Where is he?’ Seishan thought. She had contacted him two hours early to make sure he was present, yet he was late. She grinded her teeth, trying to keep her composure. This plan was her idea, and if Rio wasn’t up to par, then it reflected badly on her.

The Song family was a melting pot of conflict. Every adopted daughter or son secretly fought to earn favor with Ki Song. Seishan had returned with a group of promising sleepers, and even brought Mordret into the family. But these achievements were dust in the face of the powers of her sisters. Seishan was still an awakened.

Blood red lips and a carefree smile. Beastmaster sat next to Seishan, whistling a nursery tune. The clock ticked overhead,and after it reached the fifteen minute mark, the saint yawned and spoke.

“Should we start without him?” Her sister asked. Seishane bit her lip a little and smiled back.

“A few more minutes. I’m sure he got carried away with something.” Seishan was going to kill Rio when this was over. If the family doesn’t kill her first. Just then the door opened and Rio casually walked in. The room was filled with tremendous pressure, but that all seemed to stop once the Master walked in. He flashed a smile at everyone and sat down.

“Now that Seishan’s ward is here, we can begin.” Saint Dire Fang said. The man was an impatient idiot, and Seishan was done dealing with him.

“Ki Song is preparing our forces for the Chain of Nightmares that will occur in Antarctica. She has reason to believe that the key to finding That will be there.” Beastmaster informed. The masters all whispered amongst themselves. Rio sat quietly, observing everyone.

‘The tomb of Ariel.’ Seishan had heard many stories of the domains of the old gods. Places that could be used by the Sovereigns to expand their powers. If she played a large role in bringing that plan to fruition, she’d have an edge over her siblings.

‘And I have to trust Rio.’ Seishan swallowed, and looked at the Master. The Master was her greatest asset, someone who wasn't fully tied to the family, and eager to hurt Valor.

Seishan stood up, and faced the oppressive force of the family. She was one of the only awakened in the room, but she stood tall and firm.

“Once the Chain of Nightmares begins. Valor will have no choice but to send their forces. It’s obvious that they are aiming for the same thing.” All eyes were now on her, she had to play her cards.

“Mordret is a fallen prince of Valor, with no other drive than to destroy his family. We will use that to break them.” Seishan looked at her sister, then at the others. She had their attention.

“When Valor’s attention is elsewhere, we will slay their saints, one by one. Shaking their foundation. Then we use that momentum to get to the tomb first.”

“And how exactly do you expect a broken sword to kill a saint?” Saint Dire Fang spoke, his voice deep and gravely.

“Mordret is no ordinary Master. But one with Seven cores.” Dire fang scoffed and the other members laughed or scorned her words. No Master could have seven cores. That person would have to be someone on par with the Family Head, Ki Song. Seishan smiled.

“It’s true. And we have the perfect counter to this man. We have the power to help him destroy Valor. As well as a veteran Master immune to his aspect.” She pointed to Rio.

“They will be enough to kill the Saints while we prepare for the subjugation of the Domain.” Seishan paused, letting the words sink in. The Masters discussed amongst themselves. Beastmaster glanced at Rio,and continued to smile, still as sweetly as ever. Dire Fang grunted, raising no objection. Seishan stayed standing, waiting for any to speak. Surprisingly, it wasn’t the family.

“And what do you plan to do if Changing Star’s Cohort joins Valor?” Rio raised his hand and spoke. “Each of them is beyond normal, all of them having True names.”

“One of them didn’t.” Venus spoke. “The scout was simply an Ascended.” Rio didn’t look at Venus, the man not worth his attention.

“If you believe that then you vastly underestimate the second nightmare. Now one goes in and survives just because they had powerful allies.”

“Master Anathema has a point,” Beastmaster looked seductively at Rio. “What will we do if a cohort of battle hardened masters joins Valor?”

“We don’t have to worry. The cohort follows Nephis, but in actuality, they are more independent than you think. I know one of them will not join any family. And Nephis isn’t one to use her friends as tools to her revenge.” Seishan easily shot down the opposition and the rest of the conversation went smoothly.

Seishan still had this irritable feeling. She directed her attention to Rio. The Master was vacant, thinking about something else. He’d been that way since the Ball. Her cheeks reddened and little, but she quickly squashed that feeling. Rio had no interest in her as a person, only as an ally to further his own goals. They both were using each other. The real problem was Mordret.

Day by day, the Tyrant was slaughtering monsters in the dream realm. Rio accompanied him from time to time, reporting about the sheer numbers of the slaughterfest. Could Seishan really control such a man? That wasn’t even taking into account his conniving personality. The man had escaped Valor and ascended, and they weren’t able to do anything about it. Seishan raised her head and caught Rio looking back at her. His face was indifferent, but his eyes signaled something else.

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The alarm went off. A gate had manifested in the waking world. The Masters and Saints in the room could care less about the problem, the awakened of Song were enough to handle a gate. But Rio got up and walked out of the meeting room. Seishan hurried after him, turning before leaving, “I bid thee a pleasant trip to Antarctica Saint Dire Fang.” She followed Rio. The Master was quick. Where was he going?

Rio was confused. He’d never thought about a different life than the one he was living. Then again, he never had the chance. Working from ruble up to a vassal of Song was no small task. His brother was his priority, but now that was gone for the time being. Rio had time…to himself. He’d met an interesting character at the Ball. Raised by Wolves. He smiled a little. A name like that suited her.

‘War Goddess Athena.’ The government had constructed a grand image of her, but now having seen her in person, he thought it was an understatement. Rio had this warm feeling, something he hadn’t felt in a long time. ‘We just talked.’ He tried to clear his head, but he found himself speaking.

“And what if Lady Changing Star’s cohort joins Valor?” Why was he worried about that? This was The Song Clan, they had more saints now. Rio pondered this, ignoring the conversation. Then he perked his head. He looked at the others to see if they felt it. Beastmaster and Dire Fang definitely felt it, but were not worried. Then he looked at Seishan. She finished her piece and was looking back. Rio could feel it. The fear in the far away air.

He rushed out of the room and quickly walked down the halls. The vast Stronghold was a pain to navigate, but Rio followed the trail. He got out and summoned his mount. Winter shined in the light and Rio spurred him to the gate.

‘No wonder.’ Rio arrived at the scene. The gate was at least grade three. With awakened monsters already appearing through the gate. They were Giant ants with wings and scorpion tails. Their forelegs were deadly swords and they were armored in silver chitin. Rio Summoned Ocean’s Wrath and shifted its form. He aimed the bow and let the arrow fly. It struck one of the ants, and the force blew the body apart. Not a split second after the first one hit, Rio loosed another, and another. The Awakened on the ground watched in awe as the Master tore the bugs from the sky.

[You have slain Jungle Locust Marshal.]

Rain. Water fell from the blasts and the ants attacking the ground defense started to shake. That was the effect of Ocean’s wrath’s passive ability. [Cold touch.] Any creature that felt the water from the weapon would instantly know the depths of the ocean. Winter jumped over the lines, and crushed the bugs under its hooves. The Elk swung its horns and bashed the giant ant back into the gate. Rio dismounted and changed Ocean’s Wrath into a sword. The thin regal blade slid through the ant’s armor like butter, separating the ant’s head from its body. Rio spun, severing the legs of another ant. Rio activated Ocean’s Wrath’s final attribute and the ant that lost its legs was crushed, spraying bloodied water over the other ants.

The battle paused. The ants noticed the threat in their midst, and Rio stood still. They all started to back away, retreating to the comfort of numbers. Rio held his blade and sent essence through his body. The Armor [Merking’s Chiton] manifested on his body and the Master attacked. These nightmare creatures would have easily been taken care of by the awakened of Song, but their ability to fly was a problem. Rio cut everything in his path, like a dancer moving across the stage. His silver blade diced the ants with every stroke. This was a good distraction from his problems, and eventually the road was just littered with the silver armor of ants and body parts survived the crushing tide. Rio stood in front of the gate, and felt a wave of essence come out.

‘A Tyrant.’ Rio watched as a bug far bigger than the other ants crawled through the Gate. Its body was covered in golden armor, and it had many more blades and stingers ready to be used. Rio shifted Ocean’s Wrath to its spear form and summoned [Tablet of the Lost]. He vanished. The Bug looked confused, then one of its front blades was cut off. The Bug screeched as the rest of its leg was crushed. It stomped and swung its legs trying to kill whatever was hurting it.

What creatures fear the most is something they can’t see. The Tyrant breathed in and spat out a horrendous black liquid. The road sizzled and the awakened backed up. Rio swung Ocean’s Wrath, cleaning a spot for him to land. The Tyrant saw this. It attacked with its stingers each one, cutting off an escape route. Rio dodged the first one, cut the second, and blocked the last. His feet dug into the ground as he slid close to the pool of acid.

Rio dismissed his charm and the Master appeared again. Ocean’s Wrath changed, and the stinger pushed against the bow string. Rio cut the stinger with his hand, more tearing than cutting. The bow string pulled back and an arrow pierced the gold armor. The Tyrant hissed again, spraying the acid. Rio retreated back and nocked more arrows, aiming for the monster’s eyes. The tyrant guarded with its tails and the parts that were hit exploded, the water washing parts of the acid away.

Rio smiled. The tyrant was shivering. He raised his spear and jumped forward. Suddenly another figure came blazing fast. Rio turned his body, narrowly avoiding the black projectile. He caught a glimpse of blonde hair before he landed, his attention on the Tyrant. The bug was already in the air, keeping its distance.

‘Mordret, you bas starch.’ Rio cursed in his head and summoned another echo. He would have liked to keep this echo a secret, but it was the best alternative to his other options being exposed.

For a second a long line of sparkles populated the air around the Master. Then they formed gleaming blue and green scales. The mass of scales tensed, and like a spring, it shot forward into the sky. The Tyrant tried to stop it by spitting acid, but the attack slid off the leviathan’s scales.

The echo bit hard onto the tyran and weighed it down. Rio ran along the echo’s spine, heading to the top. The Tyrant let out a defining cry. Rio ignored the ringing in his ears and pierced the Tyrant in the chest.

Rio activated [crushing tide] and the Tyrant’s chest cavity collapsed.

[You have slain Corrupted Tyrant ‘Queen Jezebel Locust’.] The spell said.

The Tyrant hit the ground causing a small earthquake. The exposed parts of its body started to burn away in the acid. Rio rooted around for a moment then jumped back to clean ground. He summoned Ocean’s Wrath back to his soul sea and checked his essence. He was careful with each use. A Master never knows when their next fight will be.

He put away the shards and examined the scene. ‘The acid isn’t spreading, so I don’t need to worry about that.’ He might get an earful when all they can harvest are half melted carcasses, but that wasn’t Rio’s fault. He nodded satisfied and walked away.

“Did he just stop a Gate by himself?!”

“Wasn’t that thing a tyrant?” Rio ignored the whispers and faced the real problem. The sand blond man was standing in front of him.

‘How long was he watching?’ Rio reprimanded himself. He had shown too many of his cards. Mordret wasn’t a man to let that go.

“You slayed a tyrant,” Mordret said. He looked at the golden body, and the hollow hole where the chest was. Rio dismissed his armor, returning to his normal clothes.

“It wasn’t that hard. The bug usually had minions around,” Rio walked past Mordret, then stopped.

“I’ve gotten the location of one of Valor’s Saints,” Rio didn’t care about Mordrets reaction and walked off.