Among the Houto powerhouses, there were 9 of them who radiated power that was significant enough for Darius to take note of.
[Name: Kekkai Gokou Race: Human Stage: Grandmaster Jobs: Samurai, Dragon Warrior.
HP: 46,431/46,431 MP: 23,782/23,782 STA: 18,894/18,894
Level: 94
Power: 231 Speed: 124 Constitution: 201
Magic: 253 Will: 149 Luck: 70.
Skills: Dragon Swordsmanship, Heroic Will, Battlefield Valor, etc.
Spells: None.]
The first in the lead was a man wearing all-red dragon armor that was scaly and had sharp spikes at his shoulder blades, along with a full helmet that was attached to an eyeless mask. The only thing one could see from that black helm was a burning red glow from two orbs.
He was tall, he was menacing and he stood at the head of an Eastern-style dragon. His katana was in its sheathe at his side, and he made no moves to attack.
[Name: Shin Jukuri Race: Human Stage: Grandmaster Jobs: Ninja, Traceless Shadow.
HP: 8,272/8,272 MP: 10,137/10,137 STA: 4,371/4,371
Level: 93
Power: 176 Speed: 348 Constitution: 47
Magic: 109 Will: 439 Luck: 200.
Skills: Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, Shunpo, etc.
Spells: None.]
Seated on the back of a hawk was a cold-faced man with extremely handsome features, with dark green eyes, short-cropped black hair, and earrings. He wore a black ninja-yoroi, which was made up of a black jacket, black trousers, light sandals, and a hooded cowl, though he flipped his back to show his face.
His body was covered with daggers that were tied by three sashes going across his body, one across his waist, one from his right shoulder to his left hip, and another from his left shoulder to his right hip.
He was glancing down at the Pan Suppression Sect arrogantly, with a smirk of cruelty on his face.
[Name: Shin Hito Race: Human Stage: Grandmaster Jobs: Ninja, Life Slayer.
HP: 4,551/4,551 MP: 35,328/35,328 STA: 3,404/3,404
Level: 92
Power: 123 Speed: 233 Constitution: 37
Magic: 384 Will: 739 Luck: 200.
Skills: Genjustu, Mind Control, True Shadow Arts, etc.
Spells: None.]
This one was close to Shin Jukuri, and had the same build. However, his ninja-yoroi was white in color and he hid his face using the cowl and mask, only letting one see the same cold dark green eyes that his twin brother possessed.
He was far less armed because he focused more on the ethereal and 'magical' aspect of the ninja's heritage, unlike his brother who focused on the 'physical' part.
[Name: Yui Kusobi Race: Human Stage: Grandmaster Jobs: Omnyouji, Demon Fire.
HP: 2,470/2,470 MP: 47,904/47,904 STA: 6,240/6,240
Level: 96
Power: 38 Speed: 44 Constitution: 65
Magic: 499 Will: 1098 Luck: 100.
Skills: None.
Spells: Flame Wall, Fire Bomb, Endless Flame, Fire Ring, etc.]
[Name: Sakura Fujimoto Race: Human Stage: Grandmaster Jobs: Omnyouji, Divine Lightning.
HP: 902/902 MP: 37,037/37,037 STA: 3,731/3,731
Level: 91
Power: 22 Speed: 23 Constitution: 41
Magic: 407 Will: 889 Luck: 90.
Skills: None.
Spells: Lightning Bolt, Heaven's Wrath, True Lightning Fire, etc]
[Name: Kaori Shimizu Race: Human Stage: Grandmaster Jobs: Omnyouji, Groundless Earth.
HP: 8,100/8,100 MP: 44,232/44,232 STA: 10,476/10,476
Level: 97
Power: 75 Speed: 21 Constitution: 108
Magic: 456 Will: 1120 Luck: 100.
Skills: None.
Spells: Earthen Barrier, Sand Tomb, Spikes of Earth, Quicksand Ruin, etc.]
Next were three women of extreme beauty standing together on a single giant dove that cawed with a lovely tune. They were like picturesque jade beauties that one would worship for being transient of the mortal coil.
The one on the left, Yui, wore bright red robes that covered he svelte body and her burning red hair and eyes were fixed on the Pan Suppression Sect with slight greed as she was one of those who directly attacked, sending a fireball down to strike the outer sect.
In the middle was Sakura, who wore ivory-colored robes that covered her tall form, her light blue eyes crackling with electricity, and her white hair standing on ends as she channeled her power downwards and attacked as well.
On the right was Kaori who wore beige colored robes that covered her short but voluptuous body. She radiated a calming aura and did not attack, but only watched with a calm smile as the event occurred. Her light brown eyes and brown hair tied into a bun shone occasionally due to sparks of her power.
The three were known as the three beauties of Houto, standing at the top of the Onmyoji pyramid in terms of power, prestige, and influence. They also led the biggest Onmyoji academy as the three principals and commanded the allegiance of all Onmyoji on the continent.
[Name: Yukiko Tsukada Race: Human Stage: Grandmaster Jobs: Shrine Maiden, Elegant Dancer.
HP: 360/360 MP: 28,248/28,248 STA: 2,640/2,640
Level: 88
Power: 12 Speed: 100 Constitution: 30
Magic: 321 Will: 1509 Luck: 300.
Skills: None.
Spells: Dance of Rejuvenation, Dance of Battle Boon, Dance of Cleansing, Dance of True Sight, etc.]
[Name: Ryoko Sugihara Race: Human Stage: Grandmaster Jobs: Shrine Maiden, Soothing Singer.
HP: 870/870 MP: 44,196/44,196 STA: 7,569/7,569
Level: 87
Power: 10 Speed: 22 Constitution: 87
Magic: 508 Will: 1277 Luck: 300.
Skills: None.
Spells: Song of Recovery, Song of Bloodthirstiness, Song of Purification, Song of Spiritual Insight, etc]
[Name: Sachiko Tashiro Race: Human Stage: Grandmaster Jobs: Shrine Maiden, Skilled Player.
HP: 270/270 MP: 26,522/26,522 STA: 1,602/1,602
Level: 89
Power: 15 Speed: 232 Constitution: 18
Magic: 298 Will: 1023 Luck: 300.
Skills: None.
Spells: Melody of Blessing, Melody of Berserk, Melody of Edification, Melody of Mental Foresight, etc.]
Beside them was another set of three maidens who were far more delicate and less bloodthirsty than them. They all wore a mixture of red and white shrine maiden robes that were quite baggy on them, along with traditional sandals.
They stood upon a Luan and seemed to not be too comfortable with what was going on down there, but had no choice but to be present.
Darius Analyzed them all and chuckled. He knew that they represented only 20% of the peak forces of Houto, and the rest were either indisposed, unwilling to partake, or on their way here.
No matter.
Darius wished to cause chaos to Houto and was a better way than to create a power vacuum when the top echelon suddenly die? Would there not be endless bloodshed and battles to fill those positions?
Of course there would be, history had proven this over and over again. This made Darius' job very simple.
He didn't need to care about the how.
He didn't need to care about the why.
He just needed to kill.
Darius stood up from his throne and the Dragon Ancestor's Lance appeared in his right hand. His eyes flashed with a serpentine light as he disappeared from where he stood, appearing beside the three Onmyoji leaders who were the spearhead of the attack.
Their speed stats were far lower than Darius' so they didn't even realize when he appeared beside them. Darius struck out a killing blow, but he found that the three had placed talismans on their robes that exploded with their elemental power, blocking his casual attack.
Darius hummed with interest as the world caught up to his actions. The two women who were happily attacking were terribly frightened and exploded with more power, creating a danger zone between then and Darius.
Darius simply floated backwards and glanced at them with a smile. His eyes narrowed and he understood many things.
It seemed like he was finally feeling the 'upgrade' that Vena made to Faust. These fellows had far greater stats than he expected for mere humans even if their continent yielded stronger combatants on average.
Not only that, but some things which were passively ignored by the natives now became a concern, or were 'patched'.
The most obvious one was, if someone had, say, 100 points of speed, even if he had 1 point in all other stats, he should theoretically be able to kill everyone in the world and dominate.
After all, no matter how high your strength, magic, defense, vitality, or even luck, if you couldn't even see or react to another person's movement, you were dead, it was as simple as that.
However, the natives now took steps to limit such an advantage, and it was shown 'organically' like this. Darius had fought many foes throughout his growth and he knew for a fact that this was not something common.
However, it wasn't like he was complaining. While it was slightly annoying, it would allow him to test the extent of his current power before he invested his stats that had accumulated quite a bit in this period of time.
With that in mind, Darius launched forth once more, smiling playfully as he targeted the earth user among them!
