Born in Blood-Chapter 584: Plan B

Liam had already told Ravaak about Naxathra’s hideous monster of a daughter, as well as a vague story about how the creature came to be.

Ravaak didn’t care much.

All he wanted was to leave the Tomb.

But Liam wasn’t planning to. Not yet.

"Just in case we get split up," Liam said, rummaging through his space ring for materials. "I want to make a communication device for both of us."

"A communication device?" the Ashura asked, confused.

Right. In ancient times, society as a whole was not as technologically and magically advanced. Especially not a species as primitive as the Ashura were.

"Something that connects us both from a distance."

"Like a portal?"

"Yes. Something like that..." Liam raised a brow. "Why do you mention portals?"

"An Ashura by the name of Mixaath could form portals at will. Perhaps the only Ashura who could do so."

The painting! It depicted a massive void in space. So that’s what it was.

"Is he dead or alive?" Liam asked, silently tinkering with the materials for his communication device.

"I’m not sure," Ravaak said with a solemn face. "His portals took effort to maintain, and wouldn’t work without his presence. He had to stay behind and make sure everyone went in first."

Liam hoped the portal-making Ashura was alive. Although teleportation was possible, such as the platforms back in the Echorian Academy that could transport you from place to place, it wasn’t as advanced as creating a portal from thin air.

Tons of inscriptions and expensive materials were required, and even then, the result was a short distance teleport that wouldn’t be useful for anything beyond convenience.

Liam started the Blood Weaving process for the communication device. He had studied Jades before, and the idea behind them was very simple.

He just needed two elements that were able to connect over long distances.

And what better connection was there than blood?

***

Liam held the device in his hand. Two thin needles that had a soft, metal sheen. One of them was red, and the other was white.

Liam stuck the white one into his hand. Slowly, the needle melted into his skin, seeping deeper and deeper. Soon, he could see a live, three dimensional image in his sea of consciousness... of Ravaak.

Then, Liam stuck the red needle into the Ashura’s hand.

The process was the same for the Ashura, but since they had no sea of consciousness, a different technique was involved.

"Now say Open," Liam told Ravaak.

"Open," Ravaak said, and a tiny version of Liam slowly merged out of his hand. A little figurine.

Liam smiled. He moved an arm, and after a noticeable delay, the figurine moved his arm to match him.

"Good. It’s working. We can leave now."

***

They were both quiet as they left the tomb room they’d been cooped up in for the past few months.

Ravaak possessed no stealth abilities. Each step he took sounded like metal thumping against stone, jangling like a set of keys.

And it didn’t take long for the creature to locate them. Liam could her running. Rapid taps against the ground that seemed to grow louder and louder as she approached.

Then, silence.

The ghoulish creature’s hand slide across a wall opposite them, thin fingers tapping against the edge in a playful way. She stepped into view and Ravaak immediately conjured his Chaos.

Liam did the same.

The addition of Ravaak’s presence didn’t scare the creature one bit. It smiled between the lockes of hair, grinning widely.

"Remember the plan," Liam said to the Ashura. "If we can’t kill it, we run. Understand?"

Ravaak made a small groaning noise, barely audible. He did not like running.

But Liam wasn’t so sure they could kill the Thing.

Of course, if it was dead, there would be a lot off his plate. He could explore the Tomb with one less thing to worry about.

But Naxathra was a demented freak. He likely created safe measures to protect his already sacrificed daughter’s corpse from dying.

Liam clutched his Dusk Blades, their gruesome, bloodthirsty edges begging for flesh.

With a deafening shriek, the ghoul ran at them on all fours, resembling a possessed, demonic creature.

Ravaak’s Chaos churned on six of his fists, while Liam’s Chaos coated the Dusk Blade’s wicked form.

Ravaak was the first to strike. The Thing made a wide, sweeping motion with its claw. The Ashura narrowly evaded and combined all six arms to perform a powerful strike at the ghoul’s chest.

It shrieked and hit the Tomb wall, then bounced off.

Then it was Liam’s turn to chip in. The chains on his Dusks made a long clinking noise as he hurled them. The blades wrapped around the ghoul like snakes, digging into her skin.

Then, Liam yanked the chains back, spinning the creature around like an unrolling carpet, spewing grimy, black blood in all directions. The shriek was the loudest it had ever been.

The ghoul skittered on its feet and rushed again with unreal speed, wildly swiping, biting and kicking.

The duo hadn’t stopped their assault.

They began synergizing their attacks in near perfect harmony.

Ravaak was a master at fighting with his fists, far better than Liam was.

Each of his arms served a different purpose—to hold, to pierce, to deflect, to strike, to block, to pull—and he adapted accordingly to the ghoul’s mode of attack.

Not only that, but the Ashura managed to take in Liam’s presence and set up openings for him to take advantage of.

In the truest sense, he was a combat specialist.

Liam’s handiwork with the Dusk Blades was quite formidable. He had fleshed off one of the Thing’s arms—though only after it was considerably weakened by Ravaak’s repeated blows.

At that moment, something had changed. The Thing stopped shrieking entirely. Instead, it started growling!

The change was alarming.

Liam pulled Ravaak back just as he was about to get hit with a sweeping leg kick.

They found their footing and Ravaak gave Liam a questioning gaze that said, why did you do that?

"Look," Liam said, pointing at the severed arm.

It was growing back. In fact, the Thing’s mangled, bruised and severely slashed body was starting to rapidly heal, negating their efforts entirely.

"I was right," Liam said as the creature healed and stood up. "There’s no point in fighting her."

Not only that...

The creature’s aura seemed to grow. Liam had vaguely noticed it during the fight, but it was crystal clear now.

’The more you damage and hurt it, the stronger it gets.’ Liam grimaced. ’Just piss off at that point.’

"Plan B," Liam tapped Ravaak on the back and took off. "We’re running!"