Bastard Homunculus: Reborn in the Corpse Pit-Chapter 162: The Hero vs The Irregulars(Part 1)

"This will be our first target, Amber Village. More specifically, the two Irregulars who have been assigned to this village, the Blood Mage and the Bone Mage, they’re the weakest of The Irregulars, so we’ll start with them," Remarked Alphonse, as he arrived at the outskirts of Amber Village.

"Yeah, okay. How are we going to sneak in, though? You said your Teleport Spell wasn’t working, and it looks like they’ve really tightened security," Responded Akila with a frown.

It was the 25th of August, 1919, and Alphonse had decided it was time to make his move, and assuming Colt and Lexia to be the easiest targets among The Irregulars, he opted to go after them first.

His goal was for Akila to kill them, in the hopes that doing so would give him more confidence, and more importantly, get him used to killing. frёewebηovel.cѳm

"They must have set up a barrier around the village to block teleportation. No matter, we can still get into the village...it’s not the most pleasant option, but our only choice is to sneak in through the sewers," Replied Alphonse reluctantly.

"Got it. That does sound pretty gross, but it’s nothing compared to the suffering the people of this nation have endured for far too long. Let’s get going," Declared Akila, as he made his way towards the village.

"Yes, exactly...I’m glad you understand," Responded Alphonse, dragging his feet after Akila.

As they located a large sewage pipe, they entered and headed in, Alphonse doing his best to hold himself together and keep from recoiling in disgust, feeling nauseous from the stench.

"O-Okay, this is pretty rough. I feel like I’m going to puke," Grimaced Akila as he lifted his collar over his nose and mouth, heaving slightly.

"This is the most disgusting thing I’ve ever done! I-It better be worth it, damn it, if he fails to kill them after this literal shit, I swear I’ll...," Alphonse thought to himself shakily.

He focused on his Detection Magic to try and distract himself as they made their way through the tunnels, flinching as he spotted rats scurrying about, and nearly screaming as a roach skittered across his foot.

In comparison, Akila was a lot less bothered. While the stench and critters did unsettle him, he was focused on the task ahead of him, determined not to fail.

Not just because of his hero complex issues, but also because he didn’t want to disappoint Alphonse, the first person to call him a friend.

"Over here, I don’t sense anyone around above this spot. It must be in an alley, let’s exit through here," Suddenly remarked Alphonse, as they came across a manhole.

"Alright, sounds good," Nodded Akila, before climbing up the ladder, Alphonse following after him.

As Akila reached the top rung, he raised his right arm and pushed on the manhole cover, lifting it up quietly and setting it aside, before climbing out the hole.

Alphonse took a deep breath and let out a slight gasp as they exited the sewer, an immense sense of relief washing over him.

"O-Okay, glad that ordeal is finally over. But the real part starts now. Hm, it’s almost time for the Knights to conclude their duties for the day. Let’s head to the village’s Knight outpost, wait for our targets to appear and then follow them. We’ll attack once they’re in an isolated area. We don’t want to drag any innocent civilians into the battle, after all."

"Of course, the last thing we want to do is endanger the very people we’re trying to save," Nodded Akila in agreement.

The two of them then made their way through the alleys, heading for the Knight outpost while Alphonse kept an eye out with his Detection Magic to make sure no one noticed or followed them.

It wasn’t long before they arrived by the outpost, hiding in an alley on the opposite side to the building, with just a couple of minutes left before the Knights were done for the day.

As they waited, a handful of Knights began streaming out of the building, heading home one by one, before finally, Colt and Lexia walked out.

Lexia took out a Spell Card as Colt shut the front door, pointing it at the building before activating it, forming a barrier around the structure.

"That’s them, the guy with the eyepatch and the pink-haired girl," Alphonse whispered quietly.

"I see...wait, are you sure they’re brainwashed? They seem pretty...normal," Responded Akila skeptically.

"Well, they weren’t turned into mindless puppets, if that’s what you mean. It’s more that their memories were altered."

"Yeah, makes sense. Come on, let’s follow them."

"Yes. Attack as soon as there are no other people around, and we shall retreat after you kill them. If possible, finish them quickly and painlessly," Requested Alphonse, while thinking to himself, "Contrary to what I said, I hope he inflicts as much pain as possible before killing them. But I do need him to be quick...the longer this takes, the riskier it becomes, this will end poorly if back up arrives before we’re finished."

The two of them then began following after Colt and Lexia, staying hidden along the shadows of the alleys as they tailed them, trying to be as discreet and covert as possible. However...

"Hey, have you noticed?" Muttered Lexia quietly.

"Mhm, we’re definitely being followed. I think it’s two people, though I only feel bloodlust and malice from one," Replied Colt, as he subtly brought out his dagger from his Storage Ring.

"Let’s lure them out by heading to a more isolated spot."

"Yeah, sounds good. Oh, I know, once we get to an area with no one else around, let’s act like we’re going to make out. It’ll make it seem like our guards are down," Suggested Colt with a slight smirk.

"Wha-...!? S-Stop messing around, dumbass! That’s not necessary, they’re sure to make their move without us needing to resort to something like that!" Shot back Lexia with a quiet, indignant huff, before adding as she calmed down, "Don’t provoke me, we don’t want to give away the fact that we’ve noticed them."

"Yeah, I guess you’re right," Sighed Colt reluctantly.

The two of them nonchalantly walked through the village, neither of their pursuers realizing that they’d been noticed.

A sense of anticipation rose up in Alphonse as Colt and Lexia reached a more deserted part of the village, with several buildings that were newly under construction, and no one else around in sight.

"This is it. Go for it," He prompted Akila, who nodded nervously as he drew out his blades.

He then took a deep breath and exhaled slowly to try and compose himself, before tightening his grip on his blades as he zipped out of the alley and shot towards the pair swiftly and silently.

As he began to close in on them, his eyes widened in alarm as they both swiftly spun around, Colt unleashing a pressurized blast of blood from his hand as Lexia fired out a blunt bone projectile.

Akila quickly turned his chest intangible, the attacks passing through him, before Colt extended out several blood tendrils from his hands and sent them shooting out towards Akila, whipping around him with immense speed.

He came to an abrupt halt, trying to keep up with the tendrils as they swung in towards him rapidly, but they were too fast for his Magic to keep up with, a couple of the tendrils striking him with stinging impact.

He then gritted his teeth before activating his Full Phase Spell, turning his entire body except for the bottom of his feet intangible, the tendrils passing through him as he swiftly shot forward.

Lexia then stepped back and took out a Spell Card from her Storage Ring, before raising it up towards the sky as she activated it, a flare shooting up high into the air before erupting with a blindingly bright flash of light, illuminating nearly the entire village, making it seem like it was daytime for a few seconds.

Akila backed away warily, before racing across as Colt extended out more blood tendrils and chased after him with them, Akila focusing on evasion instead of using his Magic, to give his body the time it needed to cooldown from the side effects of his Magic before using it again.

Alphonse observed from an alley with a grimace, growing impatient and restless as Akila looked for an opening to counter...suddenly, Alphonse stiffened and lifted his gaze up as massive barrier started to form around the village, his eyes widening in alarm.

"Shit! That signal flare, don’t tell me-...this is bad, are we trapped in here?!"

As Akila noticed the barrier too, he felt an increased sense of urgency, before turning his entire body intangible and charging in towards Colt at top speed.

Lexia fired out a barrage of bone bullets towards him from her fingertips, but they passed right through him along with Colt’s blood tendrils, before Akila leapt forward as he closed in on Colt and whipped one of his blades across at Colt’s neck.

Colt swiftly tilted his body back, Akila grimacing as it seemed like Colt would easily avoid the swing of the blade...before his eyes widened in surprise as Colt suddenly stopped, the tip of the blade grazing the skin over the front of his neck and inflicting a shallow cut, trickles of blood running down his neck.

"What the...?"

"Woah, what was that? I thought the cut would be smaller...do your blades have some kind of special ability?" Inquired Colt in fascination, before adding as he touched the cut with a smirk, "Mm, that stings so good."

"Damn it, stop fucking around!" Snapped Lexia incredulously, as Akila stared in bewilderment, before turning his upper body intangible as Lexia took out her Relic Armament and swung it at him while extending and expanding it out, the large, spiky metal ball phasing through his torso.

"Relax, I’ve got it covered," Responded Colt, before Akila let out a sharp, startled cry as he felt a burst of pain around the back of his right calf, as a blood tendril pierced into it.

Colt had extended it out of the bottom of his foot, boring it into the ground, before tunneling it out behind Akila.

The tendril rapidly wrapped around his leg and began to lift him up, before he quickly turned his leg intangible to get out of its grasp, springing back with a pained grimace as blood streamed down the back of his leg.

"As much as I’d like to savor this, I should probably wrap it up quickly...now, [Blood Zo-...]...," Began Colt.

"Akila! Get back here! Quickly!" Suddenly yelled out Alphonse, as he sensed several more Knights approaching.

Akila swiftly shot towards him before Colt could activate his Spell, turning his entire body intangible as Colt and Lexia fired off a barrage of attacks at him, passing right through him.

"What’s wrong, did something-...?" Akila started to ask as he reached Alphonse.

"We’ve got several incoming, take us back down to the sewers, now!"

Akila nodded before grabbing his arm, turning the both of them intangible before they phased through the ground, dropping back into the sewers.

"We should move, quickly, let’s phase through the walls and then head south, towards the border of the village. We’ll teleport back to Pearl Forest once we’re out," Remarked Alphonse, a crestfallen look on Akila’s phase before he nodded and complied.

"I...I’m sorry. I failed to-..."

"No, it’s fine. They were clearly prepared, that flare the girl set off was likely to alert the other Knights in the village to put up that barrier and call for back up. And considering how quickly back up arrived, it simply wouldn’t have been realistic to expect you to defeat those two in such a short amount of time."

"Even so, I...I’m not sure I could’ve defeated them even if I did have more time. That guy with the eyepatch was strong, I didn’t have the luxury of using my Magic sparingly because of how fast and unpredictable his attacks were," Responded Akila bitterly.

"Yeah, I underestimated him...I thought he’d be weaker in direct combat than the other Irregulars since he’s an Assassin. Hm, maybe the girl is weaker? He might stand a chance if he got to fight her one on one, but...how are we supposed to get her alone?" Frowned Alphonse, before replying, "We’ll have to retreat and rethink our strategy, not much else we can do. Okay, we should be close to the border of the village, I can sense an open space on the other side of the wall over there. Phase us through and we’ll teleport once we’re out."

"Yeah, okay-...huh? What the...? That’s weird, I...I can’t pass through," Frowned Akila, as he phased his hand through the wall, before his fingers thudded against something, failing to phase through any further.

"What? You...you can’t be serious."

"I-It’s true, I can’t go through!"

"Don’t tell me...that barrier, did they somehow figure out how to create a barrier that counters your Magic!? But...but how!?" Exclaimed Alphonse in alarm.

"Wha...what do we do, Al?"

"Huh? U-Uh, let me think...o-okay, they think we’re in the sewers, so this place will probably be crawling with Knights before long. In which case...we should head back up. Let’s find a building or something to hide out in while we try to figure out a way to get out of here."

The two of them then looked for another manhole, before heading up as they came across one, pushing it open and climbing out, getting back to the surface.

"Alright, where should we-...?" Began Akila.

"So, you’re Alphonse Plore, huh? Nice to finally put a face to the name."

Alphonse stiffened as he turned his gaze in the direction the voice had come from, before his eyes widened alarm as his gaze fell upon Aster. His heart sank as he looked around, realizing that they were surrounded by all the members of The Irregulars...