Bastard Homunculus: Reborn in the Corpse Pit

"There sure were a lot of you...but if this is all that you're capable of even with these numbers, then you're no threat to us," Remarked Raven, as he lifted up the last remaining Inquisitor by the throat, he and Celia having killed the rest in no time.

"D-damn, you...!" The Inquisitor began shakily as he tried to pry Raven's hand off his neck, before a loud crunch rang out as Raven sharply tightened his grip, snapping the Inquisitor's neck.

Raven then pulled out a dagger that was lodged in his forearm, wincing slightly before tossing it away and healing himself, the wound steadily closing up.

"G-get away from me! I...I refuse to be slaughtered like an animal, especially at the hands of lowborn trash!" The Cardinal's voice rang out from the corner of the church.

Raven turned his gaze that way, to see Celia approaching Cardinal Bain Garnet, who was huddled by the corner of the church, holding a dagger and waving it out in front of himself frantically.

Celia swiftly swung her right foot out, striking his hand and knocking the dagger away, which hit the floor with a clatter and skidded away.

"Come on, show some dignity...is this really how you wanna go, screaming and crying like a little child?" She inquired icily, before swiftly raising her fist, the Cardinal flinching and shrinking back in terror as tears welled up in his eyes.

"Finish him off already, this is just pitiful," Sighed Raven, staring at the Cardinal disdainfully.

"N-no, please! Spare me! I-I'll do anything, I'll give y-you everything I own!" He cried in desperation.

"Wow, how generous...if only you'd shown that generous spirit to the people of this city you were supposed to protect, you wouldn't be in this situation in the first place. Now, [Exploding Fists]," Chanted Celia, a dark red glow shining out from under her gauntlets, before she drove her right fist down towards the Cardinal's head.

"W-wait...!" He yelled in despair, before being abruptly cut off as Celia's fist slammed onto the middle of his face with a loud crunch, breaking his nose and knocking out several teeth before a fierce explosion burst out, blood bursting out and splattering across the wall as she smashed his head in.

Cracks spread out across the wall behind him as chunks of his brain slid down the wall before hitting the floor with splats, shards of his skull scattered all around him.

"Looks like we're done with our part here...we should leave before-...," Began Raven as he walked over towards Celia, before trailing off as he sensed an unfamiliar presence suddenly entering the range of his Mana detection, right outside the church.

He quickly turned his gaze to the entrance as footsteps echoed out, Celia turning her attention that way as well, as a young man strolled in, glancing around at the corpses of the Inquisitors scattered all over the church.

"You've spilled so much blood inside a church...that's not good, it means you killed all these people," He remarked with a frown.

He was in his mid-twenties, with short, dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, a slightly dark complexion, and he was on the taller side with a muscular, strong build.

"Uh, kinda stating the obvious there, guy," Muttered Raven in bemusement.

"Shit...this is bad, this guy's not a target, he's a First-Class Knight of the First Squad, Arren Rowser," Celia muttered to Raven.

"Get the Teleport Spell, let's get out of here before he-...," Raven started to responded, before trailing off as Arren suddenly appeared right in between them.

He swiftly leapt up and swung his left fist towards Celia while simultaneously driving his right foot out towards Raven, his fist slamming onto Celia's gauntlets as she crossed her arms in front of herself defensively, right as Raven managed to grab his foot before it could hit him, blunting the force of the Knight's kick with his palm.

Raven then tightened his grip and flung Arren away, before he suddenly found himself hurtling back through the air, as Arren used the Switch Spell to swap places with Raven right after he was flung away.

"Right, I remember him from the list of Knights that the others compiled, he's a Teleporter and a Brawler. Celia and I could probably take him down under normal circumstances, but he isn't a target...and he isn't the kind of opponent we can easily defeat while pulling our punches," Raven thought to himself with a grimace, before firing out his beams at Arren, before his eyes widened in alarm as Celia suddenly appeared in his line of sight, as Arren swapped placed with her.

She quickly crossed her arms in front of herself as Raven jerked his head across as fast as he could, the trajectory of his beams veering off to the left and narrowly missing Celia, before he stiffened up as he sensed Arren suddenly appearing behind him.

He quickly coated his body in crackling, purple lightning, before Arren's scent and Mana signature suddenly disappeared from behind him, before reappearing a few meters away.

"You sure are a slippery one, aren't you?" Remarked Raven with a grimace.

"What? No, I'm quite dry, not sure what you mean," He responded with a confused tilt of his head.

"...what?"

"What?"

"No, I didn't mean that literally, I was trying to say that-...you know what, never mind."

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the city...

"Woah!" Exclaimed Aster in alarm, as he leapt back and narrowly avoided the swing of Rione's hammer, who then swiftly spun around as Tacitus sprang up behind him and swung his sword straight down.

Rione blocked the downward swing of the large blade with the handle of his hammer, a deafening clang ringing out upon impact as the blade slammed onto the handle, an intense shockwave erupting from the force of the collision.

Rione grimaced as his knees buckled slightly, before he swiftly took one hand off the handle and grabbed Tacitus's wrist, tightening his grip and spinning him around before flinging him towards Aster as he came charging in.

Aster's eyes widened in alarm before he quickly leapt out of the way, narrowly avoiding Tacitus who hit the ground and skidded away, before Aster quickly sprang back as Rione leapt straight towards him and whipped his hammer across towards Aster's head.

The top of the hammer grazed the tip of Aster's nose before he quickly backed away, grimacing as blood poured out of his nostrils, the force exerted by Rione's swing busting his nose despite the fact that the hammer barely made contact.

"I can see how you defeated Zilk so easily, the two of you are strong," He remarked, as Aster wiped away the blood running down from his nose.

He then shot forward and slammed his hammer onto the ground as Tacitus began to move towards Aster, a deafening crash ringing out as he split the ground apart upon impact, forcing the pair to scatter further away from each other.

"Does he know that we have Teleport Spells? It's certainly possible, the Commander and her direct subordinates likely reported that we escaped using Teleportation after we fought them outside the Quartz Ruins. At any rate, he's definitely making a clear effort to keep us from regrouping, and he's a lot more proficient with his weapon than we are with ours. No choice, then...," Tacitus thought to himself, before glancing at Aster, who gave him a subtle nod.

As Tacitus deactivated his Nullification Zone Spell, Aster swiftly raised his right hand and unleashed his Telekinetic Push Spell at Rione, who quickly raised his hammer up defensively as he noticed the dust in front of Aster getting disturbed, right as a powerful force hit him, his hammer absorbing most of the impact as his feet skidded back a couple of meters, his fingers jarred and stinging with pain.

As Aster then shot towards him rapidly, he was quick to adapt as he realized that Magic was no longer being dampened, before thrusting his hammer in Aster's direction and firing off a rapid, intense bolt of lightning towards him.

"[Nullify Spell]," Tacitus swiftly chanted, firing out a wave of nullifying energy, which struck the bolt of lightning and nullified it.

Undeterred, Rione whipped his hammer across, unleashing several crackling streaks of lightning as Aster began to close in on him.

As one of the streaks zipped towards Aster, he swiftly swung his black blade out, Rione's eyes widening in surprise as the blade absorbed the lightning upon impact, before he sprang back as Aster leapt straight towards him and swung his white blade across, cutting through the fabric over the Knight Captain's chest and drawing out trickled of blood as the tip of the blade grazed his skin, shaving off a bit of his stamina and transferring it to Aster.

Rione swiftly opened his mouth and fired out a crackling blast of lightning as Aster began to chase after him, forcing him to halt as he raised his black blade up defensively and absorbed the incoming lightning as the blade intercepted it before it could hit him.

His eyes then widened in alarm as Rione raised his hammer up high, intense sparks of lightning crackling around as a bright, electric glow shone out of it, sparks bursting out across the air around the head of the hammer as he tightened his grip around the handle.

Aster quickly backed away, getting as much distance from Rione as he could, right as Rione swung the hammer down, a sharp crackle ringing out as he slammed it onto the ground with a devastating impact, a deafening crash erupting as the ground shattered like glass, massive streaks of lightning bursting out as deep cracks spread out across the ground, which rumbled as clouds of dust rose up around the point of impact.

"[Nullification Wall]," Tacitus quickly chanted as one of the streaks barreled towards him faster than he could evade, just barely activating his Spell in time and forming a wall of nullifying energy in front of himself, canceling out the lightning as it collided against the wall.

Aster raced across to evade the attack, before leaping off to his right as one of the streaks closed in on him, charring the ground black in its trail as Aster narrowly avoided it, before whipped one of his blades across in Rione's direction and firing out a slashing wave of telekinesis.

Rione swiftly swung his hammer at the ground, striking up a large chunk of dirt, Aster's attack hitting it and slicing it in half, before racing away as Rione unleashed a barrage of lightning bolts at him.

As Aster evaded the incoming electric projectiles, Rione stopped firing and ducked as Tacitus appeared to his left and swung at his head with the flat of his sword, evading the swing of the large, heavy blade before driving his hammer towards Tacitus's stomach with a powerful thrust.

Tacitus quickly lowered his right hand and ran some Mana into his storage ring, manifesting his axe just in time, as the hammer slammed onto the head of the axe, deep cracks spreading out the slab of metal before it broke apart and shattered to pieces.

Tacitus grimaced in pain as a few of the metal shards got lodged into his stomach, his armor stopping them from piercing in too deeply as trickles of blood ran down and seeped into the fabric.

He then quickly sprang back with a pained grimace as he flung the handle of the broken axe at Rione with a rapid spin, who deflected it away with a swift swing of his hammer.

"Hm, strange, something about this feels off...it seems like they're holding back against me. The Pulverizer keeps using the flat of his blade instead of the edges, and the Dual Blader's Spells, it feels like he's not unleashing them at full force, the intensity of his attacks is inconsistent, like he's trying to figure out and adjust how much to hold back.

Most of all, I don't sense any killing intent behind either of their attacks at all. Why is that? It doesn't seem like they're doing it because they're underestimating me or anything like that, so then, why? Whatever the reason is, I'm feeling a bit insulted her," Rione thought to himself with a frown, before stating, "I'll warn you not to take me too lightly...you don't stand a chance of defeating me like this. So, by all means, keep holding back..."