Shadow of the Abyss

Starting small, they designated a team of thirty to ambush those who focused on a single target.

War was brutal, and fighting in three dimensions had created far more opportunities for Altair and Ariane to incorporate various formations. Such a feat had forced the Soul Kings to begin their ambush from the ground rather than the air.

"Forty Watchers to Sixty Soul Kings," said Nia, who had taken up the position of watchman with her Dual Pupils. There was much she needed to learn about her particular eyes that enhanced her perception to levels no one could ever comprehend, not without possessing one themselves. It was as if she was watching herself from a distance while another part of her watched her, watching herself.

Her dual pupils had been a multipurpose tool that allowed her not only to dilate the concept of time through her perception but peer past space as a whole, ignoring the concept of distance if she so chooses. Such a skill had only blossomed every week when Altair took her out to face the Soul Kings.

Death after Death that Nia faced seemed to temper her eyes, enhancing every aspect of them; by the time three months had passed, she\'d awakened the aspect related to her special eyes, which she dubbed God\'s Eye.

In this state, Nia had managed to pierce her master\'s chest.

Altair had been so surprised that he gaped. If not for his Ashen Blood mending his wounds, death might have honored him with its appearance. Still, he felt nothing but pride for his Pale Knight.

"Sixty?" muttered Syris, glancing over with a half frown.

Currently, within Altair\'s chamber, hanging over the balcony, enjoying a meal created by the denizens of the Serpents Outreach. Syris spoke with a glazed red chicken leg in her mouth.

"Hmmm." Nia nodded.

"Not bad. Not Bad," Syris praised, leaping up. She turned an eye towards Altair in meditation beside Reina. "Oiiii~ You hear that? Don\'t pretend to be all mysterious now. I know your bitch ass doesn\'t need to meditate to absorb mana!"

Altair unwillingly opened his eyes. "I wasn\'t meditating for that reason. I\'m trying to organize my emotions."

Syris tilted her head. \'Why not do whatever you want then? That\'s what I do."

"Really?" He tilted his head.

"I\'m a bad B. Of course." Syris proclaimed. She propped herself on the bed beside Ren, leaning her head on her shoulder. "Anyway? Is there more of this chicken? It\'s super spicy!

I can\'t even feel my cheeks."

"There is…." At that moment, Altair closed his eyes, thinking… thinking. It had been a bit new, but Altair knew that controlling emotions were no longer an option. So, every day, he decided on an emotion that would govern his state of being that wouldn\'t disturb his daily life.

Lust, Wrath, and many other negative emotions were too difficult with his current mastery of Soul of the Indomitable. At its current level, he could only insert two emotions at a time throughout his daily life.

Of course, such actions caused quite a bit of drama as Altair learned that he had no sort of control over his boundaries when it came to certain situations.

The ones he picked today had been interest and joy.

The combination of these two had been the most enjoyable and the least destructive. The rest of Altair\'s emotions would be in the background, subtly guiding some of his actions to a lesser degree.

When Altair opened his eyes, a more familiar gleam that sparkled through his eyes made Syris beam. Altair had explained his situation, so she wasn\'t that surprised when she saw a slight change in him.

"Tomorrow, I\'ll try three emotions… just to even it out," he said, grinning at the young woman. "Well? What can I do for my silver-haired beauty?"

"Hehe, don\'t be a tease," Said Syris, hugging Ren, just in case Altair tried to hug her like last time. "There are Sixty Soul Kings left. What do you think?"

"What do I think? I think we should use Tasha and Varquees next." Altair said, hopping up. He gave his body a light stretch, hurrying over to his Pale Knight. "What do you see, Nia?"

With a brief recounting of the situation, Altair patted her some head pats.

Nia blushed. "Master, I\'m not a dog," she said in a small voice.

"What about a cat then?"

Ren sighed, lifting an eye open. "He\'s giving off some golden retriever energy when he\'s like that."

"Think he\'ll play fetch?" said Syris.

The girls both giggled.

"I don\'t think it\'ll work." Ren finally said. "Altair placed his emotions in a sort of triangle. On the surface, you\'ll see interest and Joy. But the second layer there is pride. He\'s using that as his restraint. On the third… Well, I don\'t know.

Sentient creatures have well over a thousand emotions. I\'ve no idea how he\'s doing it."

Syris tilted her head. "Must be hard."

"Well…" Reina watched him teasing Nia by tickling her ribs. She smiled. "He looks happy. So that\'s all that matters. This persona of his is also the hardest worker. Since he is interested in everything, he trains the hardest.

So it has its benefits." And her lips perked. "No such things as too much repetition in his mind anymore."

"We\'ve seven days left." Syris finally said. "All hell is about to break out soon."

Ren stood to her feet. "I think we\'re ready. We aren\'t as defenseless as we were six months ago."

\'But we also aren\'t that much stronger,\' Syris thought through narrowed eyes. She closed her eyes, drawing in a long, amiable breath. \'But we\'ve no choice but to fight.\'

Just then, a massive eruption came from the front gates of the castle walls. Debris took to the skies like a mushroom cloud, falling like rain. Altair poked his head up, staring off towards the northern gate. Counting the fifty or so Soul Kings. Behind them, a dozen mutilated bodies lay dead.

\'They are desperate.\' His eyes slid towards Watcher, swarming to face them, their blades and shields tanking various types of spells.

"Their last stand."

Nia peeped up towards her Prince, "How can you be sure?"

"We don\'t have a lot of watchers left," Altair said, amused by the segment of watchers falling one by one, their metal bodies being torn asunder. "And they believe that once the Watchers all die. They\'ll be able to kill us off quite easily. They\'re not wrong. But they are also not right…. I wonder… should I aid the Soul Kings?

That\'ll make it even more fun, wouldn\'t it?"

The girls all stared at him coldly. They didn\'t say anything. It wasn\'t Altair\'s first time making such a claim. He was curious about everything. And held no loyalty toward anyone aside from those who were in his heart before the change. If something was determined to be interesting… there was no telling what he might do.

"Master… can you let me go?" Nia begged, trying to wiggle out of his arms.

"Nope. Nia is kinda fluffy," The Prince exclaimed, his focus being pulled away. "Oh, and I was thinking… what if you started eating a soul?"

"Eat a soul?" She tilted her head. "What would that do?"

"You are a subject of my Fallen Necromancy. I gifted you life from death. I wonder if I could grant you more. With my current mastery, you all mirror my level, though not my stats as of yet. But let\'s ignore that for now. I grow in power by feeding on stats.

Doing so will not only give more stats but also skills, though not of late. You all are living right now through my power, but you\'ve not experienced any major upgrades. You don\'t eat, you don\'t sleep, you\'re like dead men. So I wonder what happens if I feed your souls?"

"But we can sleep if we choose to. Same with eating."

"When was the last time you ate something?"

Nia had to think. "The day you… killed me."

"Bingo. I\'ve got a theory that the more souls you eat, the more autonomy you might gain after all; Thanatos told me that Necromancers typically strengthen their skeletons into beings stronger than themselves. So why not you guys?"

BOOOOOOOOOOM! Like a battering ram, the winds struck, tearing the stone from the land uprooting the ceiling as a massive gale swept through the castle.

Altair bellowed a cry of laughter, holding on with the sheer force of his fleshy body. He held onto Nia, who would have been blown away and shouted. "They are really going at it. Syris, go tell Ariane to start having the watchers blow themselves up."

"That might kill us all!\' Syris shouted.

"Meh. Life is too overrated anyway."

Ren bonked Altair on the head and said to Syris, "Don\'t forget we have Tasha, Varquess, Thanatos, and Zagreus. We ought to be fine. This was our final strategy anyway. How do you think they will survive after such a catastrophic explosion occurs point-blank in their faces."

Altair beamed. "I estimate five will remain standing. Injured. And just right for the picking. Greed makes a fool of us all."