CH78: TAKE THEM OUT (PART 2)

[3 down.]

[27 to go.]

[Your hunger has been eradicated.]

[Consume more to fill your blood bank.]

[System Scan activated.]

With the help of the system scan, Ace was able to pinpoint the exact locations of all the Hunters and ambush them one by one. In a way, it was sort of his night vision technique which made him the perfect hunter.

The number of the pursuing Hunters went from twenty-seven to twenty, then ten, until there were only three left. Among those three were the man who had yelled at him earlier, a larger, tougher guy, and the woman who wielded red daggers that seemed to be made from hardened blood, a skill only he and supposedly Cherry possessed.

'Strange,' Ace said to himself. 'That woman's daggers are obviously made of blood. Could Cherry really be here?'

*****************

"Does anyone copy? I repeat, does anyone copy?"

"..."

"Have you found the boy....HAVE YOU FOUND THE BOY?"

"...…."

"No one is going to answer, boss." The woman replied as she wiped her finger across the ground. Her hands shook a little as she showed the others the dead bodies with small pools of blood next to them. The woman nearly puked as she and the others witnessed the sorry state the bodies were in.

Some were missing heads, limbs, and large chunks of their bodies, while others had red projectiles protruding from their bodies. Others were completely shrivelled, having had every single drop of blood drained from them.

"Oh God," The woman held her stomach as she looked away. "I think I'm gonna—h—hurl!!"

"What could have done this?"

"Whatever it is," The one called boss replied while pulling out two small staffs from his pockets. "It's coming for us next."

The larger man drew out his battle axe, and the woman reluctantly drew out the daggers she had taken from Cherry. They each stood with their backs against the others, gripping their weapons tightly.

*CRACKLE*

*BANG*

Loud sounds echoed through the tunnels as the lights flickered on and off even faster. Then, sounds of antagonizing whispers passed through their ears as dangly, creepy shadows slithered across the walls.

*BAM*

The lights in the tunnel went off, leaving the three Hunters in complete darkness.

"Everyone, use your crystals now." The 'boss' commanded while activating his red crystal that was resting on his chest. As soon as their lights came on, they were greeted by the horrendous sight of a tall creature standing with its head hung and its arms and legs dripping with blood. The creature's physique resembled that of a human, although it had deadly claws for hands and powerful red legs.

"LOOK, IT HAS ORANGE HAIR."

"IT'S THE BOY. GET HIM!!"

The 'boss' leaped to the side of the wall as he ran horizontally toward the 'boy.' With a quick slash, he left a wide wound on the boy's cheek and quickly leaped back.

"Holy pearl, mother of…"

"He's a Gifted freak."

They all gasped as they witnessed Ace's cheek heal on the spot. The dim light from their crystals only allowed them to see where they were standing and the outlines of each other's bodies, including Ace's. The boy's glazing, white eyes struck fear and froze the Hunters in their steps as he slowly walked toward them with a hunched back and a wild grin. To make his grin seem more horrific, Ace partially transformed his mouth, revealing sharpened and elongated teeth, making him look more like a creature from the depths of darkness.

"We have to work together to defeat him." The woman declared with a shaky voice. "That's the only way we can…" As she was still mouthing her opinion, Ace held out his hand and liquefied her daggers into blood, which he retracted into his arms. He then turned the blood into a sword and swung it from side to side.

'She's here.' Ace smiled knowing that his sister was close by. 'I'll finish these off and then find her. I'm coming, Cherry.'

"You know, I'd actually like to finish you all off at once, but I've been waiting for some sort of challenge." Ace spoke with his deepened voice. "Plus, this'll help me level up."

"What's he talking about?"

[Blood Sprint Activated.]

With the sword tightly gripped in his hand, Ace sprinted toward the woman with rage and thrust the sword deep into her stomach. Through his blood drain skill, he made sure that all the blood in her body stayed inside. This way, she would experience a lot of pain but still stay alive.

Ace withdrew the sword and kicked her to the ground, making sure that she didn't bleed out. The other men stood in awe as they witnessed the orange-haired boy's strange power.

Having snapped out of it, the larger man with an axe used its hilt and hit Ace's back, sending him falling to the ground. He then quickly leaped a few feet into the air and attempted to land a finishing blow to Ace's head, hoping to cleanly chop it off.

*BANG*

At the last minute, Ace drew out the fairly-sized green crystal sword and used it to block the thick axe blade.

[-3HP]

Even though Ace was lucky enough to block the attack, the force still pushed his sword back slightly and left a flesh wound on his forearm.

"Tch- How is this possible?" The Hunter asked. "Where did that sword come from?"

*******************

[Earlier, while Ace had just arrived at the tunnels.]

[Congratulations]

[Having to carry that sword and gauntlets all over will draw more unwanted attention.]

[System Accessories Unlocked.]

[Description: System Accessories are simple tools and tricks that'll make life easier for you. This includes inventories, system scans, biome scans, body scans, energy readings, and so much more.]

[Accessory granted: Blood Inventory]

[Description: The blood inventory allows you to store up to ten items so that you will not have to waste energy or draw unwanted attention. The accessory shrinks the items to cell-sized components and stores them in your blood system. As soon as you'd like to use them, you can draw them out from whatever part of your body you wish, whether from your back, arms, palms, or chest. The skill will be more than helpful to you.]

[Bonus: You'll be able to store more items the more you level up. However, you cannot store items that are much larger than you, and you cannot store living beings stronger than you for too long. They will kill you from the inside.]

*********************

"That's for me to know," Ace pushed himself off the ground and responded with a high jump to the large Hunter's head, "And for you to never find out."

*SLICE*

*THUD*

With the power of the sword boosting his body and his basic sword-wielding knowledge, Ace was able to deliver a perfect cut to the Hunter's head, killing him on the spot and putting him out of his misery.

To make himself seem more terrifying to the remaining Hunters, Ace drained the previous Hunter's blood and covered himself in full blood armor, for the next Hunter appeared to be more experienced and twice as dangerous as the others.

*CLAP* *CLAP* *CLAP*

"Well done, kid," The last Hunter clapped with a cocky grin on his face. "I knew you were strong. I just didn't know you had this kind of demonic power. It's no surprise the aliens are after you. A power like that surely is outstanding and demonic."

"It's not demonic." Ace replied. "It's just….special." He grinned while forming and deforming his hand repeatedly.

"Oh really? You're telling me that draining blood from others and weaponizing it isn't demonic? Doesn't matter. I'll kill you here myself and send you back to the pit you crawled out from."

"May the last man standing win."

[Blood Sprint Activated.]