Chapter 276: Elemental Supression

A man stood there, not from Bai Zheng’s group. It was someone else entirely. Dressed in dark, practical gear, he moved with the speed and precision of a seasoned soldier. He dropped from the roof of the warehouse like a shadow given form, landing silently beside Sylvia’s hanging body.

Raiden’s heart stopped.

"Wait, who are you?!!"

The man didn’t even look at him.

One hand reached up, fingers closing around the chain holding Sylvia aloft.

A single, clean pull.

The chain snapped.

The man severed the chain cleanly before holding Sylvia in his arms, giving one deep look at Raiden before he left.

He went through the hole in the rear wall, gone into the night beyond, gone with Sylvia’s limp body cradled against his chest, disappearing into the darkness before Raiden’s eyes could even fully track the movement.

"SYLVIA!!"

Raiden’s scream tore through the warehouse, raw and broken, and the bloodline surged back up inside him like a tidal wave. The pressure exploded outward, cracking the floor beneath his feet, sending dust and debris spiralling into the air.

{Ding!! Corrosion of Host Humanity: 56%.}

"Give her back!!" The dual voice was back, louder now, angrier, layered with something that made the walls tremble. "GIVE HER BACK!!"

He lunged toward the hole in the wall.

But Woolie was there.

"Woolie Woo!!" HUMAN, STOP!!

Woolie threw himself directly into Raiden’s path, his small body braced against the crushing pressure, his lightning flickering weakly but his eyes steady. Behind him, Rose and Neva moved too, Rose’s blood tendrils rising from the floor to form a barrier between Raiden and the exit, Neva’s dim light flaring in desperate, pulsing bursts.

"Shaa!!" Rai Rai, wait!! You can’t go like this!!

"MOVE!!" Raiden’s voice cracked, raw and desperate, the dual echo twisting around his words. "That man has my sister!! I have to—"

"Woolie Woo." Human, listen to me!! If you chase him now, using that power, you’ll lose yourself completely!! You’ll become the thing inside you, and then who saves Sylvia then??

Raiden froze.

For half a second, the words cut through.

Then the bloodline surged again, and his eyes flared brighter, the purple deepening into something dark and hungry.

"Thou dost not understand," the dual voice said, colder now. "She is MINE to protect. And thou art keeping me from saving her."

"Shaa... Sha Sha Sha..."

Rai Rai... we understand. We understand better than anyone. But listen to us. We will get her back. I promise. All three of us.

But you have to let us do it our way, or that thing inside you will take everything, including the part of you that wants to save her.

Rose’s blood tendrils held Raiden’s body in place as she was careful enough to not tighten them too much, trying to avoid hurting Raiden.

They just stood there, a wall between him and the darkness, like a pair of steady rocks, and their eyes met his with resolve and power.

"Shaa." Trust us, Rai Rai. Just this once. Trust us.

Raiden’s breathing was ragged, uneven, his body trembling with the effort of holding himself together. His eyes were still fixed on the hole in the wall, on the darkness where Sylvia had disappeared, and every second that passed felt like a knife twisting in his chest.

{Ding!! Corrosion of Host Humanity: 48%.}

The number was dropping, slowly, but dropping was dropping.

Raiden closed his eyes before he opened them once more as they became back to normal.

"Fine. I trust you guys. Let’s get Sylvia back together!!"

And then the warehouse shook.

Not from Raiden this time.

A low, mechanical hum filled the air, rising from beneath the floor, from the walls, from the ceiling, everywhere at once. The cracked concrete began to glow with faint, blue-white lines, tracing patterns that hadn’t been visible before, circuits and runes and something that looked almost like writing but wasn’t.

Bai Zheng, still slumped against the far wall, blood dripping from his lip, let out a weak, breathless laugh.

"You really thought," he rasped, "that I came here without a backup plan?"

Cough. Cough.

He coughed out blood, but he didn’t stop laughing as he looked at Raiden and his group.

The hum grew louder.

And a new suppression field, which had been nothing but Raiden’s own crushing pressure until now, surged to life.

Woolie cried out, his lightning gutted and dying, his body sagging as the strength drained out of him. Neva’s light flickered once, twice, and then went out entirely, leaving her feeling dim and small and terrified in a way that made Woolie’s chest ache.

"Behold our creation we have specially prepared for you, Raiden. Under this field, nobody can use the power of elements, not even you guys, so how will you beat us, huh? How will you get past us?!! Hahahaha!!!"

As Bai Zheng laughed wildly at them, Rose stood there perfectly still.

The blue-white lines washed over her, passed through her, and did nothing.

Because her power was not elemental.

Her power was blood.

"You guys are not going anywhere. Stay here and accompany me, Raiden!!" Bai Zheng’s hysterical voice rang out throughout the warehouse as they felt the suppression of the power.

Seeing this, both Woolie and Rose stepped forward in front of Raiden.

Woolie’s body was completely absent from the lightning, but that didn’t stop him from fighting, as his body was tough enough.

As for Rose, the elemental shield didn’t work on her at all, causing her to step up and lead and take the fight to the enemies.

"Shaa..." Rai Rai. Stay behind me. Big brother and sister have been protecting me until now, but it’s my turn. I will protect everybody!!

Her blood rose from the floor in slow, deliberate waves, coiling around her body, forming armour, making her look regal. Finally, on top of it, a crown condensed out of blood, forming on top of her head, completing the look.

"Sha Sha Sha." It’s my turn now.

Watch how I protect everyone and get Sylvia back!!