Bloodline Evolution: I Can Choose Opposing Paths-Chapter 86: Unstable…

Daniel and Aren had barely taken three steps toward the cargo truck when the driver’s side door of the wrecked sedan creaked open.

The driver inside barely managed to pull himself out of the driver’s seat. Blood ran down the side of his forehead, one sleeve torn open where glass shards cut deep into his arm.

Daniel raised an eyebrow slightly.

"...Tough guy."

The man staggered forward two steps before steadying himself against the side of the ruined sedan

Behind him, the cargo truck’s door slammed open.

Another man jumped down from the driver’s seat. Unlike the first, he looked relatively unharmed, though the tension in his shoulders suggested he had already realized how badly the situation had turned.

His eyes swept the road quickly, at the barricade Daniel had thrown that blocked their way.

And at the giant dragonflies above them, that hovered briefly before shrinking and fluttering away into the distance.

The man’s gaze hardened. "...Who the hell are you two supposed to be?"

The second man followed that gaze instinctively and stepped slightly aside before his eyes widened.

"You..." he pointed straight at Daniel. "Aren’t you...the Golden Knight?"

Daniel cringed at the name before responding. "Please don’t use that, I’ve really come to hate that nickname."

"What the hell is a Three-Star Hunter doing here?!" the first man shouted. "You know you can’t just mess with us!"

"We’re Argent Shield! You’re gonna regret it!"

Daniel raised both hands slowly into the air, palms open in a mock gesture of surrender.

"Right, right," he said in an easy tone. "We have no qualms with you."

"Just give us the woman you so kindly kidnapped," Daniel continued lazily, tilting his head toward the cargo truck, "and we’ll be on our way."

Aren condensed ether into his eyes before looking deeper.

Both Line 2 Guards...what gives them such open confidence

The two guards exchanged a quick glance, obviously realizing they couldn’t defeat Daniel or even Aren before nodding. Then the truck driver slowly reached toward his belt.

Daniel’s eyes narrowed.

"...Don’t."

But neither of them hesitated. Two identical metallic injectors appeared in their hands.

Aren’s expression sharpened instantly.

"That’s not good..."

He immediately dashed forward, twin blades in hand as he tried to stop whatever they were doing.

"Stop—!"

But it was too late.

The bloodied driver slammed the needle straight into the side of his neck, while the truck driver drove his injector into his arm without hesitation.

For a split second, nothing happened—

Then a violent pulse erupted outward from both men at the same time.

BOOM!

The shockwave blasted across the empty road. Dust, gravel, and broken glass had lifted into the air as a surge of unstable ether expanded outward.

Aren barely had time to brace as the force slammed into him, sending him skidding back against the road.

Behind him, Daniel had already retrieved his lance and was using it to cover himself against the blast.

For a moment, the road fell silent again.

Except now—

The two guards stood in the center of the street, their bodies trembled violently, almost like they were struggling to stand.

Yet there was an almost carnal feeling in their eyes. The only emotion that Aren could attribute it to...

Was ecstasy.

Veins bulged beneath their skin as they summoned their Bloodlines.

What seemed to be the Half-Bloomed Sunflower had turned demonic—its roots dried up, and a mouth had grown where seeds were supposed to be.

The second guard’s Bloodline was no different. Instead of what Aren guessed was the Scaled Seahorse...had turned completely putrid violet, its scales peeling off like it was slowly decaying.

"...What the hell?!" Daniel exclaimed.

The mutated flower shrieked, the grotesque mouth in its center split open wide as jagged rows of seed-like teeth shot out toward them.

Daniel barely had time to raise his lance to block as the barrage slammed violently into him.

Aren shifted, but had no time to react as the second guard closed the distance. The seahorse sprayed out some sort of mist that covered Aren’s surroundings.

Instantly, the guard had disappeared into the mist. Aren stood with both his swords in hand, quickly scanning around yet finding no one.

Shit...a Territory?!

But before he could think, his body had twisted instinctively.

CLANG!

Something slammed into his blade with tremendous force. The guard had appeared beside him mid-lunge, arm twisted unnaturally as a curved blade of shadow-like ether extended from his wrist.

Aren tried to swing his swords at where he was, but the guard easily dodged it. His body jerked again as if some unseen force had yanked his limbs forward before disappearing back into the mist.

Another strike came to his side, though Aren managed to predict it early. Their blades bound together as Aren blocked the man’s attack, but up close...he could see it clearly now.

The man’s eyes were completely unfocused, almost like his body was possessed and controlled by someone else. That was when Aren looked up.

The Scaled Seahorse, which was not even a Manifestation, started to condense water in front of itself.

What the hell? How can a Bloodline...?!

Aren immediately backed off as a pressurized blast of water pierced the asphalt road, right where he was just moments before.

How did it do that? I mean...Manifestations could sometimes act semi-independently.

Aren looked at the Seahorse’s form once more. It was incorporeal, almost like it didn’t exist in the real world.

I was right...It’s not a Manifestation at all. So how did—?!

But something else caught his attention. The guard’s body jerked violently again as a tearing sound followed.

Fabric split across his shoulders as his suit began ripping apart. His skin underneath started swelling...and then started to split.

Thin lines spread across his arms like cracks in glass before widening slowly, like something underneath was trying to break free.

Aren’s eyes narrowed immediately.

"...He’s breaking apart."

Behind the man, the rotting Scaled Seahorse slowly started to turn more translucent, almost like it was trying to summon itself.

Aren stepped back immediately—

Across the street, Daniel had already forced the sunflower mutant back several meters. The grotesque flower behind the guard had swollen to nearly twice its original size, the mouth in its center stretching wider and wider as blackened vines thrashed around violently.

The same thing was happening.

"Daniel!" Aren shouted.

Daniel’s head snapped toward him.

For a split second, the senior’s eyes flicked between the two guards before understanding what was going on.

"...Shit."

Daniel didn’t hesitate.

His boots slammed against the road as he launched himself toward Aren in a single explosive step.

Golden ether flared violently along his lance as he drove it into the ground between them.

"Shield of Faith!"

In the next instant, a dome of golden light erupted around them. Just in time to see what happened next.

BOOOM!

Blackened flesh split apart as their unstable ether tore their bodies from the inside out. Tar-like substance splattered violently against the golden dome.

The demonic sunflower shrieked once as its grotesque mouth collapsed inward before dissolving into the same black sludge. Across the road, the decaying seahorse twisted violently before its form did the same.

The street that had been clean moments ago was now splattered with thick streaks of black sludge that steamed faintly where it touched the asphalt. And no trace that two men had even been standing there just seconds ago.

Daniel exhaled slowly as he pulled his lance free from the ground. Aren released his swords, both disappearing into a blue light.

Both of them had been thinking the same thing, but Aren muttered it first.

"...What the hell just happened?"