Shadow of the Abyss

If she was honest with herself, Syris might have admitted she was worried. Even if Altair had unnatural control over his mana, all it took was a single mistake, a lapse in judgment, or a single distraction that could lead to his death.

The Ninth Grade Shard in his hand was breaking apart, falling into small colorless shards that shattered into small fragments at the slightest touch.

Syris watched it all, watched the sweat seep from out his pour. She felt the hammering of his heartbeat through the vibration of the ground and felt the harsh storm of mana coiling around him, diving into his meridians like a wild storm.

His hair was flailing, flitting back and forth with the flow of the mana. It wasn't until half an hour had passed that Altair opened his eyes. The shard in his palm collapsing into small fragmented dust.

"Arise, Vaiga Darkfire. Arise Anew."

From his shadow, she emerged, slightly changed from the other shadows. Her skin wasn't the pale grey like the other's but retained its sultry white hue. It was only her hair that changed, transitioning to an ashen complexion.

'Strange?' The Prince thought, observing the subtle way her shoulders moved. He sensed anger… betrayal, and more.

It was forced as if she was fighting with herself, but with her flesh bare for all to see, Vaiga fell to her knees, tears bubbling in her eyes. She clenched her teeth, tasted the metallic sweetness of blood coiling around her tongue, and gritted out, "I greet you… Master."

She was red, flushed with a humiliation that curled her gut.

"Look at me," he commanded.

Vaiga lifted her head, glaring daggers at him. She flinched when he raised a palm.

"Relax… I'm not that type of Master," He remarked in a soothing tone, betrayed by that indifferent expression. He cupped her chin, appraising her with a curious eye. "I'm not sure what I like more. The pale skin or the white?"

"She's sultry. You know, kind of tan but not too much,' said Syris. "And can you put some clothes on her?"

"Oh… Right, most of my Shadow resurrected with what they were wearing. Vaiga is the only one who didn't. Only one who retained their skin color and eyes, too. I don't like it. That beautiful pale grey was sexy as—"

Covering his mouth lest he continue spouting nonsense, Syris pulled a cloak from out of Draupnir, cloaking the maiden trembling like a frightened fawn. When she jumped back away from Altair, tickling her palm with his tongue. She blushed.

"Perv."

"Keep your hands to yourself, and I won't do it." He smirked, glancing down at Vaiga without much concern. "I saw your entire life, Vaiga. You're younger than I originally thought. Much younger. Stand up. Good. I know you've no love for Earth's major powers.

Personally, I don't blame you. They've tried to assault you quite a few times. Sadly, this is the culture of his planet.

Vaiga chewed her lip, unable to even look at her Master. She felt so exposed that it made her skin sticky with shame.

"Don't cry. It won't accomplish much… this is a reality that you must face. Now. Have you retained any of my skills?"

She nodded.

"Speak."

"Yes."

"You will address me as My Lord or Master when we are before people. Whatever you call me in private between us will be our business. Do you understand?"

Vaiga lifted her glistening eyes, seething baleful hate. She might have looked more intimidating had she not been barely clothed. "I understand… Master."

"Good. Now answer my question."

"I've retained all of them, my Lord," said Vaiga, dropping her head low. Unsure if she could do this.

'She is sired to me but isn't compelled. How interesting," Altair thought. "Is it because her soul is stronger than mine, or is it because she passed a particular threshold?'

Either way, it went, Altair was quite interested in the result.

Tossing Shadowclaw towards her, he mirthlessly grinned. "You will be my Second Swordmaid; you will handle my daily needs. Don't worry. I've no interest in forcing myself on a woman."

Syris coughed then, recalling that night quite vividly.

"That was an accident! I lost control once! I even apologized."

"It still happened."

"And it wasn't forced… If I remember correctly… You didn't say stop until—"

"I know what I did." Syris mewled, shrieking back like a frightened cat. She snorted, puffing her flushed cheeks. "No need to bring it up again."

"As I was saying,' Altair intoned. "You will hold my sword from now on and will correspond my daily needs to my various vassals and servants. However, your biggest job will be to fight when I don't want to or have to. You may also keep the Shard of the Primal Blade mother gave you. It's yours."

Vaiga was taken by surprise. "Really?"

"I'm not so greedy that I would steal from one of my servants. I—" Unloading a mouthful of blood over the ground, Altair winced, turning slightly pale for a brief second before his Ashen Blood mended his swollen meridians.

"Altair!" Syris screamed, appearing by his side in an iridescent flash.

The Prince wiped the blood off his mouth, ignoring the faces of worry. He shook his head, rising to his feet. "Just a bit of bad blood is all. I'll be good once I recover my mana. I'm really low right now. Unfortunately, I don't have the time to patiently recover.

Vaiga, using Shadowclaw, I want you to command destruction upon Earth. Wipe out all those who oppose me."

Vaiga bit her lips, drawing blood. "Can I refuse?"

"You can. But It won't change my command. Let's go." Altair commanded, issuing her some clothing from out of his ring before snapping his finger and teleporting them to the outside world.

Manless drones surrounded them, each of them armed with Lazguns and Lazswords, fully capable of wiping out a planet if one wasn't careful. The king had banned such weapons due to their destructive nature. It was said that if a Lazsword were to fall at a perfect angle, it could potentially penetrate through the multiple layers of Earth's crust, striking at the core and destroying the planet.

Before a Lazweapon, killing a ninth Circle or Transcendent was a simple task, assuming the user could actually hit a ninth circle.

"Stay back, my Master," said Cedric, lifting his spear.

"Vaiga…"

"Yes… My Lord," said Vaiga, watching the life she had built for nearly a century vanish. She moved, vanishing in a blur of white light, shrieking through the airway above. She closed her eyes, picturing a scene held within the Fragment of the Primal Sword.

She saw it then: a man carrying a tainted black halo and two fiery black wings. The world around him was burning, blazing with flames so intense that space and time distorted, inverting on itself. In the stranger's hand hung a sword intertwined with black and azure colors. He was pointing it towards the skies, splitting apart the tainted red heavens, showering the land with red.

With her body mirroring the unnamed stranger, Vaiga lifted Shadowclaw into the skies, and for an instance that seemed to last a decade, the sun and moon splintered off their axis, severed in half by an unseemed force that split the skies of Zamphis.

Primal Death: Nexus

The blinding light that tapered the heavens swallowed the entire northern hemisphere, splitting mountains and buildings alike that stood taller than her in the skies. Be the man or animal, drone or Star Cruzer, all that stood in the skies were split apart before her blade.

Altair had only seen a sort of halo emerge from around Shadowclaw, expanding like the hiss of a blade across space. He was in awe for a while, taken back by the level of destruction caused by such a technique.

None had been spared, not even the palace of sunset. He wondered how many she killed with that one technique.

"What the hell was that?" Syris asked.

"I could teach it to you." the Prince said, sneaking up beside her ear. "Come by my chambers tonight. And I'll be sure to teach you the basics."

Syris had half a mind to believe him. If not for that sneaky smile, she might have. "Liar."

"To lie is to sin; am I a sinner, Syris?"

She pointed to Vaiga. "Didn't you kill her in cold blood?"

"Only with the intention of bringing her back. Now she gets to live out her days in joy."

"... she's lowkey a slave.'

'She's a worker. A pal, doing me a favor."

Altair face was looking really punchable right now, or so Syris told herself, snorting. "You're insane."

"Well? What do you think? I'm sure we can get the basics down by dawn if we start tonight."

"You're serious?"

"As God as my witness."

"Which God?"

'Pick one."

The pale-eyed girl snorted before laughing. "We'll see."

Altair narrowed his eyes, "so you say."

"I've done it, master," said Vaiga. There was no joy on her face. Today had marked the day she successfully executed a named sword art, yet she didn't feel joy.

The Prince ignored her expression. "Now then, shall we Conquer Earth?"

"We'll die," said Vaiga darkly. "Even with me… even if I'm stronger. You'll stand no chance. You should know that. We have machines as strong as transcendents."

"Let me worry about that, my dear sword maiden."