The entire area was consumed by explosions.
"Hahaha!" The figure laughed maniacally, hurling blast after blast without pause.
The branch leader and Roy struggled to block the relentless attacks. If even one got through, everyone behind them would be dead. The branch leader, especially, couldn't afford that; his niece was among them.
"Ahhhh…" the branch leader screamed, taking a hit to push forward.
"Get to the other side!" Roy yelled to the others as he kept blocking.
"B-But…" Tasha began.
"Go. Now," he said more firmly.
Baines, meanwhile, was calmly analyzing the battlefield.
'That one has to die,' he concluded. While the younger of the deplorable brothers was still high on power, he had to strike now, before the older brother arrived and changed everything.
As explosions roared and the others retreated, Baines pulled off his black scarf, letting it morph back into its original form, a ragged coat, and wore it.
Only in its original state could its main effect activate.
The coat reduced his presence in battle. Unlike that lost its effect after a few seconds and ended once an attack began, this coat allowed him to move like a true assassin, undetected.
And if he was going to act like an assassin, why not display it to the end. He drew the Moonfang Blade and vanished into the shadows.
...
The branch leader reached the figure, but it made things worse.
Already bleeding from several wounds, he was forced on the defensive by the unrelenting red energy surging from his opponent's fists.
"Don't stop blocking now, would you?" the younger brother taunted, grinning widely.
'Who would've thought the effects would be this incredible?' He'd always listened to his older brother, but he just felt like it all mattered. With power, anything was possible. Though the pill's effect was temporary, his brother was working on a permanent one.
Soon, we'll unite the underground and rule everything.
He took a heavy step forward.
Dumm…
The ground rumbled as he raised his arm to crush the branch leader's head.
The branch leader watched death approaching. He was unwilling.
People often forgot, but they were descendants of dragons, and not just any dragon. No, an ancient red dragon, the king of all red dragons, meaning they prideful to the core, and here he was, dying in some wretched underground cave.
But maybe it didn't matter in the end.
"No…" Roy's eyes widened. His body froze, rooted to the spot.
Just before the fatal blow landed—
Ptuuiii… BOOOOM!
"Gahhh…!" The younger brother was blasted into the cave wall, consumed by flames.
The branch leader stood in stunned silence, then turned to the side—to see Baines… or rather, Jin, as he knew him—holding a glowing dagger, clad in his ragged coat, a leaf between his lips.
...
Moments earlier…
Baines was preparing his strike.
This wasn't a mindless barbarian, this was a human 6th star. Even though he was still drunk in his power, his regular attacks wouldn't suffice.
He had to go all out.
He used the Moonfang Blade to bypass defenses. His coat concealed his presence. He unleashed Zenith Judgement, the Sunblade Legion's ultimate technique.
'Still not enough,' he thought, gritting his teeth. The target was a peak 6th star, not just a 6th star. He pulled a stimulant plant from his storage, bit into it. The dosage wasn't right, but he didn't care. Blood ran from his nose, mouth, and ears.
Then he added Cleave to the attack.
His mind turned dizzy, but he bit his lips to stay awake.
As the younger brother raised his arm to finish off the branch leader, Baines roared for speed. He crushed the ground beneath his foot, tore through space, and struck.
Without hesitation, the attack landed, and he was blasted away.
...
"You…" the branch leader started.
"Eat this first." Baines handed him a leaf, eyes not away from the enemy.
Seeing Baines chew on one himself, the branch leader followed suit and took a stance.
"Grrr…" The younger brother was rising from the wreckage.
His entire left side was gone. Blood gushed out. He should have died, but he was still standing. Moonfang bypassed and form of bodily defense, so even at 6th star, the aura defense should be useless, right?
Roy arrived, and Baines handed him a leaf as the three watched in disbelief.
Before their eyes, the younger brother's body began knitting itself back together.
In under ten seconds, he was whole again.
Their eyes could hardly be wider.
'What is that?' Baines thought. 'Wait… could this be the effect of the orb they were talking about?'
"Haa… haa… this is…" The younger brother panted. "Amazing…" He clenched and unclenched his fists, grinning at them with blood-streaked teeth.
'Eye, what is that? How is that possible?'
[THE BLOOD ESSENCE OF SEVERAL INDIVIDUALS CAN BE FELT FROM HIM.]
'Blood essence?' The pieces began to fall into place: the kidnappings, the blood orbs they spoke about, and this strange regeneration.
'Are the people whose blood essence was taken… dead?' He had already prepared his mind, but knowing that actual people were used for such act left a bad taste
[THE STATE IS SIMILAR TO THAT OF AN AGED PERSON. THEIR LIFESPAN IS LIMITED.]
'What?' That answer was far from what he expected.
....
Meanwhile, on the path the others had taken…
They stumbled across something unexpected.
"Who are they?" Tasha asked, staring at the motionless figures lying all over the ground.
"Wait… how many were said to be kidnapped?" asked the shadow unit leader.
"About two hundred and fifty," Tasha replied, eyes going wide as the pieces came together.
"Count them," the leader ordered his subordinates.
Moments later—
"There are two hundred and sixty," a subordinate reported.
"That's within range," Tasha muttered, kneeling beside one. "But why do they look so… old?"
"They're not old," the unit leader said through clenched teeth. "Their blood essence was taken."
"Blood essence…" Tasha echoed. She didn't fully understand what it meant, but she knew it was important.
Just then—
Cough…