Somewhere in the Dark Sea...
In the belly of a mighty beast were several individuals.
Lea was relaxing and enjoying the acid bath she was taking.
"Ah... This is nice. Something that can give me warmth and relaxation..." Lea smiled.
Martha was at the side and was constantly meditating and discovering the power that dragonic blood could make.
Aron was also in a trance state as he fell into meditation after facing something that not even True Cut can sever or wound the enemy.
Aside from them were three large cocoons which housed several Cardinals. These were the guards and servants that was called to serve Lea. They had fought several powerful cultivators, and Lea used Martha and Aron to take care of a certain enemy that was important to Destiny's forces in the future.
Cardinal Cruel Cort. A vampire of great heritage. Despite being a Cardinal, he had the power of a Crown and had great Dark and Fire magic. These two elements were on different spectrums of power. The fire was close to Light and shouldn't work together, but the special heritage of this man allowed him to do so.
The battle was difficult that Martha and Aron realized what a powerful champion of Destiny was.
Even with Puff, the three gained no advantage, and it was Lea who appeared at the last second in an ambush to wound him grievously.
They had to ensure that the Vampire could not see or sense Lea since they were certain Destiny's eyes were watching.
Martha killed him and allowed his belongings to be seen by his allies. Within his belongings was proof that Cardinal Cruel Cort was in league with the Dark Shine Kingdom was quite a distance away, and that there were orders on how to prepare for the Dark Shine kingdom's invasion.
The revelation caused the Edge Regions of the Dark Sea to go on a hunt.
Yet the minions of Destiny were busy hunting for the assassins that killed Cardinal Cruel Cort.
An army chased them underwater but lost sight of them.
Unknown to them was a strange, leech-like creature that was a meter long.
But they did not know that this creature was actually Puff!
Using the power of Mysterion, Puff had been changed to appear like a strange gigantic worm monstrosity, and the energy of its dragonic form was hidden. Unfortunately, at the level of those in the Edge Regions of the Dark Sea, they would not be able to identify the dragonic heritage but mistake the beasts as a strange leech and ignore it in their search.
But the group was deep inside the belly of Puff. Puff's stomach having the powers of another spatial realm, the group managed to escape the trackers and spells used to find them.
The inside of the stomach was a large world depicting the true size of Puff's actual Wyrm form.
And there, Lea and the group were recovering and meditating on the spoils they received from the dark castle of Cardinal Cruel Cort.
"You two better get stronger. If I use my powers anymore, then Destiny will know that I am helping you. I'm sure your Foresight told you that." Lea chuckled.
The two were silent as they continued to meditate on their failures.
"Of course, your cultivation level is really the problem. Although Kyros did fight a tremendous enemy whose cultivation levels were far higher, and we managed to win." Lea laughed.
But the two kept quiet.
"...I'm bored. Hey, Dragon. How goes the swim? Can I go out now?" Lea asked Puff.
"...Lady Lea. There are still many men watching. So to not make it look suspicious, I am traveling at a very slow pace.
"Ugh... This is boring!" Lea complained and turned to the two members of Steele.
Martha and Aron took the battle as their defeat and were in a very solemn state of actually losing.
Lea glanced around and sighed.
"I guess I should call you Aunt and Uncle if I am to be Kyros's bride..." Lea chuckled.
The two didn't respond.
Martha successfully controlled her evolution and now had a dragonic form that could harm peak Cardinals.
Aron was entering a unique state of his entire body, becoming a sword.
Nearby, a strange tower with antennas began to glow.
"Hm? Hey! Kyros seems to be shipping you another load of cultivation energy." Lea called out.
But the two were still meditating.
"...Why is Aunt Martha still a virgin? Do you have issues with your sword, uncle?" Lea called out.
The evolution process Martha turned to chaos as her evolution passed through the limits and forced Martha to start evolving uncontrollably.
SLASH!
The Sword Force of Aron slashed out, and Puff groaned as the sword slashed within him.
The entire place trembled.
"You!" Martha glared at Lea.
"I'm waking you us since Kyros has the next batch of energy. If it's any like the last, you guys could increase your levels in the Cardinal stage, and we could hurry. But we have to hurry and get back up to the Midlands after all!" Lea exclaimed.
Martha and Aron's expressions changed as they saw the tower.
"Go first. Your forced evolution looks like it could kill you." Aron offered.
"Thank you, husband."
"...I hope you'll sleep with uncle after this." Lea chuckled.
Martha frowned and moved towards the tower to absorb the energy.
The shock of energy not only surprised Martha but even the other teams.
The level of the Steele families forces was rising, and they were becoming an army of Champions.
Back in the Midlands....
The team of Nightwing continued to travel inside the Black Bog Kingdom and managed rescued numerous teams who were barely surviving, and all instantly vowed service to Breveros. However, Nightwing decided that the Eldrich would be a more daunting tool to force the survivors to join them, as they were familiar with their notorious status of the Eldrcih of being the race exiled out of the Planesworld.
Many powerful survivors with Cardinals and Crowns were added to the team. As a result, Breveros estimated that their entire army would still grow stronger compared to their original numbers when they arrived.
The information that everyone gathered indicated that a massive kingdom had been built as several Hive Queens had brought their lairs into it. This massive fortress was quickly created as all the group's races gathered in desperation.
Scouts report that a massive gathering of Darklings was headed towards the region and believed that an all-out war is happening since their arrival brought great change, making the fleshy golems desperate.
Of course, Nightwing already knew this since the Darkling plague that was brought was his doing.
The night arrived, and since the darklings were difficult to see, the army had made its fortification and lighted the area.
Nightwing was scouting the area as he was tasked and sensed someone approach.
"Breveros. Have you finally decided?" Nightwing asked.
Breveros appeared, and he had a serious expression.
"Nightwing... What exactly is a True Neutral?" Breveros asked.
"...Simply put, we are Mystery." Nightwing instantly used [Deception].
"Those on our side do not abide by the rules of Destiny or Fate. We don't know who the first was, but it was said that the Heretic Gods were the ones that allowed us to escape the two. Instead of being people seen by Fate from the distant past or observed by Destiny in the far future, we chose mystery."
"...If I become like you, will I... face and fight my brother and father like in that vision?"
"...Who knows. But that vision you saw was a vision that Destiny had seen if he didn't intervene. He changed your future because you would have been so strong that they would go against them!"
"...Or that they were afraid of me." Breveros's lip twitched as he spoke. But he saw the faces of his father and brother in that vision. They leaked of immense killing intent.
"What was that world? That world of fire and ash that burns my face if I think of it?"
"How am I supposed to know? But most True Neutrals try to flee from that. As for me, I decided to go out and side with Destiny. But honestly... that vision that you saw... It perplexed me. What was the end of that world? Was there even life? I wished to rule the world... But that vision..." Nightwing used his acting skills and abilities.
"...It was terrifying. I cannot understand why my brother and father would choose that."
"Maybe that's why you had that fallout in the first place. And so, Destiny sought to inflict you with bad luck so that... oh... Nevermind. That would be too presumptive of me to say." Nightwing chuckled and decided not to finish the sentence.
"I know what you are thinking. Destiny cursed me so that I would remain weak. And when the time comes for my rebellion... my father and brother could easily kill me!" Breveros spoke with immense anger.
"Well, what can you do? Right now, your brother and father are stronger than you."
"Then I chose mystery! Nightwing! Hide me from Destiny's reach!"
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