Seeing the large 2 on the Agent's back, Quinn knew he was in for a world of trouble. He had never expected to be so unlucky as to actually run into Pure. Quinn had known that they would be after the humanoid Demi-god tier beast as well, but to use the very tunnel he was using right now…
'Wait, isn't this a perfect opportunity? This should be the majority of them, if not all! As long as I keep them occupied, the others can focus on the beast alone. I just have to trust them to be able to subdue it. No, with Sil there he will surely do whatever's necessary to reunite with Vorden and Raten!'
Making use of the Pure members' confusion, Quinn quickly threw out his hand releasing a Blood swipe aimed directly at Agent 2. If he could take him out, the rest should be a cinch.
Agent 2 saw the strike coming his way and just lifted up his 'weapon'. It was similar to a sword in that it had a hilt and a sword guard but rather than being sharp and thin it was just a thick large blunt object like a pole. Swinging it he whacked away the Blood swipe without any trouble whatsoever.
'Of course, it would have been too easy if that had worked. I guess even with my new blood skills the simplest of my attacks won't quite work on him.'
Quinn was no longer as fast as he was when rushing over here. Having used the armour set skill to arrive here, it was now on cooldown. Meaning all of the normal stats the armour would additionally give was now useless. He covered his body in shadow to switch to a different equipment until the cooldown had elapsed.
In the middle of his transformation, two Pure members came rushing forward, intending to disrupt whatever he was doing. Fortunately, Shadow equip took less than a second, so there was nothing for him to worry about.
What he didn't expect was a couple of arrows to be fired off from the back. Raising his shadow Quinn planned to block this, but midway in their flight they suddenly sped up, and when they touched the shadow it went directly through it.
'They went through my shadow? So far Lucy was the only one able to go through my shadow!' Quinn was starting to take things more seriously. He grabbed both of the arrows with his bare hands and felt the strong Qi coming from them. In terms of Qi, he wasn't a slacker in that department either and with his own strength he was able to stop them easily.
'Shadow powers? Did the Cursed teach it to more of their people?' Agent 2 wondered, looking at the person in front of him. His hand rested on the shoulders of two men who were about to fire more arrows at Quinn.
In the cramped space there wasn't much room for the Cursed faction leader to maneuver.
'I might be unable to use my shadow to block attacks, but I can certainly use it in other ways.' Quinn reasoned as the shadow that hovered around his back fell to the floor, and started to spread across the whole area, enveloping the tunnel ceiling, the side of the walls far and wide on the ground.
'Why does he seem so confident in facing us? He is alone and we have him surrounded. No… crap, did the Cursed faction leader really come down here personally?!' Agent 2 inferred.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"Everyone be careful!" He shouted.
The next second, Quinn sank into the shadow, only to appear from the side of the wall. Coming from such an unexpected angle, he grabbed the head of the closest Pure member and slammed it into the wall. Holding out the palm of his hand , Quinn activated his Blood spray and the Agent next to the incapicated one got chucked back several meters into the other side of the wall.
'Huh?' The Vampire Lord was surprised for a short second, mentally prepared for his enemies to either dodge out of the way or stand up any second now. However, his vampire senses made him aware that the two had passed out cold.
'I guess I've grown too used to fighting strong beasts and Dalki. With the beast gear upgrades, I've become so…strong.' Quinn couldn't help but glee in his own power, but the next moment he kicked the leg of another Pure member who swung a sword down. The kick connected even before the weapon was near Quinn's body, shattering their legs. Even their Qi was unable to protect them from Quinn's power.
"Everyone, get back! You're no match for him!" Agent 2 ordered. The archers continued firing arrows, but with their path so straight Quinn could easily avoid them all.
'Is this truly supposed to be the strength of someone who 'barely' defeated Lucy? What sort of sick joke is that? I have to deal with him now, or we can forget about getting our hands on the Demi-god tier beast!' Slamming his strange weapon into the floor a wave of Qi dispersed clearing out the area.
It pushed back the shadow preventing the Cursed faction leader from using it to hop around the place. It was so powerful that even Quinn's Qi was reacting to it, his body almost shivering.
[New Quest received]
[Defeat one of the Pure leaders]
'Now you come up and warn me! This power though… it feels like Chris!' Quinn thought. That man's Qi had been the strongest he had ever felt, yet it looked like this Agent 2 wasn't too far off.
Using the other set of amour Quinn had, his stats weren't the same as the Legendary tier gear. He was unable to use his shadow to its full extent, which left him with his natural powers and blood powers.
The next second though, Quinn could see a great power lighting up from the Pure Agent's chest.
'Wait a second, isn't this… a soul weapon?! Aren't Pure Agents forbidden from having abilities? How can someone like him have a soul weapon?!'
Quinn wanted to step close in order to try and stop it, but even with the second stage of Qi covering his body, the energy coming off from Agent 2 was making it so his second stage was practically nonexistent.
If Quinn couldn't get close then he would use his blood powers instead. He was a distance away, so he held out his finger and fired out the Blood bullet. As it got incredibly close to Agent 2, the bullet just vanished as if it had met something hot that turned it to ashes.
[-20HP]
The Pure leader's whole skin had changed to a bright red colour and it had even reached the outside of his weapon. Despite its blunt appearance he made a stabbing motion. A loud bang resounded and shocked the whole room. Quinn was unable to see the attack, but a notification screen appeared.
[-20 HP]
Looking at his shoulder, there was now a large gaping hole and one could see directly through it. What was worse, the attack had been coated with Qi. His natural healing abilities wouldn't cut it, neither would the Blood bank.
Quinn would have to get rid of the foreign Qi first, but that was a luxury he couldn't afford in this fight.
'Why does everyone I fight have to have a trump card I've never seen before?! I can't use my shadow as a defensive measure, the armour's cooldown needs too long and his Qi blocks my healing powers! Even if I use Shadow overload it won't be much help here.'
Quinn considered his limited options and came to the conclusion that there was one thing he could do. In fact it was the only thing he could try… a direct brawl. The hole in his left shoulder had weakened him, so he had to enter into a melee range before he suffered even more.
"I guess the Cursed leader faction isn't as strong as the routers said he would be. Have I counted all your moves with just this!" Agent 2 shouted as he stabbed the air again firing off several bullets.
They all went through Quinn's body hitting him in the stomach, the legs and all over his body. Agent 2 was letting out a chilling laugh, until the injured body turned into nothing but shadows.
He could then sense that the real Quinn was nearly upon him. He couldn't see him but his instinct made him swing his weapon in a certain direction. The weapon connected, hitting Quinn hard on his side.
'I just needed to use the shadow cloak and clone to get close to you!'
Now he could feel that this man was several times stronger than he was before. He had a similar strength to the Vampire Lord, but Quinn had also used Blood harding on his gauntlet to get one punch in.
Ignoring the injury he sustained in exchange, he delivered an uppercut to Agent 2, lifting the leader's body slightly in the air and also using the Blood spray to further enhance the punch.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm'I have to get rid of him now!'
Arrows continued to rain down on him, but he chose to focus on the more dangerous target, allowing them to hit him in his legs.
[24/100 HP]
Still, Agent 2 smiled as if the attack didn't even hurt him. The strange red skin seemed to make him immune to pain, as he swung the strange sword again.
'I need a stronger attack.' Quinn started to panic. 'I don't have time to perform any of the hammer series, so I can only do this!' Throwing out his leg, Quinn twisted his hips to perform the kick he had practiced so often, mixed with the Blood crescent kick.
The strange sword and the shin of Quinn's leg both collided, and the powers were great, shaking the tunnel even more violently, the red aura quickly disappeared and the walls started to fall and cave in.
The power of both attacks seemed equal at that moment, but there was a clear difference. Agent 2's Qi control was better. He fine tuned his strange sword making his Qi sharper than any sword imaginable and Quinn could feel it going through his beast armour and slicing through his very bone.
He tried his best to cover it with blood, but it looked like it wasn't going to work. Pulling his leg away, Agent 2's attack continued hitting the ground, causing it to be chucked into the air. The whole place began to crumble.
[6/100HP]
[Activating emergency blood bank]
[Emergency blood bank is only able to do limited healing]
[26/100HP]
The Hp from using the blood bullet was restored but as expected it was unable to heal the wounds dealt with using the Qi.
'I won't let you get the last laugh!' Quinn stretched out his arm and managed to quickly hit Agent 2 in the chest, sending him flying back to where his people were. With the cave falling, it blocked the way between the two parties.
Quinn started to run forward towards Area C as best he could. When he finally got through to the other end, he ended up in a room full of dead beasts. His inspect skill revealed that there wasn;t a single one alive inside. Behind him the tunnel was sealed off.
At that point, Quinn just laid there on the floor.
'Damn it, that fight was a lot harder than I thought… but at least I blocked them from getting here. I hope he will like the present I left him.' Quinn thought, a smile on his face as he stared at his purple gauntlet.
******