Towards The Motherblood Expiritus!

Cara stood under the night sky on the 3rd day since the mission to take enemy scouting groups down commenced. Her right leg was slightly bent as she supported her upper body on it with her crossed forearms. Her Earth sword bled several times, on thick volumes, until only a few droplets dropped from its double-edged tip. She heard 'clink' and 'clank' noises away on her left. Cara rotated her attractive head just a little to see Heian Ciemnosc battling 3 Breaking Point realm cultivators alone while Moy faced 2.

Moy faced 2 rough guys, but Heian Ciemnosc was up against a quirky setup. Heian Ciemnosc’s left claw impaled a young woman. They were at their maximum growth, 6 inches long, 2.2 inches wide, and 0.6 centimeters thick. The victim was stabbed in her abdomen, and 4 individual claws were projecting laterally behind her back. Red blood filled Heian Ciemnosc’s left claw and the young woman’s skin paled with every second. She looked at the sky, losing focus as her hands tremblingly and weekly attempted to break each individual claw to no avail.

“Nooo!” A young man shouted from afar, making Heian Ciemnosc twist his pale neck to look behind to his right, where the young man and a middle-aged man rushed towards him from the side. The young woman was a Breaking Point realm cultivator in the 5th stage. The young man was in the 7th stage, while the middle-aged man was in the 8th stage. The young fellas were siblings, and the older person was their father. The siblings looked pretty young but were actually over 100 years old.

That was commendable, considering their emblems weren’t the Tortoise Glabella Pavilion’s. They were most likely from a humble beginning and had enough talent to be sent here where only death awaited the strongest warriors in the Second Step. They had a lot to experience and room to grow, but facing Heian Ciemnosc, it all went down the drain.

The young woman tried fighting Heian Ciemnosc, believing in her strength, as any other cultivator should. But not against Heian Ciemnosc. Not only was it strange a Soul Spirit realm 3rd stage cultivator didn’t run from them after seeing them, but his aura was nearly nonexistent and was clearly formidable.

However, after exchanging blows and not winning or losing any, Heian Ciemnosc drew the sister far from her family. In a swift, sweeping motion, she was impaled by his left claw, suctioning her life in many different ways as her brother and father rushed towards her… also to no avail.

Now, as Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes calmly looked at the brother, whose blood essence boiled and his entire blood flow coalesced akin to a train surpassing its speed and control limits, derailing and losing stability nearly instantaneously while his face wetted with tears and hatred. Heian Ciemnosc spread his fingers apart. His individual claws cut the young woman’s body into 2, killing her as his body immediately slurped her body’s contents after cleaning the filth. Heian Ciemnosc felt the carcass’s properties feed him and couldn’t help but close his eyes in comfort, lightly sighing from his nostrils.

“MONSTEEER!” The brother shouted the obvious. Heian Ciemnosc lifted his pale eyelids in tranquility and received the brother warmly. His right dark claw went up. Flicking it to face its palm to the sky, Vocón Link shot sharply from his wrist, immediately lunging at the young man’s sternum and breaking it before forming a large gaping hole in his back, eating away the vertebral column.

Step-... step, step- stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp! “Aaaaaah!!” However, the young man was resilient after seeing his sister turn into a decrepit, shrunk corpse with not even the hair remaining and her filth disappearing in midair after dark Neutral Energy washed it off.

… … … …~ Vocón Link returned instead of targeting their father. Like an anaconda searching for large enough prey, it ‘looked’ at the brother with thirst before rushing backwards. At the same time, all the young man could do was keep rushing forwards with his Arts accompanying him from the side, gaining size and volume as his blood essence was ignited. Heian Ciemnosc even began feeling slightly endangered. It caused a cheeky grin to form at the left corner of his pale red lips.

“DIEEE!!” The young man shouted, liberating all the tormented sensation he had gone through at the last minute. He didn’t care anymore about the Dimension, its riches, the harvest his family made with which they could return and spend tens of thousands of years to reach the peak of the Second Step and form a Clan to print their feet in the new Change. It was all worthless now.

Pshift~! Pshift~! Pshift~!!

Several Arts flew towards Heian Ciemnosc, burning the ground and distorting the air as they crossed the distance. On the other hand, the young man gradually slowed his steps. His legs became heavier, and the sensations of being numb and overweight startled him. Confused, signs of life dissipated from his eyes as his father, still seconds behind him, suddenly stopped and his face petrified.

“No…” He didn’t even care about his son’s last effort to kill Heian Ciemnosc and avenge their daughter and sister. The father watched as his son plummeted to the ground, his face directly buried in the scorched dirt his son himself created, but not before the strange dark whip rushed towards him and created a wider mouth with its shapeless limbs. The son was engulfed, and the father only watched as his last descendant perished.

“...” Heian Ciemnosc felt the brother’s body eaten away by his Vocón Link, but he didn’t care. At this moment, he got what he wanted, and a threatening enemy move was about to reach him and arguably destroy his body. His darkest eyes shone, and he looked at the plethora of Arts flying towards him.

The young man had Fire elemental proficiency, although a poor affinity with it. Even then, more than 4 attacks were sent towards Heian Ciemnosc, with Neutral Energy bouts and Fauna-shaped accompanied the former. A Spirit Aspect was added to the equation, and Heian Ciemnosc felt as if hot lava breath caressed his face, aiming to stomp him instead.

Pshiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiifft~... Heian Ciemnosc’s dark Neutral Energy came out of his claws’ tips. His darkened skin sent 10 strands of dark Neutral Energy that slowly coalesced in the air before him, a couple meters above his head level. The young man’s all-out effort continued to advance as Heian Ciemnosc’s dark energy strands shared properties. Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, and purely dark Neutral Energy were distributed in pairs as the dark Neutral Energy-only strands formed a sphere 50 meters before Heian Ciemnosc.

As the sphere was approached by the dark energy strands mixed with the 4 primary Elements, its darkness increased, as did its growth and intensity. In under a few seconds, the dark sphere consumed the dark energy strands with Elements, with Heian Ciemnosc’s darkened skin letting go of them shortly after as they were transferred to the dark sphere.

PSHIFT! The dark sphere probed around its structure once, sending ripples through the air as if an invisible barrier was hit by a heavy, powerful projectile. Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes’ contents shrank a little when it happened, and despite his tired eyelids, he maintained his stance and balance.

Frrrgghhuuwff! PSHIIIFT! Swiiiiiiiish-... … …

But the young man’s last effort wasn’t getting any weaker, and as it gained momentum, its threat to Heian Ciemnosc slightly increased. Suddenly, Heian Ciemnosc leaned to the right to watch the father try to beat up his Vocón Link, but the latter was only thrashed about without any harm coming to it as it ate the last bits of the son’s corpse, its left heel.

The father continued bashing it with a heavy hammer whose shaft was long but had no pommel. He continued trying to make the strange dark whip spit his son out, but nothing worked. Then, he merely dropped and hugged the Vocón Link, tearing up as the thoughts of his daughter and son fell before him, without a chance to even sacrifice his life instead, hitting him, hard.

Step- stomp! Whoooosh! Whiistlee~!

Heian Ciemnosc ignored the clash between his elaborate method and the young man’s last effort. His 3 meters long dark tail fluttered, and his body swiftly disappeared from where he was just standing. Heian Ciemnosc appeared before the kneeling father, thinking he could at least recuperate his son’s body. The latter was astounded, but Heian Ciemnosc didn’t give him time to react. With simple but quick motions, Heian Ciemnosc grabbed the father’s left shoulder, penetrating it with his 5 individual claws before fluttering his dark tail.

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Pshiift- PSHIIIFT! Far away from them, the dark sphere and all-out Arts were about to meet just as Heian Ciemnosc appeared before the father. The latter finally struck the former, acting as its only resonance point after Heian Ciemnosc disappeared from his spot. The blood essence used to effectuate all those Arts and Neutral Energy attacks was given some sort of intelligence. One that allowed it to chase the young man’s hated enemy. But without Heian Ciemnosc, it could only target that dark sphere.

Dark sphere and all-out Arts met each other, crashing and trying to obliterate the other in a sweet, beautiful moment that lasted less than a millisecond. As it happened, this was also the time Heian Ciemnosc grabbed the father’s shoulder and stomped the ground again to escape the direct blast.

CRUUUUUUGGHHH- PSHIFT- TOM- TO- BOTOMG!!~~-... BAAAAANG!!!

After a series of pungent breaking noises, capable of corroding one’s ears and mentality in 1 swift go, a chain reaction explosion went on until a loud and singular ‘bang’ sent waves of air, dirt, and vegetation flying for several kilometers. The ground was lifted, and the air swept upwards like a worm’s mouth coming out of its inner body as the vegetation swept outwards like blades and projectiles cutting everything in their path.

The sound itself was pretty damn loud. Even Cara, nearest to Heian Ciemnosc’s battle, and Moy were forced to frown, but their ears didn’t go deaf. Heian Ciemnosc was last seen dashing towards the father before disappearing again as he escaped the blast radius.

Meanwhile, the dark sphere lost its color as the all-out Arts spread outwards like cobwebs in broken crystal. However, before they could continue expanding endlessly, the dark energy strands of the 4 primary Elements escaped the notion and formed a net around the epicenter. Finally, the dark energy strands made purely from Heian Ciemnosc’s dark Neutral Energy shot everywhere, forming several squares that the Elemental nets copied their shape from and adhered to.

Before everything could go boom big time, the nets continued the blast, but it still affected the world outside of them.

… Wheeeeeeeeesh! Thud- draaaaaaag~! Stomp! Futomp!

Heian Ciemnosc was 20 km away from the explosion by the time it started to subside. He stopped rushing away after he no longer felt the threatening beehive of Elements and blood essence-enhanced Arts thrilled to bite his back. His body flew at maximum speed with his 3-meter dark tail. Then, he kicked his feet to the ground, dragging them for another 487 meters before giving the dirt a final, sounding kick.

Heian Ciemnosc’s body finally halted, and the air around him caused a slight zone where the air and dirt shot outwards, dissipating some of the remnant waves chasing him away at last, with the father’s body in on his half-extended arms. Heian Ciemnosc’s body dangled to the side as the world no longer moved around him.

“Y- you… why did… you save me?” The father’s eyes took several seconds to recompose and reopen. Heian Ciemnosc looked down after recuperating his breath. His darkest eyes showed no emotion as he let the father fall to the ground. It was tender and black, unlike a minute ago. Thus, the father wasn’t hurt.

“I didn’t save you. I preserved the body.” Heian Ciemnosc’s calm voice resounded, making the father look up without noticing Heian Ciemnosc’s left dark claw casually raising. The childless father looked at Heian Ciemnosc and asked, with hopeless confusion written on his face. “My body? Why?!”

“Food,” a simple word echoed from Heian Ciemnosc’s pale red lips, and the father’s eyes went wide. “!”

Phhshk! Splash! Phhshk, phhshk, phhshk, phhshk, phhshk…!

Heian Ciemnosc’s left dark claw destroyed the middle-aged man’s head. Then, his claws dismembered the body, took the feet and hands off the limbs, and cleaned it with a passing of his dark Neutral Energy. The father and son were Humans, but the daughter was a mix of Human, Elf, and Fairy. A rare one.

“Oof. How cruel~!” Ruo Wei’s voice sounded from the side just as Heian Ciemnosc was storing the last corpse. He looked behind his body as he bent over and saw Ruo Wei looking at him while carrying one of the few Light realm 10th stage cultivators Beto had to face and kill off during these last few days. Ruo Wei nodded at Heian Ciemnosc before he could say anything and turned around with the trophy ready to be displayed to the other Crimsons. They have gained so much honor!

“...” Heian Ciemnosc shrugged his shoulders and looked at the vast lands of the Interconnecting Rupture Dimension one last time before turning around and heading back to the leading officers’ group. He was damn tired. Today was the last day he and the Team would participate in a few weeks. They’ve spent so many alchemy products just to keep fighting enemy Teams after every slight break, every day.

Heian Ciemnosc’s legs were a little squirmy. He had to shake off the feeling a few times as he casually walked. However, while Heian Ciemnosc moved his legs slowly, he used his bodily strength to impulse his body and took 10 steps with each slow step. With the coalition’s line moving speed and this method, he would reunite with them in 8 minutes.

‘Hmm… a father’s love, huh?’ Heian Ciemnosc pouted as he kept advancing with his method. Cara was slower than usual, not like before, but he didn’t give it importance. Heian Ciemnosc kept ‘walking’ as his thoughts became a little more profound than he expected. ‘That was beautiful, warming even. They just weren’t… It’s whatever, ah~. Mn. Sara, what are your thoughts?’

“Well, Heian Ciemnosc… I was an orphan until I was taken by my… organization. My Master was my only role model. I didn’t have anything else to follow. Mnnn~... Whenever I could go out was to know old, mighty people from my world and time. I never experienced the emotions everyone else I saw had. Even more so… now. I never imagined I could find so many different lives from the people you’ve met. And they’re such a small number still!”

“...” Heian Ciemnosc wore a dull expression. Was hundreds of millions of new faces, even if just after joining to aid an ally in their operation… so few? However, he didn’t give it much thought. After all, she was still mysterious, although she was his already. Either way, he mentally hummed and let Sara enjoy his silence as she laid her tummy ‘downwards’ and swung her head supported by her hands.

“Anyhow, that Motherblood Expiritus is blooming a little earlier than anticipated. You should use the gains from these scouting groups to fasten the process of building your platform,” Sara said one last time before becoming a ball and closing her eyes. She wanted to let Heian Ciemnosc rest. Heian Ciemnosc nodded and swept a dark energy blanket around the ball to turn it into a comfy ball.

“Heian Ciemnosc!” Suddenly, Cara turned around and walked towards Heian Ciemnosc, who was deviating from her course. Heian Ciemnosc was surprised but was still reminiscing what his nature reading sowed him when the father accepted he had lost his children, and so on. He walked up to Cara and nodded upwards at her. Cara hugged his right arm and smiled before following his method with Neutral Energy.

“... Hey, so, about Riquel…” After a couple minutes of silently being helped by his senior apprentice sister Cara. She spoke to Heian Ciemnosc with a hint of hesitation. Heian Ciemnosc patiently waited as Cara gathered enough confidence to continue. “Is it alright if I want to go out with him?”

“There’s nothing wrong with him.” Heian Ciemnosc nodded. Cara slowly nodded in response and asked again, “Great! So, this one won’t just stop talking to me after we talk ‘bout life?”

“Is this why you’ve tried to hurry the entire Team these days?” Heian Ciemnosc shook his head and asked this time, making Cara feel startled as she meekly responded. “Hehe, maybe.”

“He won’t be like any of your previous dates. Just don’t hurt him. Will you?” Heian Ciemnosc said, asking her to not be too bad with Riquel more or less. The notion was completely new. Nobody had seen Heian Ciemnosc ‘care’ for a pal like this. Cara smiled from ear to ear and squinted eyes with his arm still hostage between her cushions. “I won’t~! He knows what’s the deal about. It’s not as if I’m trying to trick someone, right? Have I ever done that?”

“A few times, but not with me,” Heian Ciemnosc decisively nodded. Cara pouted before falling silent and leading her head on his muscular arm. They continued like this until they returned to the coalition’s line after hearing the briefing from the leading figures, and each Team reported their results. But, this time, Heian Ciemnosc proposed using the Covert Space bags from the enemy and their contents to speed up the construction of the mobile base’s platforms.

Other than that, nothing else happened. Cara left Heian Ciemnosc, saying something about rewarding him tonight for being so sweet and showing her a new side of him. Heian Ciemnosc casually agreed to see her later, but instead of going to the Team’s tent, where the other tired, pained teammates rushed to. He went to see Riquel. Or rather, he requested Riquel to come to the Crimsonbreaking Faction’s military column.

“... Hey, wassup?” Riquel arrived after 5 minutes, especially because the messenger Heian Ciemnosc sent was someone in the Breaking Point realm early stages since the others were busy and tired from working 3 days straight just to travel as fast as possible between military columns. They would be relieved now, but the Teams about to be sent out were still occupied in planning and adopting their own technique with the same method.

“I heard you and Cara are getting together?” Heian Ciemnosc didn’t beat around the bush. Riquel’s eyes widened as his right hand went to his nape. “Ah! Did she tel- wait! No… You accepted?!”

Riquel was surprised and excited. He looked at Heian Ciemnosc and smiled big time before bro-hugging Heian Ciemnosc’s shoulders. “Thanks, Heian Ciemnosc! I thought you had her in your eye and wanted to probe. I’ll make this chance be worthwhile!”

“... You do know you aren’t going serious, right?” Heian Ciemnosc rolled his eyes before reminding Riquel. Heian Ciemnosc wasn’t the team leader, but he didn’t want any of his teammates to have troubles with his other knowns. Riquel nodded and grinned like a mature person would, “Of course I do! I heard from some of my Team members how much they salivate whenever they see her.”

“I also heard from some of her previous dates about her, and… oof! I have to try, you know? It doesn’t hurt to get stitched to grab that rose!” Riquel said before intensely blushing. He turned around and flew while leaving some words behind. “Ahem, if you’ll excuse me, now. I need to prepare!”

“...” Heian Ciemnosc crossed his arms and shook his head. Now that they were being relieved, free time would be abundant, and they could do as they wished. Frolic, play, fool around… cultivate. However, a strange notion entered Heian Ciemnosc’s mind, and he asked himself, mentally. ‘Should I… ask him not to hurt her? Aiyo…’

…