Chapter 243: Strength of Darkness

Demerus had witnessed the expected reaction of Kyros and moved closer to explain.

"Lord Kyros. I can see that despite your young age, you are well learned and that the wisdom of adults pale in front of you. So pardon the improper words of my sister. But you have to understand..."

"Oh, I understand a thot when I see one."

"N-no. That's not what I meant. My sisters are born nobles. And frankly, they are prideful and only respect power. This is why they haven't married yet. Even I, myself, am having a hard time looking for a wife. But, another reason why they never married is that..."

"They like old men."

"N-no! Remember that we were after you a while ago."

"If you remind me again of what had happened earlier, I will let loose my shadows on you."

"I-I meant to point out what we value and see. You see, we Emberdon's value political marriage alliances more than anything else. Like your Steele family, we have had our struggles. We never told you about it, but we have also lived quite challenging lives. I cannot begin to list the horrors that we all had to do to survive. And while most of our enemies are dead and have been killed, you have to understand my sister's perspective." Demerus explained.

Kyros's expression then changed.

"You had your share of troubles?"

"A lot. It's only when we became Champions that we were able to fight off most problems. Most of it is because of luck. We have strong enemies, but they were mysteriously killed."

"Hmmm.... You guys are starting to sound more and more likely to be our allies. It seems Destiny has been attacking your family too..."

"Yes. They were just too.., passionate. And they are used to having men chase them. Right now, a marriage with the Steele family will definitely help. But, if they are too young, maybe my aunt?"

BOOM!

Mezal was suddenly knocked back, and he flew back to where he was positioned originally. His previous advantages in his charge were all knocked away. He was about to land an attack when he heard Demerus's proposal. He was still listening to the Champions talk.

"Damn that brat of Emberdon!" Mezal secretly cursed.

"Stupid grandson! I was about to marry those young babes! Damn him too!" Mezal cursed. 

"That's it! Fate Challenger!" Mezal recalled the talk they had earlier.

"Foresight! I summon you! I want to marry those hot, young girls! Even just one! Preferably Faye!" 

At that moment, all who had the Path of Foresight frowned.

"What the fragment?!" Branze cursed as he could feel something that made his hair stand.

"What is this dark power?" Diana drew her sword in caution as Foresight was warning her.

"Why do I feel the power of lecherousness?" Martha frowned.

Hunter was silent but was secretly giving Mezal a thumbs up.

"You can do it, Lord Mezal!" Hunter muttered under his breath.

"And when you do... please teach me..."

"Grandfather! Be serious!" Kyros shouted in anger.

"You unfilial grandson!" Mezal shouted back.

Everyone was confused at why Mezal and Kyros began shouting at each other.

"Scayous! Now!" The Giant suddenly roared as he launched another breath attack.

A dark shadow bolted from the sky and was racing towards Mezal.

Mezal raised his shield but suddenly pointed his sword to the sky as the dark figure reached him.

STAB! BOOM!

The sword stabbed through as a spider-like figure appeared above.

But before Mezal could identify the being he killed, a figure appeared at the side. 

A dark power with the power of another Captain raced forward to attack Mezal.

Mezal was about to act when he heard a voice...

SLASH!

The approaching dark figure was sliced in half. While most physical weapons could not do much damage, a Blood Blade that has drunk and devoured dragons can.

Martha suddenly appeared.

A void had opened near where she was. She held the Branch of Bow on the one hand and her Blood Blade on the other.

The shadow she sliced into two turned into a dark mist that scattered down her feet. Not a trace of the enemy could be seen.

"That Captain had the power of a Champion. Is this the honor of a Giant? You rely on tricks to fight a human?" Martha asked harshly.

"Another Champion?!" The Giant roared in anger.

"TELEPORTATION!" Demerus, Faye, and Ressi saw what had happened as they could sense the fluctuations of space.

"She's a Champion?!" Gojirrah was stunned. He was near Martha but didn't sense the changes. The first time he met her, he was sure that Martha was just a Captain.

"Her powers weren't revealed yet. So she must have crossed the boundary when that power Temple gave her the power. But how has she crossed it without a Class Change?" Reptilia wondered.

Martha stood next to Mezal.

"Since you ambushed my father, let me do you the same favor." Martha smiled.

The Giant prepared to attack and raised his club.

SLASH!

A dark mist reformed into a human and slashed out.

"How arrogant. You whelp of a Champion is too green to fight against other Champions. She underestimated the strength of darkness." The Dark figure that looked like a slender Lizardman walked out. He held the head of Martha in his hands.

"Aunt Martha!" Kyros howled.

[Acting skill activated.]

"No! My wife! My love! No! No! I'll kill that lizard! I'll kill that lizard! Newt!" Aron began to cry out in great pain.

"Stop! Don't move! We might fall into a trap! There are assassins among them!" Branze shouted and commanded everyone to stay where they were.

Mezal looked, and an intense fury appeared in his eyes as a bright and powerful light surfaced.

The Steel element reverted back to Earth. But Mezal needed to harness as much Force energy that would turn to Pseudo Holy.

"Get ready, Dirgah! We'll kill him swiftly!" The lizardman assassin called to the giant as he prepared to attack.

SLASH!

A powerful slash occurred again. But this time, it was creating a dimensional collapse in the space where it struck.

The lizardman assassin howled in pain as the sudden vortex appeared. A strange dark blue light could be seen in the center, struggling to resist being absorbed into the torn space.

"Arrrrggghh! I will not die like this!" The lizardman fought to resist it, but then a strange creature emerged out of this space.

"A Lizardman Shadow with a Black Water core... Yummy!" Puff appeared out of the dimensional realm and bit down on the core.

The moment Puff ate it, the lizardman's body dispersed. This time, it was dead for real.

The Giant was horrified at what he had seen. His Champion companion was immediately killed.

"Father-in-law. Please don't toy with them. We have to fight this as soon as we can. We don't know what Destiny has prepared for us." Martha's voice could be heard on the other end of the battlefield.

The giant turned over and saw that there was a gap in the ranks of the soldiers.

Based on the size of the gap, Over two dozen shadow creatures had disappeared.

Martha stood in the middle and kept using her sword to gather the dispersing energy. For some strange reason, the darkness was sucked into the sword just as it did when the giant first took action.

The nearby soldiers retreated in fear as they didn't even notice how those near them had died. All eyes were expecting the clash between Mezal, the giant, and the lizardman!

The giant turned and saw that the decapitated head of Martha was turning to dark mist.

"Dark Shadow Clone. A pity that the stupid assassin didn't notice it. I guess he was too green for a fight among Champions. He also underestimated the strength of darkness." Martha laughed.

"Ohhh! My wife is dead!" Aron kept shouting.

"Brother. It's over. And please! The next time this happens, leave the acting to us! You nearly gave it away!" Branze complained.

The Coven nodded at Branze's statement.

Even Kyros was worried that Aron's over-acting would make the lizardman assassin suspicious.