CHAPTER 312: A WAY

Unfortunately, the man wasn’t given even a moment to process it. Malakai blasted forward the next instant, erasing the distance, blade tearing towards the man’s neck.

Malakai’s sheer speed made the man’s heart skip a beat. He dipped low, the blade’s edge grazing just above his head as he twisted away from the sweeping strike.

’He’s dangerous.’

The man’s eyes gleamed as he slashed both thumbs, blood gushing from his arms and knitting together in the air.

In an instant, a razor sharp crimson claw formed on both arms, their edges glinting. They lunged forward, piercing towards Malakai’s chest with brutal speed.

Malakai’s blood churned, then coiled, then boomed.

His body snapped to the side in a blur, the claw ripping through the space where he’d been a heartbeat before.

Twisting in the motion, he spun, both blades arcing back towards the man’s exposed ribs. But the man’s eyes flared wide.

The blood claws on his arms suddenly whipped outward, lashing towards Malakai’s head with a viper’s strike.

Malakai arched his head back, narrowly evading, but the claws ripped through strands of his hair, and from the torn arcs of blood, more needle like spikes burst forth, surging towards him in a sudden scattershot.

’I need distance.’

Malakai’s gaze narrowed. Blood surged down his legs and coiled tightly into his feet before detonating.

The blast shot him backwards, air cracking around him as he slid across the polished floor, putting precious meters between them.

"Surround him!"

"Stand down!"

The other node formation Sanguine in the room began fanning out, cutting off every possible escape route, but the synergy stage evolved silenced them with a single glare, cold eyes never leaving Malakai.

The claws retracted with a sickening slither, curling back into his arms.

’He’s strong.’

Malakai’s mind was already racing for a way out when one of the other node formation evolvers suddenly shouted.

"I’ll report this!"

The man made for the nearest console. But Malakai moved instantly. He couldn’t afford to let the alarm be raised.

"No you don’t!"

The synergy stage evolved lunged to intercept him, claws scything down in a lethal arc, but his eyes narrowed in surprise when Malakai didn’t try to meet the blow.

Instead, Malakai’s body propelled upward, shooting straight into the air.

’Easy target.’

The man’s arm snapped up and fired a compressed lance of blood. It shrieked through the air towards Malakai with air piercing force.

’He can’t dodge.’ His lips curled up in satisfaction. Once Malakai was injured, his capture would be effortless.

But in the next moment, his eyes almost popped wide.

A foothold of solidified vita formed beneath Malakai’s foot mid air. In the blink of an eye, Malakai shifted direction entirely, vaulting over the man’s head and angling downwards like a diving hawk, straight towards the one making for the console.

"Shit!"

The synergy stage evolved unleashed a flurry of desperate blood projectiles, but Malakai moved as if he had eyes in the back of his head.

Foothold after foothold bloomed beneath his feet, redirecting his path in sharp bursts, each shift barely a hair’s breadth ahead of the deadly shots.

In the next moment, Malakai landed in the midst of the startled node formation evolvers.

There were five of them in total, one currently injured and barely standing. Each one boasted at least five fully formed nodes. On paper, they were formidable. But in reality, they were prey.

Malakai rolled with the landing, his scythes already whirling with him. The motion was a single, sweeping storm, too fast to track.

Before they could even scream, before a single counter could form, legs and arms were severed in a single flowing motion. Blood sprayed in arcs across the walls.

"Fuck!"

The synergy stage evolved bellowed, hurling a barrage of blood projectiles towards Malakai. But Malakai hadn’t even paused. The instant the five dropped, he was already moving.

The crimson shots tore through the air like high caliber rounds, but Malakai’s vital field locked onto every single one.

His blood coiled through his limbs, boom, and he detonated forward in sharp bursts of speed.

He was a phantom in motion, darting between strikes, every step leaving a ghostly afterimage in the bright light.

The projectiles slammed into walls and shattered screens with bone jarring force before splattering into wet bursts of crimson.

Malakai slid low under one shot, twisted around another, and vaulted off a foothold of his own vita.

The ricocheting momentum carried him high above the room, giving him a clear view of his target below.

The synergy stage evolved’s eyes tracked him, gaze wide. He couldn’t believe everything that was happening.

First, Malakai had manipulated blood outside his body. Then his speed... his strength. What the hell was going on!?

’It doesn’t matter.’ His eyes flashed cold, locking onto Malakai high in the air.

He dipped low, blood coiling tight at his feet before detonating.

His body shot upwards like a speeding missile, the claws around his arms twisting and morphing mid flight into a massive crimson sword. With a snarl, he thrust it upwards towards Malakai.

A foothold bloomed beneath Malakai’s foot in that split second, his body shifting mid air, the blade tearing past his side close enough for the wind shear to sting.

But the man didn’t relent. Blood surged beneath him, bracing his position as he twisted, stopping his upward momentum in an instant.

His eyes flashed again, then his sword blurred, unleashing a flurry of strikes that ripped through the air.

Malakai danced between them, footholds forming in rapid succession to change his position mid-air, his scythes spinning in his hands before unleashing his own whirling counter.

The blades hummed violently through the air, arcs wide enough to men in a heartbeat.

The synergy stage evolved evaded every one, shifting across footholds of his own blood, the large sword blurring in his grip.

Blood pooled around him, splintering into bullet like projectiles and jagged spikes that screamed towards Malakai.

Malakai barely slipped past them, feeling the heat of the friction as they sliced by.

The aftermath of their battle was deafening, projectiles slammed into the walls with explosive force, rattling the reinforced metal.

Their missed strikes gouged deep scars into the polished floor, the air shaking with every clash and near miss.

As the battle raged on, the synergy stage evolved’s frustration boiled over. His movements became sharper, colder. His thoughts burned with a single question, how the hell did Malakai get so strong!?

But despite the intensity of the battle around him, Malakai’s mind remained utterly calm.

’I can’t keep going like this.’

The only reason Malakai could keep up with a synergy stage evolved was due to Oxyflow and his increased perception.

But he was burning a massive amount of vita every moment he spent fighting. His every attempt to end the fight had been seen through.

’I have to end this fast.’

Malakai allowed himself to glance around the room.

’There.’

As his eyes locked onto the place where he’d sliced the limbs of the node formation evolvers, his eyes lit up.

He’d found a way.