Abyssal Awakening-Chapter 656: Caelan’s Power

Luke's vision was split into two. A little hard to adapt to but it wasn't something he couldn't make sense of.

An overlay of the most likely actions roughly 2 seconds into the future. Of course, if he wanted to increase the time, he could.

But the predictions become harder and harder as they are also influenced by his own actions.

Rushing forward, Luke had the Knight assist him as he aimed a Void Flux at Caelan using the bishop piece.

'Left!'

Ducking under a grab that he couldn't have reacted to normally, Luke slammed his hand down, reestablishing the board once more!

Caelan raised an eyebrow at the fact that his grab had missed but wasn't phased. Once he saw the board, he let out a disapproving sigh before stomping down, shattering it once more.

Shinsei Raikiri!

With Caelan focused on destroying the board, Ria rushed forward to slash at Caelan with her strongest strike.

Visit freewebnoveℓ.com for the best novel reading exp𝒆rience.

"If you missed once, what makes you think trying it again would work? Is this truly how you plan on journeying with my sister?" Caelan questioned, swiping up with his finger.

But to his surprise, Luke appeared in front of him with a forced grin, blocking the wall of blood thanks to his chess pieces.

Castling!

Behind Caelan, Ria finished her slash!

*BANG!!!!

"Tch!" Clicking her tongue, Ria gritted her teeth after seeing how Caelan's wings had blocked her attack.

Having unfurled his vampiric wings, Caelan twisted his body, unleashing a wave of blood tendrils that reached out towards the duo.

Quickly ducking down to avoid the grab, Luke snapped his finger, summoning three pieces.

Bishop + Rook + Queen!

Promotion – Sage!

Using Alice as a base, Luke, summoned the Sage who conjured a staff and slammed it down.

Immediately, four copies of the Sage manifested as each of them fired a Void Flux towards Caelan.

"This attack again. Seems like you hold this acquaintance of yours in rather high regard." He narrowed his gaze.

No doubt, this was the demoness he saw in the report. But her power…

*BANG!!!

Shielding the attack with a thin veil of blood, Caelan snapped his fingers.

Around each of the sages, a coffin appeared, slamming shut and crushing them.

"If this is the power of the Demoness, colour me disappointed."

Clutching his wrist, Luke frowned as he didn't expect all the Sage pieces to be crushed in one go. He knew that it wouldn't have been able to buy a lot of time but this was still ridiculous.

However, there was one more buff that he could place, not on himself but Ria.

A unique move similar to Castling and Promotion.

En Passant!

Shinsei Raikiri!

Launching another attack, Ria made eye contact with Caelan who tilted his head out of the way.

Just as he was about to say something, an invisible force struck him in the face, causing him to turn his head to the side.

'Chance!' Ria widened her eyes.

Lightning rushed through her body as her eyes radiated a neon blue.

Each move honed with the lethality to kill!

Shinsei Raikiri!

*BANG!!!

An arc of destruction cleaved up as Caelan wanted to block it.

But the moment he raised his hand, the wound had already been inflicted!

Furrowing his brows, he chose to dodge instead but it was no use!

Seeing all of this, Luke immediately summoned his grimoire and reapplied the Queen piece to Ria!

This was their best chance! Throughout the fight, this is the first time Caelan took real damage.

Multiplication!

Ria's slash began to duplicate with Caelan being forced to use different methods to defend himself.

But as a vampire and a Lord, what little damage Ria did to him was regenerated rather quickly.

En Passant, a move that allows a pawn to capture an opposing pawn that moved two spaces. But in this case, this buff allowed Ria to attack the 'past' of Caelan! The figure of him before he made a move!

Caelan quickly caught onto this as each of his moves were now protected with a layer of blood. No matter how Ria tried to strike at him, her slashes would be redirected off to the side.

Since that was the case. . .

She had to go ranged!

Jumping back, Ria dismissed her blade as lightning focused into motes around her. A mark appeared above Caelan's head.

"I think this has gone long enough." Caelan opened his mouth, tapping down with his finger.

"!!!"

Both Ria and Luke felt their gazes blur as an invisible force slammed into them from above, pinning them against the ground.

No matter how much strength they tried to exert, their body refused to listen.

They could feel their bones creaking as Caelan walked towards them and raised his foot.

"Goodbye." Caelan narrowed his gaze, stomping down towards Ria.

Wondering where the pain was, Ria slowly opened her eyes and saw that Caelan had disappeared.

In her place, Luke guarded using the Knight!

Castling!

Cracks spread across the piece as it was unable to withstand Caelan's attack.

Just as he was about to attack for a second time, a shadow flickered next to him.

*BANG!!!

Caelan's figure crashed into the castle as Rosalyn could be seen with an open parasol.

She had returned back to her normal form and rushed to see what was going on as quickly as possible.

"I thought I told you to not do anything to them!" Rosalyn huffed in annoyance.

"It was simply a quick lesson, nothing more." Caelan chuckled, stepping out of the dust as there was a shoe print on his cheek.

"And you call this nothing?" Rosalyn glared, pointing at Luke and Ria who were on the ground.

Both of them relaxed seeing that Rosalyn was here.

"I confess, I might've gone a little overboard. But it's rather impressive they held on for so long right?" Caelan smiled, appearing behind Rosalyn and tried to lift her up.

However, blood chains whipped around his limbs, stopping him.

"Aww, not cute at all." Caelan sighed, flicking his finger and dismissing the Second Resonance.

The pressure crushing both Luke and Ria had also disappeared as the two quickly picked themselves up.

"Do you wish to have breakfast?" Caelan asked but Rosalyn shook her head.

"We're in a rush."

Seeing that his sister was displeased, Caelan could only sigh with a helpless smile before turning to both Luke and Ria.

"Your gimmicks are interesting but they lack the durability to contend against a Lord. In cases like this, it's best to hide the true gimmick in a forest of deception. Let them guess where it's coming from, the false requirements and make them drop their guard.

"Only then, can you buy more time for a potential way out to appear. Know that as Hunters beneath the rank of Lord, your goal is not to kill but rather to survive. As you travel with my sister, I sincerely hope that you do not become the weak link that hurts her." Caelan chuckled with one hand behind his back.

"But to land a mark on me. . . Well done." Caelan nodded.

Hearing this, Rosalyn couldn't help but pause in shock before turning to the two.

"You heard it right, dear sister, they indeed landed a mark on me. Feel free to return whenever you want, I will always be waiting." Giving them a slight bow, Caelan disappeared.

With his disappearance, both Luke and Ria collapsed on the floor as their knees buckled.

"Oh my gods, I thought I was gonna die." Ria muttered.

"Yeah, it's almost as bad as Kaden." Luke grumbled in agreement while Rosalyn wanted to stop them.

Both of them felt their world turn dark as Caelan appeared in front of the two of them once more.

"When facing Outer Gods, never drop your guard. What you see might not be the entire truth alright?" Caelan smiled, holding his finger over his mouth before sending them back.

Blinking her eyes, Ria glanced up at Rosalyn who let out a sigh.

"Please let me tell you when it's safe to speak next time. He's actually gone now."

Nodding their heads, Rosalyn helped the two up as they made their way to the shaman.

"So you actually landed a hit on him?" Rosalyn asked curiously.

"Yeah, but my Shinsei Raikiri barely scratched him. Only a small mark and even with Luke's buff, all the damage he took just kept regenerating." Ria nodded while scratching her hair.

If Caelan was truly an Enemy, she couldn't see a way to defeat him.

"I'll admit, that is pretty impressive. I don't even think I can beat Caelan if I go all out." Rosalyn admitted while spinning the parasol in her hands.

Her brother, while restricted by countless bindings, were probably one of the strongest people that she knew.

Including Kaden and Allura.

"Really? He's definitely strong but you make it sound like it's impossible for you to beat him." Luke was sceptical.

For them, he was a wall that they couldn't cross. But surely for a Lord that can deal with his regeneration, it wouldn't be bad right?

"Yeah but that's only what he chose to let you see. Take a guess as to how many Sigils he was using if he was a Hunter." Rosalyn turned the question back on them.

Looking at one another, Ria guessed around four or five while Luke guessed around four.

However, Rosalyn shook her head.

"Three. He was only using the equivalent of three Sigils worth of power." Rosalyn frowned.

Had he truly wanted to deal with both Ria and Luke, the moment he showed up the two would be nothing but a pool of blood beneath his feet.

"Three???" Ria widened her eyes.

"I know what you're thinking. And yes, I'm being serious." Rosalyn interrupted. She knew about Ria forcing Allura to partially activate the Resonance in their spar. However, that simply shows how weak Allura had become.

"Then what about his title? How many 'Sigils' does he have?" Luke ask curiously.

If Caelan was truly as strong as Rosalyn was saying, he wanted to know more.

"He is the equivalent of a Nine Sigil Abyss Lord and he's been that way for quite a while now. He never went all out against me in the past either. As for his title. . .

"The Abyss Lord of Withering."