The creature lumbered forward, its massive arm swinging in a wide, crushing arc. Sarah jumped backward with effortless grace, a single, glowing white orb manifesting directly above her head to cushion her fall. The ground where she had stood cratered instantly, ceramic shards exploding outward.
Before the creature's arm could complete its devastating sweep, it slammed down like a hammer. Sarah quickly sidestepped, moving with unimaginable speeds, a faint shimmer of displaced air. The blow struck nothing, but the sheer force of it shot through the kitchen floor, sending a web of cracks radiating outwards through the reinforced concrete.
A blade, condensed from a black goo, shot towards Sarah from the creature's shoulder, a silent, deadly projectile. It met the invisible barrier that shimmered around her and disintegrated with a sharp snap that disintegrated into a black powder.
The ancient book floating behind Sarah's head flipped open violently, its illuminated pages flickering. The crimson halo above her head pulsed with an even brighter, more intense light. She landed on her feet with a soft thud, wiping a trickle of blood from her nose with her thumb, her other hand sliding casually into the pocket of her jeans.
"Here comes the second stack."
It immediately pounced, jumping towards her, readying up for another strike. Sarah grabbed its head, her small hand impossibly clamping onto its colossal skull, and delivered a swift, brutal kick to its torso, launching the creature backward, tearing a new, ragged path of destruction through the main halls of the estate.
Sarah followed closely behind, her speed rapidly increasing. An orb, glowing with fierce white light, manifested in front of her. She grabbed onto it, and pulled. The creature, still airborne, was abruptly pulled towards her, its momentum reversing with violent speed.
With a grunt of exertion, Sarah launched a punch, infused with the condensed power of the orb, directly at its face, splitting its featureless head into two with a sickening crack that reverberated through the very structure of the building.
Before the creature's mangled body could regenerate, a stream of blood shot straight through its chest. The impact blasted a clean, gaping hole right through the creature's torso.
Sarah looked to her side, her crimson eyes narrowing dangerously at the tall, dark blue-haired boy who stood, arm still outstretched, blood-red mana pulsing around his fingers.
"Dominic, don't interfere with my fight."
"Come on, are you rea-." For a split second, they bled into an iridescent, unsettling blue, a cold, alien light. A shiver, almost imperceptible, ran through his frame. "My apologies."
"Do you really think you can take that thing on?" Edward questioned, his foot planted to the ground.
Dominic's head snapped to Edward. "Don't question her please."
The creature dashed towards her, throwing its dismembered arm towards her like a spear, the flesh began to balloon up rapidly, exploding out in a mess of pale skin and crimson red.
The creature appeared right in front of her.
[Intelligence? Whatever this thing is, used its arm as a decoy to immediately close the distance, I thought it ran on pure instinct alone, but I guess that I was wrong]
Sarah barely managed to block the incoming blow with her forearms, the impact slamming into her with the force of an entire airplane, the white orbs around her flaring violently under the strain. The creature didn't pause. With a swift, brutal backhand, it sent Sarah flying, a ragdoll disappearing into another cloud of dust and debris, this time from a demolished garden shed.
"Brother! Why are you just s-standing there!?"
Lucy stepped out, her dark blue hair and crimson red eyes lit up by the bright sunlight, still in her long white dress, her eyes stared at the large creature in front of her.
Lucy's voice was shrill with panic, tearing through the din of destruction. The creature, now fully regenerated and more imposing than ever, roared, a sound that shook the very foundations of the Mirlo estate.
"Do something! There are people dying here!"
A crimson spear, shimmering with condensed blood, materialized in her trembling hands. Without hesitation, she gripped its slick, warm handle and hurled it, a crimson streak aimed straight for the monster's chest.
The spear struck with a wet thud, piercing its pale flesh, but the creature barely registered it. With a single flick of its massive hand, it swatted the spear away like an annoying fly, sending it clattering against a distant wall. reaching its hand out towards her. Its immense hand, moving with terrifying speed, reached for Lucy. A shimmering wall of dense, crimson blood, solid as solidified ruby, erupted from the ground directly in front of Lucy, created from her own blood.
It slammed its colossal fist into the barrier. The wall cracked, rippled, and then exploded inwards, sending a wave of blood, pooling pooling beneath their feet. Its hand, now unimpeded, descended like a hammer. Lucy narrowly twisted, throwing herself sideways at the last second. The sheer wind generated by the blow lashed across her face, leaving a stinging, crimson scar across her cheek. created by the impact immediately caused a scar across her cheek.
[If that hits me, I'm dead. But I need to stall long enough for the people here to escape]
"Shit." Dominic grabbed and shook his head, his eyes changing back to a soft red. "I don't know what's up with me these days."
Blood tendrils, sharp and shining rose from beneath his feet, like a nest of vipers shooting straight towards the creature, blasting holes through its skin.
But it didn't regenerate immediately, dashing straight towards him with its large body.
"Vigil Hexa!" Dominic roared, the blood tendrils dropped and pooled under its feet, A shimmering translucent hexagon stood in front of him.
The creature didn't slow down. Its body met with the shield, only slightly recoiling before the hexagon shattered with a sound like a grinding diamond. Its massive hand closed around him, crushing his body, each blood vein and vessel nearly popping out of his body, before throwing him aside like a ragdoll.
Dominic crashed into a reinforced wall, the impact echoing through his entire body, he crumpled to the ground, leaning on his arms for support, his body was bleeding, bleeding from every single orifice in his body, every bone crooked and broken. His crimson eyes, wide and unfocused, stared blankly at the creature.
"Fuckin hell."
His body started to convulse and rapidly heal from the injuries, his muscles started to stitch itself back together, his breathing became heavy.
He stood up, still shaking from the impact of the strike.
The creature, its blank gaze still fixed on Dominic, dashed towards him again, each thunderous step shook the very Earth below.
Mana flared up intensely, the air started to get heavier. "Let's turn this up a notch! Crying Ligh-."
He was cut short by a loud deafening shriek, the sound was a physical force, a sonic wave that vibrated through bone. The creature, caught mid stride, stumbled. Its massive legs wobbled and with a loud crash, it toppled to the ground.
"Neila?"
Standing atop a precariously balanced section of a fallen building, her blonde hair was pulled back into a messy bun, stood Audrey. Her eyes flickered rapidly between a vibrant green and an abyssal black in front of the scorching sunlight.
"All of you, except the Walkers! You should all evacuate the vicinity now! Everyone else has escaped, Hoshimi says that he has a plan!"
Kira, a trembling bundle of nerves, bruises from the previous encounter with Tian, jumped down right beside Dominic, standing right in front of him, her legs threatening to give out beneath her.
"I'm so scared damn it, what the hell is that thing!?"
Audrey yelled out, amplified by her technique.
"Walkers! I need you to create a barrier that is sealed tight around the creature! Even for a moment!"
"Come on!"
The blood puddle beneath Lucy rippled violently, slithering like a serpentine mass towards the creature, it coiled around its massive legs, hardening into impenetrable chains, holding it down.
"Fine."
Dominic flicked the residue of blood from his lips, the crimson droplets turning into a volley of razor sharp spears, stabbing straight through the creature's body, holding it further down in place.
The two different pools of blood started to merge, flowing seamlessly as they swirled around the struggling creature, hardening like an egg shell around the creature.
The back of Kira's neck was burnt by the scorching sun, her lungs started to expand, taking in the solar energy, converting it. A thin, white vapor, impossibly dense, began to seep from her mouth. She directed it with unwavering focus, channeling the poisonous gas into the heart of the blood cocoon.
"Come on you reprobates, get in!"
The tires of Neila's car came screeching in, swerving before stopping right in front of them. She sat in front of the wheel, staring through the windows with Hoshimi sitting right beside her in the front seat. Her head twisted, staring into Hoshimi's eyes. "You better pay me back for this."
It was a long black limousine, chrome adorning the edges of the vehicle, a clearly expensive car with dirt along its rims from Neila's irresponsible driving.
"Yea I will." Hoshimi replied, with a calm demeanor on his face. "It's not like I could ask anyone else to go call her, you were the closest person to me right after I got out."
[It saw my soul and adapted instantly, if it could copy powers created from a reincarnation's myth then I figured that it could copy mana techniques. That thing saw us escape and copied the technique instantly... How terrifying, I was never going to engage it directly. The only thing that could ever take down such a threat is probably only her]
Dominic climbed on top of the vehicle, smiling as he took in the fresh air of the morning, Kira got into the backseat, twiddling her thumbs as her eyes wandered to her feet.
"Why're you making me drive? I feel like a servant." Neila's eyes narrowed as she clicked her tongue.
"I don't know how to drive." He crossed his arms, staring at the blood cocoon in front of him, shaking and cracking ever so slightly, just waiting for it to collapse. "And you definitely look cool while driving." Hoshimi smiled, giving her a thumbs up.
A grin spread across Neila's face, as she grabbed a pair of black shades from thin air. "Of course I am, it is fitting for someone of my stature."
"Ppffhh." Audrey sat in the backseat, trying to stifle a laugh as she covered her mouth. "I didn't think something like that could ever come out of your mouth."
Lucy smiled. "That was the cringiest thing that I've ever heard."
"Shut up you Walker's bitch."
"Stop arguing damn it." Edward immediately cut in. "You all should just shut up and drive, before that thing comes back."
Neila spun the wheel, the car spinning around as it sped off.
She stared at the back mirror, her eyes staring at Audrey.
"Hey puppet, how does someone like her have my family technique? I doubt that she's a genius like the Walker's Bitch."
"Hey!"
"I had a close friend from your family, she used to work at our place."
Neila raised an eyebrow. "Seraphina? I didn't know she was at your place? She used to admire me as a kid, of course she did, it's me after all. She used to try to copy me when we were younger, no wonder your style of using the technique was so similar."
"We practically grew up together, we were so attached to the point that I saw her use her so many times to the point where I just remembered."
Neila sped up, stepping down on the pedal harder, she muttered to herself. "This blonde chicken.. I didn't need you to tell me yer whole backstory."
"Hey Hoshimi, I think we forgot someone." Lucy said, her face suddenly full of worry.
"Sarah can handle it, I don't particularly know how either. Probably some kind of Witch's Oath or she might've activated her Zenith."
Sarah walked out of the pile of rubble, her entire body was bruised, the blue skirt that once reached to her knees was torn and ripped. But her eyes still burned with excitement and exhilaration, her breathing became heavy. "I haven't had this much of a challenge since I died."
The voice of the Heavens spoke up.
Your Credit Score has been recorded.
Your Balance is Unacceptable.
"Let's see how much two stacks do to you."
Sarah's fingers emanated a gray smoke, blue sparks ignited between her palms as a stream of pitch black flames were connected by her hands.
"Stygian Flames, come down."