295 Chapter 295: Lancer of Red and Lancer of Black (2/2)
Boom!
Both Liu and Redfield split apart and dove in opposite directions to avoid getting crushed by the Bloody Berserker's enlarged fist.
”He's attacking his own ally?!” Redfield murmured, shocked. He then twisted around to cut apart a storm of blood lances blowing toward him, and leaped forward to engage the far more dangerous Liu in close combat. The two of them swung their spears at each other, trading another couple of blows that shattered the blood stakes and splintered the trees around them.
”Why are you surprised?” Liu asked, amused. ”Spartacus has lost his sanity. He is driven by the Red Thirst and forever imprisoned by his Black Rage. He can't distinguish between friend and foe. His only directive is to rampage until everything around him is destroyed. Once his job is done, I will sedate him and transport him to the next battlefield, but otherwise he will spend every waking moment in a murderous haze.”
”You…!” Redfield growled, but Liu laughed.
”That is what it means to be a warrior of the Blood Slaughter Sect. Every now and then, we will have a practitioner who will succumb to the Red Thirst and become a near-immortal berserker. The price for such power is one's sanity, but it is a price that we are willing to pay.”
Guffawing in manic glee, Spartacus raised both his arms high up his head to smash the positions of the two combatants. Redfield tensed, getting ready to evade, but Liu didn't make it easy for him. Instead, the elder grinned after he successfully lured Redfield into a trap.
Blood spikes suddenly appeared in a circle to imprison Redfield. At first, the red-haired mercenary tried to evade, only to realize that those thick spikes weren't aimed at him. He then realized Liu's motive.
He was trying to limit his movements and trap him inside a blood prison!
Cackling triumphantly, Liu dove away just as Spartacus smashed the blood prison into bits. Despite his best attempts to defend himself by maximizing his physical reinforcement spell and Armament Ba Qi, Redfield was hurled off his feet, blood dripping down his face. He hit the ground and rolled in an ungainly manner, finally coming to a stop against rubble.
”Ugh…!”
Heaving, Redfield tried to get up, but he wouldn't be able to rise in time to evade Spartacus. The goliath had arrived above him, and was stomping toward him to crush him into a bloody pulp before he could roll away. Even when he maximized his physical reinforcement spell, Redfield was aware that he wouldn't be able to escape tremendous damage…
”?!”
The Bloody Berserker's foot never reached him. Instead, it was stopped by Brent, who had used his own foot to block Spartacus's leg from descending upon the prone Redfield.
”…tsk.”
Brent sounded annoyed, looking at Redfield.
”Defeated even before you could show the results of your training. I know you were caught by surprise and double-teamed by two powerful foes, but even so…what a pitiful Lieutenant.”
”You could be a lot nicer about it!” Redfield complained angrily, but Brent merely scoffed. Redfield saw red. ”Besides, this whole situation is your fault to begin with! Isn't it your job to hold back that monster?!”
Said monster was slowly turning around to leer at Brent.
”So you've come to help? I was so sure I swatted you several kilometers away that last time. How did you get back here so fast?”
”You thought you could swat me so far away?” Brent scoffed as he met the Bloody Berserker's gaze evenly. ”Don't flatter yourself, fool. You overestimate your own strength.”
”Wonderful!” Spartacus burst out laughing. ”That's so wonderful! I was so bored and disappointed that you couldn't provide more of a challenge. I'm so glad you weren't so easily slain by a few of my attacks!”
”…stop laughing and start killing, Spartacus.” Liu stepped forward, his voice low and dangerous. ”You're wasting too much time. We have to get to the inner chamber of the tomb as quickly as possible.”
”Don't worry.” Stomping forward and carving a small crater into the earth, Brent drew his staff. ”I didn't come here to fuck around.”
Mana began swirling around his staff and it melted away, transforming into something fluid that flowed over his hands.
”Bankai.”
…did he just rip off Bleach? Seriously?
”Tie Quan Duan Feng!”
The once fluid staff solidified into a silver armor that curled across the top part of his body, winding around his shoulders and coiling around his arms. His hands were now gloved in menacing gauntlets that had gleaming blades fused into their knuckles.
Spartacus leered at him.
”I guess I have no choice!”
Leaping up, the Bloody Berserker kicked Brent with all of his might, sending the mercenary captain skidding through the site in a trail of destruction.
”Hmph.” Liu made to move after the sliding duo, presumably to support Spartacus, but a burst of flames forced him to jump back.
”Where do you think you're going?” Redfield growled as he shakily rose to his feet, his spear ignited once more. ”Your opponent is me.”
”I see.” A vicious, bloodthirsty aura of demonic red appeared to coalesce around the elder of the Blood Slaughter Sect. His spear glowed ominously as torrents of blood swirled around it, in response to Redfield's blazing spear. All around the old man, blood stakes began erupting uncontrollably. ”If you really want to die that badly, I will gladly indulge you.”