96 Blood King

Behind him were four people in black soldier uniforms. They all wore a plain white mask with a bloody hand imprinted on it.

"I came here to honor the death of your son, Angus Concepcion Jr. under the orders of Black Devil." Blood King joggled his head from side to side. Inside, he was annoyed that Black Devil sent him to deal with such a trivial matter. "As such, the Concepcion Family is promoted from subsidiary to an ally. Okay, sign this contract so we're done here."

Handing Angus a tablet, Blood King collapsed to the sofa. He crossed his legs, his expression that of one that could care less. A thought popped up in his mind. "Oh yeah, who was the guy that knocked on your doors, killing tens of your finest men?"

"Uh…" Skimming through the contract, Angus signed it with his finger. "You mean Jeremy Chase? That bastard?"

"That bastard is also one of the reasons I'm here." Blood King dropped his feet to the ground and rested his shoulders on his knees. Resting his head on both of his hands, Blood King continued, "Black Devil is interested in his capabilities."

"Why? He's not that strong." Angus put down the tablet on the glass table. "He's smart, but he's not as strong as you think."

"Yes he is." Blood King took the tablet. He gave it to a man behind him. "I want to see him. His Ability, Master of Frost, is unique. He's here in your house's facility. Remember who gave you the funds to build that."

"I…" Angus couldn't finish his words as a sharp red blade was directed at his neck.

"You don't have a say in this. Or do you want us to kill your next successor?" Blood King signaled to Titus. "Remember, we're merely allies. We are not friends. I, alone, is still stronger than any of you here. I can kill every single person in this mansion with a hand behind my back."

Titus yelped. The amount of power reeking out of Blood King was otherworldly. Blood King was too powerful to the point that he choked a little.

"Y-yes. I will do as you wish." Angus bowed in fear. He stood up. Without a warning, a man in a suit barged into the door.

"Sir, Anton's missing." The man saluted as he spoke. "There is no trace of him at all. Also, the defense system has been compromised. All admins have been kicked and is unable to sound the alarm or activate the lockdown sequence. We suspect there might be some intruders."

"What?" Angus' voiced contained extreme rage. "That guy has one fucking job! Search the vicinity for possible intrusion. I'll deal with him later."

At that moment, laughter can be heard. Angus rotated his head to the source of laughing. It was Blood King. Angus' rage was quelled when he witnessed this. "W-what's funny?"

…..

Back in the underground facility. Hayden and his little group was walking back to the elevator. Every single person that came for them was killed by Hayden, wielder or not. Hayden had no misgivings doing so since they were from a mafia.

They all understood the dangers of this job when they took it. No matter if they had family or not, Hayden would not have any mercy on them at all. His argument for this was that: Would they show compassion if he was the one at their mercy? Short answer is: They would not. Besides, they were too weak. Having a quick painless death was a better way to go.

In the large lobby that had the elevator up, Hayden stopped. Sayuri informed Hayden of the people in the elevator, "There is a single Level 4 and five Level 3s."

"This way." Hayden led them into the east side of the facility, in a wide room. It was the training facility. Tapping something in his phone, the wall opened.

In that instance, a deep raging howl resounded throughout the facility. "Who the hell dares to invade the Concepcion Family?"

Hayden could sense that in the elevator, out came seven people. With his Heavenly Sense, one disappeared and appeared in front of them.

"Oh, you're not going anywhere." Blood King talked. In his hands are two long crimson blades. He pointed the blade on his right hand to Jeremy. Blood King's eyes narrowed as if he pondered something. "You've caused enough trouble here. I need that man or else."

"Wolf-san?" Hayden switched his language to Japanese. "Will you be able to handle him?"

"Of course." Sayuri's voice was solemn and full of confidence. "As long as you promise me a date, I'll be able to keep him away from you."

"I'm going to have to say 'we'll see what will happen.'" Hayden chuckled. Even in the face of danger, Sayuri was rather mischievous.

Sayuri's size grew. She looked amazing with her fur being light blue in color. She threw her mask, hanbok, and undergarments to Hayden. Hayden didn't comment in spite of feeling a little uncomfortable. "Tiger-chan. Protect our dear fox, okay?"

"Of course I'll protect him. He's too weak to be left alone." Chung-hee coldly replied. Hayden could sense concern mixed in there. "Also, don't put the suffix –chan on me ever again."

"Don't die, Wolf-san. She will kill me." Hayden finally showed worry for Sayuri.

Sayuri stepped forward, her eyes glowing blue. Her fur was light blue in color. She talked in English, "Shall we?"

"A werewolf, huh? You don't see that one much in the Philippines." Blood King similarly spoke in English. "Are you a foreigner?"

"I don't see why I have to answer that." Sayuri coldly answered. Her voice remained cute despite of it being angry. She brandished her claws.

While they were talking, the ground trembled. The sound of footsteps by something massive can be heard.

"Tough crowd." Blood King smiled, shifting into a taller man, enveloped by some sort of red armor. The two's figures flickered. Sayuri's claws and Blood King's two blood swords clashed.

Blood King muttered, "Oh I'm so gonna enjoy taking your life."

Blood King's sword was ignited into flames. Sayuri retreated from the heat of the flames. She disappeared again, this time behind Blood King. She was too fast for the eyes to see.

Instinctively, Blood King parried the claws with his blood sword. Unfortunately for him, Sayuri has imbued her claws with lunar energy, cleanly slicing through the blood weaponry.

"Oh crap." Blood King's back within the armor bulked up. As Sayuri's claws teared into his armor, she hit something hard. "I have many power-"

Before he can finish his sentence, Sayuri hacked towards his arms. Reflexively, he elbowed Sayuri to the face, making her flinch. Regardless, her claw didn't stop, slicing his arm cleanly.

Afterwards, she grabbed him by the head and flung him to the right. She followed up with a jump. She pulled her legs in and kicked Blood King. The immense force of her kick sent Blood King flying to the wall.

A large dent formed in the wall he crashed into, the walls trembling. With a punch, Sayuri sent him flying through the wall. He was sent to the adjacent room on the northern side. It was the staffroom.

…..

Hayden and Chung-hee both felt the tremble of the ground. On the other end. At the door. The doorway was broken open as a towering black golem came inside.

"Who has the audacity to dare fucking barge in my facility and kill all my men?" A deep voice originated from the golem. This was Angus' Ability, the same as Titus', the Blackstone Golem.

"Ayesha, go to that room. That door." Hayden pointed to a door to the south side of the facility. "That's a weapons vault. Before I came in, I registered your Identity Number as a precaution and made sure that it cannot be tracked. Go, now."

Ayesha supported her limping father to where Hayden pointed her. That's when someone blocked their way. It was one of Blood King's troops.

He burst into flames. "You're not going anywhere, young lady."

"Tiger-san." Hayden shouted, activating his Indestructible Devil. "You know what to do."

"Yeah, yeah." A tiger made of darkness actualized on the right side of the combusting wielder. It pounced on the wielder. "Go."

Ayesha heeded her words. At the same time, Angus screamed, "Kill the Level 2 and the Level 3 first."

The rest of the Level 3 wielders that accompanied Blood King rushed towards Hayden and Chung-hee alongside Angus.

"Shall we dance, noona?" Hayden called Chung-hee noona at this critical juncture. As a result, Chung-hee was embarrassed.

"Shut up and fight." A tiger made of wind materialized in front of her and merged with her. "I'm going in first."

"We'll see about that." Alike Chung-hee, Hayden vanished.

Ahead of her, Chung-hee summoned her fiery tiger. It tackled the first Level 3 wielder it saw. The tiger slashed at the chest of the man. As for Chung-hee, she opted for the other one, punching him in the face and sent him flying.

When Hayden reached them, with a jump, he threw a punch to Angus in the face. This made Angus stumble and nearly caused him to lose balance. Next, Hayden jumped and kicked Angus in the chest, actually making him sit on his ass.

The man wrestling with the fiery tiger sent the tiger flying with a metallic bat. When he recovered, he went to help his ally that was being sliced by Chung-hee.

This kick wasn't only to kick Angus, he made use of him as a stepping stone. Executing a front flip mid-air, Hayden winded his legs and kicked the Level 3 wielder going for Chung-hee on the head, driving it to the floor. The man's head was embedded on the floor with this kick, naturally killing him.

With a punch, Chung-hee sent her opponent flying. The one who recently broke free of her fiery tiger snuck up on her and choked her with his metal bat.

Unfortunately for him, as a martial artist, Chung-hee knew the liver blow. She elbowed the wielder on his right side with extreme force, making him partially lose strength. He loosened his chokehold on Chung-hee.

With a twist, Chung-hee kicked the man in the temple with her heel, knocking him down on the ground.

Running back towards the golem, Hayden jumped. Angus was standing up and saw Hayden. Hayden pulled his fist back. When he came close, his arm flashed, a miniature sonic boom sounding out.

The next second, all Angus saw was a fist as his entire body flew back, destroying the doorway even more.

Out of the blue, Hayden sensed a person behind Angus. The ground trembled as Angus was helped up. He had no time to mind that as the man wrestling with the darkness tiger has recovered.

"I'll take care of him." Chung-hee said. "Go protect your client."

Hayden didn't respond, merely running to Ayesha, who was struggling to open the door. Hayden shouted, "Why haven't you gone in yet?"

"I can't open it!" Ayesha scanned her hands on the door. It glowed in a red hue. The words 'invalid identity' showed.

"Fuck." With his phone, Hayden remotely commanded the door to open. It opened without a fuss. "Go, go, go!"

Without a warning, Hayden was sent flying backwards. It was Angus. "Son, follow them inside the vault. Kill that girl. She's the same as your Level."

"Ayesha, close the vault inside!" With his feet sliding on the ground, Hayden yelled. He noticed another Blackstone Golem emerging behind Angus. It transformed into a human. Hayden recognized him. "Fucking goddammit."

Hayden propelled himself as the door to the vault closed. Regrettably, Angus has predicted his flight path and blocked his way. He was smashed downwards.

With his Heavenly Sense, Hayden perceived Titus going in as the vault door closed itself. He groaned. It was a good thing that his Indestructible Devil was nothing to scoff at, otherwise, he'd be dead.

His eyes turned cold. He adapted the fighting stance he developed. This stance had his right fist slightly open forming a partial fist and up on the level of his chin. His left hand was likewise halfway open into a fist and was positioned parallel to his waist, similar to the hitman style.

His left foot was slightly forward. His right foot in the back, angled to the right. His knees were bent slightly and tensed up. It had no name as it was an experimental stance.

"Let's finish this, shall we?" Hayden said emotionlessly with his demonic voice. "I have somewhere to be, Angus Concepcion."

"You underestimate me, fox man." Angus yowled in rage. He didn't dare underestimate Hayden although he was a puny Level 2 wielder. Hayden was the one who knocked him off his feet after all.

Meanwhile, as she ran, Chung-hee removed her wind tiger out of her and fused with her fiery tiger. With a leap, Chung-hee tackled the man wanting to help Angus. She executed a backflip when that finished. With her claws, she prevented herself from sliding further.

"You'd have to get past me, blazing man." Chung-hee provoked the brilliantly flaring man.

The two clashed. Alas, Chung-hee used her claws and not her fist. Her fire claws pierced through the knuckle of the wielder. Without giving him time to react, Chung-hee stabbed the stomach of the fiery wielder multiple times. She was careful to not let her hanbok make contact with the man at all.

Without waiting for Angus to charge, Hayden sprinted to him. Angus gladly attacked with his huge right fist. Sidestepping, Hayden moved both his hands. He wrapped it at Angus' forearm.

Spinning his body and tightening his grip on the large forearm, Hayden lifted Angus off of his feet. He slammed Angus down to the floor with a shoulder throw.

The entire facility tremored from this. A large crater was produced from the force of Hayden's throw. However, Hayden wasn't done.

With one more rotation, Hayden lifted Angus again. Hayden did another back throw on Angus. This time, the back throw was so fast that it happened in a microsecond.

A powerful wave of air crashed at Chung-hee. Good thing she was merged with her fiery tiger, or else she would've been sent flying back.

"How powerful…" She was amazed of Hayden's power. "He was able to lift that golem? Noona has a great eye…"

…..

In the staffroom. Blood King stood up. Sayuri didn't give him time as she slashed her claws towards him.

Blood King crossed his hands as a shield was summoned in front of him. The shield was white in color. Its rim was inlaid with gold.

Sayuri's claws simply made sparks and clanged when her claws made contact. "Cool it lady. I don't want to seriously hurt you."

"You? Hurt me?" Sayuri was offended of Blood King's words. As a result, she infused higher amounts of lunar energy into her claws.

When the light of the claws intensified, Blood King knew that he was doomed. Regardless, he couldn't react as Sayuri has finally enhanced her physique with essence energy. Indeed, she was holding back.

With another strike of her claws, the shield was sliced to half cleanly. The parts where the shield was sliced glowed blue.

"Holy shit." Blood King cursed. He now understood how powerful Sayuri truly was. He grasped that he had no chance. "We can talk this through!"

Sayuri didn't listen as she disappeared. Blood King caught a glimpse of her only when she was throwing a fist towards her. "I didn't want to use this…"

Abruptly, Blood King scattered into small blood particles. He emerged behind Sayuri with a naginata in hand. The naginata's shaft was blue. It had a beautiful black blade. The part connecting the blade and the shaft was golden in color.

Sayuri sidestepped. Simultaneously, she performed a twist kick that struck Blood King at the abdomen. Blood King was frustrated. Nobody has ever been able to beat him to this extent. Not even his fellow Limang Daliri members. "Okay, that's it."

Blood King's eyes glowed red as he forcefully stopped his flight. His armor changed into that of a large knight's armor. A knight's helmet formed on his head with a t-shape hole. The hole glowed red. A red blood buster blade took form in his hands alongside a scutum-shaped shield.

"Come." Blood King pointed the buster blade's point at Sayuri.

In response, Sayuri charged to him. She pierced her claws at his stomach. Blood King blocked the attack with his shield. The intense force behind Sayuri's attack forced him backwards. Ultimately, he stood his ground.

"This is my secret weapon. Be thankful that you get to die at its hands." Blood King hacked his blade at Sayuri. The dazzling speed of the blade left Sayuri almost no time to react. It missed her arm by a breadth of a hair.

When Sayuri dodged, she ducked, spun, and kicked Blood King on the feet. Blood King lost balance. It was clear that Sayuri was much more experienced than him in fighting.

That was when he felt extreme vibrations on the ground akin to an earthquake's. "Fucking hell, they were all defeated. Wait… A Level 2 wielder with a fox-mask. That wolf-mask and that tiger-mask."

He realized something. Howbeit, he wasn't left with any time to ponder things over as Sayuri's lunar energy-infused claws that had a glaring blue glow was coming at him.

"Goodbye for now." With that, Blood King dissipated his armor. His shape became that of a small bat's. Due to his absurd flight speed, she lost him.

"Ahh…" Sayuri was disappointed. That was a Level 4 wielder. She could have used his Origin Crystal.

…..

In the weapons vault. Unlike its name suggested, the weapons vault had nothing in it. It was a big empty space. When the door closed, Ayesha panicked at the sight of Titus. Until her father stammered. "A-Ayesha. He's a Level 1 wielder. Y-you can defeat him."

"B-but." Ayesha saw Titus transformed in front of her.

"Ayesha. Y-your Ability. Use it." Jeremy pointed to a corner. He coughed. "D-drop me by that wall. Fight, Ayesha, fight. T-the world is filled with people like them."

"Okay, enough chit-chat." Titus' deep golem voice scared the shit out of Ayesha. "Whoever you are, I'll kill you if you don't drop that son of a bitch."

Ayesha's face twitched under the mask when she heard that. "Okay, father. I will fight."