Chapter 216: Blood Bath [1]
Chapter 216: Blood Bath [1]
***
Amon's mind was completely blown.
This was something that had never been even hinted at in the game. There was not even a clue that something like that existed.
But he also knew at the same time that currently, it wasn't the place to brainstorm about it all.
This wasn't just the only member in the whole area.
There were multiple that were spread out in every region.
And every second he wasted, one cadet was getting closer and closer to their death.
'Fuck, I need to hurry,' Amon cursed, looking at the headless body in front of him.
He wanted to see more but it pained him that he had to wait right now.
Clicking his tongue, Amon was about to store the man's body and head in his ring when he stopped.
He remained silent for 1 or 2 seconds before leaning down.
He grabbed the man's robe and earpiece.
He then stored his body inside the ring.
Sewing the hood back to the rob with some blood strings that matched the robe, Amon put it on him.
Then, he put the earpiece in his ears, imagining the man's face to the best of his ability. Immediately, he felt his skin mold and shape. His facial features distorted slowly before... He felt it stop.
Raising his hand, Amon made a small crystal mirror, seeing his face in it.
And to his satisfaction, his face was perfectly like the man he had just killed.
After thoroughly checking that he wasn't missing anything, Amon put the crystal back.
He was a little leaner and taller than the man he had just killed but in Amon's mind, the robe would be able to negate such differences.
Checking his things one final time, Amon dropped down the blood dome and was about to shoot forward when he stopped.
After a moment of contemplation, he raised his arm again.
His form started to ripple as if it was a mixture of gas and fluid.
It got faster and faster when suddenly the fluid started to separate into three other parts.
The three parts were positioned in a circle around the original Amon before all of them started to solidify back.
And in just 30 seconds, Amon was now looking at 3 other copies of himself.
There was a little bit of a downside in [Smokesoul Mirage's] early stages right now.
And it was that his artifact effects like the robe and earpiece couldn't copy over to his other clones.
Sure, he could still give them the clothing itself on their forms if he wanted to do so. But then, they would just be simple clothes, not artifacts.
Fortunately, right now, Amon didn't need all of them to be members like himself.
"Out of the three of you, one will stay here in this region. The other two will head in the Tundra and the Sea region. I'll head to the Desert Region." Amon explained to them all.
Nodding to his orders, all of them gave him a thumbs up.
Amon was momentarily surprised.
Another problem was that every clone created by him would have his consciousness and mind.
Sometimes, it didn't choose to follow his orders or such.
But right now, nobody has chosen to complain or go against it.
Was this a part of his personality as well?
To understand in moments of desperation?
Whatever it was, Amon was grateful.
Giving them a final thumbs up, Amon shot towards the trees with a disguise as well.
He quickly traveled from branch to branch, trying to hide his presence to the best of his
ability.
Even though the rules had been turned to null now, he still didn't use his familiars.
The large size of Zephyra was a dead giveaway of his location.
And right now, even though their target was someone else.
Their second priority was definitely Michael and him.
Plus, it would be weird to see a member with such a large familiar in the skies.
In his mind, he would prefer it if he wasn't interrupted before he could catch up to Michael in
the desert region.
It was the place where he was going right now.
***
Charlotte panted, setting her back against a tree.
Sweat beaded down her face and she quickly wiped it off her face.
Her black bodysuit was also drenched in sweat.
She planted her claymore in the beachy sand, looking up at the sharp sun shining down upon
her.
As soon as she had spawned on the sea territory, she found herself in the middle of a maze of bridges on top of the sea.
And around her?
There were at least 24 cadets who instantly recognized her and wasted no time rushing her.
The narrow bridges and the sea already put her at a grave disadvantage. Especially since she was used to wide-area movements and strikes with her claymore.
Nevertheless, with her familiar art, which allowed her to form and manipulate mud, she was able to pull through.
The number of people caught in her mud field also increased her strength by that amount. But in that colossal fight, she had also broken away every bridge on the sea.
And now, looking at the wide expanse of the sea, there were broken planks of sea on the surface as far as the eye could see.
Charlotte took another deep sigh, feeling herself burning in the sunlight.
'I should hurry, 24 is such a low number. And I wasted so much mana on this fight... I can't afford to fall behind.' She steeled herself.
Grabbing the hilt of her claymore. Charlotte grits her teeth, standing up.
She took deep breaths, utilizing mana breathing to the fullest.
'I might see more people behind these cliffs.' Charlotte looked at the tall white cliffs in the distance that separated one part of the beach from the other.
'Okay.'
Charlotte took out her claymore and was about to run when her eyes suddenly widened.
The hair on her back stood up as her torso instantly moved, bearing the pain that came with it.
And in the next moment...
CLANG! CLANG!
Two fast and sharp strikes rang out in the air.
Charlotte skidded back a few feet in the sand because of the recoil.
Her eyes squinted, her whole aura and demeanor turning ice cold, a contrast to her usual
personality.
"Who are you?" She questioned in a monotone voice to the hooded person in front of her.
She could see a maniacal smile on the person's covered face.
From the subtle signs she could see from the body structure though, it was probably a female.
"Oh? You want to know who I am? Let's see.." She brought her sword to her lips.
Her blood-red tongue slithered out of her lips, licking off a faint trickle of blood on her
sword.
Charlotte's eyes suddenly widened as she felt a sudden hotness on her right cheek.
She raised her hand to her cheek, feeling something wet before pulling it back, only to see red
on her gloved hand.
"How? When?" Two questions came out of her mouth.
Even though she was a tad bit slower with her heavy claymore, Charlotte was sure that she had
countered both of her fast strikes.
The lady's bloody lips spread out further, turning into a malicious grin. "Sweet. I like your blood. No....I love it!" Her pearly white teeth showed through her grin.
"Let's dance and I'll show you who I am." She wiped her sword on her arm before licking the
latter clean of the blood.
Charlotte was unable to speak.
What was this cannibalistic maniac-like behavior?
She bent her knees, tightening her grip on her claymore further.
Her eyes turned to a dead cold, with the intent to kill.
There was at least one thing obvious to her now. The person in front of her, they weren't a
student.
Definitely.
Her military-trained mind started to spin at an insane speed.
Since they weren't a student, they could either be a teacher or an outsider.
From their attire, they didn't seem to be a teacher.
And from her extensive knowledge of the academy as well, Charlotte didn't know of any
teacher resembling the person in front of her.
That meant they were an outsider. And from the attire, probably a cult or group of some sort.
But...
For some reason, her crimson-golden robe looked familiar to Charlotte.
Suddenly, the lady's form blurred as she shot toward Charlotte.
Charlotte focused on the battle.
'Whatever, now isn't the time to think about that.' She cleared her head and shot forward as
well.
And from her training that she had been given, people like them who threatened the peace of
any place or her life...
There was only one outcome...
And that was a headless death.
This was the ruthless Charlotte that she only showed in life-or-death situations. The military
Charlotte.
The lady's blade cleanly connected with her claymore, the latter pushing the former back
because of its weight.
The lady smirked.
"Oh dear, I meant to dance not clash blades." She let go of her sword and quickly ducked
down.
She performed a clean low sweep to throw Charlotte off balance but... Suddenly, something pushed from underneath, locking around the lady's feet.
Her eyes widened and before she could comprehend anything, a clean punch landed on her
chest by Charlotte, smashing her straight into the sand.
"You forgot we aren't on sea anymore."
Her mouth gaped open as blood gushed out of her mouth because of the immense force.
But, she smiled once more, gulping her blood down as the excess trickled down the sides of
her face.
"Great! I love it!" Her grin widened as suddenly, blood chains formed in the air coiling around
Charlotte.
Charlotte's eyes widened as her body was suddenly pushed toward the lady's blade.
She quickly tried to escape but it was too late.
It was just an inch away from pushing through her body when suddenly...
Blood threads looped around Charlotte, pulling her out of the blade's way.
And in tandem, a clean kick crushed the lady's jaw, sending her body crashing into the sea.
CRACK! RUMBLE!
The sand floor rumbled as the sea parted under the force of her crash.
Charlotte's body smoothly landed on the ground and the threads broke.
Her face instantly turned to the side, only for her eyes to widen, while also showing a sign of
relief.
It was Amon, his cold eyes locked to the sea in the distance.
He shook his foot as if to loosen it.
And he turned to Charlotte, giving her a small nod.
She knew what it meant.
'Sorry, I'm a little late.'
A relieved smile came on her lips after a moment as she turned back.
"No no, you are right on time. Thanks a lot for saving me."
She tightened her grip on her claymore, coating it in earth.
"Let's clear this up here quickly."
Amon nodded, swinging his nodachi one or two times to adjust it.
"Yeah."