The Vengeful Extra's Ascension-Chapter 17: Battling the Abyss!

As soon as the words left Albedo’s lips, the temperature in the chamber dropped further. Shards of Ice bloomed along the seats, railings and walls, and it reached a point where Albedo’s breath was instantly being frozen.

The silver-robed woman tilted her head, the distorted whisper layered behind her voice growing harsher.

"You’ll regret this, Albedo Neverwinter. The Eye doesn’t take kindly to those too blind to see what’s good for them. Join us now, or suffer for eternity."

Albedo narrowed his eyes, steam curling from his lips as he took a step forward through the frost-laced air.

"Go fuck yourself, "

He raised Havoc and Ruin, their barrels glowing with hungry light.

"and that shitty Eye too."

The silver-robed woman sighed with disappointment, "Fine then, let me show you how those who refuse the Abyss’ call end. Begin the Rite of Unveiling."

As she finished that sentence, the cultists erupted into motion.

~BOOM!~

The chamber shuddered as a spell detonated, a tendril of black lightning tearing through where Albedo had stood, but he was already gone, moving like a blur of silver and shadow.

His Crimson Moon Physique had activated, and flames erupted around him, quickly burning away the Ice that tried to root him where he stood, and allowing him to dash away.

"and I’ll show you how people who mess with me end up." He said.

Havoc, in his right hand, roared venomously as it entered Infernal Mode

Ruin, in his left, shimmered with ghostly blue light as it entered Abyssal Mode.

Then, he pulled the trigger.

~BANG!~

The shot from Havoc tore through the frost-hazed chamber, colliding with one of the Abyssal worshippers, a hooded man mid chant with his hands glowing with Abyssal glyphs.

The Infernal Flames exploded onto his hands, cutting off his spell and sending him reeling. Albedo didn’t stop there, unleashing a culling of bullets that crashed into his body, each one causing an explosion.

~BOOM~BOOM~BOOM!~

The explosions were absolutely blinding, a blossoming inferno devouring the cultists hands and quickly moving to his torso, devouring that to. His flesh and soul were incinerated, his body melted into ash and smoke, with only his staff as a charred husk on the floor.

"Hmm, BIND HIM." The grey cloaked lady said, "I want to pluck his eyes as a trophy before sending him to The Eye."

The other cultists nodded, and a second spell suddenly arced towards Albedo, dark waves of shadow targeted him mid air, but he twisted beneath it, sliding across the slick, icy floor.

The other cultists recoiled, shielding their eyes, but Albedo was already moving.

In his left hand, Ruin ignited with spectral pulses as it unleashed a round towards another one of the cultists.

The Abyssal round, more effective against those touched by the Abyss, tore through the cultist’s shield like tissue paper, hitting her in the arm and disrupting her spellcast.

But then, as Albedo was going to continue his attacks,

~SHHHHRIP!~

A jagged tendril of shadow erupted from beneath one of the seats behind him, he barely had time to react before it wrapped around his ankle, yanking him mid-slide and slamming him hard against the side of the chamber.

~CRACK!~

Albedo remained alert despite the pain, the alien tendril crawling up his leg, unleashing an inky, corrosive liquid that squirmed like worms on his skin, trying to bore into his flesh.

"Tch."

He gritted his teeth and focused.

Crimson Apocalypse Flames surged from his body in a ring, incinerating the crawling darkness. The writhing Abyssal tentacle screeched like a living thing as it burned away, leaving blackened residue and scorched air.

He stood again, hair drifting as heat shimmered around him. Bloodlust surrounding his body, the air smelling like sulfur and ash as he stared right into the bleeding eyes of the remaining cultists.

"You think I’m scared of the Abyss?" Albedo growled, cracking his neck as more runes lit along the chamber.

Flames danced at his feet, and in his hands, death whispered.

"Then let me show you what real fear looks like."

"FUCK YOU. KILL HIMM!" The grey-robed lady roared at the others.

Then, their bodies convulsed, twitching like marionettes controlled by an unseen puppeteer. Their heads jerked at unnatural angles, and their screams warped into an eldritch, unknown language.

Black veins bulged across their skin, spreading like spidery ink under parchment. Their eyes pulsed red, glyphs etched within their pupils glowing brighter with every breath.

Their bodies shuddered and twisted as the Abyssal Possession deepened its grip.

~CRACK~

Their bones snapped, their limbs dislocating, their mouths stretching into inhuman grins as blood dripped from all of their orifices onto the floor. The Abyssal possession had fully taken hold of them.

One of the cultists immediately slammed his fist together, and summoned a barrage of Abyssal chains that tried to bind Albedo, but Albedo dodged it, raising his guns.

"RAAAAGHH!!" One of them roared, charging at Albedo like a rabid beast, it’s hand covered in abyssal power, ready to corrupt Albedo.

However, he didn’t flinch, raising Ruin which was still in Abyssal Mode and shooting off rounds that pierced its chest.

The attacker didn’t fall, not immediately, but as soon as the bullet struck, the Abyss within it wailed as if it had been wounded by its own reflection.

The cultist convulsed, vomiting up black sludge before he looked back towards Albedo, ready to continue the fight.

Another leapt from the side, claws bared, teeth gnashing, only for Havoc to bark a shot directly into his face.

~BOOM!~

The crimson flames incinerated his head in a brilliant bloom of fire, and his body slammed into the wall, leaving only a charred outline, however, it was healing with Abyssal power.

Another cultist, taller than the rest, his arms now elongated and clawed lunged like a wraith, but Albedo easily pivoted and brought Havoc to its chest.

~BANG!~

The Infernal round hit like a meteor. The cultist’s torso imploded, a shockwave of crimson flames swallowing him whole.

Two more cultists charged him from either side, the glyphs in their eyes flashing as black chains of shadow erupted toward him from all angles.

He weaved through them, and Ruin shot once, then twice, sending Abyssal rounds straight through one’s skull and into the other’s thigh. They screamed, convulsing as Ruin’s spectral energy corroded their souls directly.

Another tried to drop from the ceiling, claws extended, but Albedo twisted mid-spin, reached up and fired a charged round point-blank that injured it heavily, leaving them crawling back to heal.

"Is this the grand power of your shitty Eye?" Albedo spat, kicking a smoldering staff out of his way as he turned, only to feel the shift.

Three of the cultists stood up and begun to chant in unison, blood pouring from their eyes and mouths even more than before. Their bodies glowed with a sickly violet hue, and the chamber seemed to dim, as if rejecting the unnatural act taking place. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

It was as if the act was against the laws of the world, but the Abyssal power overrode it.

Soon, they merged. Their flesh was twisted and their bones was fused.

What emerged was a monstrous amalgamation, towering and grotesque.

Six arms ending in jagged claws. Six eyes blinking across a grotesque face. Its ribs were on the outside of its body, twisted into jagged armor. A long serpent-like tongue lashed from a fanged maw, and the stench of rot and magic clung to it like a plague.

"Gold Rank..." Albedo muttered, narrowing his eyes as he sensed the power of the monster.

It bellowed, and the pressure in the chamber intensified.

"Tch. Let’s do this, then." Albedo muttered, dashing to the side as the monster crashed through the spot he was at moments ago, its clawed hands tearing up the room like tissue paper.

~BANG~BANG~BANG!~

Albedo returned fire instantly, Infernal and Abyssal rounds flying in a crisscross barrage, slamming into the creature’s limbs and torso.

But while they scorched and seared, it regenerated, its flesh knitting back together unnaturally fast. The beast shrieked and slammed all six arms into the ground.

From the impact zone, dozens of black tendrils exploded outward, aiming to impale Albedo from every direction.

Which Albedo quickly jumped up to avoid, landing and aiming both guns directly at the monster’s head.

~BANG~BANG!~

The bullets struck true, but again, the creature regenerated. He landed, gritting his teeth.

Albedo unleashed Crimson Apocalypse Flames, and those severely burned the monsters hand, causing it to roar and try to swat Albedo away, which he barely dodged using his speed.

"Enough games."

Havoc and Ruin—Execution Mode.

Albedo said, activating Execution Mode on Havoc and Ruin.

The twin pistols shifted, interlocking with a flash of mechanical arcs and mana pulses. Havoc and Ruin merged into a sleek, sniper-rifle like weapon with runes covered it, and the atmosphere immediately became heavy.

Four rotating glyphs hovered in the air around the rifle, representing each shot.

Albedo stepped forward. The abomination howled and rushed him. He raised the rifle calmly.

~BANG!~

The first shot blew off its front left arm.

~BANG!~

The second cratered its chest.

Albedo quickly jumped up and out of the way of its attack, repositioning and firing off the third shot.

~BANG!~

The third pierced its skull, staggering it, but not enough.

Then, the weapon seemed to be supercharged, an intense amount of mana funneling from all around the room into the final shot, an aura of certain death spreading across the room.

"Sayonara bitch!"

~BANG!~

The fourth rang out with a massive explosion, the recoil so extreme it sent Albedo backwards, needing him to regain his footing.

As for the shot, it didn’t just hit the monster.

It erased it.

A beam of converged mana, fire, and void-energy punched through the creature’s core, collapsing its entire form into itself in a miniature implosion.

What was left behind was...absolutely nothing.

No bones, no ash, not even a drop of blood. All that remained was a crater that signified the intense amount of power that the 4th Execution shot had.

Albedo looked around, and unleashed another wave of Crimson Apocalypse Flames, burning all of the remaining cultists bodies until only the silver-robed woman remained.

She stared at Albedo with fury, and for the first time, fear.

"You think this is the end?" she hissed, "The Eye is eternal. It sees. It hungers. It will return for you! This isn’t over, Albedo Neverwinter! IT’S JUST BEG,"

~FOOOOOSH!~

Albedo raised one hand. Crimson flames engulfed her, cutting her scream short. Her robes ignited instantly, and her body turned to cinders before she could say another word.

Her ashes scattered into the swirling, corrupted air.

Albedo stood still.

Only his breathing remained.

Then, slowly, he exhaled, letting the Execution Mode weapon deconstruct into Havoc and Ruin once more.

"Let it return," he whispered.

"I’ll be waiting."