Blissfully unaware of the presence of his stalk- I mean, Number 1 fan, yet constantly aware of the predatory gaze she had locked onto him, Seth charged through the library like a freight train. Considering the fact he was running at roughly 40 mph during his sprints, that comparison was closer than you'd think.
That wasn't even his top speed too, the only reason he was sitting at that speed despite the urgency was the constant twists and turns he was having to take as he weaved through the stacks of bookshelves. Well... Perhaps 'weaving' was a bit generous of a term. While he was technically turning, that was like saying a car slamming into a wall at full speed was technically braking. In fact, that's exactly how he was turning.
At his speed, especially since it was mostly a string of short bursts of super human speed, it was surprisingly difficult to control his momentum and direction. So when it came time to turn, he just aimed at the wall and bounced off of it. He used this method so much that his eager little fan had absolutely no trouble following his every step, as she just followed the trail of dents in the walls or bookshelves.
The constant presence of civilians was another reason to limit his speed so something somewhat more controllable. After all, it wouldn't be a good look if he sprinted through a normal person and turned them to paste. Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on N0v3l.Fiɾe.net
But... since he was charging around , he may as well let something feel the power of the pain train. It was only right.
Kicking off the wall one last time, Seth shot forward like a carny shot from a cannon as he aimed himself directly at another Puma that was mid lunge. The poor soul it was attacking barely had time to process his imminent death before it was whisked away in the blink of an eye by a black blur.
Hooking his arms around the body of the big cat, Seth pulled the beast into a bone crushing bear hug and forced it to be his shield as they flew. The next second, the two of them smashed head first into, and then promptly through, a heavy bookshelf as it exploded into a hail of splinters and scattering pages of ruined books.
'Oops... I'll need to apologise to Teacher about that later. I'm sure he'll understand though.
Pushing himself to his feet, Seth casually plucked the few splinters from his arms, the odd sensation reminding him of the peculiarity of his situation. Although he still couldn't feel pain, per say, he could still feel the splinters, which were more like wooden daggers since the smallest was still 9 inches long, as he plucked them from Corvus' arm. It was more akin to simply plucking a loose hair from his arm.
Whimpering growls brought him out of his thoughts and back to the present as he tossed the splinter to the side. Whilst his arms had been turned into pincushions, how could his meat shield not fair any better?
The Puma he had kidnapped was sprawled across the ground, dozens of wooden splinters of various sizes jutting out of its torso, as if it was trying to turn itself into a hedgehog. It's chest heaved up and down as it took trembling and laboured breaths, yet it clung desperately to life. Casting a hateful glare at Seth, it's collar flashed briefly before it started to sink into the shadows. Starting with its front paws, and followed closely by its head, it plunged into the darkness as if it was diving into a black ocean.
However, it jerked to a stop before it could even get half of its body into the welcoming embrace of the shadows.
"Where do you think you're going, huh?"
Tightening his grip on the Pumas tail as he dragged it from the black ocean. When it was finally pulled fully into the material realm once again, Seth twisted his body and heaved the tail along with him.
He had always heard the term 'No room to swing a cat', so this seemed like the perfect time to test that.
Wrapping its tail around his forearm, Seth swung the beast like it was nothing more than a living flail. Slamming it into the destroyed bookshelf, the floor, the wall, the bookshelf again.
Only after the beast was thoroughly pummelled, with its body turned into little more than a bloody pulp with fur stuck to it, did Seth finally send it flying like an Olympic hammer throw. For the final time, it slammed into the wall with a wet, bloody splat before slowly sliding down, leaving a trail of viscous black blood down the wall.
"Guess they are right, there really is no room to swing a cat. How disappointing."
Just as he was searching for his next opponent, it seemed they were eager to die, as they came directly to him themselves. The ground beneath his feet, which was already dented and splintered from his previous antics, gained a spider web of cracks as it began to bulge from underneath.
Not bothering to wait for his new challenger to make its appearance, Seth rammed his fist through the bulging earth and grabbed hold of whatever was trying to tunnel its way up. With a single, powerful tug, he ripped the beast from the earth and came face to face with the gnashing, foaming maw of a snarling rat the size of a German Shepard.
Narrowing his eyes at the all too familiar sight of this feral rat, he couldn't help but be reminded of the last time he had seen this beast. They had just escaped the hellscape of their place of employment, and a 'mysterious red creature' had caused a tidal wave of these rats to appear and chase them into the domain of... something even more unpleasant.
Seth's arm throbbed in pain at the memory, but looking back now it was obvious that the reappearance of these beasts was not a coincidence. After all, it was clear that the little red thing that had caused the rats to appear was yet another Hemogoblin. Those wretched things really had been the bane of his existence, he had to make sure he wiped them all out. These rats didn't have collars like the rest, of the beasts, so it was impossible to tell if they were under the Hemogoblins control or simply attracted by the carnage.
Whatever it was, it didn't matter. They were still a threat to be taken care of, a threat brought directly to their doorstep, for a second time, by those wretched Hemogoblins.
Clenching his fist, Seth popped the rapid rats head like a grape, spraying its grey matter across the floor. He let its carcass drop to the floor like a sack of potatoes, the bladeless [Requiem of Blood] in his other hand greedily sucking up all of the surrounding blood to power itself.
Flicking his hand, to rid it of the viscera clinging to his fingers, Seth formed his blade once again and scanned the floor as it began to shudder like they were in the midst of an earthquake.
Pinning down a recently emerged rat with her foot, its body writhing and crackling as electricity surged through it and turned its flesh into charcoal, Astra scanned the chaos with her usual stern expression.
This type of environment, trapped indoors with countless innocents wandering around, was the worst for her powers. She couldn't let bolts loose, the risk of hitting someone was far too high. Lightning bolts weren't exactly made to be accurate or precise, even if her aim was perfect there was no guarantee it wouldn't leap or arc to someone else.
Although, even with that disadvantage, it didn't mean she had no ranged abilities. With a copper coin held between her index and middle finger, she pointed her hand like a gun as lightning sparked around it.
Whipping her hand towards a Puma that was trying to drag a corpse into the shadows, the coin between her fingers glowed red as she pumped energy into it. When she dropped her thumb, like the hammer of a gun, the nerves of her fingers flashed blue for a brief second before the coin blasted forth faster than any bullet. A thunderous roar echoing out as a blue streak drew itself across the air, the sound emanating not from a bolt of lightning, nor the explosion of a bullet, but from the tiny sonic boom caused by a simple coin.
The puma fell to the side, a fist sized hole burrowed through its head as the edge sizzled from the heat of that simple coin. She quickly dug another coin from her pocket, loading it into her personal rail gun, and was about to turn to find a new target when an unexpected sight caused her to halt.
Corvus had appeared like a phantom, standing over the corpse of the Puma she had just killed, as he stared down at it silently, his fist trembling as he held it in a tight fist. No... That wasn't right. He wasn't looking at the corpse she had made, but the one that was being dragged away.
Taking another look at the corpse the Puma was trying to drag into the shadows, Astra shook her head softly. Laying at Corvus' feet was a corpse that was already decayed, as if it had died long ago, but of course that wasn't exactly the case.
Who else could it be, but Seth's very own undead teacher. He never did get the chance to learn his name...