The air around them thickened with tension as everyone stared dumbfounded at him.
"I've never seen this man before. Who is he?" muttered Asura frowning deeply.
Zenyph pulled a blank. He was utterly clueless about the identity of the orange man. He thought maybe it was some kind of joke but judging from the murderous look plastered upon his face this wasn't a laughing matter.
"Lets all calm down and talk this out." pleaded Alice.
The man ignored her, he was completed fixated on Asura. "I WAS HUNTING WHEN YOU APPEARED OUT OF NOWHERE AND TRIED KILLING ME!" yelled the orange man enraged beyond belief.
"Whoa wait what? Hold on that doesn't sound right at all. Why would I try to kill someone randomly?" denied Asura shaking her head vigorously denying his accusations.
"DON'T LIE TO ME BITCH!" screamed the man throwing punches at her face which she dodged effortlessly.
Zenyph intervened holding onto his fist stopping him from landing anymore hits on Asura. "Calm down buddy. No one here attacked you." stated the water dragon calmly trying his best to defuse the situation.
"LET ME GO!" roared the man struggling futilely against his iron grip.
"I'm afraid I can't do that." replied Zenyph sighing heavily. "Listen we don't know what happened between you and my friend here but-"
"FRIEND? SHE'S YOUR FRIEND? HOW CAN YOU BE FRIENDS WITH A WITCH LIKE HER?!" howled the man cutting him off mid sentence.
The man finally started to use his blue mana. Dark magic rushed out of his body. A massive explosion occurred sending everyone flying backwards crashing onto the ground.
Zenyph moved to shield Alice from the blast, managing to protect her from the impact. Alice lay safely in his arms panting heavily.
The orange man glared hatefully at Zenyph before focusing on Asura once more. "I WILL NOT REST UNTIL YOU'RE DEAD!" swore the man determinedly.
"If you want to die by my hands be my guests." answered Asura as she picked up Alice's swords and faced the raging man fearlessly.
The orange man conjured a ball of darkness in each of his palms.
Zenyph watched with awe as his mana manipulation abilities began to improve dramatically. It was unusual, no one could instantly improve their abilities like that. Except if they're using their own life force. Was he that desperate?
Zenyph summoned a water orb and launched it directly at his head hitting his target square in the face. He created a second ball of water and struck his shoulder knocking him off balance.
The man recovered instantly and retaliated by launching a volley of dark orbs at Zenyph and Alice. Zenyph created a water barrier and tried to block the projectiles. It took one ball before the barrier shattered.
Alice winced in pain as the dark orbs grazed her side. Blood leaked from her fresh cuts. Zenyph stood in front of her protectively creating a new water barrier mixed with dark magic.
Asura charged the enraged man swinging her sword attempting to land a hit only to be blocked by a wall of darkness. Zenyph unleashed another water barrage targeting the orange man's head forcing him to defend.
The orange man formed a dark dome surrounding him completely blocking the incoming attacks.
Zenyph countered by generating a torrent of water blasting him into the air.
Asura flew upwards catching the orange man by surprise. He narrowly missed the blade aimed at his heart but got slashed across the abdomen. He landed hard onto the earth groaning loudly in pain.
Asura slammed the sword into his chest piercing his heart and yanking it out of his rib cage. His eyes widened in horror as blood spilled onto the floor. His body convulsed violently before going still permanently.
Silence descended upon the clearing as everyone processed the scene in front of them.
Zenyph immediately focused on Alice's injuries checking her wounds and making sure she was alright. He placed his palm over her side applying pressure to the bleeding.
"Asura can you heal this wound with blood magic?" requested Zenyph seriously concerned for his friend.
Asura examined the cut carefully inspecting its depth. "Unfortunately it's too deep. I can't heal it completely. However I can prevent it from getting worse." explained Asura regretfully.
Alice grabbed her ring and tried to open up her storage space but it failed to appear.
"I'm out of mana?" muttered Alice confused by her condition.
"What? But we just got here!" exclaimed Asura alarmed by her declaration.
Zenyph blinked perplexed by her words. He checked his own mana pool and realized he used more mana than he thought.
"This is bad. My mana is replenishing slower than usual. I've only regenerated 5% of my total reserves since the last time I checked." informed Zenyph grimacing slightly.
"Do you remember how much mana you had left before you went in?" queried Asura scratching her chin thoughtfully.
"Maybe 80%?" guessed Zenyph unsure of his own estimation.
"We only used our mana because of that crazy orange guy." snarled the vampire princess bitterly glaring down at the dead body of the orange skinned man.
A foul smell permeated the air as the corpse melted. A green aura surrounded the remains dissolving them into a strange looking puddle.
"Fuck." exclaimed Asura as she inspected the liquefied substance carefully.
"What happened?" inquired Alice puzzled by her reaction.
"He killed himself using his own lifeforce as fuel. Damn idiot." answered the purple haired vampire furiously.
As the puddle seeped into the ground the only thing that remained was a weird plant that grew from the spot.
Asura yanked the plant out of the soil examining it thoroughly. Her frown deepened as she recognized it. "This is an Necronic Seed."
"You're joking." said Alice shocked by her discovery.
Asura immediately used her blood magic to destroy the seed.
"Why is there a Necronic Seed here? Aren't they only used by Named Abyssals? Did someone lead the Named here?" asked Zenyph
Asura's expression darkened as she stared down at the spot where the seed once resided. She clenched her fists tightly her nails digging into her palms drawing blood.
"Asura?" questioned Zenyph tentatively snapping her out of her trance.
"Sorry. I got lost in thought." apologized Asura sheepishly rubbing her arm awkwardly.
Zenyph lifted Alice bridal style and walked over to Asura.
Her crimson eyes held a myriad of emotions swirling within them. Determination, anger, sorrow, loneliness, love and so much more. He felt a tug in his chest as he gazed into them. Something inside of him stirred deeply.
"We can't stay here. It's been marked." announced Asura.