The Thread And Shadows

Avic ran aimlessly through the dark. He strayed further and further from the carriage with every step. He needed to find the others. They had been taken by the Scarlet Witch as well. If he didn't think of something quickly, there was a good chance they'd end up like Lori's mother or worse.

"Avic! Don't—"

Custos's voice echoed through the darkness before quickly disappearing. Avic turned towards the cloud of darkness where the shout had come from. He didn't know what Custos was trying to tell him but he didn't have time to care. He ran towards the area recklessly with his dagger stuck between his fist.

This was when Avic found himself immobilized, unable to move yet again. Pain immediately stung him in his arms and legs, causing him to groan in pain. He looked down on himself only to realize that he had been caught in another trap. His body was wrapped up in dangerously sharp threads from the Scarlet Witch's Bloodline Art.

"Urgh..! Damn it! How stupid am I to get caught in the same trap twice?!" Cursed Avic.

Just like before, the figure of a teenage girl approached him from the dark. The Scarlet Witch wriggled its dark fingernails and turned its faceless head with a crunch as it moved closer to him. Avic gritted his teeth as he watched helplessly. There was no easy way for him to break out of the painful threads that bound him.

To make things worse, no one would be coming to his rescue this time. Even his Hemo Energy was now slowly being drained by the threads that held him in place. Before long, he would be too weak to even struggle.

"Damn it... Think Avic, think!" He pleaded to himself.

Wiping its hideous fingernails across his cheek, the Scarlet Witch spoke in a dark echo-like voice.

"DDeelliicciioouuss! UUnniiqquuee HHeemmoo EEnneerrggyy!"

Avic hissed. The Scarlet Witch's fingernail felt like a needle was being stroked against the side of his face. He needed to find a way to escape if he hoped to save the others.

"Bloodline Art: Ice Field!

A cold chill ran through the air as Avic summoned a field of sharp spikes made of ice. They erupted from the ground like missiles with the Scarlet Witch as their target. However, as soon as the spiked pieces of ice came close to her, they were cut into tiny fragments by her dangerously sharp threads.

"DDoonn'tt ssttrruuggllee..! DDeeaatthh aacceeppttss aallll!"

"Tsk! I can already feel myself getting weaker... These damned threads are sucking the Hemo Energy right out of me!"

The Scarlet Witch then began wiping its hand against Avic's face as if he was her lover. She treated him with care as if he was extremely special to her.

"Why don't you just kill me already, you ugly bitch?"

"YYoouu ttaassttee bbeetttteerr aalliivvee!"

"Hey, sorry, I love women and all but you're just not my type... Sigh... It seems I only have one choice here or I'll be dead anyway."

Avic then gazed up at the Scarlet Witch with a bothered look across his face. He knew the fight he was about to engage in would be a very difficult one but he had no other choice.

"You know, I'm not very special. My Bloodline Trait is only an Uncommon Trait. That's like the second-worst trait a guy can hope to have. Sigh... But even though I only have an Uncommon Trait, there's still something that makes it quite unique among the other Bloodline Traits. That is, Uncommon Traits like my own have a Double Affinity!"

The Scarlet Witch then flinched as black Hemo Energy began shrouding Avic's body. It shrieked loudly before jumping backward to gain some distance. Avic grinned as soon as he saw this.

"My second affinity is an Affinity Of Shadow. Not that I've ever tried using it as an attack before since it requires more Hemo Control than my Ice Affinity. But now's a better time than ever to put it to the test! Bloodline Art: Shadow Move— Uh... thingy? I don't know! I haven't named it yet!"

Suddenly, Avic's body turned into a shadow, causing the threads to pass right through him. This allowed him to easily break free of the Scarlet Witch's thread. Taking the Scarlet Witch by surprise, he dived toward her, ready to cut her down.

His hand moved closer to her head faster than she could anticipate. With a deadly slash, Avic swung his arm around toward the base of her neck. The fight was over— or so he thought. To Avic's astonishment, the Scarlet Witch didn't have a single scratch on her. Instead of cutting her as he had expected, his hand had simply passed through her. Even his dagger had fallen through his hand as if he was some type of ghost.

"Shit! I'm such an idiot! If I'm a shadow, of course, I'm going to be intangible! This is why it's important to train us before sending us out into the Wilderness, you Old Geezer!!"

The Scarlet Witch then turned toward him. In his current state, Avic could neither be touched nor interact with the things around him. Due to this, he was forced to deactivate his Bloodline Art. Calmly, he then walked past the Scarlet Witch before picking back up his dagger.

"I know I might not look it but I'm pretty pissed right now. Not only did you kill Lori's father but you also made Eliisabet kill her mother before taking them all away from me. That makes me shake with rage!"

Avic then came around with a powerful swing of his dagger. The Scarlet Witch was forced to respond by using her Bloodline Art to summon another web of threads. Seeing this, Avic knew his dagger alone wouldn't be enough to cut through them.

"Bloodline Art: Cold Cut!"

With a sharp whistle, Avic slashed through the threads like butter. He then slammed his forehead into the Scarlet Witch's face for a painful headbutt. It wailed in pain, staggering backward. However, this enraged it significantly.

Deciding to cut Avic into tiny pieces, it summoned another web of razor-sharp threads all around him from every possible direction. They came down onto him like a swift wind. It was an attack that was impossible to dodge. However, Avic didn't falter. He ran toward the Scarlet Witch with his dagger still clenched tightly between his fist. The threads closed in—now mere centimeters away from slicing him into pieces.

To the Scarlet Witch's surprise, Avic threw his blade like a seasoned assassin. With a little luck, it spun through the air before finding itself in the middle of the her forehead. It wailed in agony like a bomb siren. However, this wasn't quite enough to kill it.

Using his Shadow Affinity once more, Avic zoomed through the razor-sharp threads without a scratch on his body. He then immediately deactivated it afterward, before planting his right foot forward. Finally, pulling the dagger from the Scarlet Witch's head, he swung it around with a loud whistle, slicing off the Demon's head.