Fate and Destiny were moving against each other in a way that they could not comprehend. This was a trap of Destiny, and while Destiny has ended his turn, those who walk with the path of Destiny Challenger can still draw in whispers and guidance.
Kyriachos knew that Dorothy was of Destiny. And while Dorothy was still not sure what that fully meant, he was tricked. Kyriachos bound him to Martha and Fate. And so, while his soul belonged to Fate, his body was still bound to Destiny.
The whispers of Destiny moved and allowed the dracanae to realized it. There was solidarity and separation from each other. They were not connected but had thoughts uninfluenced by another.
"Could it be?!" Another dracanae shouted.
It was then that the dracanae was finally able to sense it. When the heart imploded and became Martha's Time-Space Core, it also destroyed the link it had. They were Orgen's cell. But since Orgen finally died, so did the control of it over these dracanaes. Each of the dracanaes had unknowingly acquired what they had longed for.
"It seems that that woman who appeared to us was indeed telling the truth! This is probably her doing! She broke the seal of the heart!" Another made a guess.
"Then our cells...? Our cells should no longer have the limits!" Another exclaimed excitedly.
"This is bad! We made a mistake!" Orgen secretly spoke to Martha.
"We still have the plan!"
"That's not it! They realized they now had an identity! These creatures used to be the cells in my blood! Because of that, they would always remain as cells. But now..."
It was then that the dracanaes suddenly changed. They grew wings, and their heads grew longer. They were becoming real dragons.
Martha was trembling. The recovery and preparations of her and the three Hs, with which she was in constant communication, had not yet ended. And now these creatures grew stronger!
"We need more time!" Martha cursed. She could sense that whatever plans and tricks they would be playing, she needed to have the ability to move by herself. Otherwise, she and everyone else would die.
"I am sorry, Master..." Orgen lost hope when he saw how the dracanae became Lesser Dragons.
"No. It's not your fault. I gain an advantage because of Fate, and then I fall into a trap as Destiny works and changes the flow of the battle. I thought meeting Kyriachos would be our victory! I thought the darkness that Fate prepared so I would descend into that Separated Realm would be my victory! But see now how Destiny used my means to leave the Separated Realm to sever these dracanaes and grant them a massive power-up! If Fate has her darkness, the darkness of Destiny is also formidable! We are but chess pieces in this battle between Fate and Destiny!"
"Then... is it over? Are we going to lose? Destiny has checkmated Fate!"
"We need the power of something that isn't a chess piece of Fate or Destiny! Or at least yet! If Destiny is about to checkmate us, we need a new piece that can make us move! And I think I have it!"
"What?"
"My master's bloodline! Dorothy! Say something to delay them for now!" Martha ordered.
Martha closed her eyes. She could only use this time that the dracanae were discussing and confirming their freedom. Kyros spoke of this in their group chat. He had revealed that it's best that they keep some of their abilities a secret and not use them. Otherwise, Destiny can expect their skills and prepare a counter.
Destiny was able to counter everything that Fate helped Martha acquired. And now, she needed to acquire something that she did not have.
And a few things came to mind that could help her!
She had seen Kyros speak of weird and eccentric things. Many of Kyros's comments were not just weird but extremely confusing. Everyone in the Coven had just learned to live with his eccentricity. This was especially true when they experienced the power of the chat room. Kyros had mentioned that as their Coven's power grew, they had his ability and developed his eccentricity. She and the rest of the Coven had also discussed a growing oddity in their minds as if they somehow knew of things that they shouldn't know.
Martha needed the weirdness to pair with an important power that she had to awaken.
"Come on! Please! Lord Kyros was able to use Deception! I should too!" Martha tried to harness her Fate Challenger power.
The dracanaes were moving faster and faster. They took one step after the other and kept on taunting Dorothy to slay them. Dorothy kept mocking them for their foolishness and stated that they would regret their words and even began to give the order in which he would kill them.
But the dracanaes kept on moving forward.
At that exact moment, Calaminus felt something.
While Aron and his group were headed to the entrance to meet Mezal, Kyros and his group were headed towards the deeper regions of the Nephilim Sealing Mountain. He needed power and to level up quickly as he could feel the workings of Fate. With the Temple's power dormant, Kyros decided he needed to hunt and devour creatures within the mountain.
"Hm?" Calaminus and Kyros felt it.
"What is this feeling?"
"It shouldn't be a notification which requires me to approve their ghouls. I already approved them to make as many ghouls as they can..." Kyros frowned. He closed his eyes and began to activate his Soul Console.
And there, Kyros understood what was happening.
"It's Martha! She's trying too..."
"She's trying to awaken the 4th Wall Breacher? But why?"
"Who knows? Can she even acquire it? I don't see any prompts of approval on my end."
"In concept, she should already have it. This isn't an actual skill, after all. It's a strange state of being related to a Time God."
"I must have passed 4th Wall Breacher to them as the Coven grew stronger. I know. I wonder why she needs it? Is she alright with being eccentric all her life?"
Back in Airom Logat, the dracanaes didn't immediately run. They were confident, but they were no fools. If the dragon's soul was still alive, it could still pose a threat to them.
"We've taken many steps, and you still haven't used your attack!" One of the dracanae mocked.
"And lose all of you? If I were to waste my energy, I want to kill you all! Go ahead and get closer! My attack works better the closer you are! That's why I waited for the dracanae ghouls to get closer!" Dorothy laughed. The truth was, Dorothy's lies and taunts were slightly effective as they continuously made the group doubt.
"You are the soul of the dragon. We are your cells. If the heart dies, then your body is dead! What link do you have to use that binds us! We have lived a long time and developed our sentience! We are no longer connected to you! These ghouls that you killed appear to be just a trick!" The dracanae laughed.
Finally, Martha opened her eyes.
"Dorothy! Follow my command! Use Deception! Try to convince them that..." Martha relayed the very strange thing that she managed to think of, and she knew this was because of whatever ability or skill Kyros has which makes him eccentric. Otherwise, she would have never been able to think about this.
The power of deception had a primary goal to achieve. The lies weren't just blanket lies, but they were given to receive a certain result. All of Kyros's lies had this direction, and it always allowed him to receive had the direction of what lie to give.
Dorothy was amazed at the sudden orders of Martha.
"Do it now!"
"You fools! It's not a matter of bond! But superiority! You seemed to have met the Blood Calamity. You talk of a woman that appeared? Seeing as how this place was locked, she must have appeared like an apparition. You must have felt it too! Her ability to terrorize you just with her presence! That ability is Bloodline Superiority. I have something else! Relation Superiority! My body is still superior to yours and will always be because you are only sons! An I am not just your father! I am more!" Dorothy declared.
"We share the same body! What sons? We are the same!" The dracanae laughed at Dorothy's pitiful claim.
"Hmp. You were born from me. Of course, you are my sons. But my power to instantly kill you is because I am not only your father, But I am also your great grandfather! This is because I'm my own grandfather!" Dorothy released the most powerful soul pressure as he said this.
At the orders of Martha, the three Hs commanded all the ghouls they controlled to howl from where they were.
"GREAT GRANDFATHER!"
Though the words the ghouls cried weren't clear, the dracanae could still understand the word as Dorothy just said it. The five dracanae unconsciously took a step back as they felt the thick power of Dorothy's soul.
Martha then saw the notification that made her rejoice.
[Deception skill acquired.]
[Deception activated.]
All five dracanaes stop in their march.
They were affected by Deception and somehow believed this lie. Then there were the odd cries of the dracanae. They have never managed to command a dracanae ghoul to say a word. But now, they just did.
And then there was the content of the lie. They couldn't make any sense of it!
"Good! It worked! The lie was so strange and unexpected that even the darkness guided by Destiny is confused! Dorothy! Keep them busy for several minutes until your vitality has restored my legs! I will be sending more instructions to my team!" Martha ordered Dorothy as she began to send more messages to the three Hs.
"But... But Master... How? What kind of a lie is I'm my own grandfather, anyway?!" The bizarre made-up and out-of-this-world lie was something that Dorothy couldn't comprehend.
And Martha was expecting Dorothy to use this lie to keep the dracanae from attacking for several minutes.
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