My Blood Legacy: Bloodlines

Victor and Nera advanced together.

Ghideon struck the floor with the claw.

The central platform split apart, sending a wave of stone, blood, and shadow across the chamber. Victor created an inclined ramp of Black Ice and ran over it, passing above the impact. Nera went directly through the middle, spinning the scythe to break the larger blocks and using a fragment of stone as support to jump.

Ghideon chose Nera first.

The claw swept in a horizontal arc with enough force to push the air in front of it. Nera placed the shaft of the scythe against her body, but the metal bent under the impact and was driven into her chest. She broke through part of the wall, sank into the stone, and fell to her knees while coughing blood.

Victor arrived from above.

His fist covered in Black Ice struck Ghideon’s head, but the Specialist moved his neck at the final instant. The blow hit the shoulder and tore away part of the bone plates. Ghideon answered immediately, grabbing Victor by the waist and smashing him against the floor.

The first impact broke the ground.

The second opened new cracks.

Before the third, Victor covered his back with Black Ice spikes. Ghideon still completed the movement, but the points pierced his hand and forced him to let go. Victor turned on the floor, drove his heel into the enemy’s knee, and discharged Black Lightning into the joint.

The muscles in the leg contracted at the same time.

The knee folded.

Ghideon partially fell, and Victor used the opening to seize one of the bone plates attached to his shoulder. Using both hands, he pulled until the structure came free along with flesh and part of the muscles. Black blood sprayed across the floor.

Rowena reacted immediately.

"That blood is different. It is his. Do not let it return."

Victor froze every drop before it could be pulled back through the scars.

Ghideon drove the claw toward his chest. Victor tried to retreat, but the nails tore through the protection and entered beneath his ribs. The bestial hand closed around part of his torso and pulled violently, tearing away flesh, blood, and fragments of bone.

Victor staggered backward with the left side of his chest open. Part of his lung was visible, and the shadow left by the claws hindered his regeneration. Even so, he did not lose his smile.

Ghideon examined the mass of flesh trapped between his fingers.

"Your blood truly does not behave like that of the other Valentines."

White Fire appeared inside the torn flesh.

The explosion destroyed two fingers of the claw and covered Ghideon’s arm in white flames. Victor had concentrated energy inside his own flesh before it was even removed.

"Do not hold what you do not understand," Victor commented as he sealed the wound with a plate of ice.

Ghideon advanced with a more irritated expression. His speed had increased along with his body, and Victor could not completely avoid the collision. The Specialist’s shoulder struck his open chest and dragged him across the chamber until they broke through the circular wall.

They entered a wide corridor surrounded by cells and surgical tables. Ghideon continued pushing Victor until he struck a column, breaking the stone behind his body. The claw rose toward his head, but Victor completely erased his presence through the Mist Steps.

Ghideon struck the empty column.

Victor appeared behind him with a short sword of Black Ice. The blade entered through his back, crossed the chest, and emerged from the center of the scars. Before the body could turn into shadow, Victor released Black Lightning through the weapon.

The discharge traveled through every reinforced muscle and forced each part of the body to contract at the same time. The legs locked, the claw closed without control, and the scars opened, expelling blood and threads of shadow into the corridor.

Ghideon turned his face with difficulty.

"Now I recognize that energy."

Victor increased the discharge.

"Recognize it from where?"

"From the bodies found after the Ascension Ritual."

Victor hesitated for less than a second.

Ghideon took advantage.

Shadow poured from his scars and traveled along the Black Ice sword, reaching Victor’s hand before he could abandon the weapon. The energy passed through his skin and entered his nerves with a cold sensation, different from any ordinary attempt at control.

Victor’s vision went dark.

He returned to the Ascension Ritual, surrounded by ruins, with Jake trapped by the Black Ice stakes. Then he saw Grace, Rakshasa, Carmilla, Scarlet, and Serafall. The images changed rapidly, being pulled one after another like pages opened by invisible hands. Ghideon was not trying to take control of his body.

He was searching for information.

"Victor, he entered your consciousness," Rowena warned. Her voice remained inside his mind, but she had no ability to touch or expel the presence. "Do not follow the images. They are yours, but the direction is not. He is searching for something specific."

"How do I get him out?"

"Pain may break his concentration, but it will not be enough. Use your own energy. This mind is yours, so stop acting like a visitor."

Victor felt Ghideon’s presence advancing through his memories. The enemy passed through the Ritual, the techniques, the image of Carmilla, and the first time Victor had used Black Lightning. Then he began approaching something deeper, where his bloodline and bonds remained stored.

Victor created a Black Ice spike inside his own hand and drove it completely through.

The physical pain restored part of his senses.

Then he released Black Lightning directly through the nerves of the invaded arm. He did not attack Ghideon as though facing another body. He overloaded his own connection, forcing every muscle to contract and making the shadow lose stability. The presence still tried to remain, but Victor concentrated White Fire at the point where he felt the foreign energy.

The fire burned inside his own consciousness.

The memories were not destroyed, but the false images disappeared around the flame. Victor finally perceived Ghideon’s shadow as a stain trapped between them and closed his will around that presence.

"You entered my head without permission," Victor said mentally. "Terrible choice."

He pushed White Fire through the connection.

In the real world, Ghideon screamed and staggered as though he had been struck directly in the brain. The shadow was expelled through Victor’s arm in a disorganized mass, and he burned it before it could return to the scars.

His vision returned.

Nera broke through the shattered wall at that moment. Her left shoulder was dislocated, blood covered her face, and the shaft of her scythe remained bent, but she was still running at full speed. Using the momentum, she jumped and swept the blade beneath Ghideon’s bestial arm.

The scythe passed through muscle and bone.

The enormous arm fell to the floor.

Ghideon tried to move away, but Victor was already in front of him. His fist struck the center of the open scars, driving Black Ice into the channels. Black Lightning came next, forcing the body to remain solid, and White Fire completed the sequence by burning everything from within.

Ghideon was launched through the corridor, destroyed two surgical tables, and broke through the door of a cell before disappearing beneath stone and twisted metal. The explosion that followed threw blood, dust, and fragments of wall across the entire section.

Victor remained standing while his chest slowly closed. The invaded arm still trembled because of the discharge he had forced through his own nerves, and the hand pierced by the ice dripped blood onto the floor.

Nera pulled her shoulder back into place with a sharp movement.

"Is he dead?"

Rowena spent several seconds silently evaluating.

"No. The scent is still there."

The stones began to move.

Ghideon rose from the center of the wreckage without his right arm, with half his chest frozen and his face burned. Despite the injuries, he was smiling. The scars on his chest began emitting a red light, while every cell door around them opened at the same time.

Dozens of creatures raised their heads in the darkness.

Ghideon’s lost arm began reconstructing itself. Long bones emerged first, followed by muscles covered in dark fur and a new claw, even larger than the previous one.

Rowena became more serious inside Victor’s mind.

"That came from a werewolf."

Victor allowed his blood to slowly form a sword in his hand.

Ghideon opened his arms while the creatures left the cells and filled the corridor behind him.

"You destroyed my bodies, burned my network, and tore away my ability to escape. There is no longer any reason to preserve this place."

The walls began to tremble. Pipes beneath the floor ruptured, releasing pressurized blood, while ancient symbols ignited across the ceiling. The vibration crossed the entire installation and caused parts of the structure to collapse in the nearby corridors.

Victor immediately understood what was happening.

"He is going to bring down the laboratory."

Nera spun the damaged scythe and stood beside him.

"Then we kill him first."

Ghideon advanced with the creatures as the ceiling began collapsing behind his group. Victor tightened his grip on the blood sword and gathered White Fire, Black Ice, and Black Lightning around the blade.

The smile returned to his face.

"Now this is better."