One Seven One knelt on the ground, next; her body collapsed. There's a large hole, about the size of an adult's fist right in the center of her chest, nothing within the hole but droplets of blood. One Seven One's heart got expurgated real quick.
Shocked expression plastered on her face. She did not even have the time to react in retaliation to the attack that came before her sneakingly.
The two did not fare well with the predicament right before their eyes as well.
"What an impuissant soulless." A man in a lab coat echoed. He postured himself against one of the trees in the forest. His face veiled in the darkness that permeated the area.
He swung his chain like weapon with his right-hand, blood drizzled its rusted body. The hook resembled a C-shaped drill; it was clear that its meant to kill and not just inflict heavy injury to others. A heart rested on the tip of the hook, which still beats as if it hadn't recognized that it got annexed from One Seven One's ribcage.
He suddenly stopped and inspected the heart.
"Roughly one and a half pound of weight, It still beats accordingly to her cardiac conduction system. Not a normal heartbeat compared to a regular female Soulless, which is stronger than a male Soulless. A fine subject indeed, alas!" The man spoke while poking the heart on the tip of his weapon.
What a demented fruitcake!
"One Seven One!" Quinn and Sarane darted to her direction.
It suddenly sunk to Sarane's comprehension that the Soulless that they saved still ended up dying, even after they promised her safety. This drove her head in clutter mess. Tears rolled down her cheeks, her eyes bloodshot with indignation. She wants to slice up that fiend that killed One Seven One.
"My my, if it is the lovely princess of Von Morgen Kingdom, such a delight to meet an exquisite flower such as you amidst this desolated lands near the Soulless' cage. " The man said as he pulled out the heart from his weapon and squashed it in his hands.
Plop plop plop
What remains of One Seven One's heart dripped from the man's hands.
"Who are you? How dare you commit such horrendous murder!" Sarane was furious by what she saw.
"Of course the knowledge of me to your grace is inevitable, none at all." At this, the man laughed hysterically. "That is fine. Bragging rights and a high reputation does not suit my taste."
The man stepped out from the shadows. "I am Doctor Andras, the Night Owl doctor. If your grace is unaware of my prestige, I hail from the Zatellerian Clan as one of their executioners."
"Night Owl doctor from Zatellerian Clan?" Quinn squinted her eyes. She saw little movements behind the man as if something petite moved and squeaked.
The Zatellerian Clan is one of the famous clan that triumphed all over the human's mainland continent. They are shapeshifting vampires who cast out their humanity to pure-blooded vampires to share the inheritance of their power to humans in a small amount.
"That's right, though my purity's saturated with imperfection, and my authority got capped in Combatant's Authority; I am still an almighty renegade that lay waste in this continent. Just like a common vampire. " Doctor Andras licked the tip of his weapon.
"Soulless are my personal favorite, due to their unimproved sensory neuron and nociceptors, their shrieks when submerged to various pain frequencies are a sound of euphoria to my ear holes." Doctor Andras then gestures his hands near his ears then suddenly he opens his hands as if it resembled a firework.
"You delirium mongrel!" Sarane shouted, prepared to charge with her rapier.
Then out of nowhere before Sarane could attack; Quinn took out her bow, and she fired an arrow straight to Doctor Andras' lungs. A metallic arrow flies by Sarane, which made her halt her movements.
Acrid arrow!
"Seriously? You do realize you are novices?" A look of disbelief surfaced on Doctor Andras' face. "Well, whatever. I fancy brave children anyway." Doctor Andras smile suddenly lit up.
As the arrow was about to hit Doctor Andras' lungs, he caught it between his index finger and middle finger. However, the arrow continued to move slightly trying to resist his force. Doctor Andras' fingers were lightly slit. Then a hole seemed to open up in its tip, in which a smoke came out of it.
"Tungsten Alloy? and this gas, Arsenic Pentafluoride?" Doctor Andras was shocked by the materials used by his enemy. Tungsten is not rare to find; however, a modified tungsten alloy is mostly phased out in the market due to low production and high demand.
Not to mention the required research and experimentation for the chemical substance Arsenic Pentafluoride.
Doctor Andras stepped back hastily and began to gyrate his rusted chain to misdirect the poisonous substance from his position.
The substance then began to corrode the surroundings.
"Did she know I have corrosive blood? Also, she shot the tungsten arrow in the part of my lungs where my trachea and bronchi meet, so she could fill it with the gas instantaneously. You novices are improving generation by generation as it seems. To have a tungsten alloy contain an extremely corrosive gas. Daunting!" Doctor Andras remarked and was about to set his sight to Quinn, however when he shifted his gaze from the arrow to their position before, all he could see was an empty space.
Doctor Andras let out a horribly eerie cackle.
"Improving indeed. Let's see what's your limit!" Doctor Andras tracked them down in the deep parts of the forest.
...
As soon as she made the shot, Quinn takes hold of One Seven One. Sarane followed suit behind her; she forces herself to swallow her garbled emotions. They skipped from one tree to another until they lost track of the direction.
"This should be far enough," Quinn said as she laid One Seven One's body softly down on the ground. "That was dangerous, luckily we escaped."
They then checked out One Seven One's lifeless body. There was no hope for One Seven One's survival after having her heart ripped out of her. All they could do now is look if there are substantial clues to where she came from.
"She said her name was Li. She didn't even get to finish." Quinn saw Sarane caressing One Seven One's wounds that were on the process of healing. "I couldn't save her Quinn. she just died right in front of eyes."
Sarane smashed her fist into the ground.
"Get a hold of yourself. There is a disparity between the Night Owl's authority and ours. Even if we team up against him, we won't be a match. Besides, he was not alone when you tried to engage." Quinn assessed the situation before they fled. "I saw countless rats in the vicinity, waiting to pounce. That guy must have a brood of shape-shifting vampires with him at novice authority."
"I feel helpless, I promised her." Sarane battered the ground, tears streaming down continuously.
Quinn decided to give her some time to accept reality. She could not consolidate her best friend's emotions. If she did, she might just clash with her since they have opposite worldly views. She was not as noble-minded and emotional as Sarane, thus resulting in Quinn's inept ability in dealing with her. The only thing she can show was sympathy and realism.
Quinn patted Sarane's back and head. She then proceeds to walk away and give her some space to clear her mind.
"Why would someone from the Zatellerian Clan be interested with the Soulless? He doesn't seem to be the one who attacked One Seven One as well since he wields a hook that can claim her life easily and not a sword. That crosses out that he was the one who chased her as well, since he could have captured her without effort, factoring in his brood." Quinn was in deep thought. She stared at the ground intensely as she walks in a random direction.
Then she heard wails from a countless siren.
"Soulless 171 had been found and killed due to retaliation. I repeat, Soulless 171 had been found and killed."
Quinn worked her eyes to where the announcement came from. It was dark, however, she could tell that there is a giant wall in a good distance away from her.
The Soulless Camp!
"Soulless 171 had been found and killed due to retaliation. I repeat, Soulless 171 had been found and killed." The siren wailed and even though the camp was still far ahead. She could hear raucous metallic sounds that resemble rusted chains.