With the whistle of the chilling wind as their soundtrack, Siren initiated the attack, transforming his arm into a sharp, bloodied falcon, diving at Argent. Argent, quick as a flash, dodged sideways, rolling on the ground and coming up with his Radiance Reaper aimed and firing two bullets that spiraled, seeking their target. Siren, with catastrophic speed, morphed back to human form, narrowly avoiding the bullets which exploded behind him, sending a shower of rocks skyward. He retaliated with a roundhouse kick, generating blood spikes from his heel, aiming for Argent's head. Argent ducked under, the spikes missing by inches, and swept his leg at Siren, trying to knock him off balance.
"Nice!" Siren chuckled.
"Do not say NICE to me, blood demon!"
"I'm just trying to light the mood, weirdo."
Watching from a distance with other Vanguard members, was Helbend.
"Do not intervene. Just watch. Argent will shoot you guys too if you try to snatch his prey."
A member asked, "Where are you going, Father Helbend?"
"To supply the other squadrons with the lantern of light. They have used up most of their limitless supply of qi destroying the roots of the blight in this area, and the demonic qi is making them weaker. The vines and roots are being manipulated by the demonic qi, if they get destroyed, they are restored because of its influence. Meaning a highly ranked demon is in control of this blight! If I bring the other groups the Lantern of Light, it shall restore their qi fully. I am the Archbishop's right hand man, as I have been charged to behold the Lantern of Light! I will uphold my duty! Rhemen?!"
Everyone else repeated in prayer formation, "Rhemen!"
Rhemen for the Vanguard was like an affirmation chant, said at the end of all of their prayers and speeches.
Back at the fight, both Siren and Argent backflipped simultaneously, creating distance yet keeping their intent locked. Argent shot a series of explosive bullets into the ground, creating a minefield around Siren. Unperturbed, Siren shapeshifted into a massive blood bear, trampling through the explosions with a roar, barreling toward Argent. Argent, nimble as ever, used the cloud of dust as cover, launching into the air with a propelled jump. From above, he fired down at Siren, bullets freezing in mid-air then homing as Siren reverted to human form. Siren, sensing danger, created a shield of blood above him, the bullets detonating on impact.
"I see you can manipulate blood to a high degree! I'm not complimenting you or anything!" Argent said.
"Sounds like a compliment!"
The blood shield rained down on Argent, who spun, whipping out his gun like a baton, deflecting the droplets. With no pause, Siren hurled a surge of giant glowing red blood discs like a frisbee that cracked the ground in half brutally as they traveled across the air, slicing towards Argent.
Argent easily turned around, his back towards the discs, and they connected into his back, massive explosions coming from the impact.
Siren said, "Oh?"
Argent had the discs still in his back, smiling, "The Light Of Aurion wears the Armor of Light against all attacks from darkness! Rhemen!"
'I knew all Vanguard members had translucent armor created from light. But I've never seen Argent go to that extreme doing that before, nonetheless seen him try to do it. He's always annoyed me by the way.'
Argent vanished, and at high speeds, he twisted violent in the air while he dashed circles and diagonals around Siren, and Siren just stood there, watching Argent zip around him.
THOOM THOOM THOOM!
SHHHHING!
As Argent was twisting, the blood discs shot out rapidly like bullets, ripping the mountain in half in different sections, causing it to crumble. And Argent was shooting at the same time, large light bullets destroying the mountain even more. Siren dodged it with efficiency, he suffered some cuts and wounds, but he dodged more and more. Even as the mountain toppled to the ground, Siren leaped from rock to rock, rubble rubble, avoiding the chaos.
'He's able to dodge this?! This is 10th gate abilities!' Argents thoughts raced.
Ducking the bloodied discs., Siren lunged forward, his fingers transforming into long, stabbing tendrils. Argent performed an acrobatic leap over Siren, firing directly downwards. The ground erupted off the destructive explosion of light, throwing Siren off his steady stance, but he managed to catch Argent's ankle, pulling him down. Crashing together on the rocky ground, they grappled fiercely. Siren's hands morphed into blood maces, hammering towards Argent's head. With swift head movements and blocks, Argent avoided fatal blows and managed to kick off Siren, flipping back to create space.
Argent, unfazed, revved up the radiance in his gun, creating a pulsating orb of light which he launched like a grenade.
"For the Light Of Aurion, be dispelled, demon!"
Siren responded by shaping himself into a giant blood eagle, soaring upwards, the orb of crackling and spiraling light chasing him into the sky before detonating in a brilliant flash.
As debris fell, Siren swooped down at an incredible speed, diving with the momentum of the eagle, transforming back into his humanoid form at the last second to deliver a crushing punch. Argent rolled aside, missing the full brunt yet catching a glancing blow that drew blood from his mouth.
Argent scoffed, "Lucky shot.."
'A high ranking martial artist. It doesn't seem he's going all out against me, why's he hiding his real power, and that mask..'
Siren smiled, and he began to melt in blood. At that moment, his blood began to reform, and he changed his form into a beautiful woman with long white and golden hair and bright white eyes, saying, "How's this?!"
Argent paused, his brow began to sweat, "You turned into her…my wife..but she's dead!"
SLASH!
Blood shot from Argents mouth as Siren dashed past him, Siren's foot planted through Argents back; he had a large hole in his chest, and he coughed, "Agh! I let you get the best of me! Witchcraft bastard! The Light of Aurion will never fade from me!"
Siren responded, changing back into his final form, "Easy. Hm?"
A few Vanguard members appeared, and they grabbed Argent, and dashed away with him, while some stayed to fight Siren.
They exclaimed, "As members of the Vanguard, we will not let a devil think he's won!"
Siren responded, "You guys are LUNATICS! I'm not the devil."
'There's too many of them. I won't win. If I uncover my eyes, then I could wipe out this entire half of the world, but that's not what i'm waiting for. You know that, mom.'
Siren leaped off a cliff, waving, "Bye bye."
"Purify him!" They exclaimed, brewing up their power.
…
As the group gathered by the riverbank, gasping for breath and tending to their wounds, Siren finally climbed down from the cliff, remarkably in good condition. He landed with a graceful thud among them, his eyes sparkling with an unnerving excitement.
"Am I glad to see you all in one piece," he said with a wide, almost jarring smile. As everyone settled, he continued, "While we've been dodging light bullets and sprinting through forests, something much darker unfolds within the Jeontu Sect and the Noklim Sup. A blight, my friends, propagated by sinister vines imbued with demonic energy."
He paced a little, hands gesturing wildly as he spoke. "These aren't your average menacing flora. These vines—they touch anything, and it rots, dissolves into nothing but dark remnants. Worse still, they transform the remains into abominable creatures, thralls of the blight itself. Creations of unimaginable horror and despair," he explained, his tone oddly lighthearted given the grim nature of his tale.
"And," he leaned in closer, lowering his voice as if sharing a delicious secret, "at the heart of this blight, controlling every twist and turn of these vile vines, is a demon. Oh, not just any garden-variety demon, but one steeped in old world lore, a beast that sows corruption and all that."
Elara glanced at the others, noting their tense expressions.
'So we're stuck in the middle of a battlefield..a battlefield seemingly way out of our league. With demonic qi in the area around us.'
Siren shrugged, his smile never waning. "But, there's more! The Luminous Vanguard is also in play here, not just chasing down tales and shadows like they were with us."
He started counting off on his fingers. "They're spread through Glynwood, the Helican Ford, and the darker straits of Xilpher Ruins. They're slashing through corrupted creatures, purifying grounds, all part of their grand plan to get to our demon friend and extinguish this blight with their blazing light."
"It's quite the celestial spectacle," Siren remarked offhandedly, as if discussing the weather rather than an apocalypse in the making.
"Why the cheer, Siren? This sounds dire," Jiho frowned, both annoyed and confused by Siren's demeanor. "The Head was aware of this, why doesn't he pull these children out?"
"Oh please. Every day these children went on a mission. They've all taken lives that have a combined total of 1,000. This is what they've been training for. It's fascinating, isn't it? The play of light and dark, the old battles renewed, the chaos and the order all tangled up. We're at the edge of a blade here, and each step is a dance with doom. I can't help but find a thrill in that, can you?"
Caelan scoffed, "Hell no. I don't get a thrill out of this."
"That's because you're afraid to die, brat, aren't ya? Got someone to run home too? Got people to live for."
"Shut up."
Caelan turned around, clenching his fists, trying his best not to burst into ferocious anger.
Jiho said to Siren, "I'm sure the Head has a plan then."
"Ah yes, that old man has a few suggestions. Link up with the second assassins squad in this area, who were recently clearing another sanctuary not too far from here, and make your way to where the demon that's controlling the Blight is, and kill him. Bring the Head the demon's heart, and that geezer promises to give these children a month break from missions."
Kai said, "A month break?! That's insane! I-I want it."
Caelan said, "Whatever."
'A month's break…finally a break? I need it.'
Elara didn't say anything, she just folded her arms more.
Zephyr stated, "That sounds delightful."
Siren responded, "Of course you'd say that. But, the first step is to make camp. I'll use my blood to make a small safe house, and we'll take turns taking guard. We'll only rest for 3 hours, then move. You all wasted that qi of yours just from running from the Vanguard, their light draining the hell out of you. Oh, and the Head wants you all to be the last ones remaining. If you need to kill everyone, you can."
Jiho sighed, "It's been a year, we need Vaelle back."
'Is she still alive in that Blood realm?'