Chương 48: Bloody Infusion

Maalai immediately thrust her open palms toward me. Her skin was a deep, unnatural red, but what truly unsettled me were the living red threads lacing through her upper arms, pulsing like veins. With a sharp battle cry, "Hiaaa!", the thin threads thickened in an instant. A dark red hole tore open in her palm, and a massive Blood Worm, three times the size of any I had faced before, shot toward me like a crimson spear. I dropped to the ground and rolled desperately. The worm missed by millimeters.

She had predicted my dodge perfectly. The moment I evaded, Maalai was already on me, her black over-the-knee stiletto boots with golden-red heels flashing in the moonlight. The kick slammed into my side with terrifying power. Pain exploded through my ribs as I curled up, trying to weather the storm. This was the first time I had ever fought a woman and she hit like a demon in human disguise. I couldn't withstand the pressure. The old wooden floor, already dusty and creaking, shattered beneath us.

We both crashed down into the cellar in a chaotic explosion of dust and debris. The thick cloud billowed upward like smoke on a fresh battlefield as the real fight began in the darkness below. While I struggled against Maalai, Galer had his own share of a problem. The moment Maalai attacked me, the other robed man Baarus sprang forward. Galer tried to send a telepathic warning, but it was too late. The man hurled his robe at him like a distraction. Galer sidestepped it easily, his Animo reading fully active.

What emerged from beneath the robe was no frail cultist. A red-skinned warrior with short green spiked hair, tight jeans, sturdy leather boots, and an open leather vest revealing a massive blood-drop emblem on his back. Piercings glinted on his lips as he flashed a dangerous, eager grin. Baarus shuffled his feet rapidly, building momentum, then closed the distance in a blur. He unleashed a devastating barrage of punches... 31 strikes in the blink of an eye. Galer managed to dodge only 9.

The rest landed hard across his armor and face. Each hit sent jolts of heavy, unnatural pain through his body, even though his armor remained undamaged. Baarus leaped back, still smiling. Red threads now laced across his arms and knuckles, forming sharp, spike-like extensions." Ohh? You've never fought one of us before, have you?" he taunted, running a hand through his spiked green hair and pulling it taut. His smile turned menacing.

"Perfect. Then I have the upper hand. Haha!" Both warriors sized each other up, the air crackling with killing intent. Back in the dusty cellar, the fight with Maalai exploded the moment we hit the ground. As the thick cloud of dust swirled around us, she came screaming out of it like a vengeful demon. She launched herself into the air and unleashed a ferocious combo... three rapid rolling kicks followed by a devastating spinning axe kick. The first three kicks slammed into me hard.

Even though I tensed my entire body and absorbed most of the impact, each strike still rattled my bones. The final axe kick came down like a falling blade. I barely caught her leg mid-strike, but the force nearly broke my arms. Pain flared violently through my ribs as I huffed for air. In my rising fury, I refused to let go. Gripping her leg tightly, I charged forward and smashed her back into the stone wall three times BAM! BAM! BAM!, before throwing her down and rolling backward toward my fallen sword-axe.

I snatched the weapon up just as Maalai rose again. Her eyes were wild with emotion, her face twisted in heartbreak and rage.

"Ohh my sweet clothes…!" she cried, voice cracking as she looked at the fresh holes in her robe.

"My beautiful robe has holes now!" She shoved the torn fabric toward me like proof of my crime.

"I am going to quench your blood dry once I'm done with your body! Arghh!" In pure frustration, she stomped the ground so hard it cracked beneath her stiletto boot. Then she violently ripped off what remained of her robe and tore it to shreds.

"I hate youuuuuu!" With the robe gone, her true appearance was revealed long brunette hair falling to her shoulder blades, the ends curling softly. Red threads pulsed violently across her torso as more holes opened across her skin. In blind anger, she hurled two more oversized Blood Worms at me. This time I was ready. I swung my sword-axe upward in a powerful arc, catching both worms on the hooked tips of the axe heads.

"My cuties! How dare youuuu—!" Maalai screamed in anguish. She double-jumped and delivered a brutal kick straight into my sword-axe, sending me flying backward. I crouched mid-air to absorb the shock, my hands burning from the impact. My Heart Flame finally surged freely through my entire body, burning hotter than ever.

"You know…" I growled, breathing heavily, "you keep throwing these uglies at me to their deaths. Of course I'm going to kill them! Just stop sending them and your little monsters will be safe!" Maalai's face contorted with pure fury. A thick anger vein bulged on the left side of her forehead."UGLIES?!" she shrieked, her voice cracking with raw pain and madness.

"You called them UGLIESSS?!" Her scream unleashed a terrifying wave of power. Red threads erupted across her torso in greater numbers, more holes opening along her skin as her blood aura flared violently. Her cleavage was made of heavy red-and-gold leather, but beyond that and her jeans she wore almost nothing, a very revealing and dangerous-looking woman. With a furious, unhinged glare, she opened a massive, grotesque hole right beneath her mid-sized breasts.

The sound of wet flesh tearing open echoed sickeningly through the cellar. A colossal Blood Worm, five times larger than any I had faced before, slowly crawled out. Its thick, pulsating body glistened with foul-smelling slime that dripped heavily onto the floor in long, sticky strands. Maalai's face softened for a brief, disturbing moment as she looked at the monster with genuine maternal love.

"This is my very first original baby," she declared, her voice trembling with twisted pride and deep affection.

"Her name is Martilda. She didn't like you calling her siblings ugly…" Tears of rage and sorrow welled up in her eyes, mixing with the madness in her gaze.

"So she decided to help me kill you personally. Together… your end comes personally delivered." The giant worm slammed onto the ground with a heavy, wet thud, sending ripples through the slime. Without hesitation, it shot out a thick, glistening silky net that rapidly coated the entire cellar floor, turning the battlefield into a treacherous, blood-infused trap. The net shimmered with an unnatural crimson sheen, alive and malicious.

Maalai moved across the slippery surface with effortless, almost seductive grace, as if the disgusting terrain were solid ground made just for her. Every step she took was confident and predatory. I, however, struggled miserably. My boots slipped wildly with every attempt to move. It was far worse than the brutal Gubu Mountains water training... this was an unnatural, living curse of silk and blood that actively fought against me, pulling at my feet and mocking my every effort forward.

Frustration and humiliation burned hot in my chest as I fought just to stay upright while Maalai danced around me like a vengeful goddess of slaughter. Seven frustrating minutes passed. Maalai toyed with me like a predator playing with wounded prey. She danced across the slippery silk net with mocking grace, her stiletto heels clicking sharply while I slipped and stumbled like a drunkard.

Every time I tried to close the distance or swing my sword-axe, Martilda would fire a sticky thread from behind and yank her master to safety in an instant. She laughed cruelly as she landed heavy kicks on my crouched body and exposed back. Each strike sent continues jolts of pain through my ribs and spine. I could feel bruises forming rapidly. She was clearly enjoying herself, taunting me between blows.

"What's wrong, little Flamma? Can't even stand properly? Pathetic!" Another spinning kick slammed into my shoulder, nearly knocking me down again. My arms burned from constantly trying to regain balance on the treacherous floor. Humiliation mixed with growing rage as I realized she wasn't even fighting me seriously yet, she was just humiliating me while Martilda did most of the defensive work. I was breathing hard, sweat mixing with the worm slime on my skin, my pride taking hit after hit.

My anger finally boiled over." Okay, lady," I growled through clenched teeth.

"I'll show you and your pet what happens when you piss off a Flamma... an Erumes Flamma to his boiling point." I unleashed a partial overload state. Power surged through my arms, the veins glowing bright as they pumped up nearly 1. 5 times their normal size. The heat radiating from me lit up the entire cellar.

"Time for a makeover on this slippery battlefield… Don't you think so, lady?" With a roar, I swung my sword-axe upward with overwhelming force. The ground exploded. A massive shockwave tore through the cellar wall and blasted a huge hole straight toward the outer perimeter of the capital, 80 meters away. Maalai was launched violently through the air, flying three kilometers before crashing into a pond. Thankfully for her, Martilda landed first and cushioned the impact for her. I leaped after her.

When I reached the pond, Maalai was already standing up, completely soaked. Her long brunette hair clung wetly to her face and shoulders. A small, innocent frog had landed comically right on top of her head, sitting there like a ridiculous crown. I couldn't help but grin.

"How dare you do this to a lady!" she shrieked, voice cracking with embarrassment and fury.

"Well, I warned you, didn't I?" The frog chose that exact moment to croak loudly and leap off her head. Maalai let out a high-pitched, genuinely terrified shriek, the kind you'd expect from someone who had just seen a ghost. The contrast between her earlier terrifying rage and this sudden girlish panic was too much of a contrast in character. My grin instantly turned into full, uncontrollable laughter. I clutched my side, tears forming in my eyes from how absurd the situation had become.

Furious and deeply humiliated, Maalai's face turned a darker shade of red. Her whole body trembled with pure hatred.

"My name is Maalai," she snarled, voice shaking with venom, "and I swear I will not rest until you die today!" The worm beneath the water suddenly burst upward like a hidden weapon, mouth wide open, aiming straight for my groin with its throbbing fangs. Before the ugly beast could sink its dirty teeth into my most important part, I overloaded that area with searing Heart Flame. The giant worm imploded violently right in front of me, releasing a massive puddle of green-red goo that splattered everywhere.

Maalai used the distraction perfectly. She launched a lightning-fast kick that sent me flying backward into a cluster of sharp branches. Pain flared across my back as I crashed down. As I forced myself back up, she roared, "Enough holding back! If the army comes, let them come! I'll give them something to play with!" She opened even more grotesque holes across her arms, torso, back, and forehead. A dark red dimension seemed to tear open within her body.

Thick red laces pumped violently outward as countless small Blood Worms shot into the air, wiggling hungrily in ambush all around the pond.

"Now I will show you our Krwawa Infuzja … Bloody Infusion!" The red laces exploded in size and wrapped around her entire body in a thick, pulsating cocoon, completely hiding her from view. I immediately overloaded my legs, bracing myself for whatever nightmare was about to emerge. Then the threads slowly dissipated. Maalai stepped out transformed, now fully clad in majestic red-and-gold knight armor that hugged her form perfectly. A living, bloody side cape flowed dramatically on her right side.

The fabric inside the cape moved on its own, swirling endlessly like liquid blood in a constant, hypnotic loop from top to bottom. The air around us grew heavier. Our battle just went up the ante. At the same time I battled Maalai, Galer and Baarus were locked in their own fierce struggle. The second time Baarus repeated his strange shuffling attack pattern, he landed 25 out of 31 hits on Galer.

The impacts were heavier this time, each one sending deep, throbbing pain through Galer's body despite his armor being on him. On the fourth repetition, Galer finally understood. Every time Baarus started his assault, the bouncing on his left leg, gradually increasing the rhythm, the motion itself created an illusion. The red laces on his brass-spiked knuckles grew larger on impact, transferring force inside Galer's body rather than damaging the armor. It was a nasty combination of misdirection and internal trauma.

Thanks to his patient, defensive approach, Galer finally saw through the trick. With a calm but determined breath, he unleashed his Vestuto - Prism Sovereign. His body was instantly encased in majestic, translucent crystalline armor that refracted light into dazzling rainbow colors. The armor was elegant yet deadly, formed from sharp geometric patterns and shifting crystalline plates that shimmered with inner light. Six glowing wings of pure condensed energy unfolded dramatically from his back.

Galer transformed his crystalline claws, sharpening them further by loading his front crest with the captured red energy. His Animo surged to 4, 100, nearing full power. The claws shifted in color from translucent to a deep, menacing reddish hue getting sharper and sturdier than ever before again having improved. He exploded forward at blinding speed. Baarus barely had time to react before Galer was on him.

With a powerful thrust, Galer pierced the man's torso and drove him backward with overwhelming force, slamming him straight through the bartender's table. Bottles and alcoholic beverages exploded everywhere, drenching Baarus's hair and face in cheap liquor. Baarus slowly stood up from the wreckage, liquor dripping from his green spiked hair and running down his face.

He tilted his head, tongue sliding out to lick the cheap booze from the corner of his mouth and off a strand of wet hair with deliberate, mocking slowness.

"Mmm… not bad," he chuckled darkly, his voice low and raspy.

"Cheap tavern swill, but it'll do." He rolled his shoulders, cracking his neck as the red threads across his body began to pulse violently.

"You hit harder than I expected, one eyed crystal boy. I'm actually starting to enjoy this." Galer remained completely still, his six glowing wings shimmering as he scanned Baarus with full Animo focus. He was preparing for the worst... bracing himself for another brutal exchange of speed and power of near equal Animo. But what came next was far worse than anything he had imagined. Baarus activated his Krwawa Infuzja - Bloody Infusion. A whirlwind of red-and-black energy exploded outward.

His body transformed in an instant, armor forming with a sickening wet sound as spiraling plates of dark crimson and obsidian black wrapped around him. A menacing black Szyszak helmet with a sharp pointed peak materialized over his head, its narrow visor glowing with demonic red light from within. The diamond mail aventail clinked softly around his neck. The pressure that erupted from him was suffocating, his full Animo surging to 4, 269.

Baarus flexed his fingers, the red threads on his knuckles now fully manifested as brutal spikes. He let out a low, amused laugh that echoed through the ruined tavern.

"You look nervous, one eyed crystal boy," he taunted, voice distorted and metallic through the helmet.

"Good. You should be. Because now… the real fun begins." Galer's crystalline wings flared brighter in response, but even he could feel the shift. This was no longer just a skilled fighter he faced, but this was a monster awakening to his true power.