Shadow of the Abyss

Altair gave a fanged smile. "Of course. I'll lead." He bounded forward at a speed that left behind an afterimage. Nia was quick to return to his shadow while Siena, Tasha, and Morrigan scrambled after him, racing down a set of corridors and stairs before they were once more placed in a formation trap.

However, before Tasha could break it, it shattered, as Altair didn't even bother to pause, using his Omniscience to break whatever formation might get in his way.

Tasha nearly tipped over, catching herself, utterly amazed. She'd only gone over the basics of formations, but Altair was already breaking a Fifth Staged one. It was mind-boggling, so much so that she felt her belly set ablaze with a fire she knew all too well.

No matter how smart Altair was, breaking formation at this level was impossible, or so she thought. It was not something he should have been able to accomplish so early in his education. He was self-taught, a fact that added to the mystery of his abilities. There were simply so many things he didn't know, much less understand. And yet the results spoke for themselves.

Far beyond the center of the tower, Ravel watched upon his throne of amalgamated bones. Presently, he looked astonished. He didn't even seem to understand how the formation that took seven years to lay down was shattered before it could activate. His fist clenched, and his eyes burned with fury as he rose, creating a 3-D Hologram of the Tower.

"Next is the Teleportation Formation. Not even he should be able to defend against—" His words were cut short as Altair whipped out Gram, hurling it the moment he kicked open the door to the next floor. He grinned savagely, watching Gram pierce the earth, shattering the formation before Mana could coalesce.

"What the Fuck!" Said Ravel alongside the Gods.

Altair gave an evil laugh, wanting nothing more than to kiss his Omniscience. He didn't know why he hadn't thought of using his ability to scan the Tower before he even entered it. Much less using it to find the weakness of those around him. Truthfully, he didn't stand a thing he was seeing, but he knew exactly where to cut with his sword.

'Nothing wrong being a little shameless,' he laughed inwardly, pushing forward, snatching his sword up before bounding further up without hesitation.

[Master, do be aware that you can't abuse your Omniscience yet]

Altair didn't need to be told twice. He could already feel his consciousness fading slightly. He was tired as if he was on a jog with an entire mountain on his shoulder. Still, he was smiling, reaching the top of the tower in a matter of minutes rather than hours like Ravel had intended.

He was inside the Throne Room, stepping over the doors he'd taken the liberty to tear down. Reluctantly, he took a deep breath to catch himself.

"You ready to die!"

[Titan Fall: Bro just speed-ran the Lich Tower]

[Conquest: All that hard work for no reason]

[Daddy: Kill yourself]

[Luscious Red: Altair, I'll have your Babies!]

[Bottom Phoenix: Bro is seriously asking himself why he spent years laying down formations]

"SILENCE!!" Ravel roared, bashing the messages away. He glared furiously at Altair, screaming, "HOW! HOW'D YOU DO IT?"

Just then, Nia, Jorm, and Alyssa appeared from their master's shadow, weapons already drawn.

"I'm about to die," Altair muttered, panting so heavily that beads of sweat came in streams down his forehead onto the floor. "Can we—"

Unleashing a barrage of lightning as black as Evernight from his fingertips. A cruel expression marred the lich's countenance. When Nia appeared to sneer, steeping towards the barrage with a spear of Vale in her hand, perceiving the motion of the lightning with Foresight, her spear tip ignited with Third Form of the Grave of Night.

"Devouring Night"

Disbursing the lightning into embers, Alyssa bounded forward like a flash of light, matched only by Morrigan, accelerating past her as her spear and sword struck out. The lich growled, conquering a barrier that shattered due to the sheer force of power echoing from her core, invoking a backlash that sent blood spewing from his lips.

"Bitch," He managed to say when Alyssa arrived, cleaving her sword down with such impunity it could be felt.

Just then, several bone spears came from earth, forcing Alyssa to redirect her attack. She cursed as the shards of bones shattered all around. She kicked back and swung her sword as a dozen more bone spears came hurling their way toward her.

"Jorm!" she shouted.

Jorm, who'd been building his Mana, unleashed a bolt that lit the throne room ablaze. Magma pooled around the room, following the shrieking bolt of Infernal lightning. Ravel's eye twitched; even with his SevenCircles of Mana, he wasn't sure he could take a direct hit.

Name: Ravel

Class: Lich King II [89%]

Race: Undead

Str: 4447

Dex: 6772

Con: 7960

Wis: 7710

Chr: 7710

Mana: 450

His expression contorted, unsure why he felt pushed into a corner when he was nearly twice as strong as they were.

'Are there skills so profound that even they can rival me?' he wondered; he shook his head, not willing to believe it. And why should he? He was at the peak of the Seventh Circle, with a vast ocean of knowledge. Why should he feel fear?

Throwing out the idea of dodging the bolt of infernal lighting, Ravel opened his palm as if to catch the bolt aimed directly at his heart. He froze, and his eyes widened in surprise as the infernal bolt shattered into embers.

'A feint!' he realized a little too late, discovering Altair, who was catching his breath, was nowhere to be seen. He shuddered when he felt the hairs on his back stand on end. Before he realized what had happened, the meat suit he wore had been engulfed by a drake of Vale Qi.

Altair, who was shrouded by a cloak of Vale Qi, let loose a stroke that seemed to tear the heavens asunder. The stroke besieged the top of the tower, reaching the moon that had lost its luster in a single beat and splintering it in half.

'Weeping Moon,' He invoked, calling upon the Forth Form of Grave of Night.

Those around him were torn from the earth as the sheer power that redefined the dimensions of a fourth circle came alive in the form of a sword stroke. Ravel himself was sent flying off his tower, crumpling beneath the weight of the Vale Qi, bleeding out into the either. He stuck the earth with such shattering force that tectonic plates shifted as his body uprooted the realm itself.

Azure flames lit the hollow husk of Ravel's eye sockets as he pulled his aged bones out of the earth. Unveiling a mighty cry of pure mana that pillared the Heavens. Even from several hundred miles away, Altair could feel it.

[Demonic Ascension!]

[All Attributes have been multiplied by 7]

[Error]

[Floor Restriction Applied]

[All Attributes have been multiplied by 3]

[Tower Abiter Has Taken Action]

[All Attributes have been multiplied by 5]

Name: Ravel

Class: Lich King II [89%]

Race: Undead

Str: 4447 → 35, 576

Dex: 6772 →33,860

Con: 7960 → 39,800

Wis: 7710 → 38,550

Chr: 7710 → 38,550

All of the realms shook, and a power that no mere mortals could wield shrouded the globe. The paper-thin atmosphere that separated the vacuum of space from the world erupted, uprooting the world itself.

Altair, who'd never felt such power before, was frozen in place, smiling crazily at the sheer power unraveling. He couldn't believe such power could exist. Yet the reality itself proved his imagination wrong.

He gulped as Will of the Abyss rang true across his being, freeing him from his limitations.

[DING]

[Will of the Abyss]

Passive: Transcend Limitations of the One across the Myriad Heavens. The Stronger the user's conviction, the stronger he may transcend.

Active: Creates a Domain fueled by the user's Willpower/Charisma to plunge those of weaker wills into an Abyss of Despair.

"I'll head out first… try to catch up with me."

"You're going to fight that!" Morrigan shouted, only to realize she was talking to an afterimage.

Having calculated the exact distance between Ravel and himself, with Omnicleanse, Altair Valemophred into light personified, blitzing the Lich, caught up in his rage. His foot landed on the skeleton's head as Altair pulled all the momentum he'd collected, traveling at the speed of light into a single point.

"Desolate descent "

[DING

Desolate Descent [F] → [D]

Proficiency: 87% → 1%

[Daddy: Who the hell made this trial? You're fired]n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

[She Who Hunts: This isn't something that should be on the third floor]

[Magna Carta: 100%]

Witnessing nearly half the world of Timbacata implode in a single instance. No god stood in amazement, finding the battle utterly numbing. They'd felt they weren't watching the power of mortals clashing but transcendents. Such power belonged to a god, not a mortal.

"So this is my true power?" Altair muttered, a little unsure where the lich had gone. Standing in the void of space, surrounded by the bleeding world before him, a scene of utter ruin appeared to match the dystopian image of his madness granted by the Ninth Form.

He laughed, and laughed, until his gut ached, and his eyes bled from the backlash, as Ashen Blood struggled to keep himself hold. Holding onto the momentum of the speed of light, simultaneously transferring it into Desolate Descent, using the calculations of his omniscience to survive, he'd managed to keep himself together, if only by a hair.

"Did you see that, Master!" he roared, clutching his face, as he looked down towards the horror below. He roared, his demonic cry of laughter echoing through the void and ruin below, unaware of how blood-red his eyes were becoming.

"I know you're alive, Lich! COME AND FACE ME!!!!" Altair bellowed as three and a half Vale Stars hovered above his head like a crown.

"COME FACE YOUR END!!!!"

[You have activated Desolate Abyss]