"Young lady, do you know the Lord of Death?" Theron asked as he stepped towards the beast. Beneath him, energy began to converge lifting him above the Abyssal Waters. "I’ve heard of him." Alice nodded. Of course, she wasn’t going to expose the fact that she knew him very well. "The Abyss Lord of Death presides over the dominion of death. What he kills stays dead. The avatar of death that descends upon his command. All regeneration null as Death is the end of all things." Theron spoke. "With these things in mind, I suppose my power is simply a tool to bring my enemies towards death." He chuckled. Reaching out with his hand, he pulled out a single blade. "!!!" Alice felt a chill. It was a simple weapon with no guard crafted from a strange silver and black material. A constant swirl trapped within the metal. And from where the guard should have been, black and white energy coiled and crackled. "This was an artifact bestowed to me when I first ascended to Lordship. You see, my title is a little unique compared to the others. I am not known as an Abyss Lord despite having nine Sigils." Theron wasn’t one to talk about himself, especially to people he had just met. But considering Alice’s abilities, this was a show of sincerity. If he wanted to get something, he must first introduce and make an offer. He couldn’t simply expect others to just bow down to him. So for Alice, he will tell her a little about himself. To pitch the idea of working under him. "Now, what do you think it means to kill something? For good that is." Theron glanced back, not caring about Nehzura who was clearly livid at the two invaders who dragged him out from the depths. Rearing its head above the waves, countless tendrils shot out in an attempt to grab Theron. "To kill something for good? Hmm, wouldn’t it just be to cut off their regeneration and end their life?" Alice tilted her head in confusion. "Yes, you are right. It is both as simple as that yet also much much more." Theron smiled. With a single wave of his sword, the entire area in front of him, filled with tendrils, disappeared. "???" Alice widened her eyes. "The pursuit of those focusing on life is immortality or the act of reversing death. To achieve the realm beyond simple healing. And on the opposite spectrum, those who pursue the act of killing desires the realm beyond the horizon... "Oblivion. All paths lead to either of these extremes. Some can tap into it more than others. But even if you are a God, even if you are an apostle, unless you truly understand this realm and harmonize with it, you cannot access it." Theron explained. "The current Lord of Death lacks this power, a missing catalyst. But... I know a woman who is able to tap into this realm at will. An old drinking buddy of mine who taught me the essence of killing." He closed his eyes, reminiscing on the old times before sighing. "If the pinnacle of life is immortality, then she is the pinnacle of death. A woman who can terminate everything, even concepts and history. If only she weren’t wounded..." Shaking his head, he turned to Alice. "My title is a unique one. Slayer. I am the one who leads my foes towards Oblivion." To be the Slayer is to be a killer. To terminate, extinguish and bring finality. But what lies beyond slaughter? How was one become the perfect killer? When all things that can die have perish and only the immortal monsters remain. When the blade fails to reach their neck, when the heart continues to beat. What can the Slayer do? He can tap into the realm of Oblivion. A world where there is nothing left to end for all things have come to their finality. The absolute silence that even death itself must kneel. The ultimate authority of severance is one that bisects the connection to life. Thus she is the wielder of Oblivion. He is the boundary between existence and erasure. The gatekeeper who pushes his enemies towards finality. Tightening his grip around his sword, he dove towards Nehzura. The beast of gluttony, Abyss Lord of the Forgotten World. He who has persisted for generations, voraciously devouring everything he wished. Everything he leaves behind is a curse thus Theron will end this cleanly. A tendril shot up from below. Theron twisted his body, dodging it before slamming his palm against the flesh. An entire section of Nehzura’s tendril turned to ash as Nehzura opened his maw in an attempt to swallow Theron into his personal realm. Read complete versıon only at 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝✦𝘧𝙞𝙧𝙚✦𝕟𝕖𝕥 Yet despite this action, Theron noticed that Nehzura was trying to flee. "Such gluttony, such cowardice. I will do this world a favour by erasing you." Jumping back, Theron raised the blade in front of him. Energy converged as a ritual circle spun to life beneath his feet. Above and below Nehzura, larger variants of the ritual circle appeared as black and white energy formed a cage around the beast. The tendrils that tried to break out were erased from just touching it! Theron raised his blade above his head. With a single swing, all sound was erased. For a split instant, a fraction of a second, a pillar of black and white erupted, splitting the world in half. Once the pillar disappeared, all that remained was an empty cavity in the ocean with the Abyssal Waters rushing to fill the gap. Theron dismissed the sword and massaged his neck. Every use of this skill was exhausting as always, no matter how much he trained. It was a wonder how Allura could even pull this off consistently without much issue. Though... Considering her condition over the years, Theron wasn’t sure if that was the case anymore. Meanwhile, Alice had cold sweat fill her back. The power of Oblivion... She didn’t need Cayla’s data to know that she probably won’t survive something like that! In the split second she felt the power surge, the instinct to run didn’t even trigger. It had no time to trigger. ’I think we played with fire long enough. Getting his favour is good but... Depending on what happens becoming an enemy would be disastrous.’ Alyss frowned. ’Yep I agree. I am not ready to f*ck with whatever power Oblivion is right now!’ Alice nodded her head furiously. Considering the fact that he knows Gin and even spoke of an old drinking buddy who taught him this power, Alice could guess that it was most probably Allura that he was speaking about. Even if they knew each other, that didn’t mean they were automatically allies. With someone as dangerous as Theron, Alice had to be careful. No, she NEEDED to be careful. "So what was that before that you said? How you seemed confident at surviving?" Theron smiled. Even though Alice wasn’t saying it, he could tell that the demonstration shocked her. It’s to be expected after all. What she just saw was the absolute pinnacle of power. The realm of Oblivion. A realm that he can only access every now and then unless he wished to be swallowed whole by the power he wielded. "They do say that assuming things are bad after all. Simply another case of that being proven." Alice shrugged. "Have you had a change of mind then? I don’t treat my employees badly." He asked as Alice opened a portal back. "Will you force me if I say no?" Alice smiled bitterly. If Theron wanted to force things, then she’ll have to fight for her life. "What a shame." Theron sighed. He couldn’t force talented people to work under him. Doing so would be inviting danger to those around him. Instead, the best he could do was build a good relationship with them. "Now that the beast has been dealt with, the surrounding sea should go back to normal. Though... It’ll certainly make it harder for us to track down the healer." Theron was a little apologetic since this’ll mean more work for Alice to do. "I’ll forgive you since you did it for a good reason. I’d rather find the healer slowly than to have injuries and incidents pile up." Alice dismissed with a wave of her hand. Of course, there was the option of having her treat the injured. But doing so was risky in its own right. Especially since they were pretty much in Zenia family territory. Attracting too much attention onto herself would cause the family to send investigators over before she can get a grasp on the situation in Extalia. And that was a situation Alice wanted to avoid. It’s a one vs many situation and information was her best weapon. [Do you still want to make him owe you one?] Cayla asked as one of Alice’s reasons for helping him was to earn a favour. But with such a dangerous Lord, perhaps it’s better to keep the distance until she was confident enough to save her own life. ’Hmm... I’m on the fence right now. On one side, he seems like a pretty stand up guy. But on the other, the power of Oblivion is worrisome. If we do offend him, escaping won’t be easy.’ Alice furrowed her brows. There was also the case of him knowing Gin and possibly Allura. Alice decided to test the waters. "When you spoke about your old drinking buddy, were you perhaps talking about Allura? And the Lord of Death being Gin." Alice asked as Theron paused in surprise. "You know of them?" He didn’t think Alice would be acquainted. "I do. And I owe them quite a bit." Alice nodded with a smile. "So here’s what I’m thinking. If you don’t mind, could you show me to your wife? I might be able to figure something out if I have a look at her condition." She offered. Thinking about it for a moment, Theron eventually nodded his head. "Alright, follow me."