My Fate System

"Abyssal Arts are similar to Celestial Arts, but the only difference is that they don't use on Heavenly Strings. Otherwise, the concept is the same. You reach toward the Abyssal Laws and use them in your fighting, resonating with the abyss." 

"You are simply copying the definition of Celestial Arts," Nikolai shrugged at the Gunmaster, who froze at his words. "But you also don't know what Abyssal Laws do or how to apply this art in the same way as martial strength." 

"Well, if you are so knowledgeable, then you can learn it yourself," Lex threw over an ancient scroll wrapped in a leather cover toward him and caught it. The moment that he did, Nikolai felt a pulse that resonated with his darkness. 

"Is it... alive?" he muttered as the scroll seemed to stuck to his hand. The Gunmaster seemed confused by his question, and Nikolai had to shake his head to break the trance.

"Stop saying weird things and read it," the Gunmaster urged him, and Nikolai stared at her silently. 

"Why do you want me to learn it again?" 

"I told you," Lex frowned. "It's my dream to study the art that my family left behind. If this could be achieved, then the potential it has for normal people is..." 

"Cut the bullshit short," Nikolai looked at the scroll. "We both know that your family was hiding this from whoever murdered them. So why would you want to study this art? For the common good? You are not that selfless." 

"..."

The Gunmaster stared at him silently before shaking her head. Then, she looked at the cabinet where Sergio and Yuxi were talking and turned back to him. 

"You already know the truth," she said to Nikolai. 

"A bait to lure whoever killed your family out," he smiled as he turned back to the scroll. "If I use this art, then they are bound to come after me. At that time, you can find out who they are."

"Are you going to refuse now?" 

"Isn't it convenient?" Nikolai ignored her question. "The bait you set up is a vile person, someone who can only hurt the people around him. There won't be any guilt behind it, and that's why you allowed me to ruin your relationship with the dwarves." 

"Even if it's true, can you deny that you are a vile person?" Lex smiled at him, her tanned skin reflecting the light of their lamps. "You might as well play your role," the Gunmaster seemed unwavering of her position. 

"No, I don't mind if you used me because our goals align," Nikolai smiled, but his words confused Lex. "I just hate people trying to fool me, and I hate those who act like angels when they are just the same as others." 

"I'm not the same," Lex refused. "I'm not hurting anyone. I'll kill them before they do you any harm, and I would never..." 

"Despite saying that, you wanted to use me as bait," Nikolai infused his darkness into the scroll. "And sometimes, the fish takes the bait, but would you care to save it?" 

A black lotus exploded from the scroll, and it flew away from Nikolai's hand. The flower seemed to have a pulse of its own, and it circled Nikolai. Weirdly, Nikolai could feel it communicating with him. 

"If Celestial Arts bring order, then Abyssal Arts must bring chaos." Nikolai raised his hand to touched the lotus. "Abyssal Art: Bringer of Chaos." 

As he muttered the name, his darkness rushed out from within his body into the lotus. The violent energy of chaos pushed the Gunmaster back, and she squinted her eyes. 

"I was right," she muttered with a shaken expression. "You are the only one who can use this Art." 

"You have disgraced your family, Foolish Gunmaster," Nikolai's voice, colder and darker than ever before, came from within the darkness. "Don't you realize that whoever can use this art must be the one your family feared?" 

"I don't care if you are the devil or god himself," the Gunmaster shielded her face with her arm. "As long as I take revenge for what's mine, then all things are disposable."

"And you call me vile," a hand reached out from within the darkness, and it had a lotus embedded to it. A weapon materialized in hand, and the black edge looked like the darkest moon. "Yet you are not different, consumed by vengeance." 

The darkness disappeared, and there was nothing left of it but black petals that surrounded Nikolai. On his forehead appeared the symbol of a black lotus that disappeared afterward. 

"The road of vengeance is a lonely one," Nikolai muttered as he looked at the lotus on the back of his hand. "I wish that you return from it before it consumes you." 

"Is this the Art?" the Gunmaster looked at the petals with confusion. "I thought it would be more destructive, a bringer of chaos." 

"A befitting name of it," Nikolai smiled, a gloomy smile as he heard the screams of a thousand agonies. "I thought so as well, but it seems chaos is calmer than reality." 

"That doesn't make sense," Lex shook her head. "You said its name was Bringer of Chaos, but this Art is..." 

"The darkness is never chaotic," Nikolai walked toward the edge of the railing. "As still as water, it exists unhindered. Chaos is a result," he raised his hand, and the petals exploded to rush toward the space beside the ship. As he clenched his hand, the petals exploded into a storm of black destruction that pushed Alias to the side. 

"Such power," Gunmaster laughed incredulously. "I may have as well handed you a weapon of mass destruction. But, instead, I handed such a weapon to a villain."

Nikolai ignored Lex, who seemed to have a bit of her mind as he looked at the lotus on his hand. It was his connection to the abyss, and Nikolai feels as if his darkness loved it. Yet, it was another step away from his past self, and the abyss was a place filled with hate. 

Elements were coveted more than skills, even though the latter were more powerful. The elements of your mana made it flexible, and everything they did resulted from mana calling out for the world. 

On the other hand, Skills was a creation, a trade of mana to obtain a result. Some skills had no relation elements, and they were simply abnormal effects on the world. 

Elements were bringers of everyday phenomena, like the condensation of wind into blades, and Skills were abnormal effects on the world.

His darkness was the same, but its effects were unexplored by the world because whatever used it was killed. Nikolai's companions might not be Eradicators of Heresy, but it was still dangerous for Nikolai to stay with them. 

It won't be long before those believers obtain power and start eradicating all those they deemed filthy. He might be safe now, but the world was nearing the threshold of normalcy. 

"Tell me about it," Lex said beside him, and her hand was shaking as it reached out to Nikolai. His red irises made her body tremble as he stared at her, but she didn't back away. "Tell me what my family has been hiding all this time." 

"Don't go insane, gun master," Nikolai slapped away her hand, and she flinched. "Your family was guarding an Abyssal Art, and nothing less a bringer of chaos. Yet, you chose to forsake that duty to avenge them." 

As he finished his words, Lex clenched her fist. She grabbed him by the collar and pulled him toward her, and he could see the abnormality in her eyes. It was at that time that Nikolai realized that something was wrong. 

"Shut up, vermin!" she spat in rage. "I didn't choose the wrong thing! Everything I did is for the sole reason to take revenge. I don't care what those bastards think, as long as I..." 

Before she could finish her words, Nikolai kicked her in the stomach, sending her flying away. The Gunmaster crashed into the crates, and the sound made the other two rush out of the cabinet. Sergio and Yuxi looked around and saw the black petals around Nikolai and then turned toward the coughing Lex. 

Blood dyed the wooden floors every time Lex coughed. Nikolai took slow but steady steps toward her, and he crouched down to look at her face. 

"Your mind has been poisoned," he stared at her with interest and saw the darkness in her eyes. It seems the simple act of witnessing his usage of the Abyssal Art amplified the darkness in her heart. "I never thought that a Celestial Eye holder would allow darkness to take over him. Use your eye, and you should be just fine." 

Lex stared at him with fear, but her eye began glowing beneath her eye patch. Then, as the divine energy flooded into her body, Nikolai's darkness was eradicated, allowing the Gunmaster to regain sanity.