Abyssal Awakening

Chapter 1056: The Reaper

Karya stared at Alice.

Her mind failed to comprehend exactly what she was seeing, what she was feeling.

The Authority of Life.

Something that should’ve been unique to her had been... duplicated?

"Wha... Huh? How?" Karya blinked her eyes in disbelief.

Walking over to Alice, she grabbed her by the arm and lifted it.

A quick scan of Alice’s body told her everything she needed to know.

At this moment in time, Alice was essentially a mirror reflection of herself. She had the same number of Sigils along with the Authority that came with her title.

Was the drinking of blood a contract? No, she didn’t feel anything of the sort. In fact, she might even go as far as to say this ’contract’, if you can even call it that, is a one-sided thing where Alice could essentially force herself to take your power.

While Karya was confused by the fact that Alice was somehow able to borrow her power, Alice was busy getting used to this strange feeling.

The Authority of Life felt... different to the other authorities she’d hijacked in the past.

For those, all she needed to do was simply tap into the reservoir of power held within her body. After that, the power was hers to access.

But this?

This was different. It didn’t work the same as what she had expected. It felt as though there was an additional... verification that needed to be done.

Alice furrowed her brows.

The fact that this Authority needed ’verification’ didn’t sit right with her. Something that wasn’t the Abyss had a hand in this power...

"One of my abilities is to link my lifeforce with my opponent and make it so that all damage is reflected back to them. Can you see if you can activate this ability?" Karya asked, wanting to test things out as Alice nodded her head.

Recalling the exact ability that Karya had performed, Alice did the same and soon, a tether stretched between the two of them.

Karya furrowed her brows.

"Never mind, this isn’t going to work." She sighed, stepping away and surprising Alice.

Even Allura was surprised as she didn’t expect Karya to flat out deny the possibility, especially after seeing Alice holding the Authority of Life.

"Why wouldn’t it work? Didn’t I use your ability just fine?" Alice frowned, pointing at the tether between them.

"That’s the exact issue." Karya leaned against the table.

"The Authority of Life is a little different from the others. Think of it this way, Authorities are weapons that Lords can wield in order to exert their influence on the world. But Life doesn’t work that way.

"Rather, the true Authority is hidden away in a box. Tapping into that specific power would require a Key. And what we have..." Karya paused.

"What we have is the Key. The fact that you were only able to use the tether told me enough. You’re bound by the same limitations as I am. In essence, unless I can access the Authority freely, you’re stuck with what I’ve got." She folded her arms.

Had Alice revealed more power than expected, perhaps even a new ability with the Tether, Karya would’ve been more inclined to believe that her pitch would’ve been possible.

But not like this, not with these limitations.

Holding the key was one thing, but accessing the box required you to ’discuss’ its usage with the one guarding the Authority.

The Reaper.

Life and Death were two sides of the same coin. Just as how the Lord of Death could be hit by the backlash of not being able to kill his opponent and die in the process, the Authority of Life had its own drawbacks.

In the first place, granting life was going against the natural order. In order for something to be granted life, a price must be paid. It’s why she preferred to understand it as ’buying’ time from the Reaper.

When she performed the ability on Allura, she traded all of Allura’s ’potential future’ for a conversion, along with adding some extra such as her own ’time’ and Gin’s. All so that the Reaper would accept the payment and thus allow Allura’s lifeforce to be connected with her energy storage.

This hole in the reserves? It’s a leak maintained by the Reaper to ensure that nothing abnormal occurs with the contract they have formed.

And once the energy runs out...

No more bargaining, no more second wind. This was the last chance that Allura had.

"So if you want to help Allura, the only way you would’ve been able to do so would’ve been somehow inheriting the full Authority without ’asking for permission’, then carrying out the contract to transfer lifeforce. And since that didn’t happen, it’s not possible." Karya summarised as Alice clenched her fist in disappointment.

For a moment, she thought she had seen a possibility. A path forward for Allura.

But now... Karya had denied that path.

However, she wasn’t about to give up.

For the sake of saving Allura, she refused to back down so easily.

"I just need to use the key to open the box, right? What do I need to prepare?" Alice asked.

Since the Authority had now doubled up, it shouldn’t be an issue for her to ’request’ something from the full Authority. In which case, it would be to add a new layer to Allura’s contract or, if nothing else, to add herself as a contributor to how much time Allura had left. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

That was the best she could hope for.

Karya folded her arms.

Not unheard of, but definitely difficult to pull off. There was little to guarantee that the Reaper wouldn’t immediately try to kill Alice because it might see her as a usurper. An unqualified individual who somehow stole the key.

The ideal scenario would be for it to treat Alice as a fellow Lord of Life rather than someone unwanted.

"Are you aware of the entity known as the Reaper?" She asked as Alice paused for a moment before nodding her head.

She knew who the Reaper was to some extent. After all, she had personally witnessed Gin summon the Avatar of Death.

Life and Death, two sides of the same coin. If the Reaper can take life, it can also give life by ’delaying’ its reaping.

"Good, then I don’t need to explain too much. To use the true Authority of Life, one must bargain with the Reaper. To make an equal or unfair exchange, favouring the Reaper of course.

"But if successfully done, Life can be breathed into a dead body and so too will abilities follow. I’ve given up parts of myself for power and abilities that some may deem... inhuman."

Little by little, wings unfurled from behind Karya’s head and covered her eyes. The moment they did, her aura shifted.

She no longer felt like a human nor a beast. If anything... it felt more like an Outer God. That sense of staring at something ’foreign’. But even then, it wasn’t exactly the same as the Outer Gods.

Going back to normal, Karya shrugged her shoulders.

"There is one thing you must remember when making deals with the Reaper. And that is to understand where you currently stand.

"The Reaper is as honourable as he is gentle. He will usher you into a gentle death to ensure you feel no pain at all. But if you don’t wish to go gently, he will chase you down with a malice surpassing that of demons. Thus, you must understand where you currently stand. Are you in his ’good books’ or are you a criminal in his eyes?" She warned.

"Depending on the answer, his stance and services will naturally change."

Just as Alice was about to say something, she paused.

A realisation slowly hit as shivers travelled down her spine.

"When you say he is honourable... What exactly do you mean?" Alice forced a smile.

"Hmm... Honourable as in respecting those who respect the cycle of life and death. Surprisingly, even doctors are involved. Life is precious in the Reaper’s eyes. Those who don’t value it do not deserve his mercy.

"Hunters who evade death through certain means, revive the dead, and engage in excessive killing will cause some friction between themselves and the Reaper. But on the other hand, treasuring life, saving it, purifying, and giving those raised from the dead a peaceful death will grant you favour.

"I know it sounds strange for the Reaper to treasure Life. But who am I to tell this god-like being how to do his job?" Karya shrugged. She failed to notice the nervousness present on Alice’s face.

Based on what Karya had just said... Alice had a slight hunch that she might be the exact thing that the Reaper hated the most.

"Say, what if there is someone who’s ’died’ a bunch of times but still lives?" Alice asked as Karya thought about it.

"There are cases in the past where people have violated the cycle of Life and Death. To evade and remove themselves from the cycle in strange ways. I’m sure you’ve seen some yourself, people such as the brother of the Vampire you mentioned. These kinds of people who should’ve died but can’t are watched carefully by the Reaper.

"The moment an opportunity arises, he will no doubt appear to finish the job when you least expect it."

Alice massaged her eyes.

Now that she had hijacked the Authority of Life, she’d essentially allowed the Reaper an easy way of finding her.

The existence of someone who evades their rightful death.

A violation of the natural order.

The only question now is...

Why hasn’t he appeared yet? Or was she classified as ’immortal’?

But that was false. Her regeneration might be strong, but there are plenty of attacks that can still kill her. Even Gin, with his Authority of Death, ’scared’ her not long ago.

So there must be a different reason as to why the Reaper is allowing her to walk free for now.

And honestly... she didn’t want him to show up for her to find out.

If he did, her poor little heart wouldn’t be able to take it.

But little did Alice know, the Reaper had long noticed her presence...