Shadow of the Abyss

\'Damn it all,\' the Prince thought as Shadowclaw whirled in semi-arcs, slashing and thrusting and cleaving against his foe.

"Your Spirit Domain is utter rubbish! What era is this that not even children can use it properly? Especially the likes of geniuses like you two?" Davos whirled his palm, slapping against the face of Ice, diverting it off track as his feet countered Shadowclaw.

In one singular motion, Altair and Reina were stopped. Their blades either missing their marks or parried.

Davos sighed. "What savages you are. To cast a spell outside a domain is the same as swinging one\'s sword blind." he looked at Altair, sensing a faint outline of a domain. It was all wrong.

"Aldrich would weep if he saw this."

Layered by perspiration, Altair felt his lungs on fire. Never before had he felt himself toyed with like a child. He cursed, leaping back with Ren, who fell to a knee, her hair losing its scarlet pigment.

"Solomon\'s Magical System is still the default, it seems. So… maybe two eras have passed? Maybe more. Where in a Higher Heaven, for sure. But it still feels like the Twelve Realms. Damn, that brings back memories."

"Who the hell are you?" Altair demanded.

"Me?" Davos pointed to himself. "I\'m Davos. Born within the Lower Realms. Ascended to the Origin Realm and died to… hmmm, I can\'t seem to remember." he scratched his head, laughing brightly. "Guess I\'ll have to re-explore my Astral Sea. Aaaaaaah~ such a drag!

Wait, I remember! I challenged Beel and lost… yeah. I remember now. Good battle. Got that bastard good."

Horrified by the one standing before him, Altair said, "But you lost."

"Of course, I lost. But I\'m alive now. The ebb of time is endless, my friend. But to challenge a true Monarch of Hell, to manage a cut upon his Almighty Body, there is no greater achievement. I\'ve seen some of heaven\'s strongest not last a single bow, yet I last against him. Yet I manage." he laughed, bellowing a cry towards the Hells.

"I, a mere human. The weakest of all creatures managed to harm a monarch! No one in all the Myriad Heavens managed such a feat. No one!"

He turned to face the one upon his throne.

"Next time!"

Beelzebub grinned. And despite being miles away, his voice echoed far and wide. " Then seek out Zariel. Perhaps he might instill within you a few tips. His battle prowess is without match."

"Zariel, eh?" Davos mused. "Where is he?"

"Within an Ilvarian encampment trapped in pandora box."

"... Is there a second option?"

Beelezub did not answer.

"tsk. Ilvarians, eh? Thought they were extinct. Where were they hiding?" Davos muttered, scratching his head. He glanced back at Ren and Altair with a brooding frown. "You two babies have potential. However, you\'ll never become Chaos Lords without a domain.

The soul. That\'s where all the potential lies. I\'ll let you two live on account of mildly entertaining me, but next time. I\'ll kill you. Taa-taa!"

And in a misty gale, he was gone.

Altair collapsed, gasping for air as he looked around at his shadows, beaten and bruised.

"What the hell is a Spirit Domain?"

***

Materising above the palace, Davos smiled, standing on the ripples of space. It had been so long since he felt the winds against his face. Felt the heat of the sun or the radiance of the moon.

"How long has it been?" he muttered. " Do you know?"

Behind him, Thanatos stood poised for combat.

"Any more, and I might have killed you," he said coolly.

Davos chuckled. "A Spirit Domain of Death. Scary."

"And the Endless Night," said Thaan, opening his palm, enveloping a hundred-meter domain in a sort of translucent fog.

"Fucking Darkness." Davos snarled. "elusive fucks, the lot of you."

Thanatos\' gaze only seemed to narrow. "You\'re dao is—"

"Dao… what a loathsome word that is. Bloody monks came up with it. Pacifists and losers seeking to understand the Primordials… the Source." he turned to meet Thanato\'s dark, sultry eyes. "Mana, Qi, and Ether are the three dominant sources created by the living embodiment of the primordials themselves. Which one was your first?"

\'He knows I\'m not from this era?\' Thanatos thought. And said, " Arcana. "

"From the purest of Arcana, mana is born. I know it well. Very well. Arcana was my first within the lower realms. But here… here children are born to it. Molded by it. Lucky sons a bitches." he chuckled, turning to the city of ruin. " Lord Beel released quite a few monsters. Light weights are my opinion, but they\'re not bad. Not counting me… there are six.

If you don\'t train those two, they\'ll die. A Spirit Domain is the basis of all combat and spells. To see with the soul is to see with objectivity. Seems in my absence, mortals and gods have forgotten that lesson."

"Are you not going to join?" Thaan asked.

"Maybe for a bit of mana. But I\'ve little interest in some of these insects. I plan on creating a Limitless Circle first. My battle with Lord Beel showed me a fatal weakness."

Thanatos scuffed. \'If you think Lord Beel hasn\'t grown since then, you\'re a damn fool. Chaos Lord, this… Chaos Lord, that… how old you must be. The Myriads Have changed; knowledge is lost, but power is gained. Two more Realms have opened up for us since then: Paragon… and Archeon."

There was a childlike glow in his eyes when he turned to Thanatos. "And what Monster did that?"

"Monsters. Plural. Zariel and Arsene Snow."

A maddening laugh left Davos. "Have a drink with me—"

"Thanatos,"

"Thanatos… hmmm." he knew the name But could not remember the face.

"Follow me."

They vanished, arriving in the palace cellar filled with hundreds of thousands of aged wine, beer, mead, and whiskey. However, as they appeared, their eyes were attached to the young woman with a tankard all to herself.

"Lady Iliana?"

"Boo~hehe~Hi!"

"hells. You\'re shit-faced."

"just a wee bit." she hiccuped, giggling to herself, red-faced beneath her mask. \'Whose ya friend."

"he\'s—"

"Davos." he cut in, taking a seat at the table. "pleasure."

"We\'ll see," said Iliana, downing an entire tankard. "It seems everyone is reviving or reincarnating these days."

Thanatos took a seat. It was a surprise to see Iliana, but he didn\'t let his guard drop. There was something off about this man.

"How\'d you know? "

Iliana hiccuped. "Your domain touched my skin. Quite rude. You know. If I weren\'t drunk, I\'d have killed you. Or toss you into the abyss."

"And what would a girl like you know of the abyss?"

Iliana found herself laughing. When was the last time someone called her a girl? Or dare to speak of the abyss to her? The abyss had been both her mother, father, lover, and god. The abyss was her living existence, her will, and her desire, for only an abyssal, could understand the abyss.

"Thanatos joined her, nearly losing himself. "Forgive him, my lady… he doesn\'t know much of the abyss. It seems he was not around for the Era of Darkness."

"Does he know of Zariel?"

"I don\'t," Davos said, frowning, feeling he was missing more than he originally thought. His lips pressed together, waiting.

"Being dead must suck. Gods. I\'d hate to return to the Vale. Purgatory for gods, I call it." said Iliana with an appraising eye. She grinned. " and how does it feel to die? I only ask because I\'ve never lost. Draws between brothers and sisters I\'ve known but never true defeat.

Never death."

***

"Yooooo, Syris, you alive? Ooooiii!"

"oooiii"

"Syris!"

Searching the wall that was now rubble from the countless battles waging back and forth. Slowly, they found the young Celestial clutching her chest, masking her aura the best she could as a cruel gash showcased most of her ribcage.

"He got you good," Altair muttered, noting the azure light enveloping her, mending injuries. He glanced back at Ren, dragging her feet behind him. Battered with a few broken ribs and ruptured organs, she pushed forward.

Ren didn\'t hesitate much, offering Syris a flask from out of Draupnir.

Syris downed it in a flash, tossing the empty veil away as a soothing heat began to hamper the cold of her body.

"Who the hell was that guy? How did he nearly kill me in a single blow?" she finally asked. .net

"Not just you…" Altair muttered, glancing around in a guarded manner. "He toyed with us. No matter what we did… No matter how hard we tried. That bastard played with us like children."

"Least you didn\'t get one-shotted," Syris argued, thanking Ren with a smile.

"Innate defense. We got lucky. Extremely lucky."

"No time for that," said Ren, pulling out a few bandages for Syris. "After I wrap her up, we got to go. Palace or the cathe—"

Taken back by the searing wave expanding from the center of Vesim like a star, a burning shockwave approached like the gale, turning stone to liquid and the air to hell.

What little mana Altair and his shadows held became their last line of defense as, one after the other, barrier after barrier was erected in order to defend their Master.

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!