Bloodline Evolution: I Can Choose Opposing Paths-Chapter 33: Distraction

Aren raised the talisman.

The ink etched across its surface pulsed once, dull and black, before it began to drink. The pull was subtle at first, but as Aren focused, he could physically feel what was happening.

Ether stirred in the room, reluctant, before spiraling toward the talisman in his hand. The feeling was uncanny, like breath being drawn back into lungs that had already exhaled.

Even filtered through the talisman, the ether scraped along his nerves as it passed.

Outside, something slammed into the barricade. The wooden boards shuddered violently before another impact followed.

Shit...are the Defilers here already?!

He exhaled a sigh of relief when he heard barking coming from outside.

Thank god, I still have some time.

He kept the talisman raised, as fixed on the last threads of ether dissolving into its surface. When everything had been drunk, the black ink lines brightened into a radiant gold.

Claws tore through the wood as the barricade buckled inward. Blight dogs poured through the opening in a frenzy. Their eyes all locked onto the same sensation, the energy that had drawn them there to begin with.

The first one lunged at him. Aren barely managed to dodge it before twisting around. His fist drove forward without hesitation, striking straight into the creature’s head.

Using the force, he managed to hurl himself backward. There was no point in being here any longer.

The shattered window frame was already waiting.

Aren vaulted through without looking back, glass slicing past his coat as he dropped into the open air. He landed onto the rooftop of the next building over, and sprinted like his life was on the line.

Because really...it was.

Behind him, the blight dogs tore through the window and followed without hesitation. Some even jumped out from where he came from, instead landing on the pavement below and instantly turning into mush.

What the—are they really that desperate?

He vaulted over a chimney, slid beneath a sagging clothesline, and leapt across another narrow gap. One of the beasts overshot and smashed straight through a rooftop railing, but the others behind it adjusted instantly.

Aren didn’t slow, pumping as much ether into his legs as he physically could.

Ahead, the city opened slightly, with rooftops sloping downward toward a stone bridge that arched over a wide river cutting through the district. Even from here, he could hear the current.

That was when the idea hit him.

If he threw the talisman into the running river, it’d naturally move downstream. Any beast that chased it would be caught, and anyone who wanted to know if the source was real had to work harder and waste more time.

More time they’d have to escort the real Core away.

Aren didn’t hesitate, vaulting the last stretch of roof and dropping to the stone path leading onto the bridge. Behind him, claws shredded the asphalt street as the blight dogs followed.

He sprinted straight down the center of the bridge. The talisman pulsed hot in his palm, gold shimmering across its ink like molten metal.

He reached the midpoint just as a dog lunged from behind, jaws snapping inches from his shoulder. Aren twisted sharply, his heel slamming into its skull with a crack that sent it skidding across stone.

He didn’t stay to confirm the damage, immediately stepping onto the low railing in one smooth motion.

For a split second, he looked at the river below. Due to the full moon, the tides below were higher and more unforgiving than usual.

Perfect.

Aren let go of the talisman, aiming it toward the deepest part of the current.

It fluttered slowly to the river before finally touching the water’s surface and was engulfed instantly.

The reaction was immediate. The blight dogs halted mid charge. Their heads snapped toward the water as one, tracking the talisman beneath the surface.

And instantly...they moved.

One by one, they vaulted the railing, bodies crashing into the current before tearing downstream, chasing after the decoy.

The bridge fell silent once that last one had leapt over.

Aren dropped back onto the stone, breathing heavily. He didn’t have any time to admire the success. Quickly, he pulled out his phone and found Luna’s signal, watching the small marker move steadily away from the district.

Before it stopped...

Aren held his breath, waiting for the dot to update in real time. A minute went by without any movement. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

"Shit..." he muttered.

He zoomed in on the map. The marker sat just off a secondary road near the edge of an older quarter within District 7, just two districts away from the safe zone. Good for hiding, bad if something had intercepted her.

"Don’t be stupid," he muttered under his breath, already moving.

He cut down the stairs off the bridge two at a time, eyes forward as he darted into the lower streets. Every few steps he took, his eyes would flick to his phone, hoping that the dot would start moving again.

It didn’t.

Aren slipped through a side alley and vaulted a waist-high gate. His lungs burned but he ignored it. The signal was just ahead now.

Twenty meters.

Fifteen.

He slowed further.

Ten...

Aren killed the brightness on his phone and slid it into his pocket. From here on, noise mattered.

He edged toward the adjacent street, keeping his back to the wall as he leaned just enough to see past the corner.

Then he saw the reason why the dot hadn’t moved.

Luna’s body was lifted off the ground, suspended by that single arm. The robed figure’s hand was wrapped around her throat, fingers disappearing beneath her jawline. Her boots hovered inches above the pavement, feet kicking around, trying to find any ground.

She was still holding the medical bag.

Her knuckles were white around the strap, her body squirmed as she struggled to pry the figure’s hand loose.

Then, her grip faltered.

The bag slid from her hand and hit the pavement with a dull thud, its contents spilling across the street.

And with it...the Fertile Core.