"Fuck! What happened down there? The whole surface felt when the abyss decided to close its doors on us all. The magic had gotten thinner all around the world."
Rex bitched as soon as the group touched down at the Rocx valley. It was the place nearest to the abyss and also the perfect spot to keep an eye on the abyss.
The look on Rex's face was angry and it was justified. He had been waiting on the surface for so long but it had all ended up being in vain. Rex had also just saved his face from getting burned.
So he was pissed off and his eyes burned with a vengeance.
"Oh, shut up. It is not like we pissed off the abyss on purpose. And it is not even our fault, to begin with, that the abyss is acting like this."
Rita answered back, her eyes blazing with a fury that made Rex back off. He suddenly realized that he was in deep waters if he continued to argue with Rita like this.
Meanwhile, both Quince and Alexander looked at the abyss that was shrinking slowly beneath their eyes. There was a visible change in the world around them now.
The vehicles and machinery that used heavy magic were beginning to fail. The influence of the abyss was shrinking on the world.
"The abyss is not only shutting itself off but also draining the earth of its magic. We will need to make our move soon if we want to save it."
Quince hissed as he felt his body become heavy. He was used to supplying himself with magic all the time so this empty feeling was new.
As for Alexander, he had spent a lot of his life without reliance on magic so it was easy for him to adjust. But even then, his life had at least some reliance on magic.
"The world will need to adapt to a time without magic then. This is not the big issue here. People used to live without magic a long time ago so they should be able to live without magic again."
Rita said those words rather casually, her mind focusing on how to save Aurora.
Everyone turned toward Rita as one, soon realizing that she did not understand the gravity of this situation.
"You are wrong to think that people will be able to adapt to a change this big. There is no aspect of human life magic has not touched and there is no reliance on any other source of energy for us. Even getting food will get difficult after some time."
Quince was rational when he spoke his words. He had read a lot of records on what happened to people when they suffered from magic deficiency and he was not a fan of losing his mind.
"The earth will not survive a week without magic. When the abyss first landed on earth, it destroyed its atmosphere. Right now, the only thing that is holding the earth safe is the magical barrier that replaced the atmosphere. But we will be done once it is gone."
Clove spoke up for the first time in her flat tone. She sounded unconcerned with the fate of this world and Rita wanted ot to deck her a new one for that.
But Clove already seemed like she was beating herself over what had happened and it drained Rita of all her motivation. She could only sigh as she watched the former goddess suffer under her decision.
"So, what can we do to help? There must be some way to stop the abyss from draining this earth of magic."
Rex questioned as he walked a few steps back. He could feel another burst of hot air beginning to emerge from beneath the surface and it would end up scarring this time.
Everyone managed to save themselves but it left them in rather awkward silence.
"The only way to save the earth would be to either kill Aurora off or to take her out of the abyss so that it could no longer use her as a host. Both options are too dangerous though."
Everyone kept quiet, not wanting to open this can of worms. They all knew that the easier option would be to take Aurora out and even Aurora would agree with them.
She was the more dangerous one at the moment and she would agree to sacrifice herself if it was for the greater good.
"Please say that you are not serious. There is no way we can do something like this to Elysia. We cannot allow her to die."
Rita was the only one who stood up for Aurora. Her heart did not agree with the notion to kill Aurora when there was an option to save her.
If it came down to it, Rita would head in alone to save Aurora. This was the least Aurora deserved from her.
"Rita is right. Aurora does not deserve to die or to be blamed for what is happening. We need to help her out so that we can make her the ultimate vessel for the abyss."
Clove's words sounded rather empty when she spoke but no one paid attention to her tone. They were all focused on her words, not liking them but agreeing with them all the same.
"You are not serious? Not at all, right? After all that Aurora did for us, you are just going to abandon her like this? This is not what Aurora would want for her end..."
Rita fell quiet all of a sudden, realizing that it was 'her' that did not want this end for Aurora. Aurora had never said that she wanted to live long or to keep on living.
But still, Rita needed Aurora to live long because Aurora was the only one who understood her. She was Rita's pillar-like no one else was and Rita needed her around.
"Snap your mind out of your delusional thoughts. The thing that is influencing you from seeing the truth is the abyss. You know that Aurora left us with instructions to kill her off if she became an enemy but you are thinking of ignoring it?"
Clove yelled, her eyes blazing but it was not helping Rita make a decision.
"Clove, calm down. You know that the abyss is affecting your emotions as well so you need to keep your temper in check."
Clove wanted to speak more but she ended up shutting her mouth in the end. She had spoken a lot today and her words were making her mind slip now.
Despite the closing, the abyss inside everyone was reading its head and inviting those who wanted to join him.
"We will need to start planning right now if we are to take care of the abyss and save Aurora. We will all be rendered powerless in a few days."
Alexander's observation was on point. He could see his magic level on the system Aurora had given him. It was getting stronger by the second and it had some incredible functions for usage.
"Alexander is right. We will need to head out today if we want to have any chance of victory against the abyss. Our mission will be to get Aurora back, not to defeat the abyss, understood."
Most of the people were not listening to Rex but he knew that they would prioritize saving his sister over the abyss.
Aurora had just the right amount of charm needed to pull people her way. Even the tower's heir had been roped into helping by her.
"I will also head out to gather as many people as I can. We will need to travel into the abyss one last time so we will need the necessary task force."
Quince was right and that was why Alexander did not stop him. Rex was also busy planning the attack inside his head. He had a few sick ideas they could use this time to make the abyss surrender to them.
"Let's head out in the evening. This is a voluntary mission so make sure you come only if you have the will to succeed."
Rex spoke but he was stopped by Alexander's raised hand.
"First, we should get some insurance that no one will get in our way. We should take care of Lady Dheva as well in the meantime."
Alexander's words held merit. Aurora's 'mother' had a pretty big hand in all that happened and Clove could not help but agree with him. Looking back at it, this outcome was something she had been looking ahead to forever and Lady Dheva had even taken measures to ensure that Aurora ended up this way.
Clove had not stopped her then, thinking that it would cause no harm in the longer run. But she had been wrong and now everyone else paid the price for her decisions.
"So, we should have two teams prepared for"
"I don't think there will be a need. We should prioritize the abyss because I have a feeling we will run into Lady Dheva in there soon enough."
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