Abyssal Awakening

Alice wasn't sure what she was looking at.

A corpse? A walking husk? A zombie?

After so many days of not fulfilling his 'hunger' Jin was now lumbering around with sunken cheeks and completely devoid of strength.

Hell, he even looked like a thin old man that could barely walk.

"Oh my." Isolde muttered, seeing Jin's state while Alice massaged her nose bridge.

Normal food could only do so much when it comes to staving off this hunger. They can delay it but they can't avoid it.

And now, he needed to eat.

"Isolde." Alice called out as Isolde glanced over.

"You rely on Eldritch powers as well right? So surely you felt this hunger. How do you deal with it?"

If Zal-Ka'Rith was going to be stingy with answers, the next best option would be Isolde herself.

"Me? I believe my hunger is dealt with by my Lord, I haven't had the need to sustain myself." Isolde chuckled as Alice scratched her hair in annoyance.

Folding her arms, Alice thought about how the Outer Gods dealt with their hunger. First of all , from what she saw during the ritual, it seems like 'assimilation' was a key part of being an Outer God.

To inject their energy into outside sources and absorb it as their own.

This Hunger. . . It might be a manifestation of this desire, similar to the Hybrid berserkers that she made in the north. They needed to expel the corruptive energy inside them every now and then otherwise they'd lose their mind.

If that was the case, then maybe Jin needed to 'eat' something with Eldritch energy.

Thinking about it for a moment, Alice had Isolde look after Jin for now before rushing out to find a beast to hunt.

'Since your energy is mostly Eldritch due to what happens, if you inject your power into a beast, do you think you can turn it into something Jin can eat?' Alice asked curiously.

'Dunno, never tried. But without the additional regeneration and the chains burning my body, I won't be able to take over the body for long.' Alyss shrugged.

The longer she stayed in control, the faster the chains burned. An exponential increase that made it impossible for her to stay for an extended duration during a fight.

Closing her eyes, Alice placed her hand against the ground and activated her Sigil.

*RUMBLE!

A network of blood expanded in an instant as she began to track all of the movements around her.

'Weak, weak weak, ehhh no it's weak. Oh this one isn't that bad.' Alice smiled as she snapped her fingers.

*BANG!!!

Not far from her, an explosion occurred as dirty was flung into the clouds.

Deep underground, a giant serpent was entangled by blood and thrown into the air.

*HISS!!!

Letting out a hiss, it tried to break free but blood mist surrounded it, preventing any powers from activating.

'Do you think you can do it without killing the thing? We need to make sure the corruption is done properly.'

'It's just injecting Eldritch energy into that thing right? The only thing I can control is Eldritch energy right now so it'll be a walk in the park.' Alyss smirked as Alice created a sword for her to use.

Golden chains snapped around her limbs as Alyss glanced down.

She could already see the chains burning her flesh and shrugged.

Holding the blade in her mouth, she began to dash towards the serpent while tying up her hair into a ponytail.

Since she took over, the blood binding broke apart as the serpent glared at Alyss.

Energy began to flow through its scales as orbs of fire manifested in the air! Several flaming serpents rushed towards Alyss as her lips curved up into a grin.

"Morning workout time!"

*BANG!!!

Stomping down, the ground cracked apart as Alyss practically teleported into the air.

Soul Chaser!

Her blade whipped out, severing the serpents in an instant. Landing on the Serpent's body, Alyss tightened her grip on the blade as a black and purple aura began to spread across the blade.

Immediately, the chains around her limbs erupted with a golden light but it was manageable!

"Let's give you a little surgery."

Running up the serpent's body, Alyss began to stab her sword at certain intervals, injecting energy into its body.

The beast's pupil constricted in pain as parts of its body started to bulge.

Flesh began to rot, exposing the bone under the layers.

Reaching the head, Alyss injected one last dose of Eldritch energy before handing back the control of the body.

After all, any more and she'll start losing limbs!

With Alice now back in control, the chains disappeared as flesh regenerated.

Landing on a platform of blood and metal that she had created, Alice watched as the serpent writhed on the ground.

It was a pitiful sight but this was so that Jin could survive. They had already tried to give Jin her energy directly but it didn't work. In fact, it had more risk since there's a chance that she'll assimilate him rather than 'feeding' him.

Soon, the beast stopped panicking and began to accept the change.

Little by little, the beast reared its head and glanced up at the sky.

It cracked open its jaw but no sound escaped. A twisted spiral of bones, malformed skulls that grew grom the plates and rotting flesh that hung from the ribs. The creature turned its head towards Alice, the one who gave it this form.

A silent anger as a dark aura began to spread from its body.

All vegetation near it started to corrode and from within this darkness, limbs and ghastly cries sounded out.

'I don't suppose this counts as Eldritch now?' Alice asked while observing calmly.

She folded her arms and watched as the beast crept ever closer.

[Hmm. . . It's gained an Eldritch nature. But as for whether or not it'll count as an Outer God's minion, I'd have to say no. it's simply an incomplete vessel that can't contain Eldritch power.

[Potency wise, it seems weaker than Jin so assimilation shouldn't be an issue.] Cayla commented while noting down the changes.

Just as Alice was about to restrain it, she felt a surge of power not far from her.

"Hiyaha!!!"

"???" Glancing back in wild confusion, Alice wondered where the laugh came from when she saw Jin flying through the air.

Behind him, 'branches' or perhaps it was limbs made from Eldritch energy unfurled, creating a daunting silhouette.

"Food! Food! FOOD!" Jin grinned wildly as reason was no longer present in his eyes.

*KRKRKRKRK!!!

Letting out a series of clicking sounds, the serpent launched several limbs towards Jin but he was nimble! His silhouette flickered through the attacks while the limbs behind him tore apart at the energy.

Stuffing the energy into his mouth, he lunged towards the Serpent's main body and took a bite!

Ripping off a large chunk, he clawed away at the serpent while Alice watched in silence.

"Kekeke~ What else did you expect?" Isolde's voice rang out. But this method of talking. . .

"Done with watching from the side?" Alice glanced over as Zal-Ka'Rith shrugged.

"I figured I'd give you some information since you traded it with an. . . interesting scene let's say. I'm beginning to figure out what they did to that boy now." Zal-Ka'Rith chuckled.

"But setting that aside, it's only to be expected that the boy would react like this. You starved him for more than a week, hardly fed him any energy and then presented to him a delicious meal. I'm afraid restrain is the last thing on that boy's mind.

"Like a wanderer who finally got a taste of water after being dehydrated, that boy cannot hold himself back. He will consume and consume until there is nothing left." Zal-Ka'Rith explained, pointing at Jin who was laughing while eating.

He looked no different than a starved beast who finally got a taste of blood.

"I'm guessing you're telling me to feed him this more often so he doesn't lose control?" Alice folded her arms.

"Partially. Though there are better ways to feed him than to create such a mess. You don't see me corrupting everything and anything to feed Isolde now do you?" Zal-Ka'Rith smirked as Alice felt a vein bulge on her head.

She wanted to smack this Outer God with all her might.

But unfortunately, he had the answers she needed.

"What do you want? There's no f*cking way you're going to tell me this for free." Alice clicked her tongue.

"How harsh, I believe I've been rather generous with the amount of information I've been giving you." Zal-Ka'Rith sighed as he waved his hand, knocking aside a piece of bone that was flung towards them.

"What I want is simple really. Let me make a contract with that boy. Do so and I will keep him fed."

"Depends, what kind of contract are you after? And it's not up to me, it's up to Jin." Alice furrowed her brows.

It's an undeniable fact that Jin was already no longer a normal human. Therefore, common sense couldn't work in this scenario anymore.

"Huhu~ It's not a complicated contract. Something similar to what I've established between this girl and myself. A connection so that I can keep them alive while they give me an offering every now and then."

However, Alice could hear the underlying meaning in his voice. By having Jin take this contract, he'll essentially become a hostage. He already saw that Alice would rather not let Jin die if she could help it.

What he didn't expect however. . .

"Don't push your luck parchment. I've already told Jin that if he loses control, I'll kill him. Figuring out if he can stay alive despite being turned into this thing is a side bonus, not the main goal." Alice narrowed her gaze as a blade pressed against Zal-Ka'Rith's throat.

Sensing the killing intent and seriousness behind her words, he couldn't help but laugh as he pushed the blade away slightly.

"Alright. In that case allow me to apologise. As compensation, I'll even give you a piece of information for free."

"That is?" Alice raised an eyebrow.

"How to control the nature of assimilation."