Does the blood change his personality?
Kai suspected that perhaps blood had a peculiar effect on Dorian.
But that doesn't seem to be the case. His eyes are still clear, and there is no clear sign of insanity behind them. "There are only two of us and almost twenty of them. We need to sow fear in them if we want a fighting chance."
"Still," Kai shook his head in disapproval. "That'd be too barbaric and inhuman."
"If you think they are going to hold back from doing anything they can to win against us, then you're an idiot," Dorian mocked. "Both of us are pariahs. You are a Lesser Angel, and I merely a deformed Angel. We don't get to be naïve."
Dorian went down to drink the student's blood dry.
He insisted on fearmongering, Team Coeus.
"Let the feast carve her a bloody smile," he muttered in praise to Tiana.
"I said no," Kai grabbed his shoulder and looked at him warningly. "If we do this, we won't be able to coax some of them to our side. You can't possibly think we'd win only with the three of us."
Dorian looked at the hand on his shoulder.
His face twisted hideously for a second, but it lasted only a second as he backed away.
"You're the one who found this route, so I'll not fight you in this." Dorian grabbed the bags of Mana Ores and dragged them away, back to base. He stopped to look over his shoulder one last time. "Oh, also, don't think for a second that you're the boss of me."
He turned away again and continued onward, "Meet me south of our base."
Once he left, Kai placed both hands on his hip and shook his head.
"Why is he so grumpy? It's not like we have to make a mess," He sighed.
Kai interrogated the student, but all he got was a spit to the face.
Since the student doesn't seem to have any intention of telling him anything, he went ahead and used Deep Slumber. The last time he did it to someone alive was during the night, so he couldn't really see properly.
Now, with the sun right above them, he could see everything clearly.
First, the student began to convulse painfully. Mana leaked out of him as if something was draining him of it. And then, his eyes rolled back. He tried to retaliate as the life behind his eyes returned.
But the darkness claimed him eventually.
It started in his mind and then moved to his entire body.
Slowly, it devoured his feet first and then climbed.
Just then, he heard footsteps against the bushes that made him instinctively hold his knife tighter—and turned. He was met with another student, one from the group he had attacked earlier.
For a second, the two of them stared at each other.
The student froze when his eyes met Kai's. Then, his gaze dropped to his friend, or at least what remained of him, only a torso and head. Kai's hand still rested on the body, which made it clear that this was his doing.
Kai stood up to prepare for a fight.
But to his surprise, the student turned around and ran.
"Huh?" Kai tilted his head in confusion. "What's wrong with him?"
His eyes returned to the devoured student, and only then did he scratch his head.
"I guess anyone would be spooked seeing what I'm doing."
[You have gained 5 exp]
"Tch. Dorian drank too much blood." Kai complained about the little exp he got.
Normally, it would be eight exp when devouring others while they're alive.
Now, he only got five.
It has been a week since Team Crius was destroyed.
Kai, Dorian, and Abigail had been trying their best to survive and scout the current condition of Ixos to find an opportunity to make a comeback. They managed to roughly locate where Team Coeus' base was, and also Team Hyperion.
Both teams were now clashing directly, and it was fierce.
Most of the loot was already taken, so the remaining students were geared up.
Some even got energy sources embedded into their gears, which doubled their mana potency. Right now, Team Coeus already occupies the central area, which cuts off Team Hyperion's route to reach the west, where the professors were.
Even if they managed to gather the requirements to win, they have to go through Team Coeus no matter what. A smart move by Lion. And slowly, at least based on the scouting Dorian did, Team Coeus is moving eastward.
Team Hyperion was led by a student called Layra, who had the bloodline of Apollo.
Kai overheard Team Coeus talking about how Layra sniped their sentries, rendering them blind for the last two days. Nobody knew where Team Hyperion's exact base was, but rumor said that it was on a hill.
It's a perfect place for Layra, who has a Legacy Skill called Divine Marksman.
A Legacy Skill that allowed all Supernals of Apollo to have a very sharp eyesight, an uncanny sense of aim, and also divinely acute senses. Abigail was asking them to find Team Hyperion, hoping to bolster their number.
In case the worst happened, they could be absorbed into Team Hyperion.
But making contact with them is hard when the area is swarmed by Team Coeus.
Later, before returning to base, Kai met up with Dorian.
He was brought to the southern part of Ixos and started to recognize the path. It was the path back to where Team Crius' base was. Since that night of slaughter, he hadn't even bothered coming back.
Most conflict happened in the center, so the southern part is deserted.
Animals of all kinds took refuge in the south, away from the chaos.
"Is there any reason for us to be here?" Kai asked.
"You'll see," Dorian answered with a mischievous smirk.
That smirk Put Kai on guard. His hand naturally found his knife handle, ready to draw if Dorian turned on him as Matilda did. But the thought died very soon as he soon saw what Dorian was trying to show him.
"You see now?" Dorian's voice was cold, and his face grim. "This is who we're dealing with."
For a second, Kai was rooted in his spot.
Then, his body moved on its own as he stepped out of the forest to really take in what he was seeing right now. Everyone from Team Crius was killed—he knew that much, as killing them would surely eliminate any future threat.
But Team Coeus did more than just kill them.
Across from him, the corpses of the students from Team Crius were stripped naked and then impaled through their chests or stomachs, pinning them onto the cavern wall like decorations.
Not only that, but some of the corpses were dismembered.
And some have multiple arrows in them.
"What in the world…?" Kai stared at the sight with trembling eyes. "Why would they do this?" His eyes wept over the corpse with many arrows in it. "They're toying with the corpses, too. Are they even human?"
"Some of us escaped," Dorian stood beside him. "Rakha isn't among them, so he also managed to escape. I'm guessing Lion wanted to send a message to the rest of us. That this is what will happen to those who go against him. That we should lie low and wait for our deaths.
"Do you still think I'm a psychopath for returning the favor?" He asked.
Kai clenched his fists.
It's not right for Team Coeus to be this brutal.
"Where are the professors?" Kai swallowed harshly. Not from nervousness, but from the anger rising inside him that made his throat dry. "How can they let them do this? Professor Hera should've come down and stopped them."
"That's not the point," Dorian chuckled. "We're Angels. We're bred to go against the Blue Void. People like Lion are mankind's monsters. A perfect tool. Besides, after what happened at the orientation, we already knew how this place operates."
"How….?"
"Isn't it obvious? Only the strong will survive. And only the strong can do whatever they want."
Kai's heart throbbed upon hearing those words.
He remembered telling that to the student he killed on the second trial.
But back then, he didn't know that it'd get this worse.
Once again, his eyes were opened.
"Come on," Dorian approached the impaled corpses. "Let's take them down. I already scouted the area for the last couple of days. It's safe."
They spent the next hour taking down the dead. One by one, Kai and Dorian lowered the bodies and arranged them on the ground neatly. Then, they covered them with branches and leaves.
It wasn't a proper burial. But it was something.
At the very least, these fallen students deserved this much.
Once they finished, they returned to their hideout.
"Hey, what do you think about Abigail?" Dorian asked along the way.
"Hmm? If you want to get close to her, then go right on ahead. I don't mind," Kai gave a nonchalant shrug.
Abigail had been keeping their base clean, stocked with food, and had even secured purified water.
She has no combat skills, so she was tasked to keep an eye on their hideout.
It was her own initiative to do all of those things.
More than that, she always greeted them with a warm smile whenever they returned from scouting or looting. Even though she was not going out, the little things she did made all the difference.
Kai wouldn't be surprised if her kindness and warm smile could smite Dorian's heart.
"Fuck you mean—go right on ahead?" Dorian scowled. "I'm not into her! I'm talking about whether you trust her. Unlike us, she's a completely normal Angel. She must've felt out of place with us. If the chance to leave us appears, I'm sure she'd stab us in the back."
"Wait a minute…" Kai abruptly stopped.
Dorian looked back and saw his eyes widening as he had come to a big revelation.
His face also looked serious.
It was so tense that Dorian couldn't help but swallow at what Kai was about to say.
"You're not into Abigail?"
"Yeah? What about it? She's good and all, but not my type."
"Does this have something to do with Tiana's bloodline?" Kai asked again. This time, his voice lowered into a whisper. "You know… The blood of an Empusa is in you."
"Hmm…?" Dorian's forehead creased with hard lines.
He started to realize where Kai was going with this. "My bloodline is that of an Empusa," He said carefully, eyes squinting like a hawk. "But what does that have to do with this?"
"Dorian," Kai took a careful step backward. "You're not gay, aren't you?"
"Fuck you mean?! I'm not gay!" Dorian exclaimed as his prediction was spot on. "Yes, you're a bit good-looking and cute, and yes, the bloodline of an Empusa made me feel attraction to young men, but it's only because of their blood!"
"That's," Kai smiled acutely. "That's pretty gay…"