A foothold formed above Malakai’s legs, and he shot towards the ground like a diving hawk.
The sharp whistle of a blade tearing through where he had been moments ago rang out.
The synergy stage evolved shot his cold gaze towards Malakai.
"You’re not going anywhere!"
He thundered, blasting downward and landing meters away from Malakai’s crouched figure. A pool of blood had formed from the severed limbs of the node formation evolved, but the synergy stage barely registered it.
His blood whirled around his side, shifting between several shapes. His eyes only saw Malakai, but he barely registered that the boy had taken off his shoes.
"I don’t know where the hell you gained this power from, but you’re outmatched. You can’t win."
The man spat, taking a step towards Malakai, who was now standing straight. Utterly silent.
He was backed to a corner in the room, and as the man neared, a smirk soon appeared on his face.
’He can’t escape anymore.’ His blood churned. He’d finally boxed Malakai in. With a space this small, Malakai’s escape paths were few and obvious.
Upwards, and left. No other place except through him. The man had already set his blood to fire the moment Malakai moved. With his options obvious, he was sure he’d hit him without a doubt.
The only choice was attacking him directly, and from their brief clash, the man knew he was stronger and faster than Malakai.
The synergy stage evolved took another step closer but tilted his head the moment he met Malakai’s eyes. Calm, unflinching.
Not the eyes a 14 year old boy who was trapped should have, rather, they were the eyes of a veteran who had everything under control.
The sanguine man paused, a wave of unease hitting him.
It was then he finally noticed Malakai’s missing shoes. It was then he finally realized the kid had attacked with his blood earlier. He realized; Malakai could manipulate blood outside his body. But it was too late.
The sanguine man felt a disconnect. He could feel his head and torso, but his limbs... he couldn’t feel his limbs. He glanced at his arms to see them sliding off.
His trembling eyes barely glanced down before his torso slid from his severed thighs and the ground closed in.
Disbelief hit him like a landslide as he realized what had just happened.
Blood champions could manipulate blood they were in direct contact with. With his thick shoes on, he couldn’t feel or control the blood on the ground.
But Malakai had his shoes off. Standing within a pool of blood, he was in contact with all the blood.
And with that blood, he had severed his arms and legs! The man realized he had been the prey all along!
The ground rushed closer, but the sanguine man saw none of it. Malakai’s knee filled his vision.
The knee impacted his nose with bone jarring force. The sanguine man felt his nose cave in, head jerking back.
He tore back at blurring speed, slamming against the hard wall in a splatter.
Malakai was upon him before the haze in his eyes cleared, fist tearing at the air like speeding bullets. Each strike impacted like a detonation, the white wall drenching with crimson blood.
The man could barely focus enough to manipulate his blood. He couldn’t even react as Malakai’s fingers pierced through both his eyes.
A piercing scream tore from his mouth, but a heavy uppercut that shattered his teeth silenced him for a moment.
As the sanguine man opened his bloodied mouth to scream, Malakai shoved his arm inside, grabbed, and pulled.
Another piercing scream echoed and another uppercut silenced him. Malakai threw the ripped tongue on the ground and fixed his cold eyes on the squirming man beneath him.
’I won’t have that much time.’
Unfortunately, Malakai didn’t intend on dealing with a grade three darkness creature. He couldn’t kill the man.
But despite the fact that he’d severed his limbs, destroyed his sight, and ripped out his tongue, it still wasn’t enough to hold down a synergy stage evolved.
Once the surge of pain wore out and he could think, he could use his blood to move.
’I have to move quickly.’ Malakai bought more time by knocking the man out. He made sure he wasn’t dead and made for the other node formation evolvers struggling on the floor.
Malakai repeated the same thing with them, piercing their eyes and ripping out their tongues before knocking them out.
Then, he made for the control terminal. He gazed at the countless screens in front of him. Some had unfortunately been damaged during the fight, but Malakai didn’t waste time brooding.
’Where are you, Renlo.’
He searched through the screens. They showed different parts of the underground base. Malakai saw men with lab coats wandering about, discussing.
He saw different rooms where men and women were being tortured. He saw brutal scenes that would make many puke, but he clenched his fist and braved through it until he saw one screen.
A sanguine man had just emerged from a room with a cart filled with empty plates.
’He delivered food.’ Malakai realized. In that section alone there were multiple doors. ’Multiple door prisons.’
If there was any place Renlo was being held, it had to be here.
Malakai decided to use the cameras to trace the location. In a base this big, it was possible for him to get lost.
He found the room he was in, seeing the crimson covered walls and severed limbs. Then he began tracing, memorizing the turns and doors he had to take to reach his destination. With Oxyflow, it was easy.
Afterwards, Malakai glanced at a portion of the countless displayed screens, this had been where the most damage had been done, most were blank.
’I can’t find the fourth pulse.’
The fact that he didn’t have eyes on the fourth pulse made him feel uneasy. It was either the cameras didn’t cover her area, or they had been destroyed in his fight.
Either way, Malakai took a deep breath and moved to the door. He held back the adrenaline currently roaring through his body.
What had he just done?
It seemed unbelievable, just thinking about it. He, a 14 year old boy, had just defeated a synergy stage evolved. Not just any, but a sanguine!
He clenched his fist as the door to the room slid open. Progress. The thought excited him.