This Is A Pickle

[Iris Lefay]

Everything slowed.

As I coursed ardor and darkness into every part of my body, time slowed down as my senses were enhanced to the limit.

It is not the Triquetra state of Mordred but something close. Something that saved my life on many occasions.

A second before the canister detonated in the maid's grasp, I swiftly retrieved a syringe from my bracelet's spatial storage.

Filled with a swirling red liquid, I wasted no time plunging the needle into a vein in my arm.

The liquid flowed into my bloodstream with a firm push of the plunger.

And now cue the explosion.

The canister erupted, releasing a tempest of crimson smoke that tore the maid apart in a gruesome display of blood and viscera.

Nightmarish screams echoed through the room as pillars of the ominous crimson smoke shot out from the explosion like lightning bolts.

Before the half-undressed recruits could even react to the chaos unfolding around them, the smoke pillars rushed into their bodies.

One wailing pillar of crimson rushed toward me.

"This better work.", I muttered as I crossed my arms in front of me.

As soon as the smoke touched my skin, it exploded into red mist with a parting wail.

I let out a breath of relief.

The syringe contained a small amount of Mordred's blood.

The blood of the Pendragons granted them immunity to poisons and possessions of all kinds.

I had requested some of his blood for my personal experiments. He was weirded out but he gave me the blood.

Items stored within the spatial storage of Deathwalker bracelets remain in the same condition as when they were placed inside.

Therefore, the blood stayed fresh, preserved for when I was ready to conduct my experiments.

Curiously, one of my experiments involved injecting a small amount of the blood directly into my own bloodstream. I wanted to test if I could gain the Pendragons' immunity.

It was a risky move, a gamble I was taking for the first time. If it had failed, I would have risked becoming a wraith.

Speaking of wraiths...

The unholy screams of the wraiths in their spirit form have changed to the screams and cries of the recruits as the wraiths morphed their bodies into killing machines.

I clicked my tongue as darkness came together behind me and formed two massive wings.

"It had to be wraiths.", I muttered, lifting off the ground to hover above the grim scene unfolding below.

The wraiths were getting quite creative with the bodies of the recruits.

Their fingers morphed into sharp, sickle-like claws, some even enhancing their lethality with serrated edges.

Their skin took on an ashen hue, with pulsing black veins weaving intricate patterns across their bodies.

Their eyes glowed a fierce red, feral and wild, while their teeth transformed into black, needle-like points.

Some even had their mouths elongate into grotesque smiles, stretching unnaturally to either side.

An unholy scream erupted from the mouths of a hundred and five wraiths, a chilling blend of wraiths and their hosts.

It was a horrifying sight, seeing all of those young women, their bodies twisted and turned into monsters that let out terrifying screams.

I will have nightmares of this.

Suddenly, all of their eyes locked onto me as I hovered above.

I chuckled nervously, "This is just insane."

My brothers have finally lost their fucking marbles.

Turning swiftly to face the barrier, I placed my hand against it. With a gentle pulse of ardor,

I sent out a probing energy, attempting to penetrate the intricate weave of the barrier's structure.

The commander taught me this trick for assessing the properties of a barrier, and I focused intently, trying to understand its nature.

I frowned as I studied the barrier.

"That is odd. He said this was faulty."

The control of this barrier was transferred from Minerva to Jeko.

A smile crept across my face as the pieces fell into place.

The barrier, the maid, and the canister.

"That son of a bitch. So he he was the spy."

I had suspected the presence of a spy from my brothers, especially when observing the movements of the assassins they had sent after me

They seemed to know my whereabouts when I was alone within the Shield, information only a Deathwalker should possess.

Jeko Hess. Just wait.

I will rip you to shreds.

Just then I heard an unholy scream behind me.

Suddenly, an unholy scream echoed from behind me. With a powerful flap of my wings, I dodged to the side just as a wraith collided with the barrier near me, then lunged at me in midair.

Acting swiftly, I extended my hand, gathering darkness into a sharp spike.

{Tenebris: Black Stake}

The stake pierced the wraith's chest, its momentum throwing it off balance and pinning it to the ground below.

Nightmarish cries filled the air as more wraiths ascended from the ground, hurtling towards me.

I skillfully evaded their onslaught, maneuvering through the air as wraiths narrowly missed me, plummeting to the ground below.

Darkness covered my body like smoke as I summoned multiple black spikes and launched them at the wraiths staring up at me from below with their black needle-like teeth.

Shrieks filled the room as the spikes struck their chests, went through their bodies, and pinned all hundred and five wraiths to the ground.

They screamed at me from the floor, their red eyes filled with a feral hunger to tear me apart.

Hovering above them, I clicked my tongue in annoyance, my wings creating gusts of wind with each powerful flap.

My Spark Gloves, invaluable for this situation, were with Master Lorvar for maintenance.

Only the blue Purity Flames they produced could truly vanquish a wraith.

My black flames wouldn't suffice; the undead creatures would simply regenerate.

For now, my best option was to keep them pinned and find reinforcements armed with those blue flames.

But I can't get out because of the barrier.

This is going to be a hassle.

But things have been resolved somewhat.

I need to find a way to contact Minerva or anyone outside of this room and get help, preferably from A rankers.

Wait.

A rankers?

Suddenly, something sliced past me, disintegrating my left wing into shadows.

I plummeted, detecting multiple objects launching from below. Reacting swiftly, I unleashed my black appendages, deflecting them away.

I caught a glimpse of one of the objects and my blood ran cold.

It was a black claw covered in blood.

These feral creeps ripped out their own claws! 

Many wraiths were now pulling themselves off the stakes, their horrifying cries mingling with the agonized screams of the recruits as the wraiths tore themselves free.

I gritted my teeth, slamming into the ground.

A shockwave of ardor and darkness erupted from me, scattering and shredding the nearest wraiths.

The rank of a wraith is mainly determined by the person it possesses.

When a wraith possesses an A rank, it has the power of that person.

And there are a lot of A ranks among the recruits.

As I rose to my feet, black tentacles sprouted from my back as I drew my daggers.

As a wraith lunged at me, claws aimed at my face, I deftly severed its head with a flick of my wrist, blood splattering over me.

Moving fluidly, I dispatched wraith after wraith, slicing through them with my daggers and tentacles.

One fell to a decapitating blow, another had its legs severed, and a third found my dagger in its eye socket.

The only thing I could hear was the slicing of flesh, the splatter of blood, and the impact caused by my tentacles.

But none of them were as loud as the horrifying screaming of the wraiths as they attacked me and fell on the wrong side of my blade.

All of them used to be humans, but now they are monsters hell-bent on killing me.

An A ranker can only be defeated by another of the same rank.

But I was different. I stood at the precipice of S rank, beyond A rank.

The strongest wraith here was just an intermediate A ranker; they stood no chance against me.

So far, the only injuries I have are a few scratches.

And so I unleashed a maelstrom of attacks on the advancing wraiths.

My tentacles lashed out in every direction, slashing through the air, while my blades cut through flesh as if it were mere paper.

Blood and entrails lay on the floor and I was bathed in them.

Summoning a multitude of black stakes, I pinned the wraiths to the ground, rendering them immobile.

The entire room was in chaos, the barrier pulsating violently as my aura clashed against it.

But it won't shatter. This barrier was designed to withstand assaults even from an S ranker.

I jumped on a wraith and used its face as a launch pad to leap into the air.

Using a wraith's face as a springboard, I vaulted into the air. My tentacles reached out, crashing into the mass of wraiths below.

As I descended, darkness swirled around me to form numerous black rods, and I hurled them down upon the creatures with deadly precision.

Black vortices surrounded me and different types of bladed weapons made of solid darkness emerged out of them.

{Tenebris: Bladefall}

I joined the many black weapons as they rained down on the wraiths.

Slamming into the midst of a cluster of wraiths, I unleashed an ardor pulse and swung my dagger, releasing an arc of black flames.

{Tenebris: Flare Crescent}

The black immolating flames engulfed the creatures and their agonized screams echoed loudly as they burned

However, just as swiftly as the flames consumed them, they regenerated and lunged at me once more.

I gritted my teeth and let my tentacles deal with them.

That is the major problem I am facing.

Without Purity flames to vanquish them, my attacks were only temporary solutions.

And it seems like these wraiths are quite special as they regenerated almost instantaneously after being damaged

I'd slice one into ribbons, only for it to return to its full form and attack again moments later.

And with their numbers, it feels like I am fighting an endless horde.

Even when I immobilized them with my stakes and rods, they managed to break free alarmingly quickly.

Don't tell me they're immune to staking.

Fuck!

What did my brothers concoct in that bloody canister?

Continuously attacking them is futile but I could not stop. The moment I stop, they will overwhelm me.

And if they overwhelm me, it won't be long before the already-worn barrier gives out.

And if that happened, the wraiths would be unleashed, wreaking havoc and indiscriminately slaughtering anyone in their path.

I must not let that happen.

Sparks flew as I parried the slashing claws of a wraith with one dagger and thrust the other into its neck.

With a powerful swing, I hurled the creature like a ragdoll toward others advancing on me.

The wraiths had grown more aggressive, exploiting the small openings in the absolute defense provided by my tentacles.

A sudden sharp pain shot through me as a wraith, once a beautiful blonde girl, grazed my arm with its claw.

Grimacing, I swiftly drove a black rod through its face, but the burning sensation from the wound made me stagger.

That's when a wraith sunk its teeth into my flesh.

Well. This is a pickle.