Bloodline Evolution: I Can Choose Opposing Paths-Chapter 38: Bear It With Dignity, Aren Cross.

Two blades formed in Aren’s hands once more, the steel rigid as they solidified from his will alone.

At least I don’t have to pull them out every time.

His jaw tightened.

But this situation...

The woman lowered her raised hand and dragged it slowly down her face with a tired sigh.

"Why do they all make it harder on themselves?"

Her eyes shifted past him before briefly landing on Luna. Then she turned back toward her group before giving a dismissive wave.

"Keep him alive."

She said before turning to make eye contact with him. Her gaze felt hostile, like they wanted to devour him.

"Break his arms and legs if you have to."

Aren stepped forward without thinking, placing himself squarely between them and Luna.

"The girl is disposable," she added. "Do whatever you want."

With that, she turned her back on him and retreated behind the wall of Defilers as they began to close in.

A pair of Defilers stepped forward and summoned their Bloodlines. The guy with a trimmed goatee summoned his Titan Steel Ox, and the other man with the round hat above his robe summoned the Void Mantis.

This is a bad combo against us.

Goatee went first, as his forearms darkened as if his skin was replaced by metal. Then, with just two steps, he crossed the distance between them.

Aren’s eyes widened as he raised a blade to intercept...but it was too late.

DDUM!

The impact transferred straight through his blade and into Aren’s hand. He immediately dropped the sword, arm flaring in pain as his wristbone shattered.

Aren slid back two full steps, his hand hung limp for a second. Water ether surged instinctively to the injury, flooding the area as he forced the bones back together.

Shit...they’re way out of our league.

The man with the hat stood patiently, watching them as though he was enjoying the whole encounter.

Aren looked around, finding any possible escape paths. He scanned the plaza before finding a small alleyway to the side.

There!

"Luna, cover us!"

She nodded, cold surging around her arms instantly. With a sharp motion, a towering wall of ice surged upward between them and the Defilers, obscuring vision in an instant.

Aren grabbed her arm and sprinted toward the alley. Yet behind them, the wall only brought a few seconds as a metallic hand punched right through the wall in a heartbeat.

They barely managed to make it three strides into the alley before Aren’s danger sense flared.

His head snapped up just as a shadow skimmed across the brick walls. The Void Mantis wasn’t pursuing from behind, he was running along the side of the building itself, feet sticking to stone.

Aren tightened his grip on Luna’s wrist and forced himself forward.

The Mantis flicked his hand lazily.

He braced himself, yet nothing happened.

But his instincts screamed. Aren threw himself at Luna, barely managing to knock her out the way as something glanced across his cheek, creating a small gash.

Half a second later, the stall behind them exploded in a violet spray of wood, bursting into the alley as if something enormous had just carved straight through it.

Luna breathed heavily as they hit the ground. Aren turned immediately to see the damage.

Damn it...

But he couldn’t afford to be surprised. The man flicked his hand again, this time twice in quick succession.

Aren couldn’t see anything, but he heard the faint whistle of the air as something flew toward them.

He drove ether into his eyes without hesitation. Color dulled, replaced by threads of energy everywhere. Yet among them, he could see two faint ripples travel toward them.

He barely managed to drag Luna aside just as the distortion tore straight into the stone where she’d been a second ago.

"Need to keep moving!" Aren yelled.

Luna nodded quickly before they both scrambled to their feet.

The alley curved slightly ahead, opening just enough for a larger courtyard beyond. The buildings above were old and destroyed, likely from a demonic beast that passed the area.

Aren’s ether-augmented vision caught something the moment he glanced upward.

A small crack ran through the supporting arch of the upper level. The entire upper structure was leaning, barely held in place by a single concrete column.

Behind them, the goatee’d man barreled forward, destroying everything in his path.

"Luna, brace!"

She didn’t question him. Cold surged around them as a small shield of ice formed in front.

The Ox lunged, but Aren had already calculated his path.

"Dragon’s Claw!"

The three blades of water carved upward, flying through the air right into said concrete column. For a heartbeat, nothing happened—

The man’s eyes widened.

"ARGHH—! YOU—!"

But that was when the entire structure came crashing down. Debris, concrete, and bricks collapsed directly into the alley. The Ox barely managed to raise his reinforced arms before the first slab struck him.

The rest followed.

Debris swallowed him whole, wave after wave of rubble burying him underneath until only a mound of stone remained.

The alley fell silent. Aren braced for another rumble, for the man to get right up...

But silence filled the area.

Across from him, the hatted man slowly turned his head toward the rubble where his partner had disappeared. His gaze lingered there for a long second before snapping back to Aren.

The smug smile he wore disappeared, replaced with only killing intent in his eyes.

"You—! HOW DARE YOU!"

But Aren was already running.

They burst out of the alley and into the open stretch of highway beyond. The sudden space felt unreal after the suffocating narrowness behind them.

This is...this is the Western Highway that leads to the safe zone!

They were close. Closer than he’d expected.

If they could just—

He tightened his grip on Luna’s hand and forced more speed into his legs despite the burning pain. His fractured wrist still throbbed with every step. They were both battered and bruised, but they had to keep running.

It seemed so close!

That’s when he heard a voice behind him.

"The High Lady will understand... if I overstep slightly."

Aren’s breath hitched.

What—

He turned his head, just enough to see her arm extended. Yet, she wasn’t casting an Art or using any techniques.

She was holding something...a small and metallic weapon.

A pistol.

For a fraction of a second, his brain refused to process it. In a world of bloodlines and divine power...

"Besides," she added calmly, sight aligned with his chest, "a dragon’s corpse is still valuable."

Luna’s eyes widened.

"Shit—! Aren, careful—!"

BANG!

His body jerked mid-stride as something punched cleanly through his chest. He stopped entirely, mind blank as something warm dripped down his lips.

Aren coughed, blood spraying all over the street before he fell to his knees.

"Aren—no!"

Luna caught him before he collapsed fully, her hands trembling as she cradled his head.

"Stay with me—please. Stay with me!"

His eyes started to dim as breathing became harder. Her words sounded distant, like he was on the other side of a glass panel.

Aren remembered this feeling, it was something he’d experienced before. The moment he was at death’s door.

And this time...it’d been calling him once more.

Am I...really going to die right here?

"Aren, don’t you dare—stay with me! Stay with me!"

Her voice cracked on the last word.

He wanted to lift his hand. To wipe the tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. To tell her it wasn’t her fault.

But his body refused to move.

If I die here...

Lucas would still be breathing out there somewhere and he’d be the one to plunge the world into chaos.

A bitter taste filled his mouth, thicker than the blood.

I’m pathetic.

He’d told himself he’d grow strong enough. That he’d rise high enough to drag them down and to protect his family from danger.

And now he was bleeding out on a highway because he’d miscalculated one woman with a gun.

If I can’t even survive this...

How was I ever going to stand in front of them?

Maybe this was proof. Maybe he’d never been strong enough.

His vision blurred further, shadows creeping inward from the edges. Luna’s grip tightened desperately around him.

"Don’t close your eyes—Aren, please!"

He tried to focus on her.

Instead, his gaze drifted toward the ground. The bag had fallen when he collapsed. It lay a short distance away on the asphalt, tipped onto its side.

The zipper had split slightly on impact, and through the narrow opening—

Something called to him.

The Core’s light, brushing against his dimming vision like a hand reaching back.

Aren’s vision tunneled around it.

If...if I can’t protect it myself...

I’ll make sure they can’t have it. To protect my family at all costs!

His fingers twitched weakly against the asphalt.

Luna followed his gaze, her breath hitching as she understood what he wanted.

Aren’s hand dragged uselessly across the ground, fingers brushing the edge of the bag before slipping.

"Core..."

A barrage of emotion flickered throughout Luna’s face at once, but after a moment, she resolved herself.

"It’s the only way."

She let his head fall gently against her arm and lunged forward, snatching the cube from the bag. Up close, it hummed violently in her palm. Light pulsed beneath its surface like a trapped star.

She hesitated for half a second.

If this failed—

He’d die anyway.

"What are you—?!" the woman stepped forward, composure finally cracking as she realized what Luna intended.

But it was too late.

Luna pressed the glowing cube against the center of Aren’s chest. It dissolved instantly, turning into countless motes of light that scattered before being pulled toward his core.

The highway trembled as the air warped violently, pressure rolling outward in waves that shattered nearby windows and sent loose concrete flying across the road.

The woman staggered back, boots scraping against fractured pavement as she held her gun weakly.

"...What did you just do?"

Aren’s body lifted from Luna’s arms.

Scales rippled across his skin before turning into armor. His hair grew rapidly, white strands stretching past his shoulders. When his head tilted back, his eyes snapped open—

A radiant gold hid underneath.

The pressure alone forced Luna to her knees.

The woman took another step back. For the first time since the encounter began—

She looked afraid.

With the trigger of her gun, a few more rounds were fired at Aren.

The bullets flew through the air and right toward him.

Yet with a flick of his hand, he’d caught them all, crushing them into a fine powder.

The figure flexed his fingers once, studying them with mild curiosity.

When he spoke, the voice that left his mouth echoed, almost like two beings speaking at the same time.

"Do not squander what was returned to you."

"Bear it with dignity, Aren Cross."