The Bloodline System



Author's Note: Unedited Chapter

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"Let the Medalion Challenge begi..."

Gasp~

The entire arena lit up in uproar as an unexpected phenomenon suddenly occurred at tbis moment. 

Thrrrriihhhhhh~

"What the hell is that?" E.E voiced with a tone of terror.

A dark rift had appeared in the sky above the arena, making it seem as through the sky was ripped apart.

It brought with it an energy of darkness that vigrously caused the atmosphere to shake.

Handler One had also paused in confusion as he looked upwards with knitted eyes. Participants and spectators were just as terrified as well as confused.

"There's someone there!" A participant yelled whjle pointing at the sky.

"Huh?"

Everyone looked closely and truly noticed the hands of a person spreading the rift apart from within to make it wider.

It seemed as though this person was responsible for the rift and happened to still be tearing the sky open.

"Is that...?" Angy eyes widened as a face stuck through the opening of the rift.

"Gustav?" E.E and Aildris voiced at the same time as the person proceeded to jump through the rift's opening.

The rift in the sky vanished immediately after.

Fwwwhiiii~

The whooshing wind reverberated across the place as the figure dropped from a height of more than twenty thousand feet. 

Bang!

He landed precisely in the midst of the arena, causing a storm of dirt to be dispersed across the air.

Fwwwoosshh~ Fwwoosshh~ Fwwhoossshh~

Three handlers had already arrived before him the moment he landed with wariness.

Chatter! Chatter! Chatter!

-"is that earth's Captain?"

-"Where was he all this time?"

"Gustav Crimson!?" One of them voiced with a tone of wariness as the figure who seemed to have dark corroded markings all over his body, stood in place with his knees slightly crouched and his face lowered.

Phew~

His body emitted a cloud of mist as he slowly raised his face, displaying a menacing looking glint at the corner of his eyes.

"Hope I am not too late?" Gustav questioned as the dark marks of corrosion all over his body slowly began to fade.

"Are you... are you okay?" One of the Handlers questioned.

Gustav turned to shoot a glance in the direction of a group of dark beings in blue battle vests, "I am fine,"

The brief stare was so intense that the even the participants surrounding the group it was directed at felt chills.

"So it was him..." Captain Irand voiced with a tone of realisation. 

"This is bad Captain..." One of the Indulus Prime members said in response.

"It is... but he cannot do anything to stop what is coming," Captain Irand stated while staring at Gustav who was getting questioned. 

The Handlers scanned Gustav and even had their medical team checkup on him while the challenge was briefly halted.

His teammates had surrounded him as well, questioning him about what happened but Gustav didn't answer anyone and asked only one question. 

"Where is Miss Aimee?"

Fwwhoosshh~ Bang!

Miss Aimee landed in the arena the next moment and walked towards Gustav. 

"Ma'am you're not supposed to be..."

"Shut up," Miss Aimee cut one of the handlers off before they could complete their sentence.

"Are you alright kid?" Miss Aimee Questioned the moment she arrived before him.

"Captain Crimson has less than one minute to decide if he will be partaking in this challenge or not," Handler One voice reverberated across the arena.

"There's no time..." Gustav said while reaching out to grab Miss Aimee's face.

[Memory Transfer Has Been Activated]

Before Miss Aimee could throw further questions, a plethora of Gustav's memories of the last few hours drifted into her mind.

Her expression was one of disbelief and surprise as this lasted for around twenty seconds.

"Time up! Earth are you prepared to partake in this challenge or will you be forfeiting?" Handler One voice rang out once more.

"We're ready," Gustav answered while Miss Aimee nodded and flew out of the arena.

"You need to get your vest first," Aildris said while pointing at the red structured pillar on the southeast corner of the arena.

Swwoosshh~

Gustav's figure vanished and reappeared before the pillar. Upon making contact, a red battle vest appeared on his body.

"We're fully ready now!" Gustav's voice reverberated heavily across the arena like a battle cry.

"Does he even know what the challenge is about?" Matilda nearly facepalmed after Gustav's yell.

"We'll have to brief him," Aildris responded while the Handler finally gave the go ahead for the challenge to begin.

"Let The Medalion Challenge Begin!" 

'Medalion challenge? Looks like I missed a whole lot,' Gustav voiced as he recalled what happened last night. 

##########

That would mean an unwanted presence is in our midst... Irand you fool! One of your clones is not a clone!" Prime Vesel Ji voice boomed thunderously as his gaze settled on the Indulus Prime participant that arrived the latest.

"Marh!? You're not Marh! Who are you?" Captain Irand questioned with a strong tone while staring at the teammate.

Bloodlust suddenly covered the entire dark space as the figure they glared at suddenly turned around.

Fwwwhooossshh~

His figure darted across the dark space with speed as he made a run for it.

"After him! Kill him! Kill him!" Prime Vessel Ji commanded.

The endless darkness began to twist and turn as they chased after the infiltrator.

The infiltrator was none other than Gustav who had taken the form of one of the Indulus Prime participants. Gustav had been staking the Indulus Prime members for almost two weeks without their knowledge. 

During that time he had taken note of their activities and properly plotted how he was going to infiltrate their residential quarters. Now he had successfully done so however there was something he never saw coming...

He had no idea that the indulus prime participants were all clones of their captain... Irand.

Swooossshhh~

Gustav was very quick no doubt but the expanse of darkness was starting to reject him. It was like it had been rewired to gnaw away at his existence so long as he remained within.

The Indulus Prime Participants were having a hard time catching up despite this being their domain but with the darkness thrashing at Gustav, he was bound to eventually slow down.

The vicinity was becoming corrosive for him and dark marks began appearing all over his body.

'I can't seem to get to the entrance... did the darkness expand?' Gustav wondered as he kept dashing forward unhindered. 

Gustav perception had grown so huge that he was capable of covering the size of the entire earth with it at his current strength. This was why he was able to navigate this expanse of darkness and find the Indulus Prime members in the first place.

However, now that it seemed the darkness was expanding, Gustav was finding it difficult to leave this place.

Twwhoossshh~

An Indulus Prime member suddenly materialised from the darkness before him, branding a pair of dark blades.

Slash!

Gustav bent backwards, dodging the swing of the dark blades which missed his face by only a few inches.

Thrroouhh~

His figure swerved to the side and grabbed the Indulus Prime participant from the back of his head.

The moment Gustav made contact with his head, a thought appeared in his mind.

[Mental Manipulation Has Been Activated]

[Siphoning Memories...]

Gustav's eyes gleamed with an expression of confoundment as string of Memories streamed into his mind. The figure in his grasp shook repeatedly like someone suffering from epilepsy. 

In a few moments this figure dematerialised, turning completely into dark mist. 

Gustav only managed to get bits from his memory since it was also one of the clones.

Still he had gotten useful information that helped him in piecing things together. Gustav had no time to dwell on everything he had uncovered. He had to keep running.

Hours went by and Gustav still hadn't found the exit.

'It must be daytime already... At this rate I'll miss the next challenge,' Gustav said internally while panting profusely. 

("At this rate you might even die here. The dark domain is corroding your body faster than your regeneration can keep up,") The system voiced in his head.

"Yeah... *huff huff*.. I noticed," Gustav responded while letting out heavy breaths.

("You need to get out of  this dimension as soon as possible,") 

"I know I know... finding the exit is becoming impossible," Gustav paused and turned around to scan the vicinity.

There was nothing but darkness for thousands of miles. He couldn't use his dimensional bracelet to get out because for some reason, the domain hindered its functionality. 

"If I can't find an exit... then I will create one," Gustav's voice was calm but it radiated powerfully across the vicinity. 

His eyes emitted a Crimson glow in the midst of the blistering darkness as he returned to his original form.

Zing~

The Jiko Hakai katana appeared in his grasp and he suavely raised it while wrapping his second hand around the bottom part of the hilt.

His arms transformed, becoming extremely muscular and lengthy as dark scales appeared all over them.