Bastard Homunculus: Reborn in the Corpse Pit

As Arren swapped places with Celia, Raven's eyes widened slightly as she appeared in front of him in midair with a bemused look on her face, before the same realization hit them as they met each other's gazes.

"This is our chance!" They both thought in unison, before Raven swiftly reached out and caught Celia as she began to plummet, pulling her close holding her in his arms as she reached into her pocket.

Raven swiftly unleashed a wide blast of purple flames from his mouth, obscuring the two of them and the area around them from Arren's line of sight as the flames erupted out in front of the pair.

"What are they-...? Oh, no!" Arren realized too late as he teleported a few meters away to avoid the flames, turning his gaze towards the pair right as Celia took out the Teleport Spell and ran her Mana through it, the two of them disappearing before Arren could react.

He was dumbfounded for a moment, before clenching his fists in frustration as he realized he'd inadvertently given them to very opening to escape that they'd been looking for.

He then headed towards the church entrance with a grimace, stepping past the corpses of the Inquisitors scattered about the floor, carefully avoiding the puddles of blood as he made his way out of the building.

"I really messed up...damn it, I gave them exactly what they wanted. Still, something about that whole fight felt off...they definitely weren't trying to kill me. The girl, her Magic was dangerous, but it seemed like she was only using Level 1 Spells. And the other one, I believe he was the infamous Homunculus, the intensity of each of his attacks were inconsistent to each other, as if he was figuring out how much to hold back or something.

Obviously, they have no problem with killing people, they massacred these Inquisitors and Cardinal Garnet. So, then, why were they holding back against me? It doesn't make any sense, The Irregulars have killed a number of Knights in the past, so why weren't they trying to kill me?" He wondered in confusion, as he stepped out of the church with a puzzled look on his face...

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the city...

"Tch, this is getting annoying!" Snapped Lexia, firing a bone blade out of her palm as an arrow came shooting down towards her.

The bone struck the arrow and shattered it upon impact, before Lexia swiftly sprang back as the Lancer slashed at her stomach with his spear, before she crossed her arms in front of herself and activated her Bone Gauntlets Spell as he unleashed a swirling blast of water at her.

Her feet skidded back along the ground as the blast slammed onto her arms, cracks spreading out across the bony gauntlets, before she willingly shattered them into dozens of small shards and sent them shooting out towards the Lancer, as a barrage of ice arrows came raining down towards her.

The Lancer raised his spear and spun it around in front of himself defensively, managing to block a few of the shards before crying out in pain as some of them slipped past his defense and grazed his sides.

He stopped spinning the spear as his body stiffened up from the point, before he gasped sharply as a couple of the shards struck his torso, one getting lodged into the right side of his chest and the other piercing into the middle of his stomach, as Lexia raced across to evade the arrows.

She fired out several bone projectiles from her fingertips, deflecting a few of the arrows before grimacing as one grazed the top of her right shoulder, slicing through her skin and drawing out trickles of blood.

Suddenly, a burst of red erupted in her peripheral, as Colt unleashed his Blood Mist Spell as his opponent shot towards him, the crimson cloud spreading out and growing denser as he unleashed the Spell a couple more times.

Lexia quickly acted, using it as a distraction as she shot towards her own opponent, who was pulling the bone shards out of his body, before his eyes widened in alarm as he saw Lexia charging in towards him.

She then came to an abrupt halt and sprang back as several arrows came shooting down, hitting the ground in between her and her opponent.

"Damn it, you're so fucking annoying...!"

Suddenly, a cry of alarm rang out from the cloud of blood mist, before footsteps echoed out. Colt emerged from the mist with a smirk, holding his opponent up in front of himself.

His opponent's limbs were tightly bound with blood tendrils, with a tendril with a sharpened edge hovering by the side of his neck. As the blood mist cleared, his sword came into sight, laying on the ground.

"Unless you want to give me the opportunity to test out my new meatshield, you might want to stop firing those arrows!" He called out to the top of the building, before glancing at the Lancer and adding, "You stay put too, first lay your weapon down and back away...make any sudden moves and I'll stab right through this guy's jugular."

The Knight hesitated before placing his spear down and backing away with a grimace, a look of frustration on his face as Colt approached Lexia.

"Tch...I hate to admit it, but that was well done. Let's get out of here while we still have the chance, before they call your bluff," Remarked Lexia quietly, grabbing his arm as she took out the Teleport Spell.

"Yeah, alright," Nodded Colt, before swiftly tossing the restrained Knight towards the other one, whose eyes widened in alarm before his fellow Knight crashed onto him, the pair collapsing in a heap before Lexia quickly activated the Teleport Spell as several ice arrows came zipping down towards them.

They reappeared a few dozen meters outside the city's border, right as the arrows were about to close in on them.

"Fuck! That damned Archer!" Snapped Lexia in frustration.

"They sure were impressive...that last volley of arrows, there was only a split second between when I got rid of my meatshield and you activated the Spell, but the arrows still very nearly reached us. One was right in front of my eye...and I already know how painful it is to lose an eye, so I have no interest in experiencing that particular pain again. Plus, you know, it'd suck to end up blind," Replied Colt with a wistful sigh.

"Grr..."

"Hm? Oh, hey, the others are heading over...guess we were the last ones to escape," Remarked Colt, as he spotted the others approaching.

"Glad to see you two managed to get out okay, too. I take it you were ambushed by Knights of the First Squad too?" Aster greeted them with a wave.

"Yeah, something like that...," Muttered Lexia with an annoyed huff.

"We had to fight the Captain of the First Squad. It really sucked, he was strong," Grumbled Tacitus, an irritated look on his face.

"We fought Arren Rowser, one of the First Squad's First-Class Knights," Chimed in Celia.

"He was pretty tough, we only got away because he messed up," Added Raven with a slight sigh.

"What about you guys?" Aster asked the Assassin pair.

"Grr...we were attacked by a pair of Second-Class Knights and an Archer we didn't get a look at, but it was probably the other First-Class Knight under the Captain's direct command," Replied Lexia with a frown.

"You mean the one who's considered to be the best sniper in the Kingdom? Yeah, that's not a great match-up for you two," Responded Aster sympathetically.

"If it makes you feel any better, this guy really messed up against the First Squad Captain...he had a countermeasure against the Telekinetic Zone, which resulted in this idiot totally panicking," Tacitus informed them dryly.

"Wha-...hey! That's a bit harsh and overstating it, I already told you, I didn't panic!" Aster shot back defensively.

"Oh? I'd like to hear more about this, please," Grinned Colt with a look of intrigue.

"I suppose I could use a pick-me-up right about now," Added Lexia with a slight gleam in her eyes.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious too," Chimed in Raven sheepishly.

"Same here, lay it on us!" Remarked Celia in fascination.

"Alright, so he got trapped in a cage of lightning and-...," Began Tacitus.

"H-hey, uh, we should leave and head back to the new hideout! The Knights might come looking for us, so we should go before they show up!" Aster swiftly interrupted him.

"I mean, I'll be able to sense them, so-...," Raven began to point out.

"We don't have time to mess around...we need to get back and think about our next move. We need to get stronger, so that means more training."

"Fine, let's go back. After all, it'll be better that way; we can sit back and relax as Tacitus regales us with how pathetic Aster was against the First Squad Captain," Smirked Lexia with a thoughtful nod.

"Sure, sounds good to me," He responded with a thumbs up.

"Damn it, you guys suck...," Grumbled Aster saltily...