Going toward them, she calms Tāo, taking back her flask and putting the blood back inside it, while transforming the small animals into seven daggers.
« Well done Tao—ah sorry, Tāo, if I'm not mistaken. »You could feel she was making an effort to pronounce it properly.
« Pack? »
Letting out a breath, she said: « Yes, yes, pack. »
They start sniffing Alan all over, who feels awkward, not knowing what to say.
« He's… let's say, your new friend is… nice. »
« You bet, he only does whatever he wants. Well, it seems that this time he's actually listening to me. »
« That reminds me of someone. » Jack says, staring at Yumiel.
Jack was happy to find Alan again, and it was clearly mutual. Yumiel too, but not for the same reasons. Once Tāo finished sniffing Alan from head to toe, he backed off, letting him breathe.
« I'm delighted to find my monster friends again. »
« I'm delighted too, now we can get the hell out of here. Where's the helicopter? »
Alan pulls out one of his last cigarettes and lights it.
« You're not going to like the answer. It's on the other side of the battlefield, or more precisely, on the enemy side of the battlefield, in the forest. And that's assuming it's still there. »
Leaning against a piece of furniture in the house, which cracks and breaks, tipping backward and crashing to the floor.
« Yeah, I really don't like that. »
She gets back up and glances outside. The battle had shifted—but in the wrong direction. It was only a matter of time, just like the night.
« Let's just use the same technique. »
She hands her flask back to Tāo, who grabs it, then points through the window in a direction. Looking at where he has to go, Yumiel explains what he must do next. Just in case, Jack translates.
Alan starts coughing, quietly slipping away into the bathroom. During the explanation, Tāo starts smelling blood, turning his gaze away from Jack and Yumiel.
« Hey, hey, this is where it's happening, stay focused, ok? »
Turning his attention back to them, he listens, then nods and runs off. Alan comes back shortly after, rummaging through the fridge, then pulls out beers, setting them on the table before opening one.
Seeing this, Yumiel lunges at him, slapping the bottle out of his hand and smashing it on the floor.
« Hey, that's really not cool. »
She restrains herself from insulting him with every name in the book.
« I don't want my pilot crashing with me onboard, so get a grip. »
« Why are you worried? You know me, come on. »
Alan goes to grab another beer but Yumiel stops him.
« That's exactly why I know you. Since we arrived here in China, you've been doing nothing but screwing up—what the hell is wrong with you? You think you can fix your problems with alcohol and cigarettes? »
« And what if that's true, huh? WHAT IF MY WHOLE FUCKING LIFE DEPENDED ON THAT? But you can't understand, no, you can't—you're just a fucking kid who was given a bit of power and thinks she can do whatever she wants, THAT'S WHAT YOU ARE! »
Yumiel grabs Alan by the collar, lifting him up.
« So what? Even if that's true, so what? Today, thanks to that, I have the power to make my dreams come true, so it's not some dumb ex-military guy with shitty alcoholic impulses who's going to stop me. »
Held by the collar, his feet barely touching the ground, Alan starts to chuckle.
« Go fuck yourself! »
Before things get worse, Jack steps in to calm her down, placing his hand on Yumiel's forearm and giving her a look that says: « This isn't how we'll get anywhere. »
Letting him go, she says: « Shit! » before grabbing a beer and throwing it at Alan, who catches it, opens it, and drinks. Yumiel does the same, followed by Jack.
A silence follows. During it, Yumiel creates a pool of blood of 800 ml, sacrificing four daggers. All sitting around the table, not a word was spoken. Only the sound of beers could be heard.
« Your new colleague's going to make it? »
« He's reliable. »
After finishing his beer, Alan lights another cigarette, smoking calmly. Suddenly, Yumiel senses her pool, grabs Alan and Jack, and steps into it.
« Wait, I'm not done with my cigarette… »
Connecting both ends and turning her three daggers into a cube she carries in her hand. Emerging on the other side of the pool, they don't really land where they expected, ending up right in the middle of the battlefield on the enemy side. On the ground was the flask, with the pool of blood they had just exited—but no sign of Tāo.
Several surprised soldiers shout in Chinese before charging into close combat. Yumiel turns her cube into a dagger and does the same with the blood on the ground, picks up her flask, and helps Jack.
Barely had they defeated a few soldiers when a new wave arrived. Yumiel moves closer to Alan and seals him inside a dome of blood to protect him, then helps Jack with her remaining three daggers.
Enemies keep pouring in, some leaving the battlefield to support the rear, allowing the wolves to gain a bit of ground. But it won't win them the war.
Suddenly Jack is blasted far into the battlefield by a man wielding violet energy. He then turns toward Yumiel's dome. In the rush, she opens her senses to the maximum, transforms her daggers into blood, and disperses it across the battlefield.
Her blood mixes everywhere, giving her liters and liters to control, though she still has a limit. Creating twelve daggers, she sends them at the man. His energy circulates through his body, gathering in his abdomen before spreading throughout him.
Shattering the daggers as they reach him, soldiers begin to gather around Yumiel's dome. He makes a hand gesture and says a few words. After that, all the soldiers withdraw from the rear, heading to the front line.
Recreating her daggers, the man doesn't care, focusing his energy in his legs, then vanishes suddenly, reappearing in front of the dome. The energy shifts back to his abdomen, then flows into his right hand. The energy condenses, creating an extremely bright light.
Yumiel's senses warn her, telling her: « This is dangerous. » Concentrating her dome in front of her into a single point, she grabs Alan and pushes him out, then the attack strikes the concentrated area she created. Releasing an immense shockwave, shattering her protection.
His fist keeps coming toward her. But instead of shielding herself, she uses the blood on the ground to make a spike burst upward. The man doesn't expect it and decides to dodge. As a result, the trajectory of his attack changes, giving Yumiel enough time to evade it.
Yumiel controls the blood at the man's feet, trapping him inside a dome. Then her twelve daggers plunge into it before fusing with the dome, creating a dome of 3.4 liters of blood. Concentrating, she does the same as in the tunnel—though she only vaguely remembers—creating spikes erupting inside the dome.
Seeing blood-crystal spikes about to skewer him from every direction, he gathers his Ch'i, sends it into his leg, and strikes the ground, creating a Ch'i shockwave. It shatters the spikes but isn't enough to break the dome. This time, he gathers his Ch'i into his fist and prepares to strike.
By breaking the spikes on the ground, he spreads blood everywhere. Just before his fist breaks the dome, she makes spikes burst from the ground. He sees them—but too late. His fist shatters the dome, but he is pierced from every direction. He barely manages to move his body and head.
Spikes pierce his feet and arms. He must be in tremendous pain, and above all, he can no longer move. With the dome broken, Yumiel recreates spikes bursting from the ground, once again piercing his entire body. He still manages to move his head to dodge.
The spikes Yumiel made burst from the ground horizontally and diagonally now pierce his body everywhere. In a surge of rage, he concentrates all his Ch'i in his abdomen, spinning it faster and faster.
It reminded her of herself with her blood. She understands quickly, grabbing Alan and running as fast as possible. Less than two seconds after she starts running, the man explodes in a staggering shockwave, shaking the earth.
Strangely, his Ch'i creates a real explosion with violet flames. Yumiel pushes Alan down and covers him, taking the flames herself. It ends very quickly, but Yumiel's legs up to her spine are completely ruined—just charred, carbonized remains.
She weakly says: « Bastard, I can't even take his heart. »
It will take more than that to kill her—her regeneration activates, beginning to repair tissue and skin. To speed things up, she gathers blood from the battlefield and absorbs it, accelerating her regeneration and recovering from mental fatigue, while recreating ten daggers and refilling her flask.
« Wow, I have to say thank you—you saved my life. I didn't think you'd do that for me. »
Around them there was nothing left except blood scattered everywhere and soldiers ahead of them, now forming their rear guard.
« I still need you. Let's go get that helicopter. I'll go with you, then I'll rejoin the others and we'll get out of here. »
Heading into the forest, Yumiel follows Alan. They come across the helicopter, miraculously still intact.
« Great. I'm going to rejoin the others. You wait here and keep a low profile. »
As she leaves, Alan calls out to her.
« Yumiel, I wanted to tell you… you're just fine the way you are, so keep moving forward, little vampire. The world doesn't revolve around you—you revolve around the world. So trample it the way you know how. »
At that moment, she didn't understand his words, not knowing why he said that, thinking they were just apologies. Not paying much attention, she leaves, heading back toward the battlefield.