Abyssal Awakening

"Well? How should I deal with the b*stard that turned my old friend into a half beast half human mess? Well?" Allura asked once more.

She was no longer smiling and her tone was cold.

Unable to utter a word, the Captain felt as though a terrifying beast was baring its fangs at him, leaving him unable to react in fear of making the beast bite down, killing him in an instant.

Sighing out softly, she stood up while keeping her grip on his hair.

"Are you two involved as well?" Allura asked, narrowing her eyes towards the other two that was in the room.

Turning pale, they both shook their heads in a panic knowing that if they were, they would be the target of this woman\'s anger.

"Well no matter. There are ways to verify the truth."

Grabbing the other two by their collars, Allura threw the three of them outside before looking over to Galar.

"Were all three involved in taking this boat or just the Captain?" Allura asked as Galagar furrowed his brows as two sets of panicked gazes focused on him.

"All three were there already. I\'m not sure if they were involved or not. I just know me and my group of Harvesters were hired when they docked in Slaughter Docks." Galagar shrugged.

He couldn\'t help but feel relieved knowing he chose to let this woman do whatever she wanted to do. The fact that she had the power to drag all three out with ease was more than enough proof to tell him that the most dangerous person on this boat right now was her!

"I see… And you\'re saying the three of them are already on the boat by the time they\'ve docked at the Slaughter Docks yes?" Allura smiled as Galagar nodded his head.

"Perfect. Seems like all three of you are responsible. Gin, can I trouble you to get me a barrel of the Abyss Water?" Allura asked as Gin nodded his head.

Despite how Allura was normally, she could either be the kindest person you ever met or the cruelest. Subjecting Nolan to a fate worse than death was the last thing they should\'ve done.

Grabbing a barrel from the ship, Gin filled it almost all the way with Abyss Water and placed it next to Allura.

"Thank you. Now then, onto the main show. Since you\'re the main culprit, let\'s see how you like the feeling of having your body turned inside out and mutated before your very eyes." Allura narrowed her eyes as she grabbed him by the head and plunged it into the barrel, forcing him to drink the Abyss Water.

Most of the crew turned their head away as his muffled screams mixed with gurgles rang out.

Allura continued to plunge his head into the barrel before pulling it up so he could breathe.

With each push, teeth would fall out as his skin started to bubble. Blood boiled in his throat as spikes, stingers and tentacles started to push through the gaps of his skin. The Sigils around his body started to manifest themselves before fading away as he was losing to the influence of the Abyss.

Just like Nolan, his skin started to melt away, revealing the bones beneath his flesh as even Alice flinched at the way the Captain was squirming while Allura continued to torture him.

It wasn\'t until Gin grabbed hold of Allura\'s wrist did she stop.

Panting heavily, she glared at Gin who shook his head.

"He\'s already dead. Calm yourself." Gin reminded as Allura paused before nodding her head.

Taking a deep breath, she sighed out before glancing at the rest of the crew who were responsible for Nolan\'s condition.

"Just throw them overboard. If they\'re lucky they\'ll live. Give them one lifeboat to fight over." Allura ordered, before tossing the Captain\'s mangled corpse over the edge and making her way to the quarterdeck.

With Gin taking control and having Galagar identify the Harvesters, the Hunters tried to fight back but Gin was able to take care of them easily.

Meanwhile, Alice ran after Allura.

Arriving at the quarterdeck, Alice could see Allura sitting on the edge while glancing out to sea.

"A-are you okay?" Alice asked hesitantly.

"Yeah. Sorry you had to see that. Care to take a seat?" Allura smiled as she patted the space next to her.

Nodding her head, Alice jogged over before sitting down.

"You see… There are very few things I hate in this world. By hate, I don\'t mean dislike. I mean something that brings out the anger from within me. First, are the orchestrators of the war that tore down Ayr. Second, are people who force others to mutate through side effects, making them live a life worse than death." Allura sighed as Alice nodded her head.

She too hated to see people suffering from the side effects as it always reminded her of her own nightmares. The thought of how much Abyss Blood had been injected into her body over and over again. If all of the side effects were to break out, what kind of monstrosity would she become?

"I suppose it\'s rather hypocritical considering I used the very method I despised to take revenge against the Captain." Allura chuckled as she sighed out.

"I think he deserved it if he made someone else go through that pain. Even though it\'s been a long time… I can still remember the pain I felt when I wasn\'t used to the side effects." Alice muttered.

From feeling the pain of her skin peeling off to her insides tearing through her body, she had felt it all and the sensations were as clear as day in her mind.

"You know… When you told me you wanted to see if your fire could remove the side effects, I was quite happy. I had thought that with what you had to go through and your experiences up till now, you would hold a deep grudge against people. And yet you still have the heart to care for those that are suffering. Remember that feeling and never forget it okay?

It\'s what separates you from beasts in human skin." Allura smiled as she reached out and had Alice lean against her to relax.

"Beasts in human skin?"

"It\'s just a figure of speech. It basically describes people who act like beasts and don\'t care for others." Allura explained herself with a soft chuckle.

"I see… So not literally." Alice muttered.

Hearing this, Allura couldn\'t help but smile as she patted Alice\'s head. Despite her being the guardian, she found herself being helped by Alice in more ways than one.

"Well then, now I\'m feeling a little calmer we can probably ask Galagar about his contract with the Captain. Since he was hired, he was most likely informed on what they were doing. We might be able to get some information this way." Allura smiled, feeling refreshed after talking with Alice.

Nodding her head, Alice turned around and hopped off the railings as she noticed Gin and Ria waiting by the stairs.

"Did you finish your family talk?" Gin smiled as Allura chuckled.

"Yes, yes we did. Do you think we\'ll be able to enlist the Harvesters help?" Allura asked but Gin shook his head.

"I doubt it. The risks in this is simply too high to justify their services. We may be able to get away but they would struggle, bringing them along would only lead them to their deaths and they know this too. Galagar has agreed to share as much as he knows but other than that, they plan on heading back with some of the lifeboats."

"I see… Well that\'s fine. The plan was to have Alice and Ria fight it as a duo anyways." Allura nodded as she made her way down.

Seeing that most of the Hunters had been tossed overboard with only the Harvesters left, Allura approached Galagar.

"So then, what do you have for me?" She asked with a smile.

"We know the target for this hunt is the Storm Leviathan. The priority placed on this hunt is the highest I can be, they\'re offering the whole corpse so long as we can get the employee his Sigil." Galagar explained as he pulled out a sheet of paper from his pocket.

Giving it a quick read, Allura nodded her head.

"I can see what you mean. High risk high reward, if you failed then that would be quite the debt for you to pay off."

"Considering the beast is as weak as can be right now, there\'s no better chance. But oh well, we\'re giving up this job since we\'d rather not get caught in the fight when you clash with them." Galagar laughed as he scratched the tip of his nose.

"Indeed. Won\'t be able to guarantee that you\'ll make it out alive if you decide to join us for the next part. So do you know about the ones who employed you?"

"Yes. They\'re the Mariya Family, their second son is going after his fifth Sigil and chose the Storm Leviathan as his target. They\'ve already dragged the beast away from its last known location, it should be in the far north now. If you hurry, you should be able to make it there on time." Galagar explained.

"Do you know what kind of guards they have with them?" Allura asked as this was the most important question. Depending on who was at the scene, it may prove difficult for Alice and Ria to fight the beast without their interference.

"Unfortunately no. We\'re just the reinforcement as the hunt isn\'t going as they planned. Which is why the Law of Agreement we signed was relatively loose when it came to restrictions. Otherwise, I wouldn\'t have been able to take a step back when you wanted to see the boss. But I can assume there are a few high level Sigil bearers standing guard.

They probably can\'t do much to help with the hunt in fear of messing things up."

Hearing this, Allura was silent before nodding her head.

"Alright, thank you. Take as many lifeboats as you need to get back to the docks. There should be enough for your crew if you squeeze a little."

Bidding farewell to Galagar and his group, Allura had Gin take the helm and steer the boat towards their goal.