Bastard Homunculus: Reborn in the Corpse Pit

As the trio of Knights came charging in towards him, Aster swiftly unleashed a small but intense telekinetic shockwave, knocking them back as they closed in on him, before he shot towards the entrance of their outpost, as he noticed one of the Knights inside rushing towards a drawer and pulled it out, starting to reach into it.

"[Telekinetic Pull]!" He chanted as he raised his right hand in the direction of the drawer, yanking it out of the Knight's hands before he could take hold of a Teleport Spell, as the drawer came zipping through the air towards Aster.

As it got within his reach, he grabbed it before peering in and telekinetically crushing the Spell Cards in it, before he swiftly ducked as Dox closed in on him from the left and swung a spear across at his head, narrowly evading the blade of the spear as it whizzed past the top of his head.

He then raised his palm and fired out a sharp burst of telekinesis at Dox, eliciting a gasp of pain from him as the attack struck his stomach and sent him flying back.

"D-damn it...[Dark Spear]!" Chanted Dox through gritted teeth, taking aim as he went hurtling back through the air and fired out a rapid Dark Magic projectile at Aster, before his back hit the ground and he skidded away painfully.

As the projectile began to close in on Aster's left, Diar appeared to his right with a bright glow around his fists as Jacks sprang up behind him, the pair converging in on him simultaneously with Dox's Spell.

Diar swung his right fist towards the side of Aster's head as Jacks drew out a pair of twin short-swords, the blades vibrating with a high-pitched ringing as he began to slash them across at Aster's back.

Aster swiftly ducked below Diar's fist, whose eyes widened in alarm as the dark projectile came shooting towards his wrist as his fist whizzed past the top of Aster's head, before cracks appeared in the air behind Aster as he formed a telekinetic wall to block Jacks's slashes.

He then swiftly slammed his palm onto the middle of Diar's torso as he lost his balance by hurriedly pulling his arm back to avoid Dox's Dark Spear Spell, which grazed the front of his knuckles before he got sent hurtling back through the air as Aster unleashed a telekinetic blast from his palm against the Knight's stomach at point-blank range, eliciting a wheezing gasp from Diar as the impact knocked the wind out of him.

Aster then spun around as Jacks shattered the telekinetic wall and leapt towards him, swinging his blades down as Aster swiftly raised his own pair of twin blades up, a sharp clang echoing out as the blades collided against each other.

"[Sonic-...]...!" Jacks began to chant, before Aster quickly swung his arms out while simultaneously unleashing bursts of telekinesis from his blades, knocking Jacks back as a blast of high-pitched noise burst out of his mouth, shooting over the top of Aster's head as the Knight got sent flying back.

Aster then tilted his upper body back as Dox came charging in from his right and leapt forward, driving his spear towards Aster, the blade of the weapon coated in a dark, shadowy haze.

As the spear zipped past the front of Aster's chest, Dox took one hand off his spear and began to charge up a Spell, before Aster swiftly drove his black blade forward, the tip of the blade stabbing into Dox's palm and absorbing the Spell, his eyes widening in alarm before Aster unleashed a telekinetic shockwave to blow him away, eliciting a sharp yelp from the Knight.

"Alright, I've kept them occupied for a while, I think I've bought enough time...I'll head to the church and regroup with Tacitus," Decided Aster, before suddenly sprinting away in the direction of the church, surprising the Knights.

"What the-...after him! We can't let him get away!" Exclaimed Jacks, snapping out of it after a moment of bewilderment.

The trio gave chase as Aster raced away at top speed, swerving and weaving across as they fired a barrage of Spells at him, but were unable to close the gap, as he evaded their attacks.

As they ramped up the intensity of their barrage, Aster formed a telekinetic wall behind himself, the incoming Spells colliding against it with immense force before shattering it.

Aster's ears then perked up as the sound of several loud crashes echoed out in the distance, coming from the direction of the church.

As the building came into sight, both Aster and the Knights stared in bemusement as they watched as the top part of the bell tower above the church came flying through the air towards them, their eyes widening in alarm as it came plummeting down.

Aster picked up his pace and leapt forward as it closed in, a deafening crash ringing out behind him as the large mass of concrete slammed onto the ground between him and the Knights, the ground shaking violently upon impact as deep cracks spread out, a thick cloud of dust rising up before Aster continued making his way towards the church.

"That should buy me at least a few more seconds, they shouldn't be able to catch up to me with any ease," Aster thought to himself as he glanced back at the rising dust cloud, before turning his gaze forward.

It wasn't much longer before he arrived at the church, right as Tacitus emerged from the entrance, leaping back before his feet hit the ground and skidded back, a grimace on his face.

"Huh? He's not done yet?" Thought Aster in surprise, before calling out, "Hey, what's taking so long!? I thought I'd have bought you more than enough time by now!"

"Yeah, well...she's stronger than we anticipated, and my Nullification Magic isn't having any effect on the collar controlling her!" Responded Tacitus as he glanced at Aster, right as the sharp crack of a whip rang out from the church entrance.

Ravella stepped out, a diagonal crack across her mask and a swirling sphere of light in her right hand, with her whip in her left.

"I see...alright, then, let me have a go at her," Remarked Aster, as he took a step towards her...

Meanwhile, in Sapphire City...

As Lexia raced away from the Knight outpost and headed in the direction of the church, she quickly turned her gaze to the right as she spotted a glint in her peripheral, right in time as a barrage of ice arrows came shooting down towards her.

She quickly halted and turned across as she extended out a pair of bone blades from her hands, whipping them around in front of her as the arrows closed in and deflected them away.

"Tch, so it's you again. Well, a big reason why I decided to come to Sapphire City was for a rematch against that Archer, so I have no complaints about this...I'm guessing the Knights at the outpost must have alerted them using their walkie-talkies," Surmised Lexia with a grimace, before her eyes widened in alarm as a figure suddenly appeared to her left, with their right fist drawn back.

She quickly turned towards them and crossed her arms in front of herself as she formed a layer of bone over her hands and forearms, grimacing as they drove their fist forward and slammed onto her arms, a couple of cracks spreading out across the layer of bone as her feet skidded back a few paces.

"Your Magic really does use bones, huh?" Remarked the Knight with a look of intrigue.

"Arren Rowser, First-Class Knight of the First Squad...I should warn you, I'm not nearly as nice as the pair you fought last time. Best get out of here if you don't want to get hurt," Responded Lexia, as she swung her right arm out, whipping one of her bone blades across and deflecting an incoming ice arrow.

"Well, I don't want to get hurt...but I can't leave either," He replied with a shake of his head, before swiftly teleporting behind Lexia as more ice arrows came raining down towards her.

She swiftly extended out bone spikes from her elbows towards Arren as he appeared behind her, his eyes widening in alarm before he quickly sprang back, grimacing as the tip of one of the spikes pierced in just below the left side of his ribcage, as Lexia quickly shot forward, wincing in pain as one of the arrows grazed the back of her neck, drawing out trickles of blood.

She then spun around and raised her blades, before her eyes widened in surprise as several arrows came shooting down towards Arren, the realization hitting her as he locked his gaze onto her, before suddenly switching places with her as the arrows closed in on him.

She quickly burst out several bones from her right arm and side, several of the incoming arrows shattering as they struck the bones spikes, but a couple of them managed to get through, one grazing Lexia's back and the other slicing across her skin just below her chest, blood trickling out and seeping into the fabric of her top, before she quickly jerked her head across to the left as Arren appeared and rapidly drove his fist towards her side, a firm thud echoing out as his fist slammed onto that spot, a frown appearing on his face.

"That didn't feel right," He frowned in confusion, before quickly backing away and teleporting several meters away as Lexia fired out a barrage of bone bullets at him, a couple of them grazing him before he disappeared from sight.

She then quickly raced away as more arrows came shooting down towards her, before halting as Arren appeared right in front of her and slammed his fist onto her stomach, his forehead scrunching up as the impact felt off again before he winced sharply as a stinging pain burst out across the front of his fist.

He quickly pulled his arm back and backed away, blood streaming down his hand, a couple of stab wounds in the gaps between his knuckles.

"I see, you formed a layer of bone over your stomach to block my strike, and then you extended out spikes fromnit it," Surmised Arren, as pieces of spiky bone fell out from under Lexia's top, as she swiftly backed away to evade another barrage of incoming arrows.

"Tch, Teleporters are such a pain to go up against...still, I'm getting used to his timing, I-...," Lexia thought to herself, before her train of thought was cut off as the sound of footsteps approaching echoed out from a nearby alley.

"Sorry I took so long to get here, but it looks like you two are holding your own just fine."

"Captain! It's good to see you," Arren greeted him.

"Fuck, the Captain's here now too? Well, this isn't good...I've been holding off on using Venom, but if I have to fight him too, there's no way I can keep holding back. I mean, this is the guy who nearly defeated Aster, after all. Plus, Tacitus only made three Teleport Spells this time, one for each pair, so it's not like I can leave by myself," Frowned Lexia warily, tossing one of her bone blades away and drawing out the Relic Armament dagger from her lower back.

About a month ago, Tacitus had finally figured out how to create a Long-Range Teleport Spell that teleports the user to a specific location, but since the process was so complex and intricate, he only managed to make three of those Spells.

And since he'd spent the preceding several months working on figuring out how to formulate the Spell, he didn't have time to make and stock up on the usual one-kilometer Teleport Spells.

They only had one of those Spell Cards left, and it only had a few uses remaining before it'd burn out, and Aster was currently holding onto that Spell Card.

"Stand down, you two...I'll finish this," Remarked Rione, as he manifested his hammer, Mjolnir, from his Storage Ring, lightning crackling around the head of the hammer as he swiftly shot towards Lexia, who quickly took on a defensive stance and braced herself with a grimace.

As he began to close in on her, he suddenly came to an abrupt halt and swung him hammer across to the left as a flash of red came shooting out towards him from a nearby alley, a sharp sizzle ringing out as the hammer struck the incoming projectile, the stench of burnt blood bursting out as the projectile erupted into a small cloud of crimson mist.

"Another one?" Frowned Arren, as Colt emerged from the alley with a smirk.

"Oh, no, don't tell me-...you, what were you upto before coming here?" Inquired Rione with a grimace.

"How sharp, Captain of the First Squad...yeah, my friend over there was just a distraction, and it worked. Let's just say that I gave the church a fresh coat of vibrant red paint," He replied tauntingly.

"I see...Arren, I'll leave the girl to you, I'll take on this one. Keep them away from each other, don't let them regroup," Instructed Rione, before turning his gaze up to the top of the building the Archer was on and calling out, "Quila, do what you do best and back us up! I'm counting on you!"

He then shot towards Colt as Arren teleported behind Lexia, who spun around and extended out several bone spikes at him from her hands, before springing back as he quickly leapt off to his right, narrowly evading the bone spikes before teleporting away.

She then glanced at Colt, before swiftly flinging the dagger towards him as he met her gaze. He caught it right as Rione closed in on him, swiftly side-stepping to evade a downward swing of his hammer, before Colt whipped the dagger across towards Rione's left side, cutting through his armor and grazing his skin.

Rione gritted his teeth with a slight wince of pain before unleashing a sharp burst of lightning from his body, as Colt quickly sprang back, his body seizing up as a streak of lightning struck his left leg, electrocuting him before Rione swiftly leapt towards him with his hammer raised high, intense sparks of lightning crackling around the head of the weapon as a bright, electric glow shone out of it.

Colt shifted his weight back, tilting his body before unleashing a pressurized burst of blood from the soles of his feet, launching himself several meters backwards right as the hammer slammed onto the ground where he'd been standing, vicious sparks of lightning erupting out of the hammer upon impact as deep cracks spread out across the dirt, bursts of dust billowing out.

As the jets of blood from his feet began to slow down, his feet hit the ground and skidded back, before he quickly got low as a couple of ice arrows came shooting down towards him, before he glanced ahead as Rione came charging forward rapidly, dragging his hammer along the ground as he charged it with lightning, the dirt in its trail getting charred black.

As he closed in on Colt, he whipped his hammer forward, launching bits of charred dirt towards his face as the hammer came rapidly zipping up with an electric crackle.

A sharp, deafening clang rang out as Colt blocked the upward swing of the hammer with the tip of his dagger, the dirt peppering his face as he closed his eyes, the impact jarring his arms as the hammer drove the base of the handle of the dagger into his chest, before he was knocked off his feet and got sent flying back.

He then quickly extended out a blood tendril as several ice arrows came shooting down towards him, the tendril wrapping around a lamppost before he pulled himself across and out of the way of the arrows, which got lodged into the ground.

"D-damn, my arms are all tingly...you pack quite a punch," Smirked Colt, before thinking to himself as his arms trembled while Rione eyed him warily, "This guy's clearly cautious about us regrouping and teleporting away, after his encounter with Aster and Tacitus. If only Tacitus had been able to make more than just the three Teleport Spells this time. Oh, well, no point in dwelling over that."

"Uh...why's your face so flushed? And why are you breathing so heavily? Are you...are you getting off on the pain?" Inquired Rione in bewilderment, noticing the pleasure in Colt's expression.

"What? No...not yet. But inflict a bit more pain and I'll get there," Chuckled Colt, before whipping a blood tendril across as an ice arrow came shooting towards him, shattering it before it could reach him...