Virus: Origin of Blood

Blood. Blood. Blood.

Blood everywhere.

Fifty seconds…

The moment Isaac hit the ground with his ravens, the blood never stopped flowing. He was like a whirlwind, dashing from one Zerian to another, delivering quick and clean cuts that ended their lives in a blink. He never stayed human for long, though, choosing to shift between forms for better mobility.

Forty seconds…

Daggers of blood and small Crimson Deaths constantly left his side, cutting down those not already in his path. And the ones that his skill couldn't reach? His ravens filled the void there, their improved size and limited blood control allowing them to kill the helpless Zerians in a matter of seconds.

Thirty seconds…

Screams were almost all Isaac could hear as he danced across the bloody battlefield. Yet, the aliens weren't screaming because they were dying by the dozens with each second. No, their current state, their visible terror, was the result of Harry's twice-used ultimate.

Field of Nightmares, he had called it.

Isaac now understood the reason for its name. It was terrifying what a single ability did to so many minds. He only found comfort in the fact that Harry apparently couldn't do much else after using his ultimate. Way too draining, he had said. Messed up with his mind, he added.

Twenty seconds…

Powered by Blood Moon and bursts of Burnout, Isaac became a blur of crimson. Blood rained around him constantly. Whether it belonged to his enemies or was summoned by his skills, he didn't care. His mind and body only listened to the Symphony thrumming in his veins, calculating his every move, every step.

There was no room for rage, bloodlust, or hesitation here. Only efficiency mattered at this moment.

Ten seconds…

Bit by bit, distant, distressed shouts began cutting through the veil of Nightmares. The area Harry had affected was massive but not endless. It seemed that Zerians beyond its reach had finally realized something was wrong. They would be here soon.

Still, Isaac didn't stop. His ravens didn't stop. His blood didn't stop.

He swung the Root in a wide arc, cleaving through the necks of three aliens who had fallen to their knees in despair. A leap put him in the middle of another group. Obliteration tore them apart, while a single Crimson Death killed two more by nailing them to the ground.

Nasty, but there was no place for guilt today. He could worry about that later.

Zero…

The instant his internal countdown ended, every single remaining Zerian in his sight snapped out of their minute-long nightmare. Confused, trembling, they looked around. Dream became reality as they saw more of their kin cut down before their eyes.

And then, the battle changed.

Elements erupted across the battlefield, some taking forms of shields and barriers, others of projectiles of all kinds. Fire. Lightning. Stone. Bones. And so much more. All aimed at Isaac.

Still, he didn't try to run.

Not yet.

The odds were bad, terrible even, but Harry had been right. Here, Isaac had one overwhelming advantage.

Chaos.

The enemies were many, with more coming soon. But they only had one target to focus on. All Isaac had to do was use this to his advantage.

And use it he did.

As the barrage of skills descended on him, he always dashed toward another cluster of Zerians. At times, the distant attackers hesitated or just missed him entirely, hitting one of their kin. This was the advantage of being a lone madman in the sea of enemies. They couldn't come at him with their full power without risking friendly fire.

That said, the aliens weren't just limited to throwing elemental projectiles at him. Sometimes, the ground beneath his feet shifted, trying to trap him. Or the wind would change, throwing him a bit off balance. Then, there were the tendrils of stone, wood, or just mud that would erupt in front of him to block his path.

Isaac cut through them all and answered with salvos of daggers and Crimson Deaths.

More Zerians fell, but nowhere near enough to slow the tide. They were endless, and only his ramping up Symphony, Blood Moon, and the enemy's lack of coordination kept him alive. At the very least, most aliens here didn't have access to the ultimates yet.

Another advantage. One that wouldn't last. It was only a matter of time—seconds most likely—before stronger Zerians arrived.

Better get going, Isaac thought once a distant ringing of bells reached his ears. If he had to guess, it was this Safe Zone's alarm. So be it then. Ravens, to me! Distract.

At once, the few blood ravens still alive flew toward him. Half of them died on the way, torn apart by the rain of skills, but that was exactly what he wanted.

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A distraction.

Isaac transformed and used another chunk of Viron to summon over a dozen Crimson Deaths around him. He shot into the sky and let them go, adding a few more kills to his counter.

Of course, the Zerians weren't about to let him go.

With him now in the skies, they all had a clear target to aim at. Worse, Isaac already spotted a swarm of flying-type Legacies soaring toward him. They were still quite far, as they had definitely come from the Safe Zone and not the battlefield, but there was no way he could survive their assault if they managed to reach him.

Burnout.

His blood ignited, his four wings pushing him as fast as possible, using the combined might of his skill and the lingering effects of the fading Blood Moon. Some incoming projectiles still managed to nick him, though, adding to the dozens of cuts and bruises he had collected in the last minute or so.

Isaac hoped that this would be the end of new injuries for the day, but he knew better. This fight was far from over. He didn't even need to look behind him to realize that. Harry's next message told him enough.

[Message from Harry Hayward: Good Friend, you might have overstayed your welcome there. I'm sure you have seen the tail you have in the skies, but there are more beasts still coming from the Safe Zone, all in their Legacies. I wish I could slow them down for you, but alas, I'm almost out of Viron. Good luck.]

Isaac simply pushed harder, burning even more blood from his core. This went on until the Zerians on the ground could no longer reach him with their skills. Now, only the flying swarm remained… and the potential reinforcements Harry had mentioned.

I should be faster. Just gotta keep going.

And so he did, flying in a straight line without slowing down. Bit by bit, the swarm behind him thinned as more and more of its members got left behind. Two, however, refused to fall back, barely losing any ground.

Isaac clicked his tongue. They would have to die if he wanted to escape.

Still, he refused to throw any skill at them right now. The chances of hitting them were abysmal, and with over half of his Viron already gone, he had to save it for when it mattered.

Lose the others. Then strike fast.

For the next ten minutes or so, he kept going, leaving more and more of the swarm in the dust. Sure, there were more Zerians on the ground he was constantly passing, but at this point, he was way too high for them to reach him.

Then, the time to face his final two pursuers had arrived.

Isaac screeched to a halt and turned, air around him flaring red.

Crimson Death.

The two Zerians didn't seem bothered by the sudden change of pace. The first, a bird-like creature with smoke-gray feathers and a single pair of wings, shrieked as the wind twisted around it. The second, a massive serpent covered in indigo scales, roared, the sky around it darkening, storm clouds forming.

Not playing around. Very well then.

His Crimson Deaths surged forward, only to be annihilated before reaching their targets.

A blast of wind tore the ones meant for the white bird, while a blast of violet lightning destroyed those coming for the serpent. And this was far from the end.

The wind around the first creature continued to grow stronger, obscuring it from view as a tornado formed around it. The serpent's dark clouds also began multiplying and spreading, soon filling the sky around them.

Visibility suddenly got much, much worse.

Definitely ultimates, Isaac realized just as lightning flashed in some of the clouds. A beat later, one bolt slammed into the bird-turned-tornado. Why? The tornado somehow absorbed the strike. Now, there was a literal eye of the storm coming at him.

Isaac dived.

After all, why face the duo on their home turf when he could just fly away and render those clouds useless? Using ultimates right away had been their mistake.

Or so he had thought at least.

No matter how far or long he flew, the storm clouds stayed with him. Worse, they looked the same as before, meaning that this ultimate could somehow follow him. Not a good sign, especially with how the serpent could burst from a random cloud like a living thunderbolt before disappearing into another.

At the very least, the electric tornado was somewhat slow to follow. Still annoying, though, with how it warped the winds, making every movement harder.

No other way then… Isaac thought, diving again as multiple streaks of lightning exploded in his previous position. Gotta face them head-on.

Sure, he could have waited out the ultimates or even landed to try and gain an advantage. But neither was a good option. Waiting risked the arrival of the reinforcements Harry had warned him about. While landing might end up with him facing all the Zerians that could be nearby.

Isaac would rather take his chances here.

Strike fast, strike hard. Freedom mode.

Crimson aura swallowed his entire form. Cursed Draw, the first step. Mana-fueled Harden came to life next. The second step. And finally, he sacrificed over half of his remaining reserves and turned them into pure blood that enveloped his body in a thick layer of armor. The third step.

Only one left.

Let's go.

Burnout ignited at full power as Isaac spun and hurled himself straight at the approaching electric tornado. It met him head-on.

The white bird's ultimate tore through his makeshift armor in an instant, following with the destruction of Cursed Draw's aura. Only Harden held, even as his feathers were electrified and shredded to dust.

It hurt, far more than Isaac wanted to admit, but pain didn't matter. Only victory did.

Surprise, you bastard! He roared inwardly as he broke through the tornado's wall and reached the white bird at its center. The Zerian's eyes widened.

Too late.

Isaac transformed mid-air and, with the remaining momentum, swung the Root.

The bird's head went flying.

One down.

The serpent was on him the moment the tornado vanished, a roar of rage leaving its maw. Isaac, back in his Legacy form, twisted away just in time and narrowed his eyes, trying to track the beast as it jumped from cloud to cloud. There had to be a pattern. There always was a pattern.

And he found it soon enough.

Each time the serpent dove into a cloud, lightning flashed inside. This was mirrored in three others. As for which one the Zerian would choose for its next exit?

It didn't matter.

Isaac targeted them all.

Crimson Death.

It all happened in a second. The flashes of lightning. The formation of black-red spears. Their arrival at the edges of the three clouds. Two missing, and one erupting just as the serpent appeared again.

Its pained shriek filled Isaac's ears, but it wasn't dead, not yet.

No, that only happened when he snatched it mid-fall with his talons and plunged his beak into the back of its head. The clouds faded then, leaving him alone in the sky with the corpse in his grasp.

Isaac wasted no time. He turned toward where the territory of ash should be and continued his escape.

Victory.