Blood Moon: Awakening

Chapter 11

James turned and saw Edward's energy blade closing in on him. He instinctively dodged leftwards but the blade sliced his forehead a bit. He jumped backwards to create distance. Everyone at the base was beyond shocked.

"You really did a number on me, you f*****g brat!" Edward walked zombie-like out of the dust clearing. Half his body was already blown away, such that his spine and a few ribs were visible.

"How? There's... there's no way you could have survived that! " James' eyes beamed with confusion. He had no idea what more he needed to do to put Edward into the ground.

"Normally you'd be right, but did you all forget that I am a healing type "demon"? Well, I don't blame you for not remembering. After all, this man used my powers so efficiently that he never really needed to heal up much. "

"Holy s**t! Healing types are extremely troublesome. Not only do they have high resilience, they can also heal from near-death states. So you'd have to wipe their cores out completely without a trace. How didn't anyone get this information on time? " In a fury, Michael smashed through the table.

"The higher ups!" Yu gritted his teeth in absolute anger and disgust.

"It can't be. But there is no way they would have such delicate information and refuse to release it! " Michael spoke with shock in his eyes.

"I have no idea. We'd figure that out later. James! Get out of there at once. We would be requesting the assistance of a full-fledged red source... NO, a white source here to take him out for good. return to the base at once. That's an order! " Yu roared at James.

"Leave now? When he's like this? If I leave, he'd just escape again. We can't afford to leave him be especially with this new information. I am close, one more death blow and it will be over!"

"James, I understand, but please listen to me. This is not a time to think logically and be calculative. The best decision right now is to fall back! " Yu called out desperately to James.

"You should have fallen back while you had the chance. Now that I have regained a little of my energy, you aren't going anywhere. " Edward laughed while slowly trying to breathe. "

"Bold talk from you. What can you do in that situation? " James sneered as he picked up his second sword.

Edward dipped his hand into the left part of his body, which still had flesh, and pulled out a core. The moment James saw it, he remembered that earlier, they had seen Edward with an external demon core. He immediately took a defensive stance. Edward held the core in his hand and began to infuse it with energy.

"When a core is infused with external energy, it causes an anomalous expansion. This anomalous expansion is due to overlapping energies interacting from within and outside the core, which if it continues, the core will explode." Edward started explaining.

"So what of it? We all know that it's basically how demons commit suicide."

"Well calm down, I am giving those people back at the base some significant information as a reward for you basically winning two rounds on me and also letting me have a way to test my newfound strength. "

"Newfound strength? You mentioned that before."

"Yeah, so hush. This promises to be good. " Edward teased.

"Tch..."

"As I was saying, it's similar to how source soldiers are created. The difference being that you don't let the core explode. But what you don't know is that the core atomize rather than explodes. It just happens to release energy in the process. Once it does that, for a brief moment, it searches for a living host with an open or porous core before dissipating."

"What? You can't mean..."

"Your explosion left a hole in my core, hence the reason I cannot heal easily. It's not something I can do on my own, hence the need to fight someone or something strong enough to damage me to this level. I must thank you, James. You have helped me a lot. Once the two cores fuse, I will gain an unimaginable power boost. Even I don't know how strong I'll be. "

"I won't let you!"

"It's too late!" the core exploded, and the particles migrated into Edward. A large burst of green energy in all its shades, from light green to emerald, engulfed the entire field. Blue energy covered Edward alone, who was in the middle of the energy expansion. James had to close his eyes and stand his ground as the swirling energy was pushing him backwards. All the green energies that swirled around Edward suddenly dragged back into him before he released it all out with a roar. The energy spread around the school violently blowing James away as he bounced and rolled on the ground. Walls of the school cracked and began to crumble slowly.

AS AN INTENSE energy raged outside, a knocked-out Kris laid in the toilet. James had placed a red energy around him in order to prevent any unnecessary interference back when they met. He had initially planned to dissipate the energy when he left, but the entire situation with Edward made him forget. Kris, also being a tyrant in school, was left in the toilet by all those who passed him. It was known to be better to not disturb him if he was sleeping, no matter where he was. Edward's energy disturbed the energy placed on Kris, and the loud sound forced him to wake up.

"What the hell..." Kris staggered to his feet when suddenly he fell onto his knees in fear. His heart began to ache and he could see the source energies clashing around him clearly. It was a first for him. He got up trembling and started walking towards the direction where the energy was coming from.

BACK AT THE base, Yu had contacted the higher ups for permission to send a white source soldier to the scene of the battle.

"We can't authorize that. The White Source Soldiers are basically like national treasures. The process is too long and, frankly, not worth it. "

A member of the higher ups, Nathan Stones, uttered with little remorse.

"Not worth it, you say? If he escapes, he could cause unprecedented havoc in the country and world at large. " Yu challenged.

"Isn't that a bit of a stretch? He would have to have killed multiple red sources for him to be considered that big of a problem. Plus, there are other means of solving a crisis like this. You chose violence and this is what it escalated to. " Nathan queried

"You bastards! You know the type of demon he was! You hid that information from us. You caused the deaths of source soldiers! " Michael yelled while Yu tried to hold him down.

"Watch your tongue, Major Michael. That is a very bold accusation. You have no proof and you could be court-martialled for stirring up conspiracies. " Nathan smirked as he took a sip of his coffee.

"Calm down, Michael. I'll handle this. " Yu calmed Michael as he ushered him to sit.

"I finally see the point of this. No matter what decisions you take, the ones who will take the fall for it are us. You so-called higher up's have never supported the creation of an independent organisation that could run their agendas without your check, and you've pushed several motions to scrap our existence, which had failed. A screw up like this would prove your point. Isn't that right? " He smiled at the screen as he looked fiercely at Nathan.

"Hmph... You have got no proof of what you are saying. Hence, the same applies to you, Dr. Yu Lock. "

"Oh? What I am looking for is self-satisfaction to justify my next set of actions. You don't need to worry too much about me. The sudden appearance of a white source soldier without your prior authorization would lead to an investigation into the situation on ground, hence the reveal of the records of you guys hiding crucial information about this operation from us. You'd be regarded as incompetent, and you'd all be severely punished. Compared to what's coming, you'd wish you were court martial. "

"You can spew all your threats, but nothing is going to happen without the proper channels."

"I so happen to know a white source soldier that would rush to the scene with a ring from me. It so happens that her baby boy is the one facing this treat as of right now. "

It is impossible! You don't mean... " Nathan began to tremble.

"The commander of the entire Egyptian forces and my darling wife. Elizabeth Lock. " Yu smirked as he took his seat and crossed his legs.

" We will get the white source authorized immediately... just don't call her."

"If my son should die, death is by far the most merciful thing you'll receive by the time she's through with you... Now get off my screen! " Yu bellowed as he turned off the call.

"Why don't you just call her?" Michael inquired with a bit of urgency.

"It would take a couple of hours for her to get here. The last blood moon led to the damage of an important transport facility. And basically, the only one that can transport her easily due to the nature of her source type. They'd have to jump start multiples at a time to produce enough energy, and by the time it's done, it might be too late."

"Shit... it's still easier to call from elsewhere."

"Michael... in my life, this is the first time I have ever felt so utterly useless. I can only hope and pray."

"He will be alright. I know it!" Michael uttered as he placed his hand on Yu's shoulder.

BACK AT THE field, everything went still. As the energies calmed, the scene became clear. Edward was in an emerald-coloured armor with blue linings and a blue diamond insignia on his chest plate. He had a staff with a drill mouth, also of the same colour variation. The presence and pressure he was giving off resembled that of a full fledged, full-armor red source soldier, if not slightly stronger.

"So James, I know this is cliche to say but..." He uttered as he cracked his neck.

"Playtime is over."