With only the sound of the burning tents in the air for a moment, the angry yell was much easier to hear from the cultist. As the tent started to collapse Bianca turned towards it, listening to the voice as they spoke. When Bianca heard the feminine voice of the leader they nearly went for her right away, but only stopped when Hiro made his move first on the two men. Mouthing the words for Bianca to get the hostage girl they had. Bianca ground their teeth, they wanted the leader, they didn’t care about the girl, that much anyway.

With Hiro heading to cut off the two men from the girl, Bianca moved towards her quickly, using their magic to clear some of the fire out of their path. ”Come on, girl.” Bianca spoke as the terrified child backed away from the strange being holding a magma covered scythe. As Bianca was about to grab the girl’s wrist to get her somewhere safe, they had just a moment before sensing magic in use and a hardened ball of blood collided with Bianca’s side.

Bianca was sent sprawling across the ground, dropping their scythe as they went, until they stopped themselves and got back to their feet. Now that had hurt, and Bianca was still bleeding from the self-inflicted wound that was empowering their magic. When Bianca finally stood it was to see the leader in her ornate robes standing behind the girl with a wicked looking ceremonial dagger at the girl’s throat. ”Who are you?! What do you want?!” She shouted at Bianca, the threat of Bianca trying anything obvious.

Bianca’s eyes narrowed as they studied the situation. ”I want your research into blood magic and rituals. Hand over any research and I’ll leave, you just have to deal with him.” Bianca nodded in the direction of Hiro dealing with the two dumbasses. The question was; would Bianca actually leave Hiro on his own?

But it didn’t come to that. ”I don’t think so, we have worked hard for the knowledge we have, and we’re not about to share it. Now, we had plans for this one here, but now we’ll have to find a new sacrifice, but her blood will be your death!” The leader started to poke the blade into the girl’s throat and Bianca made their move at the same time.

Using the enhanced magic Bianca made the fire closest to the woman flare and reach out for her. Causing the leader to shriek and throw up her hand to protect her face, Bianca moved forward, from their pocket they removed a handle. Using the blood oozing from their wound Bianca formed the sanguine whip and snapped it at the woman. Catching her in the side by surprise she shrieked and backed away as Bianca got to the girl who was bleeding from the cut to her neck. Bianca covered their hand over the wound and swooned for a moment as they sacrificed more of their blood to heal the girl’s wound. ”Run and hide, or find Hiro if he has taken care of the two morons.” Bianca instructed getting the restraints off the girl at the same time.

Bianca was just about to heal their wound as the girl took off to find Hiro or a hiding place, when another ball of solid blood hit Bianca and sent them sprawling. This woman was powerful! This time Bianca didn’t drop their weapon and got back to their feet, starting to feel the affects of the blood loss from the wound. The leader was gone from sight though! ”Hiro, the leader got away from me, find her! She’s probably going after the girl!” Bianca yelled as they started to heal the wound finally.

Hiro was trying to keep track on where everyone was, the Cult Leader, Bianca, the girl, and the two bozos he was finding it was taking too much concentration to fight, while doing all that.  He needed to prevent the two stooges from being used as corpse weapons if they were killed.  But they wouldn't go down, despite all the blood all over them and the injuries they'd sustained.  The fat man, Steve, blew blood from his nose, using the blood to create bullets aimed at Hiro, who managed to block them with his sword blade.  The lanky man, Dave, started chanting something, summoning blood from the area forming a number of blood lances, which he unleashed at the young Knight while he was dealing with the bullets.

"Dammit!  Trickier than you look!"  Hiro jumped over the lances with a high leap, a magically propelled jump.  He quickly weaved a spell through his sword, and unleashed it, a highly pressurized water blast that knocked the two goons off their feet.  It was at this point that he heard BIanca call out to him that the girl was trying to get away, and was being pursued by the priestess.

"Your leader has abandoned you, that means your lives are forfeit.  No more corpse bombs, no reason to fend you off!"  Hiro raised his blade up into the air, summoning lightning mana through the blade, causing blue bolts of electricity to dance across the sword.  Aiming the blade at the two goons, who were now soaking wet, they looked at each other.

"It was nice knowing you, Dave, " whimpered the fat cultist.  He looked at his companion with a weakened gaze.

"Yeah, it was nice, Steve.  For the glory of our Master!!"  The lanky Cultist pulled a knife from his robe.  Suddenly, Steve and Dave both had hardened resolve.

"For the glory of our Master!"  The two cultists moved their knives to their throats as Hiro cast a large blast of lightning at the two of them.  The two cultists slit their own throats as the lightning struck them.  Their bodies swelled with both lightning elemental energy as they were electrocuted, and their own blood magic.  The magic swelled in power, as did their bodies in size.  They were triggering the corpse bomb spell on themselves?!

"Shit!"  Hiro leaped back, weaving a quick protection spell around himself, and shielding himself with his crimson cloak.  The cultists' bodies exploded in a huge blast of boiling blood and death, sending shrapnel and and blood projectiles flying.  Thankfully, the protection spell, and Hiro's Phoenix Mantle, shielded him from damage.  Taking count of his body parts, Hiro sensed the priestess and the girl running out of the camp.  "I hope I'm not too late.  They went this way!"  Hiro had to move fast.  He charged mana through his body.  "Phoenix Armor take flight!"  He activated his winged armor, scarlet wings sprouting from the back of his armor, allowing him take into the air, and pursue the two women.

It didn't take long for him to find them, they weren't that far, but it'd seemed the Cultist Leader had cornered the girl.  Hiro swooped down and slammed the Leader to the ground with all his weight, then slamming his fist into her face.

"I always hate hitting a lady, but you're no lady!"  Hiro growled..  He pummeled the cultist leader again and again in the face, trying to keep her from getting a spell off.  An explosion of blood magic erupted from her, sending Hiro flying backwards from the Cultist Leader.  She was bruised, bloody, but still conscious, cornered, but not broken.  She was a dangerous opponent, like a cornered tiger.  She rose to her feet once more, ready to defend herself.  She had nothing to lose.

Hiro rose to his feet once more.  The two were at a stand off.  What tricks did the Leader have in her possession?

Bianca was finished healing the wound they had been using to empower themselves when the blasts from the two cultists went off with a roar. Even away from them Bianca could see and feel bone fragments and blood against their skin. ”If I can learn how to make other people do that by force, that would be handy.” Bianca muttered to their self getting up and retrieving their scythe while looking for where everyone had went to.

As the cult leader and Hiro stared each other down she glared at him. ”We were so close! Tonight would have been the culmination of all of our work!” She screamed as she started to build up more magic.

From the fires around them came a flash as something lashed out three times from behind the woman. She shrieked in pain as she fell to the ground, both legs and both arms lopped off leaving her just a torso on the ground. As she screamed and thrashed uselessly on the ground from the flames Bianca stepped out with their scythe held up, they had brought the heat of the magma blade down. Enough that it was sharp enough to cleave off body parts and cauterize the wounds, but not set ablaze the rest of the cult woman.

Bianca had a wicked smile on their face as they stared down at the thrashing torso/soon to be corpse. ”Well, I guess that had to hurt, huh?” Slamming the blade of the scythe into the ground Bianca reached down and grabbed the woman by the collar of her shift and lifted her up. ”Now, are you going to tell me what I want to know?” Bianca asked, but in reply all the woman did was scream in pain at her situation. Bianca gave a dark chuckle. ”I had hoped that was the case. I really wanted to have some more fun with you, maybe take your tongue as well so you couldn’t speak to cast spells. My mate and I would much enjoy torturing you for a few days, maybe a week. But, I want that information now instead of later, so I’ll take just it.”

Bianca shifted their grip so they were holding the torso up by just her throat with one hand and drew their dagger with the other. Holding the woman up a bit higher Bianca dragged the blade nice and slow across her throat, at this point Bianca didn’t care about Hiro or the child, this was their goal. The resulting flow of blood Bianca opened their mouth for and drank deep, a bit of blood magic mixed in and they were able to see into the cult leader’s memories. It took a little over a minute for the blood to stop flow and Bianca licked what they could up from the woman’s neck before dropping the corpse.

Taking a deep breath the now blood-soaked Bianca turned and smiled to Hiro. ”I got what I wanted, her blood was strong, her memories clear. That was worth the hassle, they had some interesting knowledge that I didn’t have before. I’ll have to develop them some more, take them further.” Bianca laughed darkly again. ”Now then, do you have the child? Going to take her back and get the reward?” The fire in Bianca’s orange eyes was brighter than it had been before, it was clear that consuming that woman’s blood and energized them. Plus perhaps some of Bianca’s more bloodthirsty tendencies that Hiro would be against were showing. They were still a blood mage after all.

The girl was behind Hiro, she was shaking in her metaphorical boots.  The Cultist was quite pissed that her precious plans were foiled.  "The plans of mice and men, my dear Cultist.  Why not just surrender and you'll get to spend your days in quiet contempt–" Hiro's voice paused mid speech as a flash of flame and heat came from behind the Cultist Leader.  Wide-eyed, Hiro quickly moved backwards to the girl, and swept his cloak over her.  "Angela F***ing Rose, don't look!!"  The girl got a glimpse of the disseverment  (or dismemberment, if you will) that occurred.  Bianca cleaved through the Cultist, severing her limbs from her body.  Bianca had a wicked grin on her face as she taunted her.  She then proceeded to drain the body of blood and power.

"This blood mage, my Gods, are they all like this?  Practically a vampire!  A demon would blush at this!"  He nearly retched while seeing what he saw.  When all was said and done, the Cultist was finally dead.  Bianca had not only just drained the lifeblood of her, but her memories as well.  "What the hell was that?!"  Hiro moved to look at the girl who had thankfully fainted.  Hiro picked her up carefully, wrapping her up in his cloak.  He didn't want her injured or to have to see any more atrocities or have to even go near Bianca while awake.

"Ahem," Hiro took a moment to compose himself.  "Well, I'm glad you got what you wanted.  I don't think they make an alchemical bleach strong enough to wipe that from my mind's eye.  The girl is sleeping, she passed out.  She's alive though, and physically unharmed.  I wish you hadn't done . . . whatever the hell that display of ultra-violence was in front of her.  Gods, I may have to swear off meat for awhile."  He looked at the Blood Mage once more.  "I . . . appreciate the assistance, though.  I'll be taking her back to her village so she's safe, and yes, get the reward that was promised for her safe return."  Hiro really didn't want to deal with this blood mage any more.  If they met again in the future, it'd likely they'd be enemies.  Certainly not friends at the least.  There was contempt in his gaze.  Hiro didn't like to admit this to himself, but it would have been harder without Bianca's assistance.  If she wasn't there, things may have turned out differently.  Things might have turned out worse.

Bianca chuckled darkly at Hiro’s reaction once they were finished the corpse. ”That, my dear Hiro, is how you get what you want. She was too dangerous to keep alive, she started a cult, that kind of charisma can’t endure. Something I won’t do, I’m teaching my mate the same arts and that’s it.” Well, Illiana and Illiana’s whole tribe, but Hiro didn’t need to know that. ”Blood contains memories, so I took those memories by taking her blood. If I were to drink your blood I could see into your memories as well.” Another dark chuckle, that was meant as a dark joke, not a threat, Bianca wasn’t interested in fighting Hiro, there was no point.

Bianca did see that the child was passed out though, probably for the better. When he mentioned about not having done that kind of violence in front of the girl Bianca only grinned. ”The world is cruel, Hiro, I’m sure you know this. Better to break free of any kind of innocence now rather than later, at least now she can become mentally stronger for it. The way I am now is not the way I was a few years ago, I’m not the same person. The noble woman that held the name Bianca Bathory before me, if you only knew what she did then you’d know true cruelty and horror. This, what I did now, was a mercy kill.” They explained bluntly as they grabbed their scythe and removed it from the ground placing it over one shoulder and nodded towards the girl. ”That aside, I am happy that she’s unharmed and can be brought back to her family.”

Having nothing more to say Bianca turned to take their leave of the area. ”Until we meet again, Hiro.” Bianca started to walk away, she’d engage in more conversation if Hiro wanted to refute what Bianca had said, otherwise, Bianca was finished here.

Hiro listened to Bianca's reasons for killing the cult leader, the woman couldn't be left alive really, though there was an argument to let her face the justice of the law, it probably would've ended in execution anyway.  But Hiro's problem was the sadistic torture she was put through.  He wouldn't wish that on his worst enemy.  Bianca was not a nice person by any means.  They cared not for others, though they mentioned a mate.  "I wouldn't enjoy that at all, and any attempts at taking my blood would result in unpleasant consequences.  You'd probably be bored of my memories anyway.  A 'goody-two shoes' wouldn't interest you at all, two loving parents, one of which was a former demon turned pure fire elemental, and the other a literal paragon of fire and righteousness both from another world.  Heroics are not something you would be interested in."  He did not mention the fact that his father was once considered a fire deity in this other, now dead world they were brought from.  Why tempt her with something like that?

Bianca talked about how the world is cruel, and losing innocence is better sooner than later.  "Bullshit!  The world isn't all bad.  Yes, the world can be cruel, I've seen my fair share of cruelty, evilness, but there's goodness in people too.  Why try to corrupt or scar an innocent girl?  She's not a warrior, not everyone is made out to be someone meant to fight or kill.  She was just caught up in some cult's insanity, kidnapped.  Clearly, you don't get a damn about innocence, or trying to find the good in people.  It's up to upbringing and circumstances, individuality that determines how someone turns out.  This world is a hell of a lot better than the world I came from, and how it ended up.  In-fighting Gods, corrupted by their own power, and the eventual death of a world.  I intend to not see this world end like the one I came from."  Hiro started to weave magic with his hand, taking a little longer to open up a portal back to the village the girl came from, since he had the girl occupying his other arm.  An arcane portal finally opened up, a swirling vortex showing the image of the town he was heading to.  "Hopefully we won't meet again.  We may not end up on the same side next time.  In the meantime, I'm out of here."

Hiro carefully held the girl in his arms and hurriedly went through the portal.  As the portal closed behind him, there could be heard voices.  Hiro was gathering aid, medical and otherwise.  The girl was home safe, but had to be checked for injury.  Her parents had to be notified.  Hopefully, she wouldn't remember much of what happened before losing consciousness.