Shadow of the Abyss

It was not a surprise that one of the Knights of Genesis held a Godly Armement. It stood to reason all children of above-average origins held at least one. Palatines like Sven held countless. The one protecting him had the appearance of a necklace with an idol of a stone-faced man at its center.

Even from a distance, Altair could feel its weight as Vale Qi suffused his being to the point that he was breathing and exhaling Vale Qi. Strangely enough, he found there was no sort of pain or opposition he received beforehand when absorbing foreign energy to empower himself. He felt as calm as if he had walked the First Form, Serian. No, it was better than that. Altair was sure that he had full autonomy over this energy, even if it surpassed his saturation limit. If anything, it was pushing him, aiding him to reach new heights.

"Stop this now!" a sharp voice rang with seven Transcendent Spearman flashing in between him and Sven. The one speaking appeared to be in his later years, despite Transcendent losing the ability to age physically, appearing ageless even in death.

Before Altair could speak, a pair of rough, gnarled hands pulled him back despite how much he tried to wrestle his way out. When he glared at the presumptuous man, he frowned at the Old Duke.

"Do not speak," the old duke said, tossing him back to Raven before soaring towards the Seven Transcendent.

Altair tsked, throwing an eye at Sven, slowly being surrounded by his Transcendent Guards. They were glaring back, thirteen black and gray eyes, poised on his position as if they were counting the necessary steps needed to kill him. No, they probably already knew. If anything, they were contemplating how to escape Vastroph after slaying him.

"Let it go, my Lord," Raven whispered. "You've done enough. If you attack, then—"

"You think I'm afraid!" He snapped more sharply than intended.

Raven's expression was stone. "The only thing you're proving right now is your ego is too large to initiate a retreat. You've lost this round, my Lord." Altair clenched his fist. "You fucked up, and this is the price. If you attack now, you will lose all credibility." She said that last bit in a Soul Whisper. "You are, after all, not Nox De Nier but Altair Blackwood. You need to keep up that mask less all of Vastroph turn on you."

Bars of white-hot rage overwhelmed that tainted sweetness of the flickers of Sin pulsing through his body, forcing him to release that torrent of power and breathe. The rage still lingered, throbbing like an irritable scratch he could not reach.

"Is Tasha alive?"

"Try calming down first and checking yourself. You two are connected, remember?"

Altair tried to push down his rage but found no matter how much he tried, that black bile of hate only seemed to grow, empowering his physical prowess. He had to leave less than everything he built to be destroyed.

The Old Duke looked back, "Nox, can you explain all that occurred?"

"What does it look like?" Edgar's expression soured, and the Seven Transcendent men all turned to stare with unamused expressions. "I was bloody attacked with the Dao of Destruction. You can still see the bloody pillar of light. Or do you all foolishly think it's possible I was able to accomplish such destructive might? " He scuffed, not bothering to care what bridge he burnt. He would have them all in the palm of his hands one day. "If I had that type of artillery, then we wouldn't be having such a conversation now."

"Boy…" The Old Duke began in a sonorous voice. "You will watch your tongue, or I'll cut it out for you. Go home. I've seen enough of you."

There were a few voices of disapproval, but the Old Duke waved them off, and Altair was not in the mood to converse with any of them. He shot Sven one last stare, finding a smile touching his lips, and said, "We'll see each other real soon," before he left. Whether the people of Vastroph would be able to disburse the Kisner XZ Mark Titan no longer mattered to him. If he had to guess, then those transcendent guardsmen would broker a deal with Sven and his men to deal with it. If they were smart, they would.

On the way towards the Nier Estate, a few more blind assassins attempted their assault but were torn limb from limb until their howls brought the city watch. Altair only shot them a single glance, binding them in place with the Eye of Sacrilege, before continuing his brutality. Raven was shouting, but Altair heard none of it, only a low buzz of noise. Between peeling a female assassin's flesh from her body or beating a man with his own torn-off limb to death, Altair only came to his senses after he was done.

He growled, glancing at the mutilated femur in his hand, and tossed it aside as the crowd made way. No one spoke, compelled by fear to keep their mouths shut. No one bothered Altair after that.

In his office, Altair threw his head back and sighed, not sure if he felt better or not. The only thing he knew was that his rage was getting the better of him. He closed his eyes, taking a few hours to return to himself. He had thought he would have mentally prepared himself for the loss of any of his allies, but the way he reacted seemed almost comical versus what he believed his reaction would be.

Reaching into himself, Altair breathed and mentally spoke the word "Ashara,' opening himself to his Omnipotence. A flicker of a scarlet name cut across his mind, and he smiled, vanishing from his office at a blinding speed; it seemed he was on the verge of touching lightspeed.

When he stopped, Altair smiled, looking at the smoldering remains of a charred creature. The thing before him didn't really seem human, much less even something from the Hells, but it was. It was Ashara, or at least her fleshy body.

"Will you bury her?" An effeminate voice Altair recognized rang. He spun, surprised by the unfamiliar face, then smiled, sensing the connection between her and this woman.

"Tasha?"

Ashara nodded. "Yup! I had to give up my old body. It took too much damage. It would take more energy to repair rather than just get a new one."

Altair blinked. "You can do that?"

"Devils and Demons are a Soul Race. Our Soul will bridge the gap between the body and soul and star-producing Demonic Qi to replace what we lost."

"That's ridiculous. So you can just switch bodies, with no restrictions if you get too damaged," Altair inquired, a little taken back.

Ashara looked at him as if he asked if birds could fly. "There are some restrictions, like we can't go into a body with a particular type of divinity, but aside from that, there are none. The only weakness this skill has is waiting a month to get back to full strength."

"... A month."

"Yup."

"You just got nuked, and it takes a month to recover. Didn't you sustain soul damage?"

"Two months to recover from that…"

"Your entire species is bullshit."

"Hehe, Master is being all jelly."

"I'm what?"

"Jealous," Ashara giggled, cupping her face. She looked far different than she did before, plain-faced without much distinction, aside from the fact that she was a woman. "This body is a little weak, but surprisingly still a virgin. So I guess you'll be able to take it twice."

"I swear to god, you're bloody insane," Altair expressed, releasing a sigh of relief he never knew he had. He hoped Ashara wouldn't be able to tell. There was no reason to have such concern for a pet after all. "Let's head back… I…" Turning back to the charred remains of Ashara's old body, Altair frowned.

"Are the bones still good?"

"Afraid not. The body was damaged on a molecular level. In a few more hours, this husk will simply turn to dust." Ashara said, giving it a light kick. Cracks raced across the husk as several parts began to break off, turning to dust. "See? What a useless bitch."

"... Isn't that… oh, never mind. Let's go." Placing a palm over her shoulder, Altair Valemorphed their bodies into light, cutting across Vastroph into his office faster than one could blink.

Raven welcomed him back with a smile. "I see she survived."

"When did you become so cold-hearted!" Ashara exclaimed, throwing her arms around Raven's shoulder. "The old Raven would have hugged me and welcomed me back with kisses. I'm offended."

"Then be offended," Raven said with her usual smile, then glanced at Altair. "Master, I thought we talked about this. You can't just vanish. Was nearly dying not evident enough that you need protection?"

"A better question is, who is going to warm his bed now?" Ashara mouthed off. "I can't do it… yet. What about you, Raven? Are you ready to fall on that spear? It is quite the treat, you know."