I will strive beyond this cursed bloodline!

The [Villain] looked at her expectantly, he had extended his tendrils all around and the guardsmen bellow in the street had fanned out with their guns pointing at him, most of those guns were rated for civilian encounters, and could barely work against E & F tier metahumans.

 

She doubted they would do something to her...So against a veritable A-Tier Threat...Yeah, he wasn't paying them any attention at all, one among them strode proud with a gun that was almost as big as his torso and pointed it at the [Villain], "This is a custom-made [Bolter], I will shoot it at you if you don't leave [Villain]."

 

Nyctophagia for his part just stared at the man, the badge on his chest was more ornamented than the others, so he was probably a [Boss] or something, "Please do so, if that is your job...But if you shot my way I will respond in kind..." Said the [Villain] after just turning his attention for a few seconds his way.

 

"So [Magical Brat] your answer?" He said turning his attention to her.

 

The [Guard]'s face turned crimson as his anger got the better of him "I WARNED YOU!" screamed the man while aiming at the [Villain].

 

The gun shot a pair of spikes from the sides securing itself to the ground and after a few seconds of auto-calibration it [Shot]. The sound was tremendous, way more than a normal gun had any reason to be, it was also a single extended [BANG], but at the side of the [Guard], the floor was littered with tons of bullet casings.

 

The gun it seems, shot almost all his cartridges in one single burst, "Hmm...[Saintsworths] made custom bullets..." Said the [Villain] while he took a napkin and cleaned his mouth as if he just had eaten.

 

"I think these are from two years ago? Yeah, that was the time they gifted some outdated military-grade guns to some hospitals and clinics...They didn't provide many boxes of ammo though...Did they?" Asked the [Villain] turning his attention to the guardsman.

 

The man's face had blanched as he quickly checked something on the side of the gun, then on the holo screen attached to one of his arms.

 

"Yeah, that was a bad harvest for the [Saitnsworths] these guns have the bad habit of cleaning their cartridge in one go and overheating so that one isn't going to work till maintenance." Continued saying the [Villain] while he raised his left hand in the direction of the guard.

 

She got a bad premonition of this and said "Stop!" While quickly calling on her magicks.

 

"[Highest]+[Jet]+[Light]+[Smite]+[Spear] = [Luminary Spear]" She didn't even try to hide the speed of her casting.

 

A Magical Circle materialized in front of her right hand as she weaved the magics she would use, first she added the newest magical circle she had learned from the book, the [Highest] spell matrix would increase the power of her spell as well as the [Grade].

 

Then she weaved the [Jet] spell matrix to make sure her attack would be as fast as possible, adding the [Smite] attribute that would make the attack batter the target with the [Spear] form to travel as fast as possible created the [Luminary Spear].

 

A light-based high-speed attack was made, but she wasn't sure if that would be enough, so when she threw the attack, while it was flying she weaved an extra spell "[AMP]!" And cast the it directly in the flying spear of light.

 

It shone with light and hope, it was probably the most powerful light-based attack she could make right now, and the thing had eaten almost 20% of her Mana only in the inception, with another 10% with the last [Amp].

 

Surely it would be enough to at least save the guardsman...Right?

 

"[Shadow Eater]" She heard resonate all around her, and almost as if the world slowed down she saw...

 

No...[She saw it]

 

Her spear of light was about to land in the [Villain] when a [MAW] opened in his torso and took the spear, it didn't allow anything to escape and [ATE] her attack in one go.

 

While in this hyperstate she turned his attention to the guardsman and saw how he seemed to be aware too, as the shadows below him turned into a vicious maw that opened and oh so slowly started closing. She could see the eyes of the man go around each and every single fang that he could see.

 

The tongue of the vicious maw hugged the man and it started to sink him down...She tried to move, with all her might tried to move to save the man, and the man had noticed her too, she could see how his eyes pleaded with her to save him.

 

But she couldn't...

 

If she had cast her [Flash Speed] spell...If she had used more of her mana in the attack...If...If...If... SO MANY IFS!

 

If she was using her mastery of [Shadows], if she had been loyal to her [Origin]. If the stupid [Skill] wasn't wonky and stopping her from feeling the [Shadows].

 

Alas..

 

She didn't manage to do a single thing and the maw closed with the [Guard] and the [Bolter], both disappeared without a trace, and as such the time resumed as if nothing.

 

The guardsmen quickly started shouting about where their boss had disappeared, some directly threw their guns and ran back into the clinic...And when the other noticed that, they too, in turn. Ran back into the clinic.

 

Soon enough only the laughter of [Nyctophagia] remained, "Always a treat to see that...So...MY [Tainted]?" He asked as if he hadn't killed in such a cruel way, someone.

 

As if he hadn't mocked the last moments of a man, her blood boiled at the fact that he could dismiss the lives of someone so easily...

 

"You aren't it, your mana doesn't taste as either [Tainted] or [Shadow], so either get out of my way or prepare to be trashed a little bit." He said with dismissal as he snapped his fingers and the shadow below her spread open into a circle.

 

A circle that resembled the [Maw] he had seen him use to kill the guardsmen.

 

She didn't flinch, she was used to her shadow stretching like that, but...It still was an alien feeling to her, she couldn't [Feel] the shadow below her, it didn't give her a soothing feeling...

 

It was...So [Alien], but she had work to do, to hell with her idea of pretending to be below average, she had used all her might already in the last spell anyway.

 

She did have the [Spell Node] for [Shadow] prepared...But she wasn't sure how it would react, so for now...She would go all out with what she had tested and knew it would work.

 

"Under the crimes of [Murder] and [Attacking a clinic] I [Elemental Weaver] declare you under arrest [Nyctophagia] of [The Hydra's Fang]." Said Eliz...No...Said [The Elemental Weaver].

 

She would need to fight with all her might, her mother had taught her that even while one fought against the odds, one could win, she had told her so many stories of how she had done so.

 

How the friends she made in her travels had done so...Even her father had a few like that from his early days as an E & F tier powered.

 

So surely she as the daughter of both of them could do the same right?

 

Nyctophagia wasn't even at the top of the food chain, he was barely half the level of her father, and while her mother had a glitched [Status] she was probably not that far from her father.

 

"I see...A shame, you look like someone I want to [Taste] so maybe I could use you as a trial run?" He said while ignoring her declaration.

 

Rude!

 

She was here hyping the things up while trying to make some time for her reinforcements to com...

 

"Try not to [Die] brat, it is always a hassle how the [Council] gets their panties twisted over you kids." She didn't see it.

 

One second she was preparing a nice comeback for him.

 

And then she was hurt all over her body and with her feet dangling from a pole?

 

Why were her feet dangling from a pole?

 

"Oh you are sturdy, usually that breaks at least a bone or two from the usual D tiers." Said a black-masked man.

 

What was doing a black masked man here?

 

Where was she?

 

"Anyone at home?" Said the black-masked man wearing a tuxedo while knocking at her head as if it was a door.

 

Then it came back to her in a rush, she saw it as if it was a movie. First, a tentacle of shadows came from below her it caressed her cheek as if it were the most precious thing... Before slapping her.

 

She got b#tch slapped by a shadow tentacle, it sent her flying at a 35° Angle through the ceiling of the clinic, crushing past it towards a wall, then through said wall into a pole...Her body got stuck in said pole bending it to accommodate her body and allowing her feet to dangle from it.

 

But why was she seeing it as if a movie?

 

Had her brain been damaged from the hit?

 

She turned her attention towards her HP and saw how that single hit ate almost 30% of it...

 

Then turned her attention towards the man that was in front of her knocking on her head...Each knock shaved 1% of her hp...At the realization that it was [Hurting her] by only comically knocking at her head her face blanched and the terror truly sank in.

 

"[TELEPORT]!" She didn't even think about making a fancy combination to increase the range or the efficiency.

 

She used the spell at the barest mode with the highest speed possible and her body got teleported from where she had dangled to the street below, barely 10 meters away, she reoriented herself fighting the bile that wanted to exit her body at the sudden change in both position and space and focused her mind.

 

She needed more distance, "[Space]+[Tele..."She started to weave a spell, this time adding the correct prefix of the element to make the transition not only faster but allowing her to travel farther away.

 

"Tut tut...We are playing right now, that isn't fair to me." Right now said the voice of the [Villain] while a tendril of shadows serpented his way through her legs up to her torso and stopped just in front of her face.

 

She didn't even have the chance to react before that tendril of shadows had sneaked through her legs, passing by her waist into her torso and it stopped just in front of her face.

 

"Now...How did you manage to do that?" He said while walking around her and took his time looking over her.

 

She wanted to move and even try to slap him or something, she felt as if the [Villain] was licking all over her, and the fact that she had a shadow tendril hugging her and constraining her as soon as her mana tried to move...Didn't make things easier.

 

Especially since she had been stopped while trying to cast a spell, so her mana [Wanted] to move, "You didn't taste like [Space] mana, your attack tasted as [Light] so I thought you had what do they call it?" Said Nyctophagia bending over to grab a piece of her shadow and eating it like a snack.

 

"Right, [Affinity] I thought you had [Light Affinity]" He made a face in the mask, and the black mask held an amused smirk, "Now...This didn't taste as either [Space] or [Light]...It tasted more as...[Travel], or [Cosmic]."

 

That...was interesting, she didn't have those [Origins] available, but she did make her [Elemental Weaver Shift] think of those [Origins], had the [Skill] added that flavor?

 

Was that why her [Spell Casting] was impeded?

 

"Now...How can a [Magical Brat] that is wet behind her eyes cast high class [Spells] without the right [Affinity]?" Asked the man.

 

And when she didn't say anything he made a motion with her hands and the tendril turned dangerously sharp and made a cut on her face, that little cut took as much as 5% of her hp!

 

She was down to 62% already! And in 3 attacks no less!

 

"Amm...[Teleport] is part of the [Travel Affinity]? And maybe somewhat related to [Cosmic] too?" Said the girl, sneakily mentioning the [Spell] so her mana could settle down, she hoped that would allow the spell to settle and end her cast when the [Villain] was distracted once more.

 

"Oh...A good excuse indeed." He said nodding with her. "Shame it's a [Lie]." And without a warning, he kicked her in the stomach.

 

That sent her flying against the counter in reception where she crashed against the wall, somehow that particular wall was sturdy enough to hold the impact.

 

Sadly...That meant that as it didn't break, all the force of the impact couldn't bleed out and stuck with her.

 

"You have five seconds to leave that building before I start destroying it and eating the civies inside!" Screamed the [Villain] from the outside, he didn't even wait before the shadows started sneaking inside.

 

As soon as that happened alarms blared inside "[Warning, Shadow based skill used, please stop Skill Use and wait for security.]" Of course, he didn't stop, and soon enough all hell broke loose as the people inside started to rush further into the building.

 

She grimaced as her HP went down another 30%, now she barely had 32% of HP...Yeah...She could feel her [Shift] starting to blare warnings at her as she was nearing critical levels.

 

At least her mana was high, she had even recovered some since she hadn't used any spell after the first one!

 

"3...2..." Oh right, she had to leave the building. "[Teleport]" she finished the spell that had been prepared, now with the [Space Manipulation] in it she reappeared at the top of the building, flying a few meters above it, far away from the shadows in the ceiling.

 

Nyctophagia somehow knew she was there and turned his attention that way, "Hmm...Yeah, I can taste the [Space Affinity] in your spell, but not in you...How intriguing." Muttered the [Villain].

 

"And your [Shift] is holding quite well after that trashing, maybe you have potential." Laughed the man, "I love [Eating] potential." In a very crazed way.

 

The shadows all over the place suddenly grew maws, but at least she was safe flying above those, no way he could get her fast enough...Right?

 

"Get [Down]" Intoned the man while she was busy thinking of a good way to deal with him.

 

No way he expected her to comply...

 

But suddenly she felt as if her body was being pulled downwards!

 

She saw shadows materializing around her body in the form of chains pulling her down, somehow the man had used the shadows formed in her clothing to pull her down!

 

HOW?!?

 

"Now now...You can cast [Light] spells and your mana tastes as [Light] you can cast [Teleport] and your mana tastes as [Space]..." He started enumerating as soon as her body crashed in front of him.

 

"And I know how [Traveling] tastes girl, I got trashed by [The Stardust Explorer] once. " He said as if remembering something, "Yours does not taste like hers. "

 

That was rude!

 

[The Stardust Explorer] was her Mother for god's sake!

 

How could her mana not taste like hers!

 

"Now...Wonder if I make you cast a [Shadow] Spell...Will it taste as [Shadow Affinity]?" He said dangerously.

 

A tendril of shadows materialized in his hand that suddenly transformed into a vicious dagger.

 

"Care to [Test]? How your mana will taste after being [Blessed by Mother]?" And she could see a dangerous red glint in his eyes.

 

But before the dagger could be used in her...

 

"[MOONLIGHT SERENADE]!" The shadows keeping her in check evaporated as Nyctophagia jumped backwards and she was bathed in a silver light.

 

"[VICTIM PROTECTAL SERVICE]!" And a white halo materialized around her yanking her in the direction of two magical girls floating on the opposite side of the clinic.

 

Now she was near [Lunar Shade] and [Lawbringer Sentinel], with Nyctophagia between the three magical girls and the clinic.

 

"Now now...I was [Eating] my [Appetizer] and the [Fish Course] and [Main Course] arrived in their own..." But somehow...Even while her HP was being regenerated by the spell of both magical girls...

 

"This...I might get indigestion here..." She couldn't help but think that they wouldn't win this.

 

And while the Dagger seemed normal...

 

 

That part of his [Status] worried her...Were had the [Taint] gone...Could it...No...Could he [MOVE] the [Taint] around?!?!?