Shadow of the Abyss

"That girl is something else," Altair said when prescience warned of some intangible web. The Emperor turned to face his city, his domain of 65m actively pushing information into his mind's eye. As if he were standing amidst a maelstrom of information, his palm opened as a fist bore through the window, shattering the glass in a frightened burst of earth-shattering force.

A deafening roar struck!

Altair held the force at bay, his surroundings shattering into a burst of destruction and debris, uprooting the bar like cardboard. The room exploded as the Emperor stood poised, a half smile across his impassive face.

"You blocked that?" Thaeon said, taken back by the young man holding his grip. He frowned, disturbed by the way some unseamed force disbursing half his force.

Altair released him, taking a seat in his chair, which had been left untouched by Raven's Vale Qi, beside Morrigan, who did not seem the least bit phased.

"Your domain is impressive," Morrigan said.

"Is this you trying to flirt?" Altair joked, though clearly Morrigan did not find it funny. She glared at him, giving him his answer with an obscene finger gesture.

Altair crackled up, and his eyes glided to the stranger. "Who are you to court death so openly." He asked, the ridicule in his voice overt.

The blatant dismissal had left Thaeon flushed with rage. How many could say they survived a fist from someone like him?

Altair took a sip of his whiskey, awaiting his response when a cry echoed from the ruined kitchen.

"Papa! Someone tried to kill Atelia! Help! Oh… Papa found him. Nevermind. Atelia will continue to look for Ice cream.

She's sure that some of it survived. Justice for Atelia!"

As Atelia left to rummage through the kitchen's debris, Thaeon grew even angrier.

"Your Altair Blackwood."

"Obviously," Lord Blackwood said. " or do you just attack random people? Evidently, you don't work for Athena, so what God dick are you riding."

Thaeo expression contorted. "I walk the Path of War."

"Ares." Altair grinned. He enjoyed another sip, embellishing the smooth warmth pulsing through his chest, attempting to cloud the mind. "The God of War has found fault with me. Interesting."

As Altair's eyes fell upon the acolyte, he couldn't help but be struck by the man's unique appearance. The ashen hue of his hair contrasted beautifully with his sultry brown skin, creating a striking symmetry that was impossible to ignore. Altair's gaze drifted down to the acolyte's tunic, which was worn and frayed in some places, revealing shadows of scars that seemed to tell a story of their own.

Despite the tunic being a bit too large for the acolyte's height, it failed to detract from the man's overall appearance. Altair's eyes then wandered to the linen robes the acolyte was wearing - they seemed to give him an air of mystery and intrigue, almost as if he had recently emerged from a long journey through a vast dune-filled desert.

Thaeon's voice was laced with anger as he uttered the words, "Your arrogance is deafening." With a swift motion, he opened his hand and summoned a cruel black glaive. The weapon was adorned with intricate engravings of a helm of war across its hilt, giving it a menacing appearance.

Altair regarded the scarlet glow of the Glaive curiously but did not place much worth in its user.

The scarlet threads of Mana began to writhe, building momentum that left the air stagnant and with weight.

A voice called out, cutting through the air.

"My Lord, should I kill him?" Vaiga asked from the threshold of the ruin bar. Her back to the wall, but her palm across Shadowclaw.

Altair left a palm open. His intention was clear.

Vaiga didn't hesitate for a moment. She gracefully stepped over the piles of rubble and carefully placed Shadowclaw into the Emperor's open hand. As soon as he grasped the weapon, the Infernal Blade started to hum with furious energy, causing scarlet tendrils to spark and line the Emperor's hand.

It had happened in a single instant, but Morrigan had whipped back like a gust of wind, an alarm present as the faintest sensation of an Aspect began to curve Shadowclaw's obsidian edge. She gulped, taken back by the near presence of Almighty it brought. But as she blinked, the faintest wisp of Almighty Qi vanished.

'Could I have imagined it?' she wondered. 'No. One does not imagine Almighty Qi. What is his Aspect?'

Suddenly, the motion of his sword flared, scarring space an infernal red, as Shadowclaw whipped, laced with profane air, crackled against the shaft of Thaeons glaive, rocketing the man through several buildings like an inflatable beam of light.

As the [Eyes of Sacrilage] glowed, a surge of madness seemed to taint the very air as he looked eyes with Thaeon, pulling himself from the rubble.

Ding

Name: Thaeon of Tyboon

Age: 24

Race: Versi

Mana Circle: [Seventh Circle 99%]

Class: [Acolyte of War III Lv 150]

Str: 1747

Dex: 1622

Con: 1860

Wis: 1910

Chr: 1910

Mana: 504

"What are the Gods thinking sending a Sixth Circle after this King?" He smiled. "But I guess I do want to try out my new original technique on you."

Clammering to his feet, ash and soot hounding his senses, Thaeon kicked off the earth with shattering force, reaching Altair in half a breath, his agility so great the air folded, exploding as he reached supersonic levels.

And yet the Emperor seemed like an immutable wall as their blades crossed. He contained the force to such a degree the hotel merely shook.

"How?"

"Is that all?" The Emperor asked. His voice was like ice. Swatting away Thaeon like he were a child and not an acolyte of an old God.

Pushed several meters, Thaeon glided across the air, similarly to how one would the earth. "How! How! My Power is clearly higher." he asked, hovering in the air.

The attention of their battle caught the eye of a few Gods and Mortals alike.

"Why don't the rest of you show up, or will you allow the God of War to front this battle." Altair did not move, his eyes narrowing as eleven, more similar men and women, began to leak their aura. The radiance of their being like the soaring sun as they came into being like pillars of light.

Again, Altair was not impressed, his lips curling into a disdainful smile as the eleven forming twelve stood in the skies, their bodies ablaze with the light of their God's Glory.

All twelve were in the Sixth Circle, possessing similar stats to Thaeon. Each of them was a genius in their own right, and yet, as they hovered before the Emperor, a palpable sense of inferiority began to seep into their minds. Even though they were each accomplished in their own right, their confidence faltered in the presence of the all-powerful ruler.

He was younger and weaker in terms of a Circle, yet each of them felt their hearts pound in their chests at the mere image of the young man.

"Master, shall I assist you?" Raven asked, rising from her chair, a glaive flashing in her small hands.

Altair raised a brow. "I'll allow it." He said as though it was nothing, his feet stepping onto a slab of infernal lightning to allow flight. Raven followed behind him. The coolness within her amethyst eyes was slowly being swallowed by the will of the Vale.

"Surrender," Ophelia Silvers, the First Acolyte of Athena, said in a strong, orderly voice, pointing the sleek edge of her Katana towards the Emperor. "There are twelve of us and Two of you."

Azar, the First Acolyte of Hephaestus, lifted the Third Flame of Rite across his palm. "Lay down the sword and just accept it, Blackwood. There is no need for us to ruin you and your woman."

"Back the fuck off!" Thaeon shouted, glaring at the Elven Acolytes.

"I'm not in this," said Asahi, First Disciple of Artemis, as she glided towards Altair. She cuffed her palm. "Such a dishonorable battle would be a disgrace to my Master, the Goddess of the Hunt."

"Ah. Now, there is a god I would love to meet," Altair said, gesturing to Morrigan. "But if you've no interest in fighting, please stand beside Lady Morrigan."

Asahi nodded, fluttering through the scorched winds towards the Goddess of Slaughter. She offered a kind smile but said nothing. Raven glanced at her but did not place much worth in her being as Vaiga and Hilda remained where they were, poised for any signs of extreme danger.

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Altair regarded the eleven remaining Acolytes with a critical eye; his thoughts drifted to the ominous, expanding crack in the sky. The crack was unlike anything he had ever seen before - a gaping hole in the heavens that seemed to defy the laws of physics. It was as if reality itself had been torn asunder, and the very fabric of the universe was unraveling before his eyes.

As he watched, transfixed by the mesmerizing sight, Altair noticed that the light rays were twisting and warping in strange and chaotic ways. They were being pushed out of disorder from out of the swirling crack that seemed near endless.

Calmly, he returned to himself, giving a half smile to the Acolytes. "Does anyone else wish to stand down?" his gaze swept the faces, marking the level of disdain and contempt before he asked. "Alright. Then which one of you belongs to Athena?"