Both stood there, facing each other, ready to strike, reading the other's movements, not daring for a moment to hesitate. All it would take would be one wrong move and the unfortunate combatant to make that movement would lose the battle before it even started. The air grew thick and tense with the EXS built up from the two and not a sound could be heard apart from their breathing.

Both took one step forward. Then another. Then more footsteps came, which came more frequently and forcefully. Eventually the two In-Births broke into a sprint and dashed right at each other. "GO!" they both yelled as they made contact, Orie's rapier and Carmine's blade of blood grinding against each other forcefully, fighting for control.

Three seconds of the deadlock passed and then the two broke from each other. Orie took the initiative and thrust the point of her rapier at Carmine's chest. Carmine swatted the blade away and reached for Orie's neck. She quickly ducked under his reach and sent a roundhouse kick flying towards his head. This move did not miss; Carmine's head went sideways, blood leaking from his mouth. Orie decided to capitalize and tried again to thrust at him with the rapier.

But Carmine's bloody mouth turned into a devilish grin. "Spike!" he yelled. The blood leaking from his mouth quickly turned into crystal shards and shot towards Orie like a bullet. She had no time to react to the move and was shot in the hip with the shard of blood.

Orie winced in pain at the sudden move. "Grh," she grumbled. "I-I see your powers allow you to manipulate blood. A dangerous power indeed."

"Oh man, that kick to the head really stung, but seeing you still able to stand after taking that shot makes you a hell of a lot better to play with than those other chumps," said Carmine. He took another stance. "Let's see what other tricks you can do!"

Carmine quickly closed the distance between the two and began to swipe at Orie with blades of blood. She managed to block his attacks with her rapier, but Carmine was swinging so wildly and randomly that she couldn't sense a pattern with him. She was so fixated on trying to find a pattern to exploit that she didn't see the kick he sent flying at her head. He hit her full force, sending her crashing into some trash cans in the alley.

Carmine sighed and scratched his head. "Jeez, make this fun, will ya? It's no fun beating up people that can't fight back."

Orie was annoyed. "You think this is a game!? Fine, reap what you sow!" She tapped her rapier and increased her EXS. "Thanatos!"

"Eh?" questioned Carmine. Suddenly, he saw a larger shadow standing by his own. Confused, he turned around to find a beige-colored paladin with a giant sword in its hands. Before he even had a chance to process the new party brought into the battle, the paladin known as Thanatos swung its sword horizontally at him. He barely had a chance to block the lethal attack with his bloody shield, however, the impact of the attack sent him flying into a brick wall, cracking it upon impact.

Carmine spat out a bit of blood and smiled. He looked up at Orie and laughed. "Alright, now this is what I call a fight!" yelled the hemomancing In-Birth in glee. "Never seen something like that before!"

Orie narrowed her eyes. "I find it hard to believe that you get this much satisfaction from fighting someone," she scoffed. "To be frank, violence without any justified reason for it means nothing more to me than a child throwing a tantrum. You don't seem to be any different."

Carmine's face darkened at her words. The air around them grew more intense as his mood turned from sadistic to murderous. "You don't know a goddamn thing about my reasons for fighting," he growled. "Nothing gives me more satisfaction than seeing lowlife punks, high-and-mighty assholes, and people that piss me off get what they deserve. And what they deserve is my blood spike turning their worthless bodies into pin cushions!"

Orie was starting to run out of time and energy. Carmine's deranged addiction to fighting was only making him more dangerous to be around. She was trying to think of a way to satiate his bloodlust when all of a sudden she thought of an idea.

Her adversary wasn't having any of it. He kicked her hard, making her clutch her stomach. "Hey, wake up!" spat Carmine. "If you're gonna admit defeat, wait until I finish you!"

"Thanatos!" ordered Orie. The paladin grabbed Carmine by his arms and lifted him in the air. He thrashed about, but to no avail. Orie slapped his face, making his eyes burn with rage.

"You bitch!" roared Carmine. "You better to pray to God that this thing holds me here forever! Because if it can't, I'll have your head before you even get the chance to say you're sorry! You hear that!? I'll make-" His insults were cut short by another slap of her hand.

"Are you done yet?" grunted Orie. Carmine stopped moving and kept his attention on her, though his rage-filled face showed no signs of disappearing. Orie sighed. "Good. I've had enough of this meaningless fight. You were a worthy opponent, Carmine, but I need to carry on with my mission."

"Seriously? That's IT!?" Carmine whined. "Do you see either of us looking defeated? Because I sure as hell don't! Let me go!"

She rolled her eyes. "Alright, then let's call it a draw," said Orie. She took a deep breath. "And since neither of us won, I will let you in on a little bit of what the Licht Kreis is doing in this area and then we will part ways without a second thought."

She pointed towards the direction of Amnesia's headquarters. "I was assigned with the task of infiltrating Amnesia's headquarters and gaining information on their next moves. I do not know the details of what they are planning or when they will bring those plans to fruition, but I will try to find that out tonight." She dissolved Thanatos and Carmine dropped to the ground. "Does the information prove sufficient enough for you?"

Carmine stood up and dusted himself off. "Amnesia, huh?" he said. "Yeah, I've seen those guys. Led by that big shot, Paradox. What a bunch of sorry pieces of shit they are, throwing their powers around like they own the place. Makes me sick."

Orie bowed and sheathed her rapier. "Then I bid you goodnight, Carmine. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be-" She was cut off by Carmine running up and grabbing her collar. "Wh-what are you doing!?" she cried. "I thought we agreed we were done here!"

Carmine's grip on her tightened. "You know, I was gonna let you go because I thought you were gonna go play police force or something," he said with a smile. "But now that I know you're going after Amnesia, looks like I found the perfect time to pay them a visit myself. And you're going to help me get to them."

He let go and dropped her to her knees. She stood back up, her annoyance not leaving her face for a second. "I have no authority to bring a civilian into Licht Kreis affairs," she retorted. "Besides, you have no reason to fight them yourself. What reason do you have for coming with me?"

Carmine chuckled. "Tch, I don't give a shit about finding out about their plans or anything like that. I just feel like beating them up because I don't like them. Nothing more, nothing less." He cracked his knuckles. "I don't care what you're doing. All I want is to get to their headquarters and then we've got nothing else to talk about."

Orie was stunned. On one hand, bringing a civilian into a conflict involving the Licht Kreis could land her in some trouble with Adelheit and Silvaria. On the other hand, Carmine wanted to go for his own reasons and not necessarily to help her. Though he could subconsciously provide a distraction for her so that she could carry out her infiltration without having too many eyes on her. Not the plan she had intended to use on this Night, but the mutual benefit was something that could work nonetheless.

She offered her hand to the red-haired psychopath. "Alright then, for now we call an alliance. But as soon as we reach the headquarters, we part ways." He looked at her hand in disgust and looked away. She retracted her hand while noting that someone really needs to teach Carmine about manners.

"Just stay out of my way and then we've got nothing to worry about," he quipped.

Orie sighed. If Carmine was with her, this was going to be a long night. She had no idea how right she was.