“Let me go now. You will regret trying to kill me. Let. Me. Go.”

Rita punched the hand that was holding her hostage but she was not let go of it. Lady Dheva kept on holding on to Rita and kept squeezing her.

Oxygen was getting rarer by the second for Rita but she made a last-ditch effort to save herself. But nothing was working on Lady Dheva’s hand.

“Say goodbye, you irritating worm.”

Rita closed her eyes but she had not accepted her fate in her heart. She still felt hope that something will save her and that Rita will be able to live a fulfilling life.

Lady Dheva’s hands squeezed and Rita’s ribs protested against that action. She somehow held on to her consciousness and gathered as much magic as she could.

“Is that all you can do? The abyss doesn’t care about your effort at all.”

Lady Dheva yelled, her voice shaking the room. She was about to kill Rita when her wrist was cut off.

Rita fell, her body not able to right itself in the air. The fall would kill her even if Lady Dheva was not able to. Her eyes closed, not wanting to see the ground so close to her eyes.

But her fall was broken by a pair of arms catching her body.

“Ya, did you miss me? I think I was able to come here on time to save the day.”

“Ava, you are here? When did you–?”

Rita asked, not being able to speak fully. Her ribs were aching due to all the abuse they had taken and Rita’s breath was coming out slowly.

Above them, Lady Dheva looked down angrily, her eyes blazing red as she watched this new person interfering.

Of course, she recognized Ava, the previous outlooker who had disappeared into the abyss floor with Aurora. Ava had tried to challenge the impossible and she should have been dead.

But she had not only managed to somehow survive but also came back as if nothing had happened.

“You? Are you betraying the abyss and its cause as well? You, out of everyone should have been on the abyss’s side.”

Lady Dheva roared out as she attacked Rita and Ava. her magic was mighty and still building up in her hand. It would soon reach Rita and Ava, ending their lives.

“As if I would be done in by someone like you. I was loyal to the abyss but guess what? Aurora managed to win me over.”

Ava yelled back as her magic stopped Lady Dheva’s attack on her way. Everyone cheered at seeing someone other than the abyss’s guardian use magic.

The one who was most taken aback was Lady Dheva herself. She had not expected anyone to stop her attack like that. No one should have been able to use magic and yet here Ava was, showing that she was not any weaker than before.

“Impossible! How could you still have that much magic left? The abyss should have sucked you dry.”

Lady Dheva yelled in disbelief, not being able to control her eyes from taking a second look at what was happening in front of her. How could Ava, someone who had abandoned the abyss, be awarded such powers?

It was not fair to Lady Dheva who had devoted all her life to the abyss and its cause.

“I almost pity your position. Since you were born from the abyss, you can see nothing but the abyss. So I will give you what you should have – liberation. You will finally be free of your obsession.”

It was a clash of great magic, Ava vs Lady Dheva. They were both exchanging blows that were making the building shake.

“Everyone, get out of here. The palace is about to collapse in a few seconds.”

Everyone started running outside but Clove ran toward the center of the chaos. From experience, she knew that whatever was happening in the center will be her key to reaching Aurora.

The only one who spotted this chaos was Rita who had been paying attention to this happening. She ran after Clove with a heavy heart.

Meanwhile, the two people who had caused this collapse were busy with each other. They were the only two beings left on this earth who still retained their magic.

“You might be able to get rid of me but what about the last outlooker? Even you know that you cannot dent Horas even if you try. In the end, you will all fail.”

Lady Dheva seemed to have lost her mind as she laughed. Her voice was heavy and shrill, intimidating the people around her.

But Ava was not impressed since this outcome was something she had long expected to happen. Ever since she had decided to go against the abyss, she knew she would have to face Horas.

“I know what I can and cannot do against the abyss but you do not get to decide that for us. If I die, then it will be on my terms.”

Ava snapped back as she felt her magic respond to her wishes. It was rising in her body and burning her from the inside.

It was too late by the time Lady Dheva realized what was happening and she had been pierced through by the power of the abyss.

Since it was the same kind of power she wielded as well, her body was not able to recognize the danger it was in and refused to heal.

“W-Why? This was n-not supposed to happen to me. I was the chosen…..one…..”

Lady Dheva’s fading voice reached everyone’s ears and they could not believe what had just happened.

They had won and they had won hard. The last gate that was blocking the abyss from them had been dealt with. No one mourned the loss of the former queen of the south.

No one but Ava understood why Lady Dheva had done what she had done. The pull of the abyss was alluring and misleading. It could cause the most innocent people to travel down an evil path.

“It’s finally done and over with. And now what? What is next for us?”

Quince asked as he returned to the site. He was one of the few ones who had not hurried up into the abyss.

As soon as Ava had arrived from seemingly thin air, he realized that it would not be easy to get to the end of the abyss. Simply entering the abyss would not give anyone the right to look for Aurora or to reach her.

“Now, we need to decide who will go after Aurora. We cannot send a lot of people in since it will require a lot of manpower to keep the gate open.”

Ava explained and everyone looked at each other. They all wanted to go after Aurora because of thier reasons but only a few could enter the rift.

“I will go. I need to go after Aurora at any cost and I will not stay behind no matter what you say.”

Rita declared as soon as she realized that it will be a first come and first serve position. She could not afford to miss seeing Aurora, especially if it turned out to be the last time she would be able to meet Aurora.

Everyone snapped to attention as soon as Rita claimed the first spot.

“I will go as well.”

“Me too.”

“I need to go as well.”

“No, I want to go”

Everyone was speaking at the same time so no one was audible. It was an irritating mess that no one could solve. They were all trying to be louder than the other to ensure their spot.

“Enough. The maximum capacity of people that can enter the rift is 4. And I want Clove to go in at any cost. The rest, you can decide on your one.”

Everyone looked at Clove who had not spoken up until now. Even Clove looked caught up by that sudden address but she quickly wore a confident expression.

“I will go. I know that you people have things to say regarding this but I need this chance to prove myself.”

Clove looked determined of a sudden and everyone fell quiet. They all agreed that Cloev should not have a spot on the team that was to go after Aurora.

“Then, it will be me, Rita, and Clove. As for the fourth one?”

“It should be me.”

An unknown female voice broke the silence and answered the question Rex had posed. He looked surprised to see Karan (currently Lucy) there since the former god had been assigned somewhere else.

This was, again, a shock to everyone. They did not know who this unknown female was but she had appeared out of nowhere and was demanding a spot on the team.

“Listen here, we are not running a-“

“Alright. If you want to come then it is decided. The four of us will go after Aurora and that is final.”

Rex cut off Rita and solidified his words. Karan or rather, Lucy needed to come along.