The sentence of Ogai, the Void Summoner of Kamakiri's faction, echoed in the air like a death sentence. After Ryutaro's stories shared with his companions, Yoichi and the other two Nightblades tars had just realized that Emperor Gonshiro was still alive.
The brave Shioko suddenly stopped wriggling. Her eyes kept on staring at the void, and her mind continued to process that information as if she did not want to accept it.
The rchant reacted in the sa way, falling into deep silence and failing to hold back the tremor. The dark presence of the man nad Ogai was justified by his origin. Lady Tamiko, the woman who had ordered him to travel to Tentochu, was one of the closest people to the Immortal Emperor of Kamakiri.
That great power and that mysterious substance were both unknown to the three tars and to Shioko, the most experienced of them.
"This... this is a joke... it can't be true!" Enatsu trembled. The rchant's tension caused a nervous cry, and a tear ran over his cheek, falling on one of the stone hands that held him still.
"The immortal ruler of Kamakiri is gathering a powerful new army. You will join , and together, we will use his power to conquer Tentochu and unify the two factions under one Empire!" Ogai exclaid again, spreading his arms and lifting his head to the ceiling of the round room.
With his eyes closed, the hooded man clasped his hands as if that speech had stirred him up. The black tattoos that continued under the ripped sleeves of the robe wrapped the muscles of his arms.
Although he was an average weighted and tall man, that hooded man seed to be soaked in magic. An arcane power flowed through his veins, and everyone around him was able to perceive it.
"The two factions under one leader?! This is madness! Who do you think you are, uh?!" Shioko suddenly roared, breaking her silence. The fear that had pervaded her body gradually turned into anger and began to flow like poison in her veins.
The red-haired tar's heart began to pump more and more blood to her legs and arms, accumulating the power needed to allow her body to free itself from the grip.
"Madness... madness, you said... hahahaha! HAHAHA!" – Ogai's calm voice grew into an evil, uncontrolled laugh. "The real madness is not to have done it before!" lowering his gaze towards his interlocutors, he opened the palm of one hand upwards and stretched out his arm forward.
A stream of black mud enveloped one of his legs within seconds, rising into an ascending vortex. That dark mud did not dirt Ogai's body, being his creation, and continued to revolve around it until it reached his hand.
As all the black mud accumulated on the warlock's palm, it thickened into a wet, soggy sphere, beginning to float a few millitres from his hand under his gaze.
"The power of the Emperor of Kamakiri is so strong that a single drop of his blood is enough to give us humble servants infinitely great power. Behold, people of Tentochu! Behold the power of the Blackblood!" Ogai yelled, emphasizing his powers and revealing their nature.
His listeners had now realized that the connection between that man's powers and Gonshiro was real, and, leveraging their courage, they were looking in their minds for a way to react to that tragic event.
"Blackblood gives humans and demons extraordinary abilities. It allows us to strengthen our bond and makes us unstoppable! The supre dark Emperor has given us his immortality, and, in return, we will deliver to him Tentochu and the whole world of Lumya!"
The situation is starting to get heavy... this guy wants to turn us into evil zombies, and... is it possible that the entire south of the region is in danger due to a single drop of Gonshiro's blood? Is his power that limitless? How can we hope to defeat such a powerful being? Yoichi thought frantically, trying to shake off the feeling of helplessness.
Being incapacitated on the cave's floor, the Nightblades' three tars had no choice but to break free. Alas, before they found a way and attempted a sudden attack, they needed more ti.
Distracting their exalted enemy looked like the only temporary solution, the only thing that would allow them to gain precious seconds before losing consciousness and selling for ever their soul to Gonshiro, the Immortal Emperor of Kamakiri.
"So... which one of you wants to be the first to undergo the regeneration process?" Ogai chuckle delighted, slowly raising his other hand in Shioko's direction.
Within seconds, the rocky particles of the hands that held the archer still changed state of aggregation, turning into the sa viscous liquid that sared the floor and walls of the dungeon.
Shioko tried to wriggle out as her body was lifted and pushed towards Ogai. The stronger and more decisive her movents were, the more her arms and legs were stuck in the black mud.
"Aaargh! Leave !" Shioko scread. She held out her arm towards her bow in a desperate gesture, trying to reach it on the ground beside the quiver. The mud around her body increased its volu, dragging her like a twig into the waters of a river in flood.
"No, no! Let her go! Wait!" Enatsu yelled, unable to move. As Shioko was dragged inexorably towards her enemy, Nobu flew towards her: the butterfly demon was evidently upset, unable to understand why it could not attack that weaponless enemy.
In its mind, the Hotasagi sensed that its tar was in a complicated situation, sharing with her fear and an accelerated heartbeat. Despite this, the blood pact that tied each Oracle to its tar prevented the demon from acting without direct command.
An Oracle could only manifest its will in a few cases, such as when the life of its tar was in grave danger. Under those circumstances, that of the boss's room was one of those cases.
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