Invincible Blood Sorceror

Jorghan looked around the featureless white space, analyzing, planning.

"You think I'm trapped in here with you. You should realize the truth: you're trapped in here with me."

"I'm not inside the space," Wei Lin replied, his voice carrying confidence.

"I control it from outside. You're alone in there, powerless to affect anything in—"

Jorghan's blood essence exploded outward with force that made reality scream.

The pocket dimension wasn't a truly separate universe. It was a folded space, reality bent and twisted into a configuration that created the illusion of an isolated zone. But it was still part of the same fundamental reality, still connected to normal space through the dimensional barriers Wei Lin maintained.

And barriers could be broken.

Jorghan's essence, amplified to levels that exceeded anything he'd shown before, struck the dimensional walls with surgical precision. He could sense them now, feel the places where reality had been folded, and identify the weak points in Wei Lin's construction.

Blood essence poured into those weak points like water finding cracks in a dam. The dimensional barriers held for several seconds, Wei Lin's considerable power resisting the assault, but Jorghan's full might was greater. Much greater.

The pocket dimension shattered.

Reality snapped back to normal with a thunderclap that shattered windows for three blocks. Jorghan stood in the middle of the street again, his crimson form blazing with power, his eyes fixed on Wei Lin, who staggered backward with blood streaming from his nose and ears.

Creating and maintaining pocket dimensions was mentally intensive. Having one destroyed from inside was like having someone detonate a bomb in your skull. Wei Lin collapsed, unconscious before he hit the ground, his brain shutting down to prevent permanent damage from the feedback.

Three down.

Two remaining.

Cassandra and Dr. Cross remained, both breathing hard, both showing signs of strain from the extended battle. Dr. Cross's wounded leg was barely supporting his weight, the tourniquet slowing but not stopping the blood loss. Cassandra appeared physically unharmed but her expression showed someone rapidly recalculating their survival odds.

"This was a mistake," she said quietly.

"Luke didn't tell us what we were actually up against."

"Retreat," Dr. Cross urged.

"Call for backup, regroup, come back with overwhelming force."

"There is no backup stronger than us," Cassandra replied.

"We're the overwhelming force. If we can't handle this, no one can."

She looked at the three unconscious or dying S-Rank awakeners scattered around the street. Marcus is down from cerebral hypoxia. Yuki drowned in her own blood from destroyed lungs. Wei Lin's brain hemorrhaged from dimensional feedback.

The team that had never failed a mission was failing spectacularly.

"One more attempt," Cassandra decided.

"Full power, coordinated strike, everything we have left. Either we win or we retreat and tell the corporation he's beyond our capability."

Dr. Cross nodded, gathering his remaining strength.

They attacked simultaneously.

Cassandra's kinetic manipulation affected Jorghan directly, trying to slow his movements, reduce his velocity to zero, and make him an easy target. Dr. Cross's electromagnetic abilities manifested as a focused beam of energy that could cut through steel, aimed at Jorghan's head with intent to decapitate.

It was a good plan. A perfect coordinated assault that utilized their remaining strengths against his apparent weaknesses.

It failed because Jorghan had been holding back.

His blood essence didn't just control blood in other bodies. It could control his own blood flow, accelerate it, enhance it, use it to augment his physical capabilities beyond what even the Berserk Lord transformation normally allowed.

When Cassandra tried to slow him, Jorghan accelerated his blood flow to compensate. His muscles received oxygen and nutrients at rates that defied biology, letting him move at speeds that overcame her kinetic manipulation through sheer excess of chemical fuel.

He crossed the distance between them faster than she could react.

His hand closed around her throat, blood essence invading her system through the skin contact. Cassandra gasped, her concentration shattering, her kinetic abilities cutting off as Jorghan's power overwhelmed her consciousness.

"Sleep," Jorghan commanded.

He compressed the blood flow to her brain, inducing unconsciousness within seconds. She went limp in his grip, and he lowered her to the ground carefully. No need to kill her when incapacitation served the same purpose.

Dr. Cross's energy beam struck Jorghan's back, cutting through his blood essence barrier through sustained intensity, burning through flesh and muscle, trying to reach his spine.

Jorghan turned, his healing already repairing the damage, his regeneration fueled by the mana he'd absorbed from the dead soldiers and the excess essence he'd generated during the fight.

"You should have run when you had the chance," Jorghan said.

"I don't run," Dr. Cross replied, his voice strained with pain and exhaustion.

"I finish my missions or I die trying."

"Then you're going to die," Jorghan said without emotion.

He manifested blood essence as multiple spears, launching them simultaneously from different angles. Dr. Cross created electromagnetic barriers, deflecting some of the projectiles, but there were too many. One spear pierced his shoulder, another his side, a third his other leg.

The scientist collapsed, his concentration broken, his abilities cut off as pain overwhelmed his focus.

Jorghan walked toward him slowly, his crimson form towering over the wounded man. "Your loyalty is admirable. But you chose the wrong employer and the wrong target."

He raised his hand, blood essence forming into a blade, preparing to end this cleanly.

Cassandra and others watched with horror. They weren't ready to deal with this level of powerful outsider. He was just too overwhelmingly strong.

Cassandra looked around to see Luke and wanted to beat the shit out of him for bringing them here. Those Raed circle people weren't useful. She had no choice but to fight Jorghan.

"Hey, freak."

Jorghan looked at her and tilted his head.

"Just who the fuck are you?"

"I'm just a simple guy who wants his mother back."

Cassandra frowned, but Luke winced at his words.

Cassandra got what she wanted, Jorghan looking away from Cross.

Then they moved again, two of them against Jorghan, fighting a losing battle.