Capítulo 43: Ch 43:- Fight with Dalki
"No, it's a Dalki," Layla said, fear etched on her face.
At the mention of the name, Vorden and Peter's faces turned as white as paper. They turned their heads in the direction of the sand dunes, where a tall figure was approaching them.
"I want to drink beer after this is over," Peter quipped, attempting to conceal his fear and nervousness. However, before anyone could respond, a black figure suddenly flew overhead, landing at an incredible speed in the center of the well. It crashed into the large metal machinery, causing it to break apart, and dust and sand were kicked up everywhere, obscuring the Dalki's landing place.
When the dust and dirt settled, the Dalki stood in the middle of the wreckage. "What is this junk?" he said, lifting a piece of broken metal. "This is not a shelter."
The Dalki then looked up at the four students who had led him to this place. "You should tell me where the shelter is, now," he demanded, pointing to the piece of scrap metal next to Layla.
"M-mm-mee me?" Layla stammered, shivering in fear. "I-it-i-it's over th-there," she pointed.
"Thank you, but I'm afraid no one can know that I was here," the Dalki replied, straightening the piece of metal in his hands with his claws. He then sliced the top half of it with his fingertips, creating a makeshift spear.
"I must not fail my mission," he said, hurling the spear at the students.
Vorden quickly conjured an ice barrier, but Erin, still lying on the ground, knew it wouldn't be enough. With her last bit of power, she helped Vorden cast another wall behind it, making it as thick as possible.
The makeshift spear crashed through the first ice barrier and began piercing through the second wall. "I need to help," Layla thought, focusing her mind on slowing down the spear's movements.
Peter rushed forward to where the ice wall was. "Peter, what are you doing? Watch out!" Vorden shouted.
"I can help too!" Peter shouted back. Just behind the second ice wall, he stomped his feet on the ground, and an earth barrier immediately rose, eventually creating a third barrier. The spear continued to go through each of the three walls until it finally stopped moving.
Peter looked up and saw everyone doing their best. Vorden was using a fire ability to burn the spear, but it seemed to be immune to the flames due to its dragon-like appearance. It seemed like they were on the losing end, but then suddenly, the whole area around them was encased in a dark shadow. The group looked around, confused.
"Is this the Dalki's ability? But that can't be true, right? Rayne told me that Dalki aren't supposed to have any ability. Then who is it?" Peter wondered out loud.
The Dalki himself was equally bewildered, but there was an unsettling energy emanating from the area that made his skin crawl. Suddenly, Peter's expression hardened as he covered his fists in gigantic earth gauntlets, ready to strike at any moment. Without hesitation, he charged forward, leaving the others in shock as he pounded the ground with tremendous force, summoning a massive golem made of earth.
The Dalki easily destroyed the golem, but then, it sensed an attack coming from within the Shadow. The Dalki instinctively moved to protect itself, but the attack, a ferocious blood slash, barely made a scratch. The Dalki pulled its arms down, surprised to see another student, Quinn, standing before it.
"It was you all along!" The Dalki growled, its voice rumbling like thunder.
Peter's eyes widened in shock. "Is that Quinn?" he exclaimed. "What's with this power? I don't understand!"
Erin noticed Quinn's watch displaying the number six, indicating that his ability required more MC than hers. "His ability is related to this Shadow circle!" she realized, her heart pounding. "Was he hiding his strength this whole time?!"
"He must have had his reasons," Layla said, her voice firm. "But right now, we need to work together to defeat this enemy."
Vorden, now Raten, and Quinn charged at the Dalki with ferocity. Quinn's shadow proved to be the perfect counter, slowing down the Dalki's movements. As they attacked, the Dalki taunted them with a guttural growl. "You are boring! I'm far more interested in that one!"
Ignoring Vorden's weak attacks, the Dalki slammed the back of its hand into Vorden's chest, causing him to crash into the building with a sickening crunch. Vorden's lower body went limp, and he screamed in agony.
The sight horrified everyone. Quinn was more worried than ever and began attacking randomly, trying to distract the Dalki. Vorden screamed, "We need to attack it internally to defeat him!"
At that moment, Quinn remembered the hammer strike, but time was running out. With only seconds left before the shadow dome would collapse, Quinn used his boot ability and Daze to stun the Dalki. Then, he performed the hammer strike, and as the shadow dome fell, his stats returned to half. The Dalki fell to its knees, green blood trickling from its mouth. Quinn thought it was over, but he was wrong.
Suddenly, a giant fist punched Quinn at lightning speed, directly in the face. The force of the blow was bone-crushing and left him reeling. It deducted 53 from his HP, leaving him with only 12. He flew backward, crashing through a wall before hitting the ground with a sickening thud. Blood poured from his head and nose, and his vision blurred.
"We need to help Quinn now!" Layla shouted, her eyes filled with fear. She rushed to Erin, asking her to make a bowl, while Peter pulled out the gun that Rayne had given him. It could create miracles at the last moment when there was no hope. "Is this the moment? Fuck it, who cares? I just want a miracle to happen," he thought.
He took aim at the Dalki and fired. The first shot caused it to stumble back, surprised. But Peter didn't stop there. He fired all nine bullets in the same spot, leaving the area damaged beyond belief. The Dalki looked uncomfortable but also excited, like a wild animal.
As the Dalki lunged forward with its claw, Peter's eyes widened in terror. "God, we need a miracle to save--" His words were cut off as the Dalki's sharp talons pierced his chest. Blood spurted out of the wound, drenching the ground beneath him.
Vorden, Layla, and Quinn screamed in unison, their eyes locked on Peter as he writhed in agony. The sound of his screams was drowned out by the Dalki's blood-curdling screech as it felt something make an impact on its head.
Just as it seemed like Peter was about to meet his end, something fell from the sky with a deafening crash into the Dalki's head. The impact caused the Dalki to stumble backward and release its hold on Peter.
Meanwhile, a few minutes earlier, in the middle of the scorching desert, Rayne was hunched over, his hands on his knees as he gasped for breath. "Damn it," he muttered under his breath. "I didn't take into account the toll that running would take on my stamina."
He paused for a moment, weighing his options. With no other choice left, he made a decision. "I'll have to use my blood to create a surfing board and glide through the air. It'll drain my HP and cause mental exhaustion, but it's the only way to make it to the well in time." As he started to form the board, a monstrous creature suddenly appeared from beneath the sand. It launched Rayne into the air with such force that he felt like his bones were breaking, but of course, they didn't break. He soared through the sky, the wind whipping through his hair, until he crashed onto something hard with a sickening thud before falling down onto the sand. Well, that's one way to make an entrance," Rayne muttured as he sat up and rubbed his sore back and groaned. "Thanks, God, I wear a hat. Otherwise, my head would have been cracked open like a watermelon." He chuckled at his own joke.
As Rayne looked around, he saw Peter sitting, holding his chest as blood leaked from the side of his mouth. Their eyes locked, and Rayne couldn't help but crack a joke. "Looks like you could use a mint," he said with a smirk.
"You jerk, I know it's you Rayne, and what's with that Victorian outfit?" Peter exclaimed.
Rayne at first disagreed, saying, "What are you talking about? I'm just a humble traveler passing through." But Peter pointed out, "Your mask is lowered below your chin; we could see your face as clear as day."
At first, Rayne didn't believe him, but when he brought his hand to his mouth, he was shocked to see that it was really lowered. Rayne let out an exaggerated sigh, realizing his mistake.
"How did you appear here?" Quinn asked the dumb question as he was recovering. The Dalki was dumbfounded as to what was happening; he was a major threat just a minute ago, and now he was getting ignored. This caused rage to fill him, and a strange energy coursed through his body. He could feel that he was not much far before he would be evolving into a 2-spike Dalki, but he couldn't tolerate being ignored. He rushed forward and went in for a punch, but Rayne was able to dodge it at the last moment. In the middle of dodging, he answered Quinn's question. "My guess is as good as yours; someone used Rayne summoning jutsu, but I can't see any Sakura nearby."
Layla, who got the reference, couldn't help but laugh but soon recomposed herself, seeing the seriousness of the situation. As Rayne dodged another punch, he put his hand inside his pocket before summoning a blood bag from his inventory and throwing it in Quinn's direction, which Layla was easily able to catch.
But as Quinn looked at what he was given, both his and Vorden's eyes were as big as saucers. Who would expect someone to throw a blood bag at Quinn, especially someone he still hadn't told that he was a Vampire?
"What is it?" Quinn stuttered out of confusion.
"Can't you see it's a blood bag? Drink it and recover quickly," Rayne said between heavy breaths. He was getting exhausted from all the dodging, and the Dalki wasn't giving him enough time to fight back. The creature's speed seemed to be increasing with every passing second.
Without hesitating, Rayne used quickening and moved backward, creating some distance between himself and the Dalki. He summoned his rifle with a flourish, and then shot a blood bullet in the creature's direction. The bullet soared through the air, spinning and using the principles of airfoil to increase its speed. As it flew towards its target, it went directly for the Dalki's head.
At the last moment, the Dalki moved its hand up and blocked the bullet with its scales. The scales were destroyed somewhat, causing the creature to recoil in pain. Rayne went in for another shot, but the Dalki disappeared from its spot and appeared before Rayne. The creature grabbed hold of the barrel of the rifle and broke it with ease.
"It seems I need to get serious," the Dalki said, cracking its neck. It went for a lightning-fast punch that Rayne couldn't dodge. He pulled his arms up to block the punch, and the sheer force that vibrated through his bones caused him to skid backward and suffer some internal damage.
Rayne coughed up a mouthful of blood, but he didn't take a break. He immediately jumped back into the fight, determined to take down the monstrous Dalki. He covered his hand in a blood gauntlet he created using his blood control and enhanced it with his blood energy. Using his qi, he strengthened his muscles and reinforced his bones. With lightning speed, he dashed forward, throwing a powerful punch and following it up with an overhead spinning kick. The Dalki blocked the attacks, but not without taking some damage.
Quinn joined the fight, firing several blood slashes at the Dalki's direction. Rayne did the same, and without a word, they both nodded, understanding each other's next move. Quinn moved through the footwork, performing a hammer strike, while Rayne executed nine echoing punches. Rayne mixed in the hammer strike, and the two moves combined to hit the Dalki straight in the chest. The monster flew backward and coughed up blood. Rayne and Quinn thought it was over, but they were wrong.
The Dalki stood up, emitting steam from its body. Its wounds healed at an incredible rate, and a spike sprouted from its back. It evolved into a two-spiked Dalki, and Rayne felt a shiver run down his spine as he saw the monster's vicious grin.
"Finally, I have evolved thanks to you two," the Dalki said, and in a flash, it moved towards Quinn, grabbing hold of his neck and slamming him into the ground.
Rayne acted quickly, jumping high into the air before dropping down with a drop axe kick on the Dalki. The monster caught Rayne's attack with its other hand and threw both of them away into the rubble of the broken-down building. Quinn was heavily injured, bleeding from his head, and barely able to stand. Rayne was injured too, with a broken leg and blood streaming down his face, covering it with his own blood.
He looked at the last piece of blood bag he had and threw it in Quinn's direction. If Quinn didn't drink it, he would die within minutes. Rayne knew they were in trouble, but he refused to give up.
Rayne limped his way towards the Dalki, his HP much lower than normal. He glanced at his system message, which showed [HP:10/60]. Despite knowing that his next move would drain him of all his energy, he couldn't leave his companions to die after all that he had done for them.
He raised his palm and a red glow began to appear around it. "I need your help," Rayne screamed. "Can you all distract it?"
Layla, Erin, and Peter had recovered slightly and joined the battle, but their attacks were doing nothing to the Dalki. Vorden could only stand by and watch, cursing his inability to help them.
As seconds passed, the red glow around Rayne's palm grew until it was the size of a miniature red sun, a ball of blood energy with chaotic Qi swirling inside. He condensed it until it was the size of a baseball, and the air around it began to warp. Rayne struggled to hold onto the ball of energy, sweating profusely.
Quinn couldn't help but stare in awe as he watched Rayne. His system commented, "That is some impressive blood control there." "What is blood control?" Quinn asked, but his system didn't reply.
Rayne screamed, "Now!" and dashed towards the Dalki as everyone else moved out of the way. The Dalki swung a punch at Rayne's face, but he performed a ground drawer, or {Homi-Geolyi}, changing the direction of the punch. He thrust his hand, which was holding the energy ball, straight into the Dalki's chest, leaving a gaping hole through which the other side could be seen. Every last bit of Rayne's strength left his body, and he stumbled back, falling to the ground.
The Dalki wasn't finished yet. With the last bit of its strength, it picked up a scrap metal and threw it at Rayne. He didn't have any strength left to move, but at the last moment, Peter jumped in front of him, creating an earth wall to protect Rayne. However, Peter was too slow, and the metal pierced right through his chest. He fell to his knees, and a message appeared: [Quest failed!]
Seeing the message, Rayne was enraged, but he couldn't move. All the strength had left his body, and he didn't have any blood bags left. He heard people screaming Peter's name, but everything was getting blurry. Finally, he looked at the system message that had been staring at him in the face: [Your HP has hit 0. 15 seconds left until your body switches off.]
[14, 13....]
Rayne saw the countdown and crawled towards the corpse of the Dalki while everyone was busy trying to save Peter. He muttered, "Activate return stone," and both he and the corpse vanished in a flash of light, appearing in the room that had been assigned to them.
[3, 2, 1, 0]
As the countdown reached zero, Rayne bit into the flesh of the Dalki and drank its blood like a blood-starved beast. Soon, the Dalki was nothing but a dry husk, and Rayne finally fell unconscious with the corpse being stored into his system automatically.
~Scene break Back to Quinn~
After being impaled by the metal piece and thrown far away due to the impact, all they could do was scream Peter's name. Even though they had only known each other for a short time, a bond had formed between them, especially for Quinn and Vorden who considered him their best friend. As Peter started to die, his heart was miraculously still beating, as if a miracle had happened. This was the miracle that the gun created, while the previous one was just an odd coincidence. But what mattered now was that Peter felt his life slipping away.
All the events that had happened until now started to play in front of his eyes. From when he was just a one-year-old kid to the day when he lost his sister and grieved at her loss along with his family, to the time when he betrayed his friends to save himself and his family. Suddenly, the image started to distort as it came to Rayne's part. It cleared, and what he saw nearly made his soul escape. He saw multiple eldritch eyes looking straight at him from Rayne shadow, and then he felt a soft hand rest on his shoulder, causing the sight before him to morph into a peaceful one. The place itself started to morph into a peaceful field filled with beautiful flowers, and a gigantic tree with millions of doors and leaves that glowed with multiple colors.
As he looked behind to see who it was, tears started streaming down his face. It was none other than his sister who had died on a portal expedition. He started to cry before hugging her tightly and crying more while saying, "Why? Why did you leave us?"
"Death is not something that is within my power, Peter. Even gods can't escape their death," his sister replied.
"But Mom and Dad, they were so sad," Peter said, crying.
"They'll be okay, Peter. They will always have each other and you too. You have to be strong for them," his sister said with a comforting smile.
Peter sniffled and wiped his tears. "But where am I? Is this the afterlife?"
"Yes and no. You died, but it is still not your time. You still have a whole lot to do, Peter," his sister said.
"Then why am I here?" Peter asked.
"I was only able to hold this conversation with you due to the help of a gentle lady and a god," she said.
At that moment, Peter noticed the presence of another being just behind her. It was none other than Mina. Her form was majestic and beautiful. It was like a goddess itself had descended from the heavens.
"And Peter, remember, even when you can't trust anyone, always trust Rayne," Peter's sister Lily said. After saying these words, she started to slowly disappear into motes of light that flew away into the tree.
Mina made her way forward before saying, "Your time here is up, Peter. You may now return to the mortal world."
As Peter started to disappear, he couldn't help but ask, "But who are you?"
Mina smiled enigmatically and replied, "I am Mina a mere guide, Peter." Her words trailed off as Peter fully disappeared and finally regained consciousness.
As Peter's eyes fluttered open, he heard someone scream, "Who the hell is screaming?"
"Hey, Quinn, get over here!" Layla shouted. "It looks like he's waking up." As he opened his eyes, Vorden and Layla helped him stand on his own two feet.
"What happened? How am I still alive? Who healed me, and why did you scream?" he asked, placing his hand on his stomach, searching for any signs of injury or scar, but finding none.
"I think you should talk to Quinn once we have the time and this is all over," Vorden replied cryptically.
"Anyway, how are you feeling?" Layla asked, trying to change the subject.
"I'm feeling good," Peter replied.
"Better than usual, actually, although I am a bit hungry."
As Peter said those words, the three of them exchanged a knowing look. To understand their reaction, we need to rewind back to the moment when Peter was on death's door.
~Few minutes ago~
"I think it would be best if we put him out of his misery and end his suffering," Vorden suggested, causing both girls to look at him in disbelief.
"I understand what Peter did to you was wrong, but can't you find it in your hearts to forgive him?" Layla retorted.
Vorden shook his head. "You're mistaken, Layla. I forgave Peter a while ago. I'm suggesting this for his own sake. Look at him, he's in pain and bleeding slowly. It would be more peaceful to end his suffering now by getting rid of him." Once again, both girls were shocked at the callousness of Vorden's words.
"You can't talk about someone who's done so much for us like that. You're in the same position, Vorden. You're no better than a dead weight," Erin said, outraged at Vorden's lack of respect for someone's life.
"I'm sorry, Peter. I can't express how grateful I am that you saved someone so precious to me. You saved my only living family," Quinn continued, with a hint of melancholy in his voice. There were no tears in his eyes like the others, but the gratitude in his voice was genuine.
But then, just as he uttered those words, a voice was heard from the system, "If you wish to save him, you must act quickly," it said.
"I can save him? But these wounds are impossible to heal without a healer around," Quinn replied, surprised.
"That is indeed the case, but if he were no longer human and had a supply of blood from each of you, he would be able to overcome this fatal wound. As long as his heart and the core of his brain are not damaged, then he will live. You have a choice, but you have to decide fast whether to do so or not," the system explained.
[Would you like to activate the blood ritual?]
"I'll do it!" Quinn exclaimed.
[Yes]
After confirming he wanted to turn Peter into a Blooded one, a new screen appeared in front of Quinn with detailed instructions.
"Quinn, what's up with your eyes?" Layla asked, noticing that Quinn's eyes had started to glow with faint red circles around the iris, similar to when he activated his Influence skill.
Quinn didn't know it himself, but as soon as he had accepted to activate the skill of his blood ritual, his eyes started to glow.
He then proceeded to follow the instructions one by one.
[Please proceed by inserting the Host's blood into the mouth of the target]
Quinn unequipped his equipment and placed it back into the dimensional space. Using one of the tips of Layla's arrow, he inflicted a cut on his hand, creating a brand new wound. He held his hand just above Peter's mouth, who was now barely breathing, and allowed the blood to drip in. The blood touched the tip of Peter's mouth and slowly started to fall inside his body. His fingers, once unmoving, now started to twitch, and a warm feeling had started in his body. Inside the blood cells from Quinn, the cells latched onto the blood cells of Peter, and slowly, they were all starting to change throughout his body.
Peter's eyes then opened wide, and he now had red rings around his eyes. Quinn couldn't quite explain it, but for a moment, he could feel a connection with Peter and could see what was happening inside his body.
"Quinn, this isn't enough. The transformation has only just begun, but he now needs the blood of the others to live," the System shouted.
"Guys, please, I need you all to do the same," Quinn implored.
Just then, Peter's body started shaking uncontrollably. His wound still hadn't healed, but he was moving as if he was back alive once again. Quinn quickly grabbed both of his hands.
"Someone hold his mouth open!" Quinn shouted.
Erin moved forward and held his mouth open while more blood dripped into Peter's mouth from Quinn, Layla, and the blood bag that Rayne had given him. Slowly, Peter stopped moving, and all the wounds on his body started to heal. His eyes closed until he started to breathe softly, his heart still beating slowly.
"What magic is this?" Erin said out loud.
At that moment, they heard the sound of mechanical things coming until eventually, they saw two Mecha appear. They looked around the area, and then their eyes fell on the group of students. "We were given warning that there was a Dalki attack here, but I don't see it. Have you seen it?" one of them asked.
Before Quinn could elaborate on the whole event that happened, Layla beat him to it by lying, "Actually, there was a Dalki here, but a mysterious traveler came and killed it. We also helped him. As you can see, my friend here is quite injured; he can't move his legs." "Then where is the Dalki? I don't see it, other than the blood mark of it," one of the mecha asked. "He took it away, saying that it was his trophy," Layla said, trying to act as timid as possible. All her teammates looked at her dubiously.
At that moment, they received a call informing them that one of the students needed immediate medical attention. After a while, Leo and Hayley appeared. She went on and started to heal Vorden, who, after a few minutes, was back to normal. She then went on and healed both Layla and Erin.
Meanwhile, Quinn looked at the message that was being displayed on the system.
[The ritual was a success!]
[The human has successfully been blooded 1/2]
[A Vampire Ghoul has been created]
[A new family has been created]
[What would you like to name your family?]
'Family?'
"Now that you have turned someone, he falls under your ranks. He has your blood, so he is a part of your family. Every Vampire that turns someone has the responsibility to look after their family," the system explained.
Only one thing came to his mind: [Family name: The Cursed].
At that moment, Leo grabbed hold of his shoulder. "It seems what you said was true. You and I were on the humanity side, but remember that I will be keeping an eye on both of you," he said before Quinn could say anything. Leo then turned around and said to the rest of his group, "You guys will be escorted back to school. The assessment has been terminated, and most of the students have already returned to school."
Happily complying, they all started to head back, although Erin was a bit saddened. She immediately shook it off, thanking Rayne mentally that she was still alive
~Scene end~ To be continued
(Sorry once again for my inability to write good fight scene of you see any place were improvement could be made please let me know.)
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