Chapter 1151: Inversion Of Roles

Looking at Alice wrapped from head to toe in golden chains and bindings, forced to kneel, Allura couldn’t help but want to reach out when Karya grabbed her wrist.

Seeing the serious look in her eyes, Allura understood this wasn’t something they should handle carelessly.

Alice’s internal balance had been destroyed.

Holy was never a large source of energy in the first place. But it was enough to contend with some difficulty.

Void was...

With the disappearance of Feris as the Void Ruler and with the realm in the process of fully becoming the Nightmare Realm, Alice’s connection to the Void had wavered.

Right now, it was simply another source of energy rather than a connection. Something to be used that couldn’t result in any form of authority.

Then there was the Abyssal source.

Three holy relics that yearned for her to succeed Velouria. Even though Cayla wasn’t urging for it consciously, they would always push for her to grasp the power necessary for a successor.

And finally, Eldritch.

The opportunistic predator who waited for the moment the other energy weakened enough for it to act. Its opportunity appeared when the chains took damage. Their restriction weakened and the tipping point was when Oth’Zeruun appeared.

The corruption he left on the chains was something that couldn’t be fixed, even with redeployment.

A mark forever left on the chains, a fracture in the authority that kept the Eldritch energy at bay.

But even so, this was not the time to move.

Forcefully making itself know would cause the rapid suppression by the host.

That couldn’t be allowed. It needed more power before he could successfully overturn the suppression.

What happened next could only be called a miracle. As though its wish had been heard, a Major Idol’s energy flowed through the body in order to create a barrier around this world.

It greedily assimilated the authority and energy into itself. Not enough where it could cause the barrier to fail but enough to tip the balance.

It consumed hungrily. A banquet that didn’t run out.

And finally, when it become ’full’, the situation inside Alice’s body could only be described as a barrier packed to the brim with gunpowder.

One spark.

No matter how big or how small, a single spark was all it needed.

One...

Small...

Spark.

Eldritch energy bared its fangs the moment Alice touched the corruption left by Oth’Zeruun on the chain.

It had to act quickly. Taint the vessel! Corrupt it! Mutate it! Destroy it!

It had to take over quickly!

It had to modify what remained!

It had to make it more compatible with itself! To overwhelm the over sources!

Yet to its surprise...

Abyssal energy was helping?

Either way, rather than fighting three enemies, having one extra ally wouldn’t hurt. The two worked quickly to supress both Holy and Void.

But before things could go further, radiant bindings empowered by the Authority of Life had already restrained its spread.

The plan had failed.

". . ." There was a dark expression on Alice’s face.

She knew the energy inside her body was constantly fighting, forming a delicate balance.

What she didn’t expect was for a single touch to cause everything to go haywire.

Letting out an annoyed sight, she inspected herself inwardly.

She knew what her current state was outside.

Chained, gagged and blind folded like she belonged in the depths of the prisons. As if this was a special binding just for her to be sealed away in the pits of Terminus.

As for her state inside...

Alice smiled bitterly and glanced down at her own body.

There were dark cracks all over her body as if she as a broken porcelain doll. Only the cracks weren’t filled with gold but rather corruption.

Spider lilies would blossom around her shoulders and cheeks from these cracks.

There was an unstable aura around her, distortions that made it seem like she shouldn’t ’belong’ in this location. Hell, this world maybe.

Her eyes becoming dark spirals with two crimson lights in the centre. A smile revealing a row of sharp teeth that won’t fade even though she wasn’t smiling inwardly.

Not only that, but her shadow...

How dreadful.

Perhaps that was showing her real form. A distorted mess of souls and body parts. Teeth and eyes blinking in and out of existence.

But more than that... there was a gnawing in the corner of her mind.

Eat, consume. I’m hungry, I want to eat.

Let me eat.

Anything is fine.

I want to eat. We’ve already tasted blood right? Why not flesh this time? The old and muscular would be too tough or loose. Let’s not have that, yeah? Let’s have something tender. Juicy even. Mnm... yum. I’m hungry just thinking about it. Let’s sink our teeth into it yeah? Just imagine how tasty it’ll be.

*CLAP!!!

Clapping her hands together, Alice took a deep breath and interrupted those thoughts.

Much like the nature of her Oblivion, it seemed like her Eldritch nature was also to ’consume’ things with voracity.

Granted, Outer Gods were beings who wanted to fill the void inside via consumption. For Zal-Ka’Rith, it would be the stories he collects. They were ’food’ to him.

But for her, it was the most literal kind.

The primordial desire to consume and feast.

Nothing but pure, unfiltered voracity. To desperately push away the hunger that dominates to the point of insanity.

Why has Nyer designed her nature to be this way?

Alice realised it with Oblivion but now it’s confirmed.

The act of consumption was the very foundation Nyer built her on.

This concept was a key ingredient in who she is today.

Naturally, she knew that this ’hunger’ played a part in solidifying the ’heart’ within Feris when she became the realm ruler. But was the thing same for her?

Even though Velouria had already turned this fake heart into ’real’?

Or was it because of this that she felt this hunger?

Questions upon questions flooded her mind, but Alice set them aside for now.

Simply put, this change with her body was too big of an issue to overlook.

Her Abyssal and Eldritch nature had become too closely intertwined to the point that Holy and Void was struggling to even exist in their presence.

The moment these golden bindings disappear...

The transformation would no doubt resume.

Why do you want it to stop? If we transform, we can definitely handle Nyer.

Alice’s eye twitched as she quickly shook her head.

"Tsk... Annoying motherf*cker..." She mumbled.

She knew Eldritch energy was simply amplifying the thoughts she would readily dismiss.

Tiny thoughts that would usually last not even a second became full questions posed to her.

Similar to when someone looks over the edge and wonders what would happen if they jumped or if something was to go wrong, leading to imaging a gruesome death via falling, Alice was having a similar situation.

Though... her thoughts were a little more extreme.

Folding her arms, Alice had an idea on how to resolve this issue.

Well... resolving was being a bit optimistic. It was more so delaying the inevitable but while things were unstable, this was the best they could do.

In the first place, the burden of Abyssal and Eldritch should’ve fallen to her rather than having Alyss take it in her place.

Lifting her hand, the mark of Duality was woven above her palm.

Abyssal authority flowed and little by little, the chains manifested on her body once more.

She’ll ’seal’ herself in this state within their mental world for the time being. To prevent Eldritch from running loose and ruining things.

In the meantime, this would be similar to ’giving back’ Alyss’s body. That’s not to say she won’t be involved in things of course. Only she’ll be in a projected form rather than actually moving.

Which...

"Urgh..." Alice let out a groan of pain.

This was pain like no other...

More than even the pain brought forth by the transformation.

Pain that resonated at the depths of her soul.

During this time, while she was in projection form, she won’t be able to...

Drink mead.

"GAH!!!" Clutching her head in sorrow, Alice let out a forlorn sigh.

"Whatever! Make the pain go away quickly!"

Activating the Sigil of duality in its entirety, her body started to shift...

###

Before the group could even discuss what they should do, they noticed the shadows retreating while the chains loosened.

Panic filled their hearts momentarily but calmed once the miasma disappeared.

Realising that Alice must’ve done something, they waited with baited breathe.

But as the chains disappeared fully, ’Alice’ didn’t return.

There were still distortions around her body. Her shadow would occasionally twitch. Her aura was unstable but...

Those tiny habits were unfamiliar. Expressions that Alice wouldn’t usually pull.

Even the way they creased the brow was different.

Allura hesitated...

"Alyss? Shouldn’t you usually have golden chains?" She asked.

Since Alyss and Alice sounded the same when spoken, she followed up with the question of golden chains to make the girl understand who she was addressing.

But Alyss only blinked her eyes in confusion.

"I... I’m just as confused as you are." She had a strange expression on her face.

In fact... even if she willed it, she couldn’t bring forth the Golden chains at all.

Her body felt familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time.

"Yahoo~" A cheerful voice sounded out as a girl floated in the air and struck a pose.

Alice with her new ’distorted’ form appeared. Her appearance was no longer a split copy of Alyss due to the details involved but that was a question for later.

To avoid confusion, Alice clarified the situation quickly.

Snapping her finger, a projection of the internal world appeared as they could see the familiar sight from earlier.

Alice being restrained by chains and other bindings.

"So basically... Erm... I messed up teehee~" She stuck out her tongue with a bleh sound.

Cayla’s smile twitched furiously.

"Teehee my ass!!!"