'Blood Hound. Why do I feel like I heard that moniker before?' Matthew felt a vague sense of recollection yet the memory eludes him.
"You're the one that's hunting Beholders?" Yan inquired. His mind tried to make a bunch of connections as things started to make sense to him.
"Hunting is not the word I would use," D'marcus replied. His head moved towards the creature on the ceiling and in a swift motion, the creature landed behind them.
"I prefer not to use brute force. So, will you three come with me peacefully?" D'marcus reached out his hand as an invitation.
'Three?' Matthew caught on almost immediately.
"And where would that be?" Clyde asked glancing back at the creature before refocusing on D'marcus.
"Let's not spoil the surprise now. You have until we reach the bottom." D'marcus finished his words and waited.
The platform descended slowly, reaching closer to the ground with each passing second. Neither party moved as the time was running out.
Although Matthew and Co had a number advantage, Matthew was not a beholder while Yan was injured, unable to move freely to affect a battle.
Matthew's eyes darted around as if trying to figure out something when Yan suddenly fell on his knees while Clyde's feet buckled under him.
"Time's running out." D'marcus clenched his fists.
'What's happening?' Matthew looked at Yan who was struggling to breathe while Clyde hung onto his feet.
Yuni however looked calm. Her eyes stared at D'marcus without any hint of emotion or thoughts behind them.
Yan and Clyde suddenly grasped a deep breath as if a weight had been lifted off them.
"Thanks." Yan mouthed at Yuni as he tried to stand up. Clyde wordlessly takes a stance with his sword aimed directly at D'marcus.
"Oh!! Not half bad." D'marcus sounds almost impressed as he reevaluates Yuni.
Matthew was however unaware as to what just happened. The platform shook slightly as it halted. Nearly throwing Matthew off balance as he heard D'marcus,
"Time's up."
*Boom*
A loud shockwave threw Matthew off balance nonetheless. But regaining his footing was quick as looked ahead.
D'marcus blocked Yuni's punch effortlessly. Yuni pushed on with a burst of strength but D'marcus let it go to reach for her throat but suddenly changed direction. With a graceful motion, he changed the arch of the sword and threw a punch aimed just below Clyde's throat.
Clyde moved his whole body, dodging the punch while redirecting the path of the sword.
D'marcus turns to dodge but Yuni pushes against him to keep him in place. So he spins away from the spot narrowly dodging the sword and gaining some distance between them.
Yuni although failed to hold onto him, immediately followed up with a haymaker.
D'marcus takes a step back effectively dodging the haymaker and Clyde's blade aiming for his throat.
Yuni rushes at D'marcus again with a swift left-right, followed by a kick to the side.
Blocked. All of them. D'marcus didn't seem too pressed as he spoke,
"Huh. Not bad at all." He seemed impressed by the sound of it.
Yuni looked confused as D'marcus mimicked her earlier moveset and sent Yuni flying.
"You need to put more power behind them." He spoke as he moved to his side without looking. Clyde's blade hit the ground as he missed D'marcus again. But he dragged the sword through the ground to follow up with another slash. D'marcus however didn't dodge as he used his gloves to parry the blade and snapped it in half as he hit it with his palm.
Matthew was awed by the swiftness of their fight and coordination yet, he couldn't enjoy it for long as his vision was suddenly filled with a gaping maw.
*Chomp*
Matthew was yanked backward as the sharp teeth missed him by a hair.
"You idiot!" Yan managed to pull Matthew back just in time. The creature didn't rest as it lunged at Matthew again.
But this time Matthew was fully aware of his surroundings as he jumped backward, avoiding getting eaten in half.
Matthew was still holding the doll. But in the heat of the moment, instincts run wild. Thus whether or not the charm works was not an immediate concern.
"Thanks for saving me." Matthew ran to Yan who dragged himself away from him.
"We don't have time for chat!" Yan hands Matthew a dagger and says,
"Aim for its tongue."
Yan rolled to the side as the creature lunged at Matthew with its jaw wide open.
'Ah, shit!' Matthew's arm didn't move. All he could do was watch as the maw of the creature filled his view.
*Crack*
A faint white outline surrounded Matthew repelling the creature as it failed to close its mouth around him. Small cracks formed around the outline before,
*Shatter*
Breaking off like a of glasses, the white shards exploded outwards as Matthews instinctively closed his eyes.
*Boom* *splat*
A resounding boom echoed in the chamber leaving Matthews ears ringing. Opening his eyes, although a bit disoriented Matthew could make out the half-exploded body of the creature.
"Holy shit! It works!" Matthew gasped out loud as he looked at his doll. Small burn marks appear on it covering one-third of it.
D'marcus distracted by the explosion turned his head towards the source. A moment of distraction was all that Yuni needed to land a solid punch in his lower ribs. Sounds of bones cracking rang out as impact sent him flying as he hit a nearby pillar.
"Urgh!" D'marcus clutched his lower ribs as Yuni's fist was right up his face. Before she could hit him, however, something wrapped around her leg and threw her across the room.
D'marcus suddenly wrapped around a purple mist and vanished from the spot.
Yuni huffed as she stood up nearly unscathed.
"Four eyes, where did he go?"
Clyde wiped the blood from his nose he looked around frantically.
"WHERE DID HE GO!" Matthew asked as he rubbed his eyes.
"Stop shouting," Yuni said grumbling as she walked over to Yan. Inspecting his injuries.
"SOUP SELLING? WHAT DOES THAT MEAN!" Matthew was shouting as he put the doll in his pocket.
"STOP SHOUTING!" Yuni grabbed Matthew by the ear and shouted in his ear.
Matthew jerked away as he winched in pain.
"MY...my ears are ringing," Matthew complained.
"I'm surprised you're not deaf," Yan commented as he looked back at the corpse of the creature. It was obliterated or rather half of it was.
'What a powerful charm...' Yan however doesn't recognize the spell.
Clyde walked back to the group still bleeding from his nose.
"He escaped. That last hit must have hurt him quite badly." Clyde put his glasses on as the glow in his eyes died down.
"YOU...you're bleeding. Are you okay?" Matthew extended a napkin towards Clyde.
"He hit his VRS limit," Yuni answered. Yan took something out and offered it to Clyde.
"No thanks. I don't use that." Clyde declined.
"What's a VRS limit and what's that?" Matthew asked pointing at the small box in Yan's hand.
"Now's not the time. We should move to a safer location. This is too open." Yan put the box away as Yuni supported him.
Clyde put away his sword and took out a pill. Popping one in his mouth Clyde thanked Matthew for the napkin.
Matthew gave a nod but didn't comment on the pill as he walked on. The room was illuminated greatly and there was only one visible exit.
"So...does anyone else feel being watched?" Matthew whispered. Both Yan and Clyde however kept a neutral expression as the group slowly moved out.
...
D'marcus was at the ceiling watching the whole thing. He was wrapped around with a tentacle as the purple mist hid his presence.
[Hehehe. You got your ass handed to you, man.]
His earpiece rings out as Rose speaks to him.
"I was a bit distracted that's all."
[Excuses.]
"I thought you said all their VRS were green." D'marcus could feel his chest hurt. That punch at least broke two of his ribs.
[They are.]
"The girl nullified my attribute suppression. Not only that, she was strong." D'marcus recalls the moment the two of them fell to the ground. As someone with a Mutation gift, D'marcus naturally suppresses the Absorption type Gift with his VRS.
Yet she managed to match his VRS. Not only that it didn't even affect her allies.
[Pfft. You're just salty that you lost. Loser.]
"Not salty. Fascinated." A smile bloomed on D'marcuss' face.
"She could be a rare mutation type. We should not use her as a sacrifice." D'marcus suddenly proposed.
[You want to recruit her? Inae ordered...] Rose sounded a bit surprised.
"I know what Inae ordered. But what if she does have a rare gift? We could use someone like her."
[Hey, as long as it's not my ass on the line. I'm fine with anything.] Rose said nonchalantly.
"Great. Where is Hammer? Is he still fighting the RCUVA agents?"
[Yeah. He's being chased by RCUVA agents all over Level Three. Why?]
"I want to funnel these agents to Level Three." D'marcus made a decision.
[Hmm. Why? Morre-3 is still on Level Two and they are heading straight for it in the Burial chamber.]
"We can't use Morre-3 to capture these. That red-haired boy you want to investigate, he has a high-grade protective charm." D'marcus although didn't see it directly, he can deduce that much from the remains.
"It killed the Vrouch."
[Oh! That's rare. Huh...] Rose was surprised. The number of people who have access to such high-grade charm can be counted on one hand.
"Royal Merchant guild will be aware of the infiltration sooner or later. I don't know how long I can control Morre-3 but it will be more useful against RCUVA. Don't want them to ruin the fun now do we."
[Your call. But we are still nine agents short. And you just let three get away.] Rose sounded bored as she reminded D'marcus.
"I know. I know. I'll deal with it. For now, Blood Hound out."