'Their core…' Thought Kellen as he balled his free hand into a fist. If what Nergal had told him was accurate, then he would need to somehow gain access to his opponent's core. But, he was still unsure where it would be located. Thinking rationally, he could make a few guesses considering he was familiar with Nergal's power himself.
'Where is all of my energy usually derived from? Or specifically... The demonic energy.' He pondered. Thinking back to his previous and recent experiences, Kellen realized that their core must be either located in their hearts or blood. When he absorbed the blood cores, they went directly into his bloodstream, but the energy seemed to reside and collect in his heart...
He looked back over to Axus, who was now engaged with his opponent. The movements of the enemy were far faster than Kellen could have expected.
Axus ducked beneath a jet black fist that burst over his head while flicking his spear and stabbed at the bottom of the outstretched arm. But his opponent was too swift as the extended arm almost instantly changed its course and swung at the small legionnaire's exposed side.
Axus kicked the bottom of his spear and spun it to the side of his body hurriedly, using the momentum from the kick to defend against the blow before it reached him. The dark fist impacted the sturdy spear with a loud clanging sound like metal striking against metal. The force from the blow caused Axus's feet to slide over the barrack floor.
"What did you eat before, you brute?" Asked Axus as he shrugged his shoulder to alleviate the stiffness caused by the brutal punch.
The gloomy opponent did not respond and instead sprung forwards to attack his enemy again.
"What? Not much of a talker now?" Commented Axus as he carefully parried the onslaught of blows produced by the brute. He already knew better than to face the deadly blows head on. Just from that blocked punch, he could still feel the ringing present in his hands from the ridiculous force behind it.
The golden glow of his spear remained energetic and concentrated but the dark steel-like skin of his opponent refused to budge at all. He focused on using the blade energy at the tip of his spear to pierce through the impenetrable skin but only shallow cuts were created.
The red glow from the dark brute's veins continued to brighten as they battled. It became brighter and more menacing after every strike, until from the eyes of the brute a red light was emitted. Like the light casted from a drifting ember, his opponent's eyes showed a deep crimson ray of light that illuminated the surroundings.
Suddenly, the sickening sound of a rapidly beating heart echoed in the barracks. Axus stared towards his opponent's chest and immediately jumped away towards the cover of a nearby desk. The brutes chest began to glow with the same menacing light from his eyes as his heart began to grow in size.
The heart seemed to melt through the black flesh on his chest until it stopped once fully exposed to the outside. Then with a momentary pause of beating and silence, the red light from the veins and eyes of the man's body surged towards the heart.
After one final beat the heart imploded. The man's blood turned to dark red flames that ate away at itself like a hungry parasite until nothing was left but the small stone he had ingested. Axus looked back up from the desk he had dove behind for cover.
"Was that it?" He asked in confusion.
From behind another desk beside him Daren popped up his head as well and said, "What the hell are you even saying right now?"
Axus glanced over at the other man in hiding and shrugged before sliding over the top of the desk to rejoin the fight.
Kellen looked over at the small sinister stone lying on the floor. He had guessed where the core may have been located but his assumption had now been proven correct.
He cautiously approached the body in front of him and noticed its veins begin to light up in a red glow just like the other had.
'Well here goes nothing.' He thought as he rushed forwards without giving the brute any time to prepare.
The brute stood up from the ground and opened its eyes to produce a familiar red glare. However, the first thing it saw was a fist doused in black and red flames pummeling through its chest.
Kellen's hand sunk through the strange dark flesh of his opponent. His reach ended as he felt the familiar burning sensation he was searching for and wrapped his hand around it. Instantly, the same searing pain he felt while absorbing the cores was created.
The red glowing veins and eyes of the brute dimmed until it disappeared forever. The jet black body dissipated leaving nothing but ash at Kellen's feet and a small stone in his hand. The marks on the back of his right hand revealed themselves with a menacing glow similar to the ones emitted by the brutes.
Slowly, a new tally was beginning to form but immediately stopped its progression to nothing but a faint mark. Compared to the two other marks, this one was emitting a far weaker radiance and Kellen could feel the power was not at all on an equivalent level with the others.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Stated Axus, who returned to Kellen's side just in time to see the brute disappear with ease.
The legionnaire pointed his spear towards the other stone lying on the ground next to them.
"Why was yours such a dud? Meanwhile I got a bloody piñata." Said the legionnaire with hidden disappointment on his face.
Kellen shrugged before turning to look for their final opponent. The assassin leader was now covered inside of a dark black mist that swirled around his body.
The assassin smirked while waving and saying, "Looks like this is where we part ways once again."
Axus rushed forward at a blinding speed as the assassin spoke, "Until next time…"
"Not so fast, bastard." Said Axus as he threw his spear with a flash of white light.
The spear raced forwards like an arrow and decimated the assassin's injured shoulder.
"You-" The assassin's words were cut short as he disappeared into the shadows surrounding him. His arm remained behind on the barracks floor with a spear halfway embedded into the wall behind the assassin's last position.
"Shit." Said Axus as he retrieved his spear.
Daren walked out from behind his hiding spot to inspect the damage and success of their mission.
"Well… That was a shitshow." He said as he walked over to the stone remaining on the barrack floor near Kellen.
"Careful!" Shouted Kellen as he ran over to Daren, who was bending down to pick up the curious stone.
"Now, how about you tell me, recruit. What exactly do you know about these?" Daren said as he ignored Kellen's warning and picked up the small stone.
'Relax kid. It only will have an effect if ingested or inserted into one's bloodstream.' Said Nergal, who began to chuckle at the kid's worrisome expression.
Kellen breathed a sigh of relief after hearing the demon's words. However, he was now in an even bigger predicament. He could explain away about the artifacts before, but after what Daren had seen him do here… There would obviously be more questioning.
Luckily, Axus unknowingly came to his aid once again.
"Hey guys. I think I found something here." Said the legionnaire who returned to them with his spear and the severed arm.
A small sparkling ring slipped out from the sleeve and into his hand as he showed his findings to his comrades.
"A void ring!" Exclaimed Kellen after seeing the familiar runic images floating in the ring's jewel.
"You know what this is?" Asked Daren in surprise.
Kellen coughed anxiously into his fist before explaining, "Tommy and I found one of these by accident a while ago. I'm not sure what they are exactly or their proper name, but it activated a void gate we had come across."
Daren narrowed his eyes and glanced over to Axus, who was proudly waving the long pale severed arm around in anger. He sighed and shook his head sensing that the legionnaire would not be of much help with probing for more information.
"So these void gates then… What are they?" Asked Daren in curiosity.
"Seriously Daren, you don't know what a void gate is?" Commented Axus while leaning the severed arm around the man's shoulders.
"Ugh, you idiot! Get that off me! No! I haven't heard of them before, alright!" Frantically shouted Daren while pushing the small legionnaire away from him.
"Huh, I guess the legionnaires might only have access to that info then." Said Axus while pondering briefly.
The pause wasn't long before Axus continued, "Oh well. Not like I care about the protocols anyways. Void gates are pretty much just some portals that give you access to this mysterious space known as the void. Not many people know about their existence or how they work, but recently they found a way for it to be used as a method for travel."
"What? People actually want to go into the void?" Questioned Kellen with a very surprised expression. He had been thrown into the void as a means of disposal before. Never could he have imagined that hell space would be used as a means for traveling.
"Yeah, some weird mumbo jumbo and something about an activator and coordinates… I don't get it really, but yeah, it can be used for traveling large distances in practically an instant."
"So the Empire knew about this the whole time then…" Murmured Kellen while thinking back to his discreet dealings with Tommy and Strom.
"Yeah, somewhere along those lines. We only know of a few gates and their locations though." Said Axus while shrugging.
Daren pointed towards the ring in Axus's hand and asked, "So this, uh, void ring was it? It controls the gates?"
Kellen nodded his head and gestured towards the white runes floating inside of the ring's blue gem.
"See these runes. They are what activates the gate. Besides that I don't know anything else." He explained.
"So what you're saying is that those bastards now don't have an easy way of escape!" Excitedly concluded Daren. If the Order was using these void gates to infiltrate the empire then that would completely explain how they got in here so easily and quickly. That assassin leader also had some means of travel almost like teleportation but it obviously had a limit.
Such a magic or divinity would consume an excessive amount of energy, and they had dealt him a severe injury. Plus that trap they had laid out for them had already drained him too. Therefore, he couldn't have managed to get very far. If they no longer have the void ring, then an easy escape was also out of the question for them.
All that remained was tracking him down.
"Alright, this isn't over yet!" Eagerly stated Daren with returning enthusiasm.