Chapter 210 - Bloody Mary

"How are they doing?" stood outside the room with her back against the window, Viola asked with a concerned voice.

"Much better," Staxius tip-toed outside, and quietly shut the door, "-I think anyways," with the back against the door, he spoke.

"What's the plan now, aren't we supposed to leave tomorrow?" a good question to which he walked. Viola followed behind, the conversation resumed after a short pause.

"Nothing has changed, we are leaving for better or worst. Those two need rest and what better way to get away from this combat filled zone," he said in the usual deep emotionless voice.

"I see," Viola breathed a sigh of relief, "-we're taking them with us?" she asked, the doorway leading outside came in view, the light almost dazzling.

"Yes," quick and easy, "-call me soft or whatever, I care not. Those two have suffered enough, I know the feeling of having someone die without a chance to do something, anything. It has happened more than enough time. I guess it's selfish of me, to want to save those girls when all I'm good for is killing people. Either way, getting them on their feet is a responsibility I'll take with pride."

"It's fine," she patted his back, "-there's no rule saying what one needs to do. It's up to you, guild leader, do what you think is best – we'll always follow without question," outside, Kniq stood and waited.

"Thanks for everything," the gaze felt warm and clear – time now was around one in the afternoon for he had spent most of the day with the twins. Not comforting but being the one they could lean on and cry without restraint. This was a first, experiencing how painful things were to other people. Those warm tears that flowed left a big impression. One thing was for sure, he was ready to help any way he could – noble or not, the man was prepared.

In said manner, the day continued till night came. At the break of dusk, stood outside with weapons, supplies, and anything relating to combat – the adventurers with Kniq in the front. The briefing commenced.

"Greetings everyone," Reinhardt spoke loudly, "-as you all know. The briefing shan't be long. Questions about combat and strategy are to be forwarded to Xenos. With that being said, we have special news today," he cleared his throat to which the voice's obstruction cleared. "Tonight is the last night Kniq will fight by our side. These past two to three months have been very educational for both the military and the adventurers. Thanks to them, we were able to bridge the gap between our statuses. All who stand in this courtyard is one, we are united by a single thread; the resolve to win," a few seconds of silence later, cheers echoed around the outpost.

The rumors were true, many had already braced for the inevitable. The day the guild known as Kniq's departure, a band of warrior that saved countless lives and killed even more monsters.

"Everyone, say it with me," Ferry yelled amidst the cheers, "thank you for everything, XENOS."

"Thank you for everything, XENOS!" it echoed, people were joyful. "Don't forget Kniq," Jon yelled in turn.

"Thank you for everything, KNIQ!" this time the applause and cheers were twice as loud as the first time.

'These people, I swear,' with a smile, he raised his right hand and clenched into a fist. The other members followed suit. In that instant, the cheers reached its peak in terms of loudness and energy. Morale was at an all-time high, with this level of energy, nothing needed to be said. The adventurers automatically broke up into groups and waited in front of the members of Kniq.

"Let's move out people," Staxius led the charge, two squads followed behind, one in which Ferry and Jon stood – close combat fighters with heavy armor and heavy weapons.

"We'll leave after two-minutes," Viola voiced, the mid-range fighters waited, armed with bows, staffs, and daggers with light armor – Viola led a team of people who were specialized in finishing off enemies without bringing attention to them.

"After the mid-range fighters, It's our turn," Achilles spoke, a support unit in terms of protecting flanks, they were compromised of a mixture of mages, close-combat fighters, and more. Most wore enchanted robes with chainmail underneath.

"Remember," Avon called, "-our job is to heal people with bad injuries and support the fighters as much as we can," the real support unit, one that was devoted to everyone, anything from enhancement to imprisonment spells were cast by that unit, their outfits were light but heavy on supplies. Priority was to not engage in battle, thus the excess weight of armor was removed and replaced by backpacks.

"Last but not least," Deadeyes spoke, "-one shot, one kill." He led a team of marksmen, people with the ability to lay on the ground from dust until dawn. Their job, shoot on sight and support. None of them were talkative; concentration at its finest.

*Void Flame Aspect,* Tharis came out, shot after shot, the incoming horde was drawn to the vanguard. As usual, before the first line of attack could be breached, Staxius had already slain around fifty percent of the enemy forces, though it was only the first wave. There were more to come, the guard remained up for abnormals could reach out at any time. Those humanoid goblins and evolved monsters were never seen again after that first incident. Even so, it didn't give time for people to rest.

'Look at them go,' he watched, Tharis needed to cool down. Despite holding back, the gun could only take so much – when it came to killing people, this thing was more than enough. However, monsters were a different story. The usual one shot to the head wasn't effective enough. Kill one and two more would take its place, this was why this formation was created. "I'd even go so far as to bet my life on them," he murmured whilst standing.

"Is that so," Adete voiced, minutes turned into hours, Staxius decided to stay out of the fight. The attackers grew in numbers, nothing the other could not handle – it was pretty dull.

"So that's the people you trained," she hovered and studied. "All of them have the same look in the eyes, the clear intent to kill anything that moved – scary, they're like you but way, way, turned down."

"You're right, their killing intent can never reach me. They are still humans, after all, that intent would fall to pieces if it ever came to killing a single person."   

"Staxius…" Adete's tone changed, it resembled a kid wanting something.

"What is it?" he knew something was up.

"Can we please join the fight… it's our last day and I have the feeling that there will not be a fight for quite some time," she pouted.

"What's the point," he sighed, "I honestly don't want to stand from this spot," a cozy little seat made of plants and flowers. "Even if I fight, it's not like you'll join the fight," a point well made.

"You're wrong," her tone changed into one serious, "-have you forgotten that I'm the manifestation of the vampiric blood in thy vein?" she paused, Staxius listened intently. "-Every time that power is in use, it's hard to explain, but I also join the fight. Each enemy slain, each life took, whether human or not, I get stronger… or rather, we get stronger," she licked her lips, the gaze resembled him when it came time to kill.

"No need to justify, I understand what you mean," he stood, the horde only grew in numbers. 'It's been far too long since I used my blood to fight.' The eyes closed, Shadow-step activated, it added atop with the speed boost from the night-walkers innate speed.  In less than a second, he stood before the vanguards.

"Xenos," Ferry called, "-take it easy, we got this, enjoy the last night," he said with a smile.

"Yeah, leave these guys to us," Jon fought back the enemies happily.

"Why don't you both leave this to me," the voice deep and focused, "-as a parting gift, I'll show all of you the power of the man nicknamed Xenos," the pressure alone made the rest on edge. Whispers and murmurs went around the battlefield, to which the vanguard retreated.

"Why are they falling back?" the other units asked whilst the front line ran past them.

"Ferry, Jon," Undrar called, "-what's happening?"

"No clue, Xenos asked for everyone to retreat." With a nod, Undrar accepted the decision and sent the message to all who were on the field. In a matter of minutes, everyone rejoined into a grey area – a place where if it ever came down to it, the last stand would be made.

"From what Ferry told us," the units spoke to one another, "-Xenos  said something about showing us his power?"

"Is that the case," Deadeyes relaxed.

"Calm down everyone," Achilles intervened, "-just wait and watch, this is going to be fun," a smile could be seen on her face.

"I wish we could," Jon voiced, "-but there's like two-hundred monsters approaching, it's nearly day – their voracity increases right about now."

"Wait and watch, my friend, wait and watch," Kniq calmly took a seat.

The atmosphere suddenly changed, it grew heavy and dark. "Let's get ready to fight, Adete," he voiced, with the now sharper and longer teeth, biting his thumb felt like child's play. The wound made was big, a lot of blood flowed. Not only did he bite the thumb, but every single finger on both hands. *Blood-Arts: Crimson Thread,* rather than fall down, it hovered and turned into a halo over the head. The blood crystalized, it was darker in color which meant more potent and more powerful. To stop the bleeding, the Death-element kicked in and regenerated the injury.

With a gentle motion of the fingers, the halo broke and turned into darts, almost shaped like bullets. *Snap,* the horde sprinting across the field, that single snap sent those crimson-darts forth. It took out a quarter of the forces without blinking. From there on, *Clap,* the darts burst and shattered into tiny particles, to which a diagonal motion of the hands which resembled a knife later - it changed into threads that cleanly sliced through the other quarter. Once that was done, from an open palm, he clenched into a fist which forced the crystal blood to return.

*Blood-Arts: Orenmir, Blood Blade of the Queen,* it changed from particles to a full-on sword. 'It's been far too long,' sheathed on the left hand and right hand on the grip – he took the stance for a quick draw technique – a move that was picked up whilst watching the others fight. The previous swords didn't permit such a move, however, with Orenmir, with its smaller width size and slightly curved blade – tis was possible. The footsteps echoed through the ground, *Blood-Arts: Bloody Mary.* Blade in hand, the ground cracked, a blink later, following a red light, the remainder of the monsters died without a chance to react. Staxius stood behind the pack with eyes closed and sword sheathed, behind, heads fell as if ripe fruits of a tree. Normally, after a beast was slain, its blood would gush out till the body turned into ash and disappear. However, with Bloody Mary activated, all that would be gushing blood rather than falling to the ground, followed a singular path that led to Staxius's right hand. It stood there hovered above the pentagram. As time went on, the small orb grew bigger and bigger.

*Blood-Arts: Absorption.* As the name indicated, all that was filtered than absorbed through Adete who happily ate the orb. The more blood a vampire had, the more powerful he got. A quick and easy way to get stronger though he didn't enjoy the idea of sucking blood off living beings. Dying ones, on the other hand, was the exception.

"Happy?" he asked with a casual tone.

"More than happy," she licked her lips constantly whilst eating the orb that was now twice her size.

"Glad to be of service," he turned, the sun rose.