As she ran, her mind kept thinking about how to handle them and save those kids when Daemonis suddenly suddenly commented.

'Your body is going through a change since you drank that venom. It seems you are immune to poison but in a rather odd manner.'

'Is that why I was hungry?' Acacia thought back to how hungry she was.

'No, you were hungry because of regeneration. It takes a toll on your body to regenerate and thus, making you hungry in return.' Daemonis answered.

'Would that not be bothersome in a fight?'

'Then you better make sure it doesn't become bothersome.' Daemonis replied with a scoff.

'Easy for you to say! I don't even know how I would kill them? This isn't the same as killing a monster with low intelligence.'

'You will be fine.' Daemonis casually replied.

'How helpful.' Acacia thought in a sarcastic manner.

'But if you want a better chance, you will need to control your own blood and use it as a weapon.' Daemonis added.

'My blood? How?' Acacia asked with a hint of intrigue.

'You need to make yourself bleed and control the magic essence in your blood before you regenerate. Then, you can control it like a weapon.' Daemonis warned.

'Sounds easy enough.' Acacia thought about it and soon reached the place.

She saw the young boy bruised and groaning with Poppy cowered behind him. The sight made Acacia's blood run cold, her frown turned to a snarl. She stopped abruptly, her hands curled into tight fists.

The first guy turned his head at the sight of her with a look of confusion and anger. "Why are you here? Where is my pet?!"

"Dead." Acacia glared at him as she replied.

"Dead? How?" The first guy took in her form, noticing the blood on her. He flickered his tongue in the air and realized it wasn't her blood.

"You wench!." The first guy gritted his teeth and his appearance started to change. Scales formed on his skin and his fangs stretched out, the other two transformed in a similar manner. The third guy brought out his sword while the other held the gun.

'Their beast form is that of a snake, is that how they managed to control that snake monster?' Acacia thought as she assessed them. 'I need to avoid that gun or maybe...I don't need to? I need to bleed but I can't over do it and risk being at a disadvantage. I also need them far away from the kids.'

"We need to present her head to the boss as compensation." The second guy said.

"If you want my head so bad, you will need to put up a better fight than that pathetic snake of yours." Acacia scoffed and slowly backed away.

In an instant the three of them lunged at her, she turned around and started to run. A beam was shot and she barely dodged it as it scraped her arm. She turned her head to see how far they were but only saw two guys when a sudden sharp pain something pierced her stomach. She coughed out blood and turned her to see the third guy holding the sword. He grinned down at her and she spat her blood at his eye, he yelled and rubbed his eyes in agony as he stumbled back.

She removed the sword from her stomach when a beam blasted her right arm off and the sword fell to the ground. She bit her bottom lip harshly to prevent herself from crying in pain, she gripped her right shoulder digging her nails into her flesh.

She looked at the guy on the ground and noticed that he was searching for something, spreading the ground with his left hand and rubbing his eyes with his right. "What have you done to me?!"

Acacia was confused but ignored him and continued to run while digging her nails into her right shoulder. 'How can I control this!? It's painful and it isn't working!'

'That is because you are not concentrating on feeling the magic in your body.' Daemonis replied.

"Brother!" The two guys shouted in unison as the third brother on the ground. The second brother lifted his gun and blasted beams multiple times in a row.

Acacia's breath hitched as she barely dodged, the attacks slicing past her, leaving angry red welts in their wake. She couldn't maintain the hold on her shoulder and evade properly. Forced to choose, she released her grip, narrowly avoiding a more serious injury. She dove behind a building, seeking temporary respite. She glanced down and watched her right arm knit itself back together, the torn flesh closing, the skin knitting together with visible heat radiating from the healing tissue.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

She closed her eyes and felt a bit of annoyance after trying so hard to keep it from regenerating. She clenched her right hand and dug her nails into her palm, her face twisting in pain as she forced her skin to bleed out. She kept a stable grip against her palm and focused on the blood leaking down her arm. She turned her focus to her body, feeling the fast beat of her heart, grumble of her stomach until she felt a weird stirring feeling. Different from the usual hungry feeling but felt like it could devour everything.

'Yes, control that feeling and direct it to your blood.' Daemonis spoke with excitement.

Acacia took a deep breath and tried focusing on the feeling, it was a weird feeling, an ominous feeling but she ignored that detail for now and directed the feeling of her palm. She opened her eyes and noticed her blood floating in small bubbles. She slowly released her nails from her palm and watched as the wound didn't close up.

'Do not lose that feeling. If you do, your skin with regenerate again and the weapon you form will disappear.' Daemonis commented with lingering excitement.

Acacia nodded and heard their footsteps getting closer. She moved her hand up and down the blood leaking from her palm began to form into a bigger bubble. 'Now, what weapon would be suitable?'

She thought as she touched the bubble and it flinched as if responding to her presence. Her lips tugged into a small grin and she gripped it, it felt like play dough in her hands and she started to mold it. Concentrating and twisting it until it formed a long whip.

A beam was shot at the building she was hiding at and she hunched her back to dodge. 'I need to get rid of them.'

She came out of her hiding and gripped the whip tightly.

"Finally decided to show your face, coward." The first brother gritted out.

"You will pay for what you did to our brother." The third brother pointed his gun at her again.

'Brother? All I did was spit at him, not that I care.' Acacia thought to herself as she looked at them.

"So you even have the guts to angry? When you have done far worse." Acacia said and flicked her wrist, the whip uncoiling with a sharp crack like a striking serpent. The third brother lunged towards her and hissed but Acacia didn't retreat. Instead, she danced back, the whip a blur of motion. As the third brother was ready to shoot, she snapped the whip out, not at his body, but at his wrist. The whip wrapped around his wrist with surprising force, tightening with a sickening thwack. Before he could react, Acacia yanked sharply, throwing him off balance and causing the gun to fall out of his hand. He stumbled forward, giving her an opening. She lashed out again, this time the whip lashing across his face, leaving a big red line in its wake. He roared in pain and frustration, but Acacia maintained her distance, the whip snapped and lash down on his body, tearing his flesh and a constant threat.

Her movements were stopped when the first brother hugged her from behind and but down on her neck. "You forgot about me, wench!"

Acacia stiffened as a wave of poison went into her veins. The hunger she felt was relieved a little, she ran backwards until she slammed his body against a wall, his grip on her waist loosen and she twisted her body to face, grabbing his shoulder and knee him in the groin. He fell to the ground and whimpered, she stepped back away from him and noticed the lips were bleeding and rotting. She raised a brow at the sight but her expression turned back to neutral.

'I am tired.' Acacia could feel her body growing weak, she looked at him and was tempted to drain the poison in his body to replenish her energy.

"Please don't kill me...I beg you." The first brother cried out, his sentences interrupted by small whimpers as he tried to speak.

Acacia was stunned by his plea and looked down at him for a moment. She remembered the memory of the elderly woman begged before he melted her face off, the crying girl and the bruise on the young boy's face.

"Why should I show mercy?" Acacia said in a low tone and tightened her grip on the whip. 'I don't even feel the appetite to drain his poison anymore. Should I kill him? Or not? I have the power to do it so why am I hesitating?'

Acacia had a conflicted expression on her face and didn't notice when the first brother suddenly tackled her against the ground. She was shocked when her back hit the floor, her whip disappearing in thin air and his hands on her neck as he tried to choke her.

"I'm... going to kill you!" He yelled out with blood splattering out from his lips. She wheezed at the lack of air and raised her hand, clawing at his face. He winced but he didn't let go, she looked around until she saw a small by her side. She grabbed it and stabbed the stick into his left ear. He let out a sharp cry and released his grip, holding the left side of his face in pain. Acacia took deep breaths, trying to get air into her lungs. She scowled and felt a flicker of anger burning inside her. She got up on her feet and summoned her whip, flicking her wrist and snapped the whip out at his neck. The whip tightened around his neck, she gave it a forceful tug and his head ripped off from his body.

Acacia puffed out small breaths and her eyes stared at the headless body. The anger she felt slowly dissipated. 'I wasn't.... expecting his head to come off.'

She gulped and averted her gaze, her head started to spin and she leaned backed away from his body. 'I just...killed someone, intentionally.'

'And you did a wonderful job at it.' Daemonis said in a proud voice.

Acacia didn't know what to think and that was what scared her the most. Not the fact that she killed a man but the fact that she didn't feel guilty about it. 'Is this your doing?'

'Me? I only watched and assisted. That was all you, my dear.' Daemonis purred, his voice dripping with amusement.

Acacia frowned and the whip disappeared into thin air once more, she fell on her knees and felt her exhaustion catching up to her. She heard the sounds of footsteps and saw the second brother with the gun back in his hand, his face and body covered in blood and whip marks. 'Dammit.'

'Looks like you have reached your limit.' Daemonis commented.

The second brother raised his hand and was about to shoot when his body suddenly burned up in flames, her eyes widened at the sight.

"Damn!" Kel's voice rang out as he approached the burning man and snapped his fingers, the fire burnt out leaving only ashes to the ground. Maximus was by his side and walked towards her, carrying her with his and throwing her body over his board shoulder.

"Zephyra was looking everywhere for you!" Kel grinned and quickly rushed over to Maximus side and poked her cheek.

"How did you—"

"Heard lots of screaming." Kel shrugged and Maximus grunted in agreement as they started to walk away.

"But the kids—"

"Elric took care of it, he was the first to find those kids and they directed us to where you were and we followed the noise." Kel shrugged and continued to poke her cheek.

Acacia felt a bit irritated to be cut off twice but she was going to let it slide for now, since they saved her and helped the kids. She slowly closed her eyes and let her exhaustion take over.