Abyssal Awakening - Chapter 925

Chapter 925: Everywhere Yet Nowhere
Alice leaned forward slightly and folded her arms. Thoughts flying through her head as theories were being pieced together.

Hints and clues from her interactions in the past.

Her understanding of Nyer’s attempts at resurrecting Velouria.

The connections he’s formed and possibly why he needed this realm.

The guesses were all done with limited information but it served as a framework for her theories.

Naturally, she could only take these theories with a grain of salt since some of them were based on assumptions.

But it was still better than working with zero information.

Monika smiled, in her eyes, she could see a few cogs beings set into place.

Alice was… to put simply, someone- no, something strange.

Her entire figure was veiled in fog.

Despite letting her drink the tea, that fog did not diminish in the slightest.

However, what was revealed to her was the cogs connected to Alice.

The events that she can affect the outcomes of.

There are certain triggers that only react when enough of the unique cogs are in place.

In other words.

She is the key. The trigger to events that would drive the fate of this world forward.

Her actions in the past have acted as the trigger that allowed this realm to manifest.

The results that Nyer gained from his observations are what pushed the plans to the next stage.

She is the guinea pig and this was simply one of many testing grounds.

“Just because I like you so much, I’ll do you a little favour. When you enter the nightmare again after a while, aim for the other zones. This one is constructed partially with divinity and was merged with memory. A zone that’s a result of two people rather than one.” Monika spoke up as Alice glanced up in confusion.

Before she could even hear Monika’s explanation, the witch leaned forward and tapped Alice on the forehead.

Her entire body relaxed, strength leaving her limbs and her eyelids grew heavy.

Unable to say anything, Alice collapsed on the ground and scattered into rolling fog.

“Aren’t I just the nicest witch around.” Monika sat back down and crossed her legs.

With a flick of her hat, she momentarily obscured her own vision to allow a certain man to appear opposite her, sitting where Alice was sitting a moment ago.

“Hi~ Did you need something from me boss?” Monika asked with a smug grin.

Nyer simply sat with his legs crossed and in a relaxed posture.

He didn’t say anything, he merely observed the woman in front of him.

When Caelan asked if his mother was dead and he answered yes, it wasn’t a lie.

But it also wasn’t the full truth either.

Yvael is dead, that was the guarantee.

No reincarnation, no incarnation and certainly no possession. She is and forever will be gone.

Confined to the consequences of her own actions.

The fragmented? The fractured.

A woman broken apart in such a manner that cannot be put back together ever again.

So when he told Caelan that the agreement was fulfilled, he was telling the truth.

But the current state of Yvael was one that cannot be defined by a simple truth.

She is dead. Yes.

But in another sense, she is also alive.

Forever trapped between perpetuity and nihility.

Unable to return, unable to end.

Stuck at the start, yet her path has already been walked.

She who obeys time yet flows outside of it.

A woman who watches despite already ‘knowing’.

Even to him, Yvael was a witch who met a pitiful end.

But it’s clear that she didn’t think so.

Yvael was fragmented. Not into pieces, but into outcomes, concepts, phenomena.

A state that flickers across the stream of time. Sometimes as a beast, sometimes as a calamity, sometimes as a human. And sometimes as a nightmare.

She is everywhere, yet nowhere.

She is not an entity. But the idea of ‘Yvael’ still exists.

Monika is simply one of those manifestations. One that he had only discovered once the nightmare took form.

How strange it is to see and discover a fragment.

Despite this realm having zero connection to Yvael, a trace of her still appeared.

And…

Even managed to let cogs infect this empty canvas.

Though when considering the ideal endpoint for this realm, escaping the cogs was never possible.

Letting out a sigh, Nyer opened his mouth.

“There was no need for you to send her away. She’ll have to meet me eventually. Perhaps there was a question she wanted to ask. Either way, I don’t plan on killing her. Not now, not this early.” He shook his head while Monika rolled her eyes with a smile.

“Are you saying that because you want to start the conversation boss? Or do you really mean it?” Monika asked.

“Because if it’s the latter, I’ll need to start questioning what goes on in that brain of yours. Is it there for decoration?” She mocked him while Nyer showed no reaction on his face.

“Oh but let me guess what you’re thinking. Blah blah bleh, this girl is just a product of the nightmare, I can deal with her whenever I want. Why does she think this tone is acceptable?” Monika mimicked his tone.

“I think you have severely misjudged my personality if you think that thought crossed my mind.” Nyer answered calmly.

“Maybe. But the idea is there now. Either way, I can’t have you meeting with her. The trigger is a little premature for the event that would occur. The variables aren’t even in place yet.” Monika shrugged, creating a file and began tending to her nail, making sure it was smooth.

“And~ You’re far more satisfied having me in your sight than out of it right? Wouldn’t want someone to tamper with the cogs too much and ruin your plans.” She blew gently on her nails while glancing at Nyer who nodded.

However, he was also aware that there are probably more fragments of Yvael somewhere else in the world.

While not all of them display such a… striking similarity to Yvael in terms of behaviour, they all walk with purpose. Even if they don’t know it.

Monika was simply a coincidence that had occurred within his experiment.

A fragment that merged with memory along with the traces that Yvael left behind. The foundation of casting and so on.

All of it merged to form the personality of Monika.

Therefore, it wouldn’t be inaccurate to call a part of Monika the ‘idea’ of Yvael.

And once he considers her the idea of Yvael, that’s when a volatile variable like this is better left in his sight than out of it.

“I had always taken you for someone who enjoyed watching and not interfering. Very rare to see the one conducting the experiment change the environment halfway through the test.

“Don’t you think the extra interference will cause a fluctuation in results? Such experiments are a waste of time, effort and resources.”

“Yes but that’s only WHEN the experiment starts. Why wouldn’t I tinker with the environment before the beginning? Have to make sure all of the parameters are in place don’t I?” Monika chuckled before her smile faded away.

“And speaking of parameters, what’s all this? I don’t believe the nightmare is supposed to evolve in such a manner. I purged little flame out earlier than usual since we have to deal with his here and now.”

Grabbing the air next to her, Monika ripped it apart as though she was tearing through wrapping paper, exposing the chaotic mess of energy hidden under the veil of nightmare.

The barely noticeable hint of divinity.

Nyer creased his brow ever so slightly.

This wasn’t the same as the false ascension he tampered with.

No, this divinity is ‘pure’. More refined, one with a purpose.

He hadn’t expected it, thinking this Nightmare would’ve gone on longer without anyone noticing.

Solaris was too busy dealing with the growing popularity of Guinevere amongst the populace.

Lumiria was trying to win over Tristan’s heart to no avail, despite everything she was trying to do.

Leaving just one.

Enris.

Kazira is dead. A new Apostle of War hasn’t appeared yet.

Deva…

Well.

Deva has agreements with him and Enris hasn’t mentioned anything about it.

Last he heard of her, she was still minding her own business, looking for a proper entertaining way to die.

But now? Why was she in the Nightmare?

And more importantly, where was she?

Enris’s divinity and ‘history’ when combined with Queen Verona’s past has spawned in this nightmare of the greatest Famine the north has ever endured.

Not only that, but this specific area was ‘maturing’ at a rate faster than the other zones as a direct result.

Resetting it may be the right call but…

Nyer had to admit.

He wanted to see what’ll happen if he allowed this situation to progress outside of his control.

It can also serve as a blueprint on how he should carry out the other parts of his experiment.

“Leave it be. This mutation will bring new cogs right? I’m sure you’ll enjoy the situation.” Nyer shook his head with a smile.

“And here I thought you would’ve wanted a stable experiment.” Monika raised an eyebrow. “But you’re the boss. So if you say so, who am I to disagree? I’ll just enjoy myself like always.”

Nyer stood up and adjusted his suit.

“Stability isn’t always a good thing. Letting things mutate, change, and morph beyond expectations is the path to move forward. It’s what allowed Alice to exist after all.”

In all of his experiments, they have always gone bad because he was too focused on control.

Yet the moment he gave that up, even if it was by accident, Alice was created.

The most successful specimen to date.

So once again, he was giving up control of this zone. To let it develop however it wants and simply observe the results.

Monika tapped her finger while watching Nyer leave.

There was a smile on her face but she didn’t vocalise her thoughts.