NOVPUBWhile the Jade Dragons, the Azure Rebels, and the vampire clan were gathered in the briefing room to come up with their next course of action, the members of the Golden Twilight Syndicate arrived.
Lindsey had a few patches on her face, and Curtis had a cast on his right arm after his bones were shattered in his fight against the Death Knight in the south.
The two sibling leaders had somber expressions, and when Dante noticed their aura, they seemed to be hesitating from embarrassment, which wholly confused the warlock.
Imera, who was walking in front of her grandkids, greeted everyone in the room and began her report, revealing that two more Death Knights had appeared in the south, going by the names of Radeon and Saturio.
"Saturio…?" Dante muttered.
"Do you know him?" Imera asked.
"Not personally, no. It sounds familiar, though I can't seem to remember from where," the warlock replied, diving deep into his thoughts.
When Curtis recounted his fight with the Death Knight, he seemed ashamed, revealing that he had lost the battle and the only reason he was standing there was because Saturio decided not to kill him.
"He was stupidly strong, like seriously… Not even Zac is that strong," Curtis explained.
Still, it wasn't just Curtis who lost his fight. When the blonde man was knocked out, Lindsey had to focus on escaping with her brother, and considering that she was losing her own battle, it was the only option they had.
"There were 600 casualties… All because we couldn't beat them," Lindsey said, looking down at the ground and biting her lips with apprehension.
"Hmmm, so we could guess that these five individuals are Netherius' strongest subordinates…" Camille pondered aloud.
As the group began devising a new plan that would also incorporate the GTS members, Dante kept his hand on his chin with his eyes closed, seemingly not paying attention to the meeting.
Megan noticed the warlock struggling with his own thoughts, but she decided to leave him alone to see what he would do. 𝓃𝓸𝓋𝓅𝓾𝒷.𝒸ℴ𝓂
*Sigh!* Dante let out a loud gasp, silencing the rest of the group, who were discussing their plans.
"I remember now!" The warlock exclaimed, confusing everyone as they didn't know what he was talking about.
"Saturio was the man known as the King of Barbarians!" Dante continued, speaking with a proud smile on his face.
However, the rest of the group didn't take those words as lightly as Dante.
"He was a king?" Megan pondered.
"Yes. Well… He wasn't like the other kings who lived in a castle surrounded by knights. The King of Barbarians was chosen after a long fighting tournament, where the strongest of the barbarians would become the ruler," Dante explained.
"What about Radeon? Do you know anything about him? He called himself a 'Netherlord,'" Lindsey interjected with a question.
Dante had never even heard the name "Radeon," but he knew what being a Netherlord meant.
Imera had already explained it to her grandkids, so Dante decided to briefly summarize it to the others in the briefing room.
For a wizard to become a Netherlord, they had to practice forbidden magic to the point where their souls were wholly corrupted. In doing so, the wizards would unlock the ability to use other kinds of magic that were not as common in the world of Terra.
"I see. But why did he look like a skeleton? Wouldn't he get a new body like the other Death Knights?" Lindsey asked.
"Becoming a Netherlod increases their lifespans substantially, but their human bodies can't keep up with that much age… It's a flawed process," Dante replied.
"Either way, you both need more practice," Imera interjected, glaring at the siblings.
After the group reported their encounters, the leaders and the handlers stayed in the briefing room to flesh out the details while the others went straight to the MET room to train.
Asher and Amara had been training the whole day, and when they saw Dante arriving, they rushed to his side, wanting to show their big brother the progress they had made.
A few minutes later, Zac and Alice were sparring in the adjacent room when they were interrupted by Dante, who was accompanied by the twins.
"Can you guys practice with them as well?" Dante asked the duo.
"Uhh, dude? What if they get hurt?" Zac answered with another question.
"I think they'll be fine…" The warlock casually replied.
"Ermm, okay… But I won't use the baseball bat," Zac said with apprehension, leaving his weapon on the side of the room.
Alice glanced at the twins momentarily, and she believed Dante when he said that the children would be fine, as she could faintly sense their aura. Nonetheless, she followed Zac's actions and left her sword aside.
"The kids are pretty fast, but they have no close combat experience, so if you could teach them some of the basics…" Dante commented to Zac and Alice, who didn't have a problem with his request.
Zac and Asher stepped to the center of the room first, and the redhead seemed to underestimate the harpion child. However, as soon as their spar started, Asher appeared right in front of Zac.
'Huh!? This isn't "pretty fast." This is extremely fast!' Zac thought in a millisecond, quickly backstepping and avoiding Asher's claw.
Still, while the kid was quick on his feet, Zac managed to keep up with his speed as the boy's actions were too easy to predict, and Asher's physical strength was nowhere near Zac's level.
At one moment, Asher almost clawed Zac's face, and the redhead acted out of pure instinct and punched the kid in the stomach, flinging him to the other side of the room.
"Aww, shit! I hit him too hard!" Zac exclaimed, holding his head with regret.
*Cough, cough* "That was a good punch. Brother Zac is really strong!" Asher commented as he stood up from the ground, holding and rubbing his stomach.
"A-are you okay?" Zac asked the kid.
"Hmm? Yes! It hurt a little, but I'm okay!" Asher confidently replied.
The harpion had no blood, and the scratches on his body weren't a big deal, which confused Zac as he didn't know why the kid was so resilient.
"I sort of forced them into a contract with me to heal them, and it seems their bodies grew stronger as well…" Dante explained, surprising both Alice and Zac.
