Elder Blood Witcher - 804 Hand Job

Reima “You done?” he asks bluntly.

…

Phillipa looks towards the sound of his voice, the Dimeritium restricting the magic she’d been using to see without eyes. “Y-you, you’re sick… P-please he-al my arm, before it has to be s-severed.” she says, not wishing to have her arm amputated due to infections.

Reima shrugs, “Well, I might? It depends on whether or not you tell me the truth.”

Phillipa “I-I will! P-please help me!”

Reima “Then, why are you helping the Vampires?” he asks the most important question first.

Phillipa “T-they gave me an opportunity for revenge, in return they wanted my knowledge of all forms of magic.

Reima raises a brow, “And you told them?”

Phillipa “No… I d-did not trust that they’d not kill me a-afterwards. I only told t-them about basic forms o-of magic.”

Reima slowly nods, “So, did you manage to get revenge?” he asks, curious if Radovid was still alive.

Phillipa curls her lips unconsciously at the thought before forcing herself back in a pitiful state, “Y-yes… A-actually, this potion w-was for him.” she says, gesturing towards the cauldron.

Reima crosses his arms, “Wait, Radovids here?” he asks in surprise, not expecting to get a two for one deal.

Phillipa nods, “I-I can lead you to him…”

Reima grins, “Sure.” he says, unequipping the silver blade from his back, not having a reason to sneak around the place any longer.

Phillipa stumbles towards the cauldron after feeling around for it before scooping out a healthy amount into a large vial, using a cork to stopper it. She continues to pitifully walk towards the door, glancing at Reima as she expects him to follow.

Reima held no pity for her, sure she was blind but she’d done a lot to deserve such a fate, she’s lucky to remember this underground structure so well that she remembers its layout, otherwise Reima might struggle to actually find Radovid.

They exit the lab, Phillipa using the right wall to walk straight and know vaguely where they were going…

Phillipa “S-should you not use a spell to conceal us? The Vampire who owns this place is very powerfu-”

Reima “Shut your mouth and lead me to Radovid.” he states, ignoring the angry huff she gives under her breath.

Obviously, they’re soon spotted by a group of Higher Vampires who start shouting obscenities at Phillipa, calling her a traitor and oathbreaker… Reima just watches as she’s berated, her pitiful form satisfying Reima’s more sadistic side…

Eventually the Vampires had had enough of just verbally assaulting the Sorceress, one leaping at her, intent on getting a taste of a Sorceresses blood.

*SLAM!*

The others who’d seen this take a step back in surprise, not having expected their comrade to be incapacitated so quickly…

Reima using the dark hand on the limp body of the Vampire and tears its soul out, getting horrified reactions from the Vampires watching…

“M-MONSTER!”

“U-unholy!”

“JERRY NOOO!”

…

Reima “You guys serious?” he points to himself, “I’m the monster?…” he shakes his head and summons the staff of Morwenna. “Slap these guys for me.” he says to the staff, tapping it on the floor and causing the many hands to starts flying towards them.

Reima watches with rapt interest as the Vampires attempt to evade the hands, some turning into their true forms in an attempt to overpower them… He can’t help but laugh when the hands finally catch them though, four hold their limbs in place while a few others begin brutally slapping them. The hands that had the power to pulverize a slab of titanate were clearly a match for this pitiful Vampires…

*BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!*

The almost melodious sound of flesh being torn by the sheer force of the many hands impact rings through the hallway… By the time a minute had passed all that was left were broken and bloody piles of flesh and bone, writhing on the floor.

Reima looks down at them and holds his hand out, the staff of Morwenna quickly reforming… Now covered in blood and grey-matter. “It’d be cool if I could use the Dark Hand on these things…” he mutters, unconsciously using the technique with the hand that was holding the staff…

Much to his surprise, the staff itself started glowing the wispy black and red of the dark hand technique…

Reima “Huh, this is… Cool?” he says, his voice almost cracking in surprise. He taps the floor with the staff and command, “Take the souls of those Vampires.”

The staff separates and the hands fly towards the piles of flesh, there were more hands than bodies, resulting in multiple hands trying to take the souls of one Vampire, resulting in what Reima could only describe as a tug of war…

Fortunately, souls are incredibly difficult to break, much less destroy… Leading to the hands forming some sort of compromise and delivering the souls to Reima together. It took longer than if he had just done it himself, but this could be useful if there were many incapacitated Vampires around him while he was occupied with something else… His fight with Morwenna being one such example.

With that done, he stores the corpses of the Vampires and glances to Phillipa, “Lead on.” he says, ignoring the questioning look she sends in his vague direction.