Leo knew he could deal with the brute of a streetwalker later, but the streetwalker with extremely long limbs needed to die as soon as possible. Keeping his torch trained on the creature, Leo looked for any opportunity to get closer as the trio ran through the basement. Another problem was likely to present itself soon and Leo wanted to end these two before it came to pass.
If another streetwalker appeared now, Leo was afraid that he would be completely overwhelmed. Leo thought about shooting blood at the serpent like streetwalker, but was worried that if he missed, he wouldn't be able to retrieve the blood spent. There was also the new concern of if he didn't put enough blood into the attack would it even do any damage?
It was a gamble that Leo didn't want to make at the current moment, at least not until things were completely desperate.
A couple of seconds later a chance came; the pathway forked to the right, directly towards the path that the serpent was traveling. Leo was looking for exactly this chance and took it immediately. Bursting forth Leo charged directly towards the serpent and commanded his blood to form a club.
Leo wasn't exactly sure how much blood he lost from the command, but he felt his strength being robbed from his body as the blood was drawn from the wound on his abdomen. The blood collected into his left hand to form a small club.
Gripping the club, Leo didn't know what to expect, but the texture was odd. It was hard and sturdy, but liquid and soft at the same time. More importantly it carried the strangeness that rejected the worlds laws that Leo felt when touching the pure mask.
Leo could feel his heart beating faster and faster as blood continued to drain to form the club, his vision narrowing slightly, and his head pounding. He knew what to expect from the last time he had used the pure mask's terrible powers, but it still scared him to feel his body slowly lose all strength that the mask provided him.
Battling through the sickening feeling, Leo continued to run towards the serpent like streetwalker. It was clearly surprised that Leo was rushing towards it, and it froze in place for a second. Just enough time for Leo to close in on the creature.
Leo raised his left arm and brought the club crashing down onto the streetwalker. Sensing the strange power the club held, the creature moved as much of its body as it could to evade, but it was slow, much to slow. Missing the head that he had originally aimed for, Leo's club crushed the streetwalker's right shoulder and saw its body crumple from the force of the blow.
An awful screech could be heard from the streetwalker as its right arm limply hung from its torso. The shoulder was pulverized, and Leo could see a massive dark purple spot appear on the streetwalkers now gelatine shoulder.
The creature didn't die immediately, and Leo was about to suffer for this mistake. The serpent like streetwalkers left arm wrapped around Leo's legs and halted his advance as it retreated from the devastating attack.
Leo heard the brute approaching rapidly. Panic consumed him, and he tried to turn only to fall to the ground. Leo could feel the serpents arm begin to crush his legs. Knowing that streetwalker's other arm was laying on the ground completely useless from his previous attack, Leo knew the risk of an attack in the immediate was unlikely as he tried to remove the arm from his legs.
Imagining something sharp the club suddenly gained an edge, and Leo brought the edge down onto the arm. Immediately he felt the object bite into the arm and hit bone. A half a second of resistance as the arm began to shudder from the cut and then Leo felt the pressure on his legs cease.
The now severed arm flailed on the ground; its blood spraying the basement floor like a fount. Leo heard nothing for a brief moment and knew that the brute was raising its arms to crush the young man beneath its fists.
Commanding the club to form a small wall above his body, Leo felt the blood flow out from his grip. More blood poured from his side and Leo began to feel lightheaded, his mind beginning to wander. Then a harrowing noise filled the basement as the brutes fist crashed into the small defense Leo had made.
The blood held, but only just barely. Through the mask he could feel his control over the blood begin to wane as more blood from his body flowed into the structure to reinforce it. Leo wasn't sure how much more blood he could afford to lose, but he knew that the limit was rapidly approaching.
Leo released his legs from the serpent like streetwalker's severed arm and started to crawl away from under the blood wall. As he got out from under the blood Leo raised the torch to see where the brute was. It looked at him as he crawled on the ground and let out a guttural roar. Raising its free hand to resume the assault, Leo command the blood to return and stood up.
Holding out his hand, the blood formed into club once more and Leo wrapped his hand around the strange material. The hand of the brute that had originally attacked no longer had a support under it and suck into the basement floor. For a fraction of a second the streetwalker was off balance.
Seeing a chance before it could throw another punch Leo lunged towards its bulky body and swung the club at the extended arm. Leo's hands felt numb from the club vibrating in his hand as it made contact with the brute's pillar like arm. Looking at the streetwalker's arm, Leo could see that blood vessels in the exposed muscles had burst, but the damage looked minimal.
The streetwalker eyes glowed with hatred, and it swiped towards Leo with its free hand, using the arm Leo attacked as a leverage point to swing its body to give the attack more momentum.
Recognizing that this blow could easily kill him, Leo jumped backwards to avoid the strike. As he did though, his legs faltered, and Leo fell to the ground. It seemed as though his body was weakened more severely than he had realized.
Luckily the attack grazed just over Leo's body. He could feel the wind pressure of the brute's hand moving and almost began to roll from just the speed at which the wind hit him. Terrified of how he narrowly escaped death just now, Leo ordered some of the blood to return to his body.
The strange feeling of blood reentering circulation filled Leo with a bit of strength, at the cost of the club becoming much smaller. Now barely larger than both of Leo's hands held side by side, Leo commanded the blood to take the shape of a blade. A blunt object of that size would help him no longer.
Leo was concerned at where the serpent like streetwalker was, but with both of its arms unusable, he wasn't sure how much danger it posed. Jumping up to ready himself to resume his fight with the brute he had half a mind to hunt the serpent down and end it.
The brute was still within extremely close range and Leo wasn't sure if he could even get away from it to do so, for now.
Leo ran forward towards the brute, trying to limit its ability to use its massive arms as options. As he neared, Leo raised the blood blade in his hand to meet the brute's chest and felt it carve through the skin and muscle with ease. Seizing the moment, he proceeded to stab the creature 4 more times before it was finally able to respond.
Both of the brute's arms move towards Leo in an effort to grab the young man, but Leo could already tell that its movements were becoming more sluggish. With the blood blade still lodged in brute's chest, Leo let go and ducked under its right shoulder and stood facing its back.
Leo wanted to try something, he knew he could manipulate blood at a distance, but what would happen if he ordered it to come to him when there was something in the way? Leo ordered the blood blade to return to his hand.
A half a second later Leo could feel the blood burrowing into the brute's body, destroying multiple organs as it finally pierced through. The blood then reformed the blade in his hand, and he gripped it once more. A demented smile crept onto his face and a cruel light entered his eyes upon seeing the wound begin to gush blood.
The brute stumbled from the wound, and then without warning Leo felt something crash into his body, sending him flying into a pillar. Dazed and confused he dropped the torch, and could just barely make out the serpent like streetwalker appearance. Standing next it was another streetwalker and Leo could feel his blood grow a little colder.
He had taken too long in dealing with the brute.