The doors exploded, sending chips of wood and dust everywhere.Slowly, leisurely, several figures walked in, each one emitting an aura of absolute power.
The pressure coming off of their combined bodies made the air feel heavy, almost chokingly so.
One of them had a necklace of fleshless fingers around his neck. He surveyed the area dispa.s.sionately.
"A summoning, huh. They really were that desperate." He noticed the large ball of red twisting and twining in mid-air. "And all for nothing."
The gate was still open but nothing had come through. Even though the core was continuing to drain mana from it"s surroundings to sustain itself there was no indication of anything heeding the call.
"Their bodies are intact." Another said. "Their blood is preserved. Let"s collect them and leave." He stared at the gateway. "The core is still active. Do we have a bloodstone with us? Master will be pleased if we can keep the droplet from decaying."
"Are you mad? " A third man intervened. "It"ll take much too long to seal it. Soon every bloodsucker on the planet will be attracted here and we don"t want to be lingering when they do. The children are all that matters.They failed so what"s the use in taking it if they can"t handle it"s power? The girl was only ever able to bring out a tenth of it"s ability. From the start that was only a side project anyway."
"So?" Came the reply. "That"s much more than what the ones before her were capable of unlocking. That child is a miracle for this alone. We only have one. Losing it now when we"ve finally made a breathrough is idiocy, plain and simple!"
The fourth man, old and black-eyed, scoffed. "They"re all abominations. The word miracle has nothing to do with them."
"Enough." The first one stepped forward. "He"s right. Progress is being made, snail"s pace as it is. We"ll have to risk it. We take both. Neither the core nor the bodies can be let go at this point."
"Fine." The old man growled. "But don"t come crying to me when you"re made the f.u.c.k toy of some queer vamp Lord with a taste for sadism." He snorted coldly. "If you want to seal it, go ahead. I"ll take them and head back first while you sit here with your thumbs up your--"
He broke off. He locked onto the black-haired woman laying p.r.o.ne on the ground.
There. A twitch of the hand.
The man smiled. "So they didn"t die...interesting. But there is no sense in keeping pets who bite the hands that feed them. "
Without another word his arm flashed with inhuman speed and sent out a sword made of condensed magical energy. It ripped through the air.
Lilith had gradually regained enough wits to know how f.u.c.ked she was but sluggish as her body felt there was no way for her to react in time.
She could only thank the heavens that she"d be the first to go. At least she wouldn"t have to watch the others die before her.
Lilith closed her eyes and welcomed death.
***
Roland blinked.
The f.u.c.k was going on?
Four old guys and four unconscious kids? What"s more two of those kids were pretty females.
What was this? NTR r*pe orgy? Knock out a couple of boys and have some fun with their girls? These despicable-looking old coots had strong tastes.
s.h.i.t, now one of them was planning to kill the black-haired woman. Was he into necrophilia or something?
This a.s.shole...
Roland processed everything in a split second despite only having just arrived.
He stepped in and used a hand to crush the oncoming sword. " I don"t give a d.a.m.n how h.o.r.n.y you are, what the h.e.l.l are a bunch of Immortals doing harra.s.sing humans? At least find some nymphs to play with. Have a little self respect." He smirked. "Though I guess given how b.u.t.t-ugly you lot are it"d be hard to find a nymph that thirsty."
The four Immortals were deeply shocked. They regarded the newcomer warily. How hadn"t they noticed the arrival of this man?
"Who are you?" The leader, the first speaker of the lot, questioned. His aura burst forth and put pressure on Roland"s body.
It was like a light drizzle of rain.
"See, I would tell you my name but I don"t want such perverted old crones dirtying it. Rather, who are you? I don"t recognize that energy signature you"re marked with. And for me, that"s saying something. Maybe your master is just a little fish? Whatever. Alright, I have some business with these kids so just run along and I won"t kill you."
Roland didn"t want to be dealing with a couple of no-name immortals so he generously gave them an out.
The old man with black eyes grew livid. "Arrogant cur. You have five seconds to disappear from our sight before we fry your t.e.s.t.i.c.l.es in pig fat and feed them to you!"
Roland arched a brow at that. "Calm down kid, your face is already ugly enough without you turning it into a baboon"s a.s.s."
The man cursed. "This son of a b.i.t.c.h."
Roland felt his cheek twitch in irritation. "My mother is no b.i.t.c.h, c.o.c.k for breath." His eyes went flat. "And I would cut back on the insults. I"m a tolerant man but would-be rapists are already at the top of my s.h.i.t list. Talk c.r.a.p one more time and I"ll cut off your head, forcibly keep you alive, then make you watch as I track down, and then f.u.c.k, YOUR mother. Don"t force me to become your new dad, pal."
He usually made good on his promises so he really, really hoped the guy would stay quiet. And that his mother wasn"t dead so he didn"t have to go asking Hades for any favors.
If there was one thing Roland learned during his short visit in the underworld it was that you didn"t make threats you weren"t going to act upon.
"I"m going to enjoy tying you up and letting the beasts r*pe your paralyzed flesh."
f.u.c.k. He said it.
"Great. Now I"m going to have to let a dog use your mouth as a fleshlight. Hope it was worth it buddy."
Before he even finished talking Roland"s body flickered and an instant later he appeared in front of the Immortal.
A thin, bone-white sword had appeared in his hands and held against the Immortal"s throat.
With a simple flick of the wrist his head was cleanly severed.
The Immortal"s leader was in a state of complete disarray. He never even saw the man move yet he had already drawn his sword and held it into his comrade"s throat before anyone could even take a single step to stop him?
In all his life he had never experienced such profound speed.
He instantly took a look at the gateway: The core had already crystalized and fallen on the ground.
He suddenly knew who the young man was.
So the children actually succeeded! This was...terrible.
If it failed it didn"t matter. But if they did it, their lives were forfeit. They"d never be allowed to live.
"Run!" The word tore itself from his throat as he gave the order.
They would die today. Either by him or by the seals on their bodies. But a death by him can very well be a permanent one! The man had no reason to let them live, why would he spare them? Depending on his mood not even their souls would be capable of surviving.
At least if they died by the seals they had a chance at reforming their bodies, even if their memory was scoured clean. That would not be the case, however, if it was the monster in front of them!
Roland smiled politely. "I"ve no interest in you. If that little cuck boy friend of yours kept his mouth shut you could"ve lived. A shame."
Beings like him...what did a few murders count as? You couldn"t judge him based on normal standards. Was he too kill happy? No. This was simply his nature. This was the cruelty Heaven.
Nothing was sacred, only you decided the value of things.
For Roland this meant one bad first impression was all it took to rouse his bloodl.u.s.t.
The lives of these pitiful b.a.s.t.a.r.ds? They were nothing to him.
No one would weep for these men anyway. Even if there were people who would, the stain on their souls was enough indication of what they deserved but never received until they p.i.s.sed off the wrong person.
He answered the call for retreat with various attacks. For the leader he switched weapons and stabbed an ice-blue sword through the man"s heart.
A blade made of pure mana, pounded into solid form by nothing but will alone. Not simply condensed into a phantasmal blade but a true physical body. A near impossible task for others. For him, as simple as breathing.
Roland felt the soul break. It was a power he had, one he didn"t use often.
To explain, destroying a soul was impossible even for him. But separating parts of a soul? Taking all that you were and cutting it off forever? Letting it dissipate, never to return, and leaving only a pure, empty ma.s.s of spiritual energy? That, that he could do. It was a harsh process, not at all delicate.
The leader couldn"t hide the sheer horror that was carved all over his face.
Something about that tugged at Roland"s brain.
It has to be said, Immortal are some of the most powerful beings on the planet. Simply stabbing their hearts or brains wouldn"t kill them. Even doing so would be exceedingly difficult for those below the demiG.o.d level. Their bodies were harder than diamond. Not to mention the vast combat prowess from an untold number of centuries and battles.
Even if you killed them they would still have a chance of reforming their bodies. And if not that then the larger chance of rebirth with their memories intact--though they"d have to start cultivating their power from square one again and face even harder challenges than the first time.
So why was this man so terrified? He couldn"t have known about Roland"s ability, surely. They"d never even met till now.
It was a small question at the back of Roland"s mind that he only faintly considered before dismissing the man as a coward.
With him dead he turned his attention back to the others.
5 seconds into the battle and one Immortal was decapitated while the other had his soul shattered, cleansed.
They didn"t have any other thought besides fleeing.
Roland let them go.
He liked a good hunt.
Lilith had watched it all unfold through clouded eyes.
She could only hear the young man whistle a dandy tune as he sauntered down the hall and casually follow the direction of the fleeing immortals. The black eyed man"s head being tossed up and down for amus.e.m.e.nt as he walked.
Then, once he was out of sight, she blanked out.
***
It was already dark.
Roland looked to the two women behind him. They were still unconscious. As expected from that kind of spell.
The boys, brothers by the look of it, were also fine. He nudged them with a toe but they were dead to the world.
Well s.h.i.t. What was he supposed to do with four unconscious brats?
He glared at the two boys. Dang kids, sleeping while some strange man is here. You really don"t value your women, huh? What if I were a less morally upstanding young man?
I saved you today but you guys are really determined to get cucked!
Haa...
"Then there"s this other pervert. " Roland shifted his gaze to the red-head.
"Alright, come on out. Stop playing around."
Nothing.
Roland threw out the bone blade.
There was an audible, "f.u.c.k!" As the intruder dodged to the side.
Instantly a young boy clad in a black suit and green vest appeared from out of thin air.
He had been, up till now, peeking up the skirt of the red-head and using illusion spells to hide it.
The youth took a tentative step back from the blade that had almost ripped through his hand.
"You caustic little f.u.c.kface, that ain"t something to mess around with! You nearly made me a cripple!"
Then he realized he"d been caught and his spells weren"t hiding his voice.
He gave a sheepish grin. "Ah~, so you noticed me. Quicker than I expected." The boy cleared his throat. "Don"t mind me, I was just checking to make sure she was unharmed."
The way he nodded his head, as if he were a paragon of righteousness, was absolutely shameless.
" So. We meet again. How you been?"
Roland smiled.
" Loki."