章 114: Old Hadal King

Once Again, the environment had changed, as if Axiolypito's actions triggered wide scale changes, however, it seemed like things hadn't simply changed.

Rather, the Dark Moon had a feeling that things had returned to the way they should have been, the passage of time had been restored, the unseen influence that had spread over the stagnating ocean had vanished.

No creatures remained in the depths, the city was desolate, nearly gone in its entirety, no traces of the knights or people.

Only Nartak remained behind, now changed and corrupted.

Axiolypito swam over to the carved cavern, here, everything looked much the same as before, Nartak was too large to get through and seemingly unable to break through despite his now increased strength.

Axio moved in, like when he had to face that human being consumed by the Abyss, he suddenly moved out of the water without proper logic, the place looked different from how it had looked too, not any larger or smaller however.

Everything was simply in perfect condition, banners hung all across the sides of the long corridor, a long carpet lead him to a singular room, in which he couldn't see anything, as though blinded by a great light.

Fearless, he moved toward the light, soon finding himself in a round room with two pillars on each sides.

The same banners as before hung from the four of them, the floor was built out of dark grey stone that was neither too cold nor to warm to the touch.

The carpet continued forward, leading to the great abyssal rift, which was open but covered by something.

The room looked very much like a throne room, only it was missing its throne, the breach in the place it should have proudly stood.

The Abyss seemed unable to extend its corruption past the strange wall that covered it.

This magnificent room, illustrous of its owner's authority and power may have lacked his seat, but the man was present, standing in front of the rift, staring into it without fear, his back turned to Axiolypito.

Before, the awakened monster would have clicked his tongue but now he could only nod his head in approval.

He was only able to inject and absorb Abyss from those that were already infected with it, the ones whose bodies were free of the dark affliction couldn't be brought down in such a way.

It was to be expected, when did Axiolypito ever get a truly and reliable offensive ability?

He hadn't expected the king, which had been incredibly close, if not closest to the Abyss and the abyssal venerer when they broke out, to be left untouched by any of it.

Only a truly special and incredible existence could have stood so close to it without being even grazed.

What was more incredible, was that he had clearly attained abyssal capabilities, simply not like the Abyss Eater and Axiolypito had.

Just like Axio had heard, the Old Hadal King was a powerful mage, he had been allowed to study the Abyss up close and he had managed to awaken abyssal magic, much similar and yet so different, he hadn't tamed the Abyss itself but he understood it deeply for certain.

Even controlling Abyss created from mana wasn't within anyone's reach.

The Dark Blue Moon looked up, in the middle of the room, high up near the ceiling, stabbed by coutless spikes formed from the same thing as the wall in front of the rift, a creature laid unmoving.

Long thin limbs, a grey-skinned body, no facial features, he was of course reminded of Faceless Lord but the similarities stopped there.

This monster had no mouth trapped beneath its own skin and its fingers and toes, even deflated and seemingly dead, it exuded power and bestial strength.

Dark claws protuding from its long fingers and also its toes, Axio didn't know what they looked like, but the feeling that stirred up within him told him of this monster's identity.

This was the abyssal venerer the Lost Hunter and Abyss Eater had battled, both had been defeated and unable to fight back.

Yet, the man before him, alone, had overpowered both the venerer and the encroaching Abyss, this without suffering any injuries or being affected by the dark substance.

Even if venerers were but a shard of the real thing, they weren't to be messed with.

He had been told that they were once used to quell rebelious worlds after all, they were beings with potentially world ending capabilities and this one was in tune with the Abyss.

Without even exchanging a glance yet, Axiolypito could feel that the king of the deep was, at the very least, on par with Sir Solitar.

Though, Solitar was a warrior that used only his sword and overwhelming body, Axio was built to deal with physical attacks and he had still lost.

The Old Hadal King however...

He was a mage, magic wasn't Axio's forte, not at all, he knew nearly nothing about it, he couldn't use it for the life of him and his incredible defenses and survival mechanism would be near useless against attacks of a magical nature.

Even if more on the physical side, he wouldn't be tanking much at all before he was harmed.

The king turned around, his back straight and movement deliberate, he seemed completely sane, unaffected by the passage of time spent in isolation and staring into the Abyss.

He was wearing a long flowing dark coat, which covered his shoulders and arms, its wasn't closed however, revealing the dark blue chestplate, gauntlets, leggings and such, he was a mage but wasn't of the school of robe-wearers.

He was tall, nearing two meters in height and even though wearing armor, it was clear that he wasn't skinny, though certainly not on par with his magical skills, the way he stood indicated not only his regal status but also his disposition as a more mundane warrior.

He was wearing a metal mask, seemingly bolted together from squares of a regular-looking iron that were no longer than half a man's thumb.

It fitted his face closely but gave little insights into his looks, the mask had no gap for the mouth, only for the eyes, which revealed clear blue eyes, filled with clarity.

The top of the mask wasn't so thight-fitting however, it expanded beyond the top of his head, ending in something Axio assumed was either supposed to represent a sun or flames, it was hard to tell considering how the mask had been created.

All that he could tell was that it expanded both above his head and to the side a bit and ended with squares placed in a way that put their pointy ends toward the ceiling.

The back of his head was also completely dark, covered up in a piece of clothing.

He held a tall staff, taller than himself, its design was simply but also indicated that it wasn't only to be used as a staff, it was entirely dark and made out of an unknown metal, the shaft fit perfectly in his hand.

The top ended in a roundish shape with slight protuberances along its surface, ressembling a mace very much.

As for the bottom part, it simply ended in a spike.

"Welcome, spawn of the Abyss"