Rueben let out a breathe before pulling out both Adam and Eve, aiming it at the man in the sky. The two bullet's flew as the man swiftly made another barrier to stop the bullets. Just as he was about to speak, Rueben suddenly dashed towards the gauntlet man.
The gauntlet man changed his form and prepared for the impact, just as he was about to grab Rueben's hand, the woman suddenly kicked him away as she bent her back, narrowly dodging Rueben's blade.
"Fuckin' pay attention!" The woman growled at the gauntlet man as she grabbed Rueben's cane with her white gauntlet.
Rueben clicked his tongue and hurriedly tried to kick the woman away only to let his cane go and backflipped out of the way, dodging the woman's incoming mace.
The woman swiftly held the cain tightly and tried to break it into to with her knee but found that it was durable. The cane slightly bent a little, earning a gasp from her.
"What kind of-"
Bang!
Just as she was about to act in surprise that the blade didn't break, Rueben shot towards the gauntlet man, who was already near him, preparing for another grappling move to stop Rueben.
The woman frowned and was about to throw the weapon away when Rueben suddenly dashed towards her, she flinched in surprise as he suddenly appeared in front of her. From the gaps of her helmet, she saw Rueben's crimson eyes staring at her before a fist lunged towards her face.
She dodged to the side and landed a devastating blow to Rueben's waist, the sounds of something being broken could be heard everywhere. She blocked another attack from Rueben and planted her fist towards his chin.
Rueben's face flicked to the side from the blow and the woman used that small chance to grab him by the neck. Just as she was about to crash her mace into Rueben, he suddenly grabbed her and moved her to the side.
What strength..!!
The woman's eyes widened, then a beam of light pierced through her shoulders and from the pain, she immediately knew what he was up to.
This guy is making me into his personal meat shield!
The woman gritted her teeth while the man in the sky let out a click of his tongue. He made a couple hand signs before speaking, "SOUND BREAKING SHOUT!!!"
The man let out a loud yell, the woman swiftly covered her ears with cotton she hid within her chest pocket as she watched Rueben's eardrums burst from the sheer volume of the yell. Rueben instinctively touched his ears, prompting the woman to hit him in the stomach.
"Ismael, now!" She screamed out as she grabbed Rueben by the neck again.
The gauntlet man punched his fists together from behind Rueben and let out a shout.
"Electrifying Palm!" He pushed his palm hard toward's Rueben's spine.
Rueben could feel a tingling feeling on his spine, the hit was soft but somehow, it made contact with his nerves and with enough force and angle from the palm, the blood in his nerves rushed into his brain.
Rueben snorted blood as his sclera turned red from the blood that rushed from his nerves.
He could feel his entire body started relaxing as his head got flooded with blood. Rueben's knees started giving out as the woman caught him again.
"Done!"
The woman let out a chuckle to the gauntlet man and she wanted to land the killing blow when all of the sudden, Rueben faced her. He made a punching motion, prompting the woman to block it with her arms.
She expected that it would throw her away from the fight but as if the universe had other plans, the enemy's fist passed through her guard and firmly stuck in her helmet, the helmet bent from the sheer force and she could feel her body bent down.
Just as the man in the sky was about to make another spell in panic, Rueben pushed the woman with his fist all the way down to the ground, crashing her head in the process. The ground created cracks like a spider web.
Rueben pulled out his hand and the two saw blood dripping down from his hand. He punched his chest harshly and coughed up the blood in his head, he even pushed one of his nostrils, blocking it and snorted the other remaining blood.
"One down." Rueben let out a sneer as he subtly wiped his hand with what remains of his sleeves.
"K-Kia-"
The gauntlet man let out a terrified gasp, just as he was about to speak, Rueben grabbed his head with both of his hands and forced it to clash with his knees, Rueben was about to stomp him with his feet when the gauntlet man kicked the back of his knee, forcing him to bent down slightly.
He then kicked Rueben in the face and Rueben flew away from the attack. The gauntlet man, crawling down, he turned to the woman.
"Kiara-"
The gauntlet man's eyes shivered as he saw the woman lying on the ground. Just as he was about to scream out her name, the man suddenly shouted.
"Shadow Bind!"
Below Rueben's shoes, his shadow suddenly rose up into the air, countless chains shot towards him, Rueben wanted to leave but found himself stuck by the chains. The chains wrapped around him tightly, as if forbidding him to leave.
Then he could feel a heavy pressure pushing him down, forcing him to kneel on the ground, unable to move.
"GRK!"
He could feel it again, that pressure. Rueben's eyes shook in fear, his shoulders trembling as he looked at them. He could feel it again.
This pressure that made him unable to do anything.
The pressure that forced him to watch and watch only.
The pressure pressing down on him.
It triggered his memories.
He felt it again.
"...NO!" Rueben screamed out, his breathing, heavy.
Memories, recent memories started to play in his head.
"Nononononon-"
Rueben's mind started playing the memories of him unable to do anything.
"Go, Ismael!! Don't worry, Kiara's still alive!"
The gauntlet man, Ismael stared at the man, no, Bernard, his friend before dashing towards Rueben with the intent to kill.
"Breaker Fist!" Ismael yelled out and firmly hit Rueben in the chin.
Rueben felt his mind go blank as his brain was shaken up, the memories stopped. His head flickering away from the fist with fast force.
His chin bent to the side as Ismael followed up with another attack, "Dead Track!"
If Breaker Fist was used to incapacitate the enemy by knocking them out through their chin, Dead Track was a killer move that literally punched a hole into the enemy's body. Ismael's gauntlet pierced through Rueben's chest, to his heart.
Rueben could feel his heart being forcefully pulled out as Ismael crushed his heart, blood splattering.
"GAH..!"
Coughing out an excessive amounts of blood, Rueben let out a gasp as he could feel that even breathing was painful. Ismael pulled his arm out of Rueben's body.
Bernard let out a breath, his face filled with sweat as he watched his enemy's head go limp, still stuck in a kneeling position because of the binds.
The Shadow Binds was a spell way out of his league, it was a last ditch effort for someone of his caliber, hell, it was a miracle that he was able to cast it. It took his entire brain power to create the formula's and equations to manifest it.
Ismael quickly dashed towards him and held him.
"Hah..." Bernard knelt down to the ground as he grasped his chest, taking heavy breaths as he pointed at Kiara's corpse.
"K-Kiara, go-go take care of her...."
Ismael nodded his head and swiftly went to Kiara's side, the nun was already by her side, unable to take out the helmet.
"Ismael, she's stable for now. But it seems some parts of the helmet is stuck inside her skin. I need something that could cut the helmet off her face, thank the Crimson Moon that her skull didn't burst from that attack. Act quickly, i may be able to save her life."
Ismael nodded his head, "Okay." He swiftly dashed to the city to find scissors to cut his friend's helmet and save her life.
Bernard looked at the nun, who just nodded her head, before he looked back at his enemy. He wiped the sweat of his face as he stared.
"..." He didn't know who this was, but he knew that it was someone powerful. A powerhouse by only using his body.
Bernard could feel it, this guy didn't do anything, didn't use anything, not SASE, not Aura. Nothing.
Just from the sheer force of his physical body, the power hidden within it. Like a storm that brew deep within, just needing one tiny push for all of it to bottle out and destroy everything in it's path.
It was way out of his expectations.
Also, there was that inhumane regeneration that the opponent showed, being able to heal burn wounds and make it look as if he didn't get those burns. Regenerating entire limbs and parts of his body. It was terrifying.
Clicking his tongue, Bernard went near his enemy's corpse, intending to take a blood sample or something to test it. If he could replicate what the man had done to his body, then it would help the Church, especially the paladins from dying too often.
At first, he thought this guy was an ordinary spy, it was normal for him to find spies in the city. After all, he was the guard dog for this port when the Cardinal and the Head Priestess was away. HE thought his interactions with this guy would end with the spy dying.
Bernard had thought that if the spy was going to die anyway, he might as well get what little information the spy could give him and locate where he was from.
He didn't expect that they would almost die.
It was good that he made the split decision to force himself to create the Shadow Binding spell.
Bernard grabbed the man's arm, intending to get a blood sample when all of the sudden, the nun screamed at him.
Bang!
"BERNARD!"
Bernard looked back to the nun, but suddenly, he felt a stinging pain from his chest. He looked down to see a nozzle of a revolver aimed at his head. Bernard's eyes shivered in shock as he found the man who they thought had died smiling at him with his bloodied teeth.
Looking at the man's eyes, his crimson eyes swirling with madness, Bernard's eyes shone with clarity.
Ah, they were tricked.
We were tricked. Did he plan this? Since when...?
Now only he was left, Ismael went back to the city to find something that could cut the helmet off Kiara's face delicately and Kiara, well, she was out of commision right now. The nun was unable to fight, she was a medical expert after all.
That left him alone to fight him, but with this clever trick, he was unable to fight back.
Bernard felt the blood flow out of both his nose and his mouth.
Just as Rueben was about to pull the trigger to kill Bernard, he suddenly felt a terrifying chill in his bones.
A presence. A powerful presence suddenly appeared. From behind him.
Not as powerful as that woman back then. No, something weaker but terrifying nonetheless.
He turned his head around to find a man in armor staring at him with a smile. When the two of them made an eye contact, Rueben's body had already healed.
He followed his instincts and swiftly dashed towards the nun and grabbed his cane before dashing out.
The man in armor swiftly gave chase as they disappeared into the woods.
Bernard looked at the scene, his face widened in surprise as he forced the SASE in the air to block the blood vessels in his chest, to stop it from bleeding even further. He knelt down as he felt his hand shiver.
He could see Ismael in the distance, shouting at him as another nun came in view, who swiftly grabbed him and pulled out most of her set up and began to medicate him.
Seeing the tears flowing from the kid's face, Ismael's face, Bernard let out a chuckle as he spoke to the nun, "I'll leave it up to you."
The nun smiled and nodded her head, "Trust in the Crimson Moon."
Boom!!
Suddenly, an explosion sounded out from the distance.
Everyone watched, Ismael turned to the nun taking care of Bernard and the nun answered.
"No need to worry, a Cardinal of the Crimson Moon is with us."
Rueben dashed out, trying to find a way to escape the man in armor. But he could feel it, the more he ran, the close the man was.
He knew the man could kill him immediately, with just one swing of that sword he kept in his waist, he would die.
Fear.
He would die. He would die. He would die.
Rueben unconsciously held the earring he wore but thought against it.
He can't risk bringing such a dangerous enemy back home.
What should he do? What should i do?
Rueben's mind swirled as countless thoughts started forming, more and more. He suddenly awoke from his thoughts when the armored man had arrived infront of him, Rueben's eyes widened in shock before the man grabbed him by the face and threw him down.
The ground cracked as countless dust and debris scattered everywhere.
The armored man let out a chuckle and stomped Rueben's chest, he could feel his ribs break from the force. Rueben coughed up even more blood as the armored man crouched down.
"Why, hello there."
Rueben gritted his teeth, earning him a smile from the armored man.
He grabbed the armored man's boots and was about to twist it when the armored man stomped heavily again. The ground underneath him cracked even more as Rueben coughed up even more blood than before.
He could feel his hands starting to numb from the lack of blood, but Rueben tried to reach for his revolvers when his hands were suddenly sliced off. The hands started spurting out blood as the armored man above him let out a smile.
"Interesting."
The armored man pushed his hair back, "How long can you last?"
Then he stomped once.
Then again.
And again.
And again.
A total of 32 times, he stomped Rueben a total of 32 times. Rueben's mangled body lied down in a small crater that formed around them from the man's stomps. His chest, no, ribs, destroyed, turned to dust as Rueben let out heavy breaths, trying to breathe as he felt his insides burn.
"Aura dissipates when injected inside you, is your body actively producing some sort of substance that pushes Aura out and prevent it from nesting inside? Most surprising is your recovery, i could just slice off your head and you just might regenerate a new body from that head. What kind of being are you? A beast? No, you look far too human to be one, sentient still..." The man muttered as he crouched down beside Rueben.
Rueben gulped down some blood left in his mouth and the armored man watched as Rueben's body started healing, started going back to normal. The cut off limbs near his body was connected by some sort of liquid, it pulled the limbs closer to the body and the cells started regenerating.
The bones inside him started to form, a faster rate than before.
"Oh, would you look at that. The speed of your regeneration has improved even more. Fascinating."
The armored man watched in amusement as Rueben tried to get his bearing back when the man suddenly punched him in the gut.
"I apologize for cutting our talk short. But we must resume our conversation next time. My target is getting a little too far for me to track so i have to leave."
Rueben glared at him while gritting his teeth.
The man let out another chuckle, before punching him harshly.
"Now then, goodnight."
Rueben felt the world spin, before his consciousness suddenly stopped.
"..." The armored man let out a sigh as a woman appeared above him, levitating in the air with a sneering face as her expression.
"A fuckin' spy?"
The armored man stared at Rueben for a moment, before shrugging his shoulders, "Probably."
"Mmm." The woman let out a lengthy grunt.
The two of them stood still for a while, before she let out a gasp and clapped her hands once, "Let's fuckin' interrogate him!"
The armored man stared at her for a moment, then softly shook his head to the side and spoke, "You do that. I'll try to find traces of the saint."
The woman let out a grumble as she muttered something underneath her breath. Rueben's body suddenly floated as the woman touched Rueben's chest.
"You do just that. Can't believe we let the little shit evade our capture for so fucking long."
The armored man smiled, "That's why i told you to take this matter seriously. The Holy Pontiff is treating this matter with heavy importance. It wouldn't be good if she saw us as someone useless..."
The woman let out a sigh, "I know. I know. Ease your asshole up. I'll catch him next time, don't you worry about that. But first, interrogation!"
"..."
"I swear that woman's getting crazy by the day. Hah..."
The armored man watched as the woman floated up towards the sky, before disappearing into starlight. Shaking his head, the armored man jumped up into the sky and started looking for something.
***
Arkvem, The Crown's bedroom.
The Crown looked out of the window, then they stood up and started walking towards the windows. Opening the windows, the Crown stared into a certain crimson eyed person's direction before letting out an exhausted sigh.
The Crown tapped the glass windows and spoke, "Invite the Commander of the Owl Hunter Division for me please."
They then gave it a thought before continuing, "Invite her for a meeting tomorrow, I'll meet her in the throne room by then."
The Crown put on their robes and softly shook their heads to the side.
"What are you doing, child. Ah, were you afraid of bringing an enemy back home? Is that it? Oh dear, i forgot to tell him that only he could enter inside..."
The Crown frowned, "Aschura would be enough to break him out of that Church-Turned-Cult's hands..."