"You know…," Atticus's voice suddenly echoed across the camp, the once quiet area becoming impossibly even more silent.
"For someone who claims to be smart, you sure are incredibly dumb. Did you come all the way from your division with a thousand youths just to show your ugly teeth?" Atticus asked.
Emeric's form froze.
The Psyllium family members hated many things, but when most of these incidents occurred, they always made sure to maintain a calm demeanor and think before acting.
However, there was one thing none of them could stand.
Regardless of gender, having their appearance insulted would immediately rouse their anger.
With a cold expression on his face, Emeric's eyes suddenly turned abyss black, and without a word, the youths under his control stepped forward from behind him.
Each of their expressions displayed intense anger, mirroring the intense amount of anger their master was feeling.
The purple haired youth at the fore front unleashed his aura, a vibrant display that resonated with crackling abyss black streaks of lightning swirling around his form.
The electrifying energy affected even his hair, causing it to stand on end as the purplish hue became infused with the pulsating power.
The youth focused on his space storage and instantly equipped a set of sabers.
The other Raven haired youths followed suit, releasing their own auras with slightly lesser intensity, yet still formidable to many of the youths in the area.
And then suddenly, in a moment of eerie unity, their eyes glowed intensely as each one of their forms suddenly jolted, their heads tilting upwards in unison, only to snap back downward with synchronized precision in less than a second.
And as though they were one, they simultaneously drew swords from their storage spaces and assumed an identical stance.
Every single one of their movements, every subtle twitch, was perfectly synchronized to the last detail.
Every single one of their gazes focused on Atticus, the intense hatred in their eyes not diminishing one bit.
Emeric's abyss black eyes flashed a shade of white, and each of them suddenly dashed at Atticus's form simultaneously, weapons blazing.
Atticus's gaze narrowed slightly as he observed the abyss black eyes of Emeric. It was evident that each of the youths was under some form of control.
He had suspected this immediately upon seeing them standing behind Emeric with expressionless faces.
Ever since his encounter with Kael, Atticus had learned about the existence of truly powerful bloodlines in the human domain— bloodlines capable of significantly enhancing the strength of their wielders.
However, this was the first time he was encountering a bloodline with the ability to exert complete control over another individual.
Like a streak of abyss black lightning, the purple haired youth materialized abruptly in front of Atticus.
Both of his sabers were enveloped in shadowy lightning, cutting through the air with the threat of cleaving Atticus in two.
Simultaneously, the raven haired youths surrounded Atticus from various directions, their movements synchronized as they launched coordinated thrusts from different angles.
Just as it seemed as though Atticus's form would be mutilated, Atticus's right and left hands gravitated towards the holsters on his right and left, swiftly uncorking them.
With each hand firmly gripping the white and black handles of the mana guns, Atticus channeled his mana with precision and speed that would put most individuals in the human domain to shame.
Then, at a speed none of the youths present could even begin to fathom, both of Atticus's hands blurred as he channeled and fired rapid bursts of mana burst from all directions.
The bursts shot out with such rapidity that 50 shots were fired in less than a second. Each beam targeting weak points on the body of the attacking youths.
Despite being fired so rapidly, each one of them cut through the air with maddening ferocity, making it abundantly clear that if they hit, each one would turn its target into nothing more than Swiss cheese.
But before the shots could land, each of their forms suddenly became enveloped in a golden light, the mana bursts getting dispersed as they hit the golden light as though it were an unmovable wall, and then, each of them instantly disappeared from the area.
Atticus didn't even appear to have moved. His mana gun still holstered on both sides, his form untouched.
Emeric's abyss black eyes suddenly regained their color as he felt the connection to the youth severed.
One of the unfortunate weaknesses of the Psyquillian bloodline was that the controller had to be in close proximity to the ones he/she was controlling at all times.
"What the…"
Emeric was completely shocked.
Despite the fact that he had been controlling the youths, he was still able to see clearly. But even with this, he wasn't able to understand what just happened!
He knew well enough that Atticus was strong; he was the second rank, so that much was expected.
His aim had been to probe Atticus and try to figure out how powerful he was, but the last thing he had expected was him 'killing' them with such speed that he wasn't even able to see him move!
'I have to retreat,' Emeric was far too smart to make the mistake of acting surprised and hesitating here.
He decided to have Atticus face the army first and decide what to do later.
He was currently at the forefront of the youth, and just as he was about to retreat to the back lines,
"Did you really think,"
Atticus's form instantly materialized in front of Emeric, his gun already unholstered, pointed at point blank range towards Emeric's head.
"I would let you stay back and watch while I fight?"
Just as Atticus was about to channel his mana, Emeric's next words made him stop,
"Your mother would be disappointed in you!" Emeric suddenly blurted out, making Atticus pause.
Mother?
Emeric's expression instantly morphed into a smile, seeing his plan worked.
And before anyone could react, he suddenly locked eyes with Atticus as his eyes instantly turned abyss black.