Listening to Thea asking the masked young man to mark the Chauliodus clan, which is the culprit behind the death of his good brother, and friends, in other words, Lina and Karmandi's parents, Olander frowned for a second before saying.
"Lass, you know I hate that cunning bastard as much as possible, but his strength is no joke, even now that I have reached the peak of the high stage, being completely honest, I know I can't beat him, at most I can drive him away… and there is a high chance I'll end up dead".
"Only after you reach the high stage and with me restraining it, you'll be able to land a lethal attack on him".
"And what if we add three Maximum Stellar ranks to the equation, including a light affinity one", Daimon's voice made Olander turn to see him.
The oarfish general contemplated things for a moment, he only counted two Maximum Stellar ranks in the "alliance", since Thea hadn't mentioned the fact that Armando also joined, so he was wondering who was the third one.
But still he shook his head.
"The Matriarch of the Light Palace isn't an offensive type mage, I'm not trying to be an idiot, but in terms of offensive my brother's darkness was stronger than the current Shaman and he still was corroded by that guy".
Daimon smirked, he would have been wary of what Olander was saying, if the scheming guy and its influence were a secret to him, but with Aurora's newly modified light spells, anyone that was trusting in the powers of Nethereals, were in for a beating, regardless of the type of mage or knight they were.
A black portal appeared and Roger as well as Fabio who were dragging a battered figure, came out of it, Fabio who was the most informed and managed to hear what Olander said a moment ago, immediately kneeled in front of Daimon and then said.
"Reporting to the young master, the magic beast mentioned should be one of the "Representatives", like Garrius, they work directly under the Lord, and they all have a specialty which they obtained thanks to a Nether which is above average… that's in part what I was aiming for, that guy who is being restrained by lady Aurora should know more about it, as he was directly subordinated to Garrius".
Olander who was incredibly sensible to Nether, frowned, he could feel a similar but more obvious sensation like the one Jina radiated after she tried to escape, in other words when she used Nether as a distraction, coming from both Roger and Fabio.
"They are Nethereals who now work for me, his loyalty is absolute, so you don't have to worry about it, Thea can explain it to you later if you have doubts about it, I called them here to bring this guy", said Daimon as he pointed at the electric eel magic beast descendant, whose name turned out to be Liman.
Contrary to his previous high and mighty attitude, he was now pretty submissive, Remi and Aurora did a good job interrogating him after all, and while he didn't know too much, Daimon finally got to know what was Marcus's modus operandi.
In part Daimon had already guessed how it worked, but it was good to confirm it, apparently, similar to Milo's family, descendants of some of the clans that fought on the war of back then, were scattered in the Maelstrom and Bone Seas.
Since they were on the loser side, they ended up in disgrace, but at least one or two survived through the generations, and ended up becoming Stellar ranks, only to get stuck at either the early or middle stage.
Now, it is important to mention that compared to the experts of the Clear Water kingdom, whose formations were akin to nobles, or experienced soldiers if they came from the army, these guys were a bunch of bandits at best.
In a pretty accurate calculation, peak half Stellars from the Neo noble army could go one versus one against the early stage Stellars mentioned before, because their preparation was inexistent, they just advanced whenever they had a chance to, without a solid base or anything.
Such was the case of Milo, whose battle prowess was trash, after recognizing Marcus who for some reason had the proofs of identity of "benefactors" that helped the clans of those guys at a given point, they swore loyalty to him.
Those who Marcus favored were given a "Devil Blessing Potion" and then their potentials exploded, which ended in them either advancing… or dying, that's right not all of them could survive the process, and their battle prowess didn't increase, they had to go through many battles with tough opponents for that.
But at least the shackles that had forced them to be stagnated, hide or runaway from the enemies they made through the generations, had disappeared, that's the information Remi had managed to get out of Liman.
And this is where things get interesting, the reason as to why Thea whose family knows each and all the snake-like magic beast races of Neptune, regardless of their sea of origin, couldn't pinpoint to which race Liman belongs, is because his characteristics changed after taking the potion Marcus gave him in exchange for his loyalty.
That being said, Liman didn't know the name of his race, he was raised by a pirate who was a friend of his father, who was killed in one of the many battles that break out in the mobile islands.
But he gave his original description and the one of his father, to Remi and that same information was now handed to Olander, who was observing Liman from head to toe, and inspecting his eyes, the fins on his neck and the spiked teeth in his mouth.
"The previous description is that of the descendants of the Blue Vari Eel race, they were a small clan that was eliminated in one of the many battles against the Mermen Sea, during the time of brother Liam's father".
"Though rare it's not impossible for a few mixed races to appear, the nomad tribes on the mobile islands are formed of a lot of mixes of races, so by either luck or simply atavism, one or two mixed should surface from time to time, but this guy's current appearance on the other hand… it reminds of the Voltari Steel Razor Eel raze".
Olander doubted for a second before continuing.
"And that's not possible, because till the last one of them was killed by your ancestors, back at the era of foundation and those guys valued the purity of their lineage to the extreme, to the point that they killed every other race without any discrimination, including other eel or snake type clans, which is why the Ryner ruler of back then exterminated them all".
"On the other hand, this guy is lacking their most characteristic trait, the razor-like fins on the arms and neck, which were the proof of their raze and what made them be on par with your ancestor of back then, also their lightning was of a dark yellow color, interestingly they appeared out of nowhere back then too", concluded Olander.
While Olander was surprised to see a race from the foundation era, which was extinct surge out of nowhere, Daimon bitterly smiled, he could already guess who introduced Liman's race to Neptune back then, a system user.
How does he know it, well, according to Blacktooth he is the first ever, Devil Goblin Shark to develop arms, his path of evolution has diverted from the one that his race follows, in Daimon's case was related to the Ruler of the Sea, but other system users had their own ways to empower others, in Marcus's case is that devil blessing thing, whatever it is.
"What is your family's story, are you related to the race mentioned by him?", asked Daimon to Liman.
The guy seemed to have recovered some spine, as it glared at Daimon, but then when both Roger and Fabio produced Nether to inject it in his body, which will cause a severe pain, he obediently answered.
"My father once said that we Eel electric races had a royal family, who was on par with any of the four rulers, but out of jealousy they joined hands and ambushed our strongest clan, but a benefactor tended to the wounds of one elder who survived for a few more days, and the elder condensed his lineage into a few drops of blood essence, which were given to the benefactor".
"The story said that the benefactor promised to return one day, and hand the royal lineage down to someone who was worthy of it, Lord Marcus is the descendant of our benefactor, even if you captured me, my older brother is the genius of my family, he reached the peak of the high stage right after consuming the potion containing our royal clan's blood, and he awakened the Savage Razor Lightning, you will all die… aghhhh!".
Since Liman had started divagating from the question that was asked to him, Roger and Fabio placed their hands on his eyes and their Nether burned them, such was the punishment for him daring to threat their young master, the two black mist stage Nethereals are under Terror Contracts, their loyalty towards Daimon is extreme.
"That is enough for now, he apparently hadn't told you everything he knew, right?", asked Daimon, which made both Roger and Fabio pale.
Remi interrogated Liman first, but then he was tasked with surveilling the other Nethereal, because Aurora had a sudden inspiration, which ended in her casting that ray of white light which destroyed the disguise of the other clan leader that had betrayed Thea along with Jina.
So, they were in charge of the rest of the interrogation, and apparently, they were too soft with Liman, as they didn't know about the little story he just told, still they didn't dare to put the blame on Remi much less on Aurora.
"We are sorry young master, please punish us accordingly!", they both said as they kneeled down, which made Daimon shake his head.
'I guess they can't be as efficient as Horals by innate', he thought before saying.
"We'll discuss that later; I'll drop by to finish the interrogation personally".
With those words, those two took Liman and Thea opened a portal so they could return to the prison of the Flying Citadel, judging by their wild gazes, Liman was about to suffer a lot, since he dared to make them look bad in front of their young master.
Leaving that aside, Daimon now had a much more thing in which he was interested, and that is Thea's clan's origin, beings who have the support of a system user raise in power, that is almost guaranteed.
It's not that Daimon is touching his own trumpet, but system users have many tricks up their sleeves, just look at Marcus, in a matter of months he gathered fifteen high stage Stellar ranks out of nowhere, when each sea used to have one or two of such experts, it was simply unbalanced, a cheat so to speak.
Adam was different, but he still gained the full support of two Maximum Stellar ranks and many others in a single day, back when he saved Jasmine, no questions asked, sure it crumbled apart "easily" but that was because of Daimon's interference.
It wouldn't be weird that the system users of back then, powered a few races so they served them, the guy who tricked the White Walkers did it, and now it appears to be that the Hydra guy was the same.
And that made Daimon wonder, what is Thea's race, who were strong enough to eliminate a race with a system user backing them, how strong were they that they weren't reduced to a miserable state like the angelfish clan who also went against the Hydra guy, or was there something that made the Hydra guy wary of them, which prevented it from seeking revenge, but if that was the case why was Thea's father targeted by the scheming guy.
"I have heard you talk a lot about your father and he was the previous ruler and as far as I understand, his darkness wasn't like yours, could it be that your spatial property comes from your mother?", asked Daimon, which made Thea's eyes glow.
"I don't know… mother died when I was a baby, unlike father she wasn't a combatant, and she couldn't even reach the Stellar ranks, besides that I only know that I resemble her a lot, my eyes specially, according to father", mumbled Thea.
Olander who was left out of the conversation, suddenly frowned as he gazed at Daimon.
"I originally wasn't going to mention it, because I trust the little princess's eye for people, but a traitor appeared within the generals she chose and I know it wasn't due to her being careless, so, sorry for the offense but… who are you, you aren't a native of the Maelstrom Sea, nor you are from the Elemental races as I can feel different types of mana from you, and you also don't have any beast characteristic, not to mention your aura does feel like the one of a magic beast of a highest level".
"I know the aura of all the clans on that level, since the little princess is from one of them, but how come I can't recognize yours?", asked the Oarfish general, to which Daimon casually answered.
"That is because I'm not a native of Neptune, I come from another galaxy", the moment Daimon finished speaking, the Oarfish general's pressure exploded out of his body.
But before Daimon's safety measures activated, Thea and Bell were already in front of him, cancelling the pressure coming from Olander, whose eyes were bloodshot right now.
Daimon didn't stop in the ceremony, he snapped his fingers and his skill Switch activated, taking Jasmine and Sarah out of here, and replacing them with Remi and Roger, Aisha stayed, because Daimon was confident that the safety measures on her, were enough to protect her.
Both Remi and Roger stood at Olander's sides, surrounding the general, Remi was a peak high stage too, though Armando easily suppressed him, he wasn't weak at all, it's just that there is a high distance between a high and a Maximum stage Stellar rank, and while Olander is innately stronger than Remi, as he is a magic beast, he won't be outpowered so easily.
Thea knew that Daimon won't hesitate to start a fight, against whoever that dared to attack him, so she turned to see him with those pretty amber snake-like eyes of hers before saying.
"He is annoying but he isn't an enemy, let me try and mediate… if he is really trying to harm you, I will stop him".
Daimon gazed at Olander and he recognized the hatred that was burning in his eyes, it was the type of hatred felt towards the one that killed someone important to you, still understanding isn't the same as sympathizing.
Whether he is in the wrong or not, which in this case he isn't, anyone that can is a threat to him or his close ones, will be eliminated, that being said, he could see Thea's honesty in her eyes, so he raised his hand and then said.
"You two come here, but don't lower your guards".
Thea let out a sigh of relief.
"Thanks…", she mumbled and then turned to see Olander, in the long time she has known the Oarfish general, she has never seen him like this, magic beasts are violent and wild, that is normal, those who take human form have to learn how to suppress their nature, only then they obtain the advantages of a rational mind and the strength of a magic beast.
First generations like Olander aren't perfect, it is harder for them to control themselves, but the Oarfish general has always been an easygoing person, so this isn't a simple fit of anger, there should be a reason for it.
"Hey old fish-head, what is happening, have you gone senile or something?", asked Thea, she wasn't joking when she said she wasn't going to stand aside, as she even drew out her spear.
"Lass he… is dangerous, I had a sensation of restlessness the moment I saw him, I believed in your eye for people, but if he is really from outside of Neptune then we can't trust him, the history of my family is the better proof of it", said Olander.
Thea frowned.
"The history of your family, weren't you saved by father after your clan was destroyed due to a battle with one of the clans that used to serve the Chauliodus ruler?", she asked.
Olander sighed and then pointed at Thea's ring.
"You have the record of the rulers in your ring right… pierce it with your spear, your father made me promise not to tell you until you reached the high stage, but if the damn outsiders are here then we are running out of time, I swear to not do anything until you have read it", he said as he at down cross-legged, his eyes didn't abandon Daimon's figure though.
But the same could be said of Daimon, the gazes of the two clashed on the air, which took Olander by surprise, the young man in front of him wasn't intimidated by his aura, at all, in fact he didn't seem to be worried about anything, as if it was decided that the one who would have lost if they clashed earlier, wasn't going to be him.
'Certainly, I can't outpower that masked guy so easily, not to mention he has another three Stellars and the little princess, but is hard to fight while protecting someone, what makes him so confident… no I shouldn't judge him by common standards, if he is like those fucking monsters, then even if I were to be a Maximum Stellar there isn't such a thing as a 100% sure way to deal with him, only the little princess would be able to go against him', he thought.
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