Although neither Da nor Liam had fought against the masked figure directly, they still had a very clear idea of how terrifyingly strong the Cerebus mbers were. They had already fought several of them on their way here. Every battle had been brutal. Every encounter had pushed them close to their limits.
So now, watching Beatrix tear through them effortlessly, and not rely defeating them but doing so in such a cruel, savage manner, sent alarm bells ringing through both their minds. The woman in front of them wasn’t the Beatrix they knew. That much was painfully obvious.
And the more they observed her, the more they realized they had no idea how to approach her.
"What’s this?" Beatrix said suddenly, tilting her head toward a distant direction.
Before either Liam or Da could respond, she bent her knees, and launched herself into the air.
She landed in a different section of the Underside, her impact cracking the ground and sending a tremor through the ruins. Dust shot upward like a localized explosion.
Seconds later, she walked back out from the cloud of debris.
Dragging another mber of the Cerebus Guild behind her.
But the man wasn’t rely injured, his entire body was being wrapped and smothered by the sa strange blood that surrounded all her previous victims. The blood closed around him like a cocoon, swallowing him entirely until he was reduced to nothing more than another compact, horrifying sphere.
Beatrix twirled it in her hand.
Then she looked directly at Da and Liam.
"What’s wrong with you two?" she asked, lips curling upward. "Why are you staring at so deeply? Do you want to sleep with ?"
Liam’s face turned so red so fast that he almost choked on his own breath.
He had never, never, heard Beatrix speak like that. Ever.
If this were the real Beatrix, she would have died on the spot from embarrassnt. She would have rolled on the ground, covered her face, and refused to speak for the rest of her life.
Da didn’t even bother softening the question.
"You’re not Beatrix, are you?"
"I’m her." The woman giggled, her words sharp and playful. "I look like her, don’t I?"
The giggle twisted into manic laughter.
"But I suppose," she continued, "to make things easier... you can call B. For now, or maybe forever, I’m the one in control of this body."
Liam and Da exchanged quick glances.
They didn’t want to antagonize her. That much was obvious. Right now, she was fighting the sa enemies they were, and they couldn’t afford to make soone like this into an enemy.
But they were both dying to understand what exactly was happening.
"Is Beatrix still alive?" Liam asked cautiously. "How are you using her body?"
"That’s a question even I don’t fully understand," B answered casually. "The two of us were ant to be fused. She was always at the forefront. But now... it seems I am."
Her blood shield pulsed like a heartbeat.
"I imagine she’s sowhere inside," B continued. "And believe , this isn’t sothing I chose. Otherwise, I would have taken over her body a long ti ago."
Behind her, the two solid blood spheres she had created began to wobble and drift forward. Once they floated close enough, she placed her hand over them.
The spheres dissolved, absorbed directly into her palm.
Liam’s stomach twisted. It looked too similar to a Qi pill being consud. Except this had been made from a person’s life force.
"What are you doing?" Da asked, unable to hide his shock. "What is that energy you’re using? And... was it you that took out one of the masked ones earlier?"
To him, the power didn’t feel like magic. Not even close. It felt like Qi, an extrely potent, violent form of Qi.
"And I have to ask..." Da continued carefully. "Do you view us as enemies? Or are you here to help?"
The second question made B smile instantly.
Her smile widened even further when she lifted one hand toward Liam, fast enough that he flinched before he could stop himself.
The flinch seed to delight her even more.
"Let’s just say..." B said softly, "that I haven’t completely decided what I’m going to do."
Liam swallowed.
"But," she continued, "for now, I’ll stay with whoever is more entertaining. And that happens to be you."
She twirled a strand of blood around her finger.
"As for your other question, my power isn’t complicated. It’s Qi. I’m from Pagna, sa as you idiots. But unlike your regular Qi, my Qi is... different."
The air around her shimred slightly, vibrating.
"My attacks don’t use ordinary Qi. They use Divine Qi."
Liam froze.
Da’s eyes widened.
"But," B added with a shrug, "the body I’m in right now isn’t a Divine warrior’s body. So my power is limited. A real sha."
"Divine Qi..." Liam whispered.
"That’s right," B said. "The energy the masked ones use? The energy these Cerebus fools use? All of it is beneath . Divine Qi is superior. Overwhelming."
She clenched her fist. Blood rippled around her skin like living armor.
"So I simply encase their bodies, or destroy them completely, before any of their stolen energy can escape or regenerate. It all gets crushed and sealed away. Simple."
Her eyes narrowed.
"My Qi is focused on destruction," she whispered. "Honestly, it feels very similar to all the Dark Magic I sense everywhere in this place."
Liam exchanged another quick glance with Da.
If her power resembled Dark Magic...
If she was fused to Beatrix...
If she was using Divine Qi...
That explained why the system couldn’t recognize her.
"Then..." Liam swallowed, gathering his courage. "Can you help Raze? Help him defeat the Grand Magus?"
For the first ti since she appeared, B’s smile faded.
She didn’t speak imdiately.
Instead, she tilted her head upward, as if listening to a voice only she could hear. Blood rippled along her arm. The air grew heavier.
She was thinking.
Considering.
And neither Da nor Liam had any idea what her answer might be.
****
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