his handsome and effeminate face, with pure black eyes that looked like they could drain the life out of a person, and pale skin that had no warmth.

He held no expression on his face, just unbothered stoicism as he stared at Erevan.

"And the culprit shows-"

"How did you find me?" The man interrupted, his voice coming out with a rasp, like someone who hadn’t spoken in years.

"That was rude," Erevan said with a frown.

"Answer me," The boy stated with that same chill.

"You are in no place to demand answers," Erevan replied, with a stoic gaze, a slight killing intent pouring out over the forest. The trees groaned under pressure, monsters and other organisms fleeing like they had seen ghosts, this once vibrant part of the forest now dead silent.

"You couldn’t detect me in the mansion, yet for some reason, I can’t seem to lose you now," The man said, a hint of resentment in his voice.

"You underestimate the Chronos; you interfered in the matters of my region, yet expect to escape scot-free. There’s a reason this dukedom is free of detestable guilds. Absolutely nothing enters my dukedom without my permission," Erevan replied with a steely gaze, his aura increasing with every word from his mouth.

"I can feel the gears in your head turning, looking for a solution, but rest assured, you have no home to return to, Redux has been wiped off the face of this world," Erevan said.

"You!!!—" The man shouted, his eyes widening in anger.

"Enough talk, I’ve run out of patience, come at me," Erevan said with a bored look.

The man’s effeminate face clouded with unrestrained fury "CONCEPT AWAKENING!!." He shouted.

The surrounding environment visibly stilled, the air stagnating and trees stalling as though the world was holding its breath. Mana overflowed like water finally free from a dam, all the trees and rocks and everything in a 100-meter radius flattening as though an apocalypse had arrived.

Erevan watched all this without batting an eye, simply observing the struggles of a dying creature, futile.

The pale skin of the man flushed with blood and exertion, a testament to how much mana he was controlling and the fury that simmered within him.

"ECLIPSE!!"

Shadows, from no source, wriggled and appeared despite the absence of any cover; they twisted and melded together to form darkness, pure untainted darkness that surged from the ground, covering every single place in sight, except there was no sight, not a single, minuscule ray of light intruded this domain.

It was a terrifying scenario, and more terrifying was the swift formation of such a domain; all this occurred under a span of a second, a truly inescapable prison.

"Welcome to my world, the domain of the blind. I will show you true unending darkness, you who was born in the ever-glorifying light. All your tricks and thoughts will be rendered useless before me in here. I shall return your advice. I suggest you say your last prayers, you’ll need them," He said with a manic grin.

Erevan’s voice resounded from somewhere in his domain, "Is this your pitiful excuse for a concept?" he asked in a disappointed tone.

The man flinched, he just noticed he couldn’t find Erevan, ’Impossible, nothing can hide in my domain,’ He thought.

And then he heard Erevan’s voice again, his tone devoid of willingness. "It’s been a while since I had fun, so let me show you. This is true darkness."

"BLACK HALO"