Chapter 107 – Versus the Bloodfallen 2 – Getting Out

They returned with the container about 3 minutes later. John had expected some kind of battlefield, his allies holding position in a desperate stand after Igor opened the Vault again. Instead, he found the rested companions that helped him get in. In a way that was even worse. What the hell was going on outside this door?

Only one way to find out. “Everyone ready?”

“As ready as we will be,” Grumbled one of the melee fighters with a smile. “This is everything I signed up for.”

“I know right?” Rave chirped.

John nodded at Aclysia and she opened the vault again. It slowly swung open completely and revealed several dozen Bloodfallen standing in a half circle between them and the exit. Igor stood next to Gent, the leader of the Bloodfallen leaning on his cane, an air of arrogant nonchalance around him. Even now, he believed himself superior. John quietly thanked every god that would listen for the self-delusions of egomaniac cult leaders.

Not that this egomania was entirely unjustified. Although Igor maintained his military-esque, white outfit, Gent was geared up to the teeth. A thick steel armour covered him and in his hands lay a massive axe, proper for his size.

“I must say,” Igor said with a smug grin, “I did not expect you to get this far. Only so much sadder that somebody of your talent decided to fight for the Communists.”

“I don’t fight for anybody Igor.” John shook his head at the accusation, “What even makes you think that?”

“There is no other motivation one could have to go against us!”

John almost burst out laughing, “You mean aside from the last wish of Travolta, common decency and the fact that you plotted the downfall of dozens of guilds to get their members to join you?” Not even a single turned head. The Blood of Thana evidently bound them into a tight collective.

“You spew comedic lies, John Newman.” Igor waved off.

“And you thoroughly underestimate us.” John countered, “But what should I expect from somebody who is idiotic enough to think torturing a girl for 60 years is justified.”

Igor had enough of the talk and pointed at them, “Kill them, be careful not to damage that container!”

“Aclysia, Rave, you take on Gent. I will keep Igor busy, the rest of you, try to get that container moving!” The orders were out on both sides and the fight began.

Gent, the massive wall of flesh that he was, trampled towards them. He and Aclysia clashed between the two forces. Axe met cleaver in a loud reverberance. The Artificial Guardian budged under the strike of the stronger Goliath but she did not collapse. With his Strength, Gent would overpower Aclysia eventually. Good thing that the brutish force came at the expense of his Intellect.

Not noticing Rave until it was already too late, Gent took a full unloading of light directly into the gap for his eyes. Blind, the man roared, and kept up the pressure. “Strength that Travolta could have had, had he only stayed on the proper path!” Igor shouted from the background. “Unconsumed by HER dark will!”

The cult leader’s monologue was cut there, as Sylph and Salamander threw attacks at him. Igor ignored both and suddenly charged forwards, straight towards John. Nothing was easier to hit than a target that was going straight forwards. Mana Ray suddenly burst from his hand and Igor took the attack on the shoulder. Even though his outfit was incinerated, he did not slow. A second later he was in front of John, cane transforming into a thin blade as he swung it down. Undine slowed the attack enough for John to dodge and preserve his mana instead of sacrificing it to Mana Shield.

“Your little elementals will not be able to protect you forever!” Igor threatened.

“T-try!” Gnome stuttered, then tried to tackle the guild master.

Igor nimbly sidestepped the attack, only to then trip over his shoelaces. “Really?!” the usually so charismatic man lost his composure for the first time.

“Whatever is effective,” John mocked, letting go of those Possessions. Another Mana Ray hit the enraged cult leader in the leg. Igor growled deeply, his seared shoulder and leg were both healing cleaner and slower than Travolta had. The satisfaction John got out of seeing this man angry was dangerously intoxicating.

Igor kicked his shoes off with quick movements. John found new targets for his Possession. The cane, for one, even if it only served as a minor annoyance. As long as Igor kept his grip tight John wouldn’t be able to change much. The same could not be said about the uniform. The stylish military garb began to constrict around Igor’s throat. With one firm tug, the cult leader tore the cloth wide open.

“Didn’t think you wanted to hatefuck me but here you are: undressing right in front of me,” John kept the mockery up.

“Insolent welp,” Igor spat. “You will see where this gets you!”

John didn’t feel threatened, he had confirmed something in that short exchange, “You are not a fighter are you, Igor?”

The guild master angrily swung his sword at the Gamer. The attack was quick, sure, and executed with a lot of force, but it was also without finesse. A wall of dirt was all John needed.

The cane turned sword got stuck in the earth, allowing John to ridicule the guild master a bit more. “You are not like Gent or all the other people you talked into submission. Sure, your Stats are impressive but you don’t have any technique or plan. You let others do the dirty work and stroke your ego.”

Igor tore his cane free just in time to stop an attack from Salamander. The flame spirit managed to dodge the counter. However, to take care of this Igor had to turn away from John and that was punished by the Mana Ray the Gamer had started charging the moment the exchange began. Countless dungeons had taught him the importance of timing.

Igor had underestimated John, thinking he could take him on alone without calculating that John was actually a one man army of five, two of whom had scattered to help with the rest of the battle. All around, there were shouts. Arms and magic clashed and one side was slowly taking over. As much as John had taunted the guild master, the rest of the Bloodfallen were just about to break through the thin lines of John’s allies. They needed Gent removed and Rave and Aclysia in the main battle. Quality would win the day, not numbers.

The good news was that the two women in John’s life were faring as well as he was.

Gent was a lot tougher than his superior. He shrugged off most attacks the duo threw at him without any care. All the while, he was swinging his battle axe with such ferocity that Aclysia was budging under every strike.

For all of the impressiveness of that display, all the maid had to do was keep the enemy’s one-track mind on herself as Rave kept attacking again and again. Even if he shrugged off most attacks the little damage added up and eventually one of Rave’s high heated light attacks would overcome the plate armour's enchanted resistance and tear through. Once that happened, once Gent fell, they could push back the numbers, make it to the chokepoint, and make a slow retreat.

Igor recognized the situation and with an angry shout jumped at John. He was stopped by Gnome and Undine at the same time. “GENT!” he shouted, while struggling against the two elementals. “For the sake of our goal! Do it!”

Do what? John looked at the Goliath in the middle of the room. Thana had barely moved from the Vault door as there was no one to actually move her right now.

John suddenly realized that Gent was getting faster and stronger. Each of his strikes was hitting Aclysia harder, her HP Bar actually sinking below two thirds for the first time. The damage she received far exceeded her regeneration capabilities. “What did you do?!” John demanded to know from Igor. Between rock and water, he was at the Gamer’s mercy

“Some people hide Cyanide, others small blood bags.” The guild master revealed, once again grinning smugly.

‘They hid the Blood of Thana in his MOUTH?’ John thought, shocked at the revelation. That was why Gent’s title was Martyr, because he was the one who would sacrifice himself in a situation such as this. He would spend his last moments before falling to madness trying to kill them.

And he was very good at it. The strike of his axe was earth shattering, cracking open the concrete under the carpet whenever Aclysia managed to dodge. At all other times, the blows forced the Artificial Spirit to her knees. He hit her for 66 hit points each connecting strike, even with her regeneration she would only be able to take 3 more of those. John couldn’t let that happen, he charged a Mana Ray. In the chaos of the melee, the attack missed, instead striking a normal member of the Bloodfallen.

Another wave of reinforcements came down the stairs. The last thing John needed right now. The situation was turning for the worse. There was shouting, there was laughter by Igor. Even though their leader was captured, the cultists kept fighting. They were more loyal to the mission than to him.

Gent took a giant swing, sending Aclysia flying back the way she came. A projectile of titanium and dragonscale, she cut through the air and slammed hard into the glass.

It was only Igor and John who noticed at first. The cracks left where Aclysia had slammed into the container. The white lines in the glass began to spread. With them came deep, cracking sounds, like a large icy lake under pressure. It was just loud enough that everyone heard. Just loud enough that the battle came to a sudden pause.

“”No,”” John and Igor spoke simultaneously, the cracks turning the see-through glass opaque. The green lines on the glass spelled out several words, all of them flashing too quickly to be read. They disappeared for good. The container burst.

Shards of glass exploded outwards, raining down on Igor at a harmless speed. Chilling cold blood and water cascaded outwards. Hundreds of litres, spreading over the carpet too quickly to be absorbed.

Everyone looked at the woman that landed on her feet amidst the tide. The crimson water did not stick to her. All of it ran off her in a matter of moments. Left behind was a sickly pale colouration. She looked like she had never seen a single day of sunlight and like hypothermia had left a permanent mark, tinging her skin ever so slightly blue.

Her hair was white, reaching around the length of her chin, the tips an azure blue. Her features were attractive, from the fine nose to the ears. Most striking were her eyes. Two orbs of amethyst purple, the iris facetted like an uncut gem. Within were two golden rings. One thin and complete, the other consisting of six dots sitting just beyond the edge of her pupil.

Her breasts were of a medium size, appearing a bit larger on her relatively short stature. She had nicely proportioned, wide hips, and thighs so meaty it made John forget the situation he was in for just a moment. Then his eyes fell on the various black dots embedded into her, sticking out like ugly piercings.

And a thick, crimson aura laid around her.

It was like John’s third eye was suddenly forced open. He knew what he was seeing. It was her mana, it was what Rave had described to him whenever she had told him about how he had grown. Where everyone else in the room harboured in themselves a sphere, typically of a simple blue colour, Thana was like a drop of blood in a clean sea that refused to mingle with the water.

John tried Observe but it didn’t reveal anything new. He was frozen, waiting, like everyone else, for the long tortured woman, for the acclaimed weapon of the Soviet Union, to do something – anything.

Thana did not. She stood there, eyes unfocused, expression vacant. Then, her entire body tilted back.

The gunshot echoed through the room a moment later. Everyone looked over to Victoria. The sniper stared from the entrance and grinned at John. John grit his teeth. He already knew what his mistake had been. Someone in her troop could have been equipped with emergency blood capsules in their teeth. A quick way to get out, when John wasn’t looking.

Igor was laughing, he thought they had won and John did not know if he could disagree. “If I had known it was this easy, then… I would… have.” His words petered out, as he and everyone else looked back to Thana.

The small woman was bent backwards at the hip, but she hadn’t fallen. Gradually, she straightened back up. The bullet was stuck between two rows of flawlessly white, flawlessly gapless, flawlessly shaped human teeth. Thana spat out the bullet, coughed up water, slowly, quiveringly stepping forwards. “D…z…” Individual letters and syllables left her mouth. Ongoing coughs made it impossible to understand whatever that was. “…je…”

Victoria pulled the trigger. Again and again. John was shocked, mostly by himself. For the first time, he felt utterly frozen in the face of a situation he did not comprehend. All he could do was stand and stare. It was the same for everyone else. Only Victoria had the brazenness, perhaps the ignorance, to keep unloading her magazine.

The bullets hit Thana’s chest, arms and legs, many missing completely. Victoria’s hands must have been shaking at this point. The bullets uselessly penetrated Thana’s body before being pushed out again by the regenerating flesh. Not a single drop of blood leaked from her.

There was only a single drop that fell. It gathered at the tip of Thana’s index finger, then fell into the pool of water that had once filled her tank. What had begun to soak into the carpet rippled unnaturally from the single drop. Red separated from translucent water. All the blood the container had stolen from her began to rise. Small spheres hovered upwards, defying gravity.

A last click indicated the emptiness of Victoria’s magazine. As the noise faded away Thana vanished. John barely managed to notice her squatting upside down in the dome. She pulled together like a screw, then launched herself across the room. Next time everyone saw her, she stood in front of Victoria. Both movements had been too fast for anyone around to follow.

“Dz….” Thana grabbed Victoria’s neck with both hands. She coughed again, while her small hands constricted the gunslinger’s windpipe. “…je… Dz…”

Victoria uselessly beat the smaller woman’s arms, kicked and let out ragged screams. Her face turned red, then purple, then blue. The terrible strength choked the life out of Victoria. A slow, agonizing death, her neck getting ever narrower as the fingers pressed ever deeper into yielding muscle.

John wanted to shout. To tell Thana that she could just go. Nobody could stop her, clearly. Before he could get out a single word, before Thana could finish what she wanted to say, there was a crunch. Victoria’s head tilted off to the side, rolling without any resistance.

“Ah….” A disappointed noise, followed by the corpse of Victoria dropping to the floor. Thana turned around, eyes moving at immense speed between everyone. Then she stopped at John.

‘No, not at me,’ John thought.

One leap and Thana was next to Igor.

So close again, John could see her eyes. The golden dots inside were spinning, turning at such a rapid pace they created a second solid ring within. Black pupils were dilated to different degrees. She blinked a couple of times, until they both focused properly. Then, she grinned at Igor and smiled like a joke had been told. It grew wider, the purplish lips drawing back until her gums were visible. It was just as tinged towards blue as the rest of her.

Igor was as pale as a man could be. Thana grabbed him by the foot and ripped him out of the grasp of the two elementals. For a moment, he was just held like this, a tall man dangling from a single arm of a short, somewhat athletic woman. A faint remainder of John’s mundane senses told him that nothing bad would happen.

“See what you have done,” Igor spoke grave, last words.

In a furious motion, Thana pulled him overhead like a human flail. The guild master slammed into the floor, blood splattering everywhere, only for Thana to swing him back the other way. Rage and wild ecstasy guided the motions, as she whipped the man around, slamming him into the ground again and again. Bones shattered, gore scattered, and by the end of Thana’s rage the only part of Igor that wasn’t broken was the very leg she held him by. The cult leader was little more than a fleshy paste.

Thana let go. She stood there for a moment. Her shoulders quivered.

And then she started laughing.