Kaori was shocked by Darius' speed and quickly conjured an earth wall to stop his advance while in mid-air. Meanwhile, Yui and Sakura had finally beaten off their shock and were left furious that they had almost been killed by this fellow.
"You filthy plebeian, how dare you lay your dirty hands on a noble being like myself? Die!" Sakura screamed as she channeled an endless wave of lighting toward Darius.
Darius himself glanced at her askance and pointed his free hand in her direction.
[Zap Cannon - Level 60 Spell
Grade: Advanced
Cost: 1,000 MP
Description: Cast an intense orb of deadly electricity at a foe, blasting them apart and paralyzing them immediately on contact. This deals 6,500% lightning damage.]
His Zap Cannon formed like a basketball-sized orb of electricity that crackled with endless power. It shot forth at a horrific speed and clashed with the bolts that Sakura had fired, destroying them all with ease.
The woman herself was shocked and filled with horror as she watched the orb rush towards her, and she could only try to block using her own power of lightning but manifesting one of her most powerful talismans.
"Heaven's Wrath!!" She shouted as the talisman exploded and released a wave of blue lightning with hints of yellow within.
The orb that Darius fired collided with this wave and diminished by about 30% before breaking through and striking her in the gut. A huge wave of electricity power exploded, causing Sakura to shriek with agony as she was blasted down to the ground, forming a crater.
The mount that she shared with Kaori and Yui was killed immediately and turned to ash while the two women were blown aside, forced to become airborne. They glanced at where Sakura crashed with fear and worry on their faces, but they didn't have time to check on her as Darius appeared in front of Kaori again.
This time, her earth wall was easily broken apart by Darius' lance, causing Kaori to be choked. She wasn't much of an attacker but her defense was known to be unparalleled among the onmyoji and even some of the best Dragon Warriors among the samurai could not take her down.
Darius thrust his lance forward towards Kaori's forehead, aiming to pierce the area between her brows and kill her. At such close range and at such speed, Kaori could barely even react as she felt the aura of death come upon her.
However, the lance disappeared from before her and she saw Shin Jukuri appear where Darius stood, a thread of shadow on his finger as he pierced towards Darius' back. His exposed face showed shock and confusion that his super-fast sneak attack had failed.
"Jukuri, watch out!" Shin Hito, his twin brother roared as he made hand signs and used his shadow arts.
Meanwhile, Shin Jukuri felt the aura of death move to him as Darius teleported behind him to avoid his sneak attack and was now thrusting his spear toward the back of his skull. Shin Jukuri roared and bent his body forward, using some elite movements to avoid being struck.
Eventually, he did manage to avoid the tip of the spear, but Darius simply landed a kick on his ass that sent him flying forward in a shameful manner, something which made onlookers down below amused. They had no good feelings for these powerhouses because they had just tried to kill them had Darius not stepped in.
Shin Hito appeared out of Jukuri's shadow and then grabbed his brother and retreated. The two of them had cold expressions as they glanced at Darius, and they made no more moves to attack.
Meanwhile, Sakura had been fished from her crater by the three shrine maidens as they used their dance, song, and melody to heal her slowly.
Darius allowed them to regroup and then glanced at Kekkai Goukou who had not made any moves since the beginning, not even showing hostility. Darius could understand what he was doing here as from their meeting, this fellow and his faction despised such a method of conquering.
The Samurai were closely tied to their bushido and derived power from it. As such, they could not go against it, show the fellow only accompanied the rest to monitor the situation and see how he could make sure that his faction did not suffer a loss.
… as it were, he didn't need to do anything.
Darius glanced at the apprehensive and recovering group and laughed slightly. He glanced at the lance in his hand and the power in his body of which he had only used 40% of, and desperately wished that Vena could give him a challenge for this was not good enough.
Darius lost interest in the entirety of Faust as a training ground. He understood that if he wanted to feel something, anything, he would need to first explore other worlds. There were definitely powerful entities out there with better stats than he or Gunner, and only such fellow could make Darius use 100% and more of his power.
Darius casually teleported back to his seat in the inner section and glanced at his Branded Servants. Xela was sizing up the shrine maidens with interest while Luna's eyes narrowed toward the ninjas.
As for Gunner, he was just casually spectating with a bored look. Like Darius, none of these fellows could give him a challenge and force him to use 40% of his base power, much less with Earth's Guardian put on top. At that level, only a True Lord could probably qualify.
Seeing this, Darius couldn't help but ponder. Was there really no way to make this fun?
Suddenly, Darius glanced at Gunner and had an idea. He then checked the True Supreme System's shop and found the two items he was looking for. He casually bought them for 300 True Coins and then presented them to Gunner.
When Gunner saw them, his eyes lit up with excitement. He took the items and blasted into the sky with a green glow, appearing before the group in a flash. The already beaten and frightened powerhouses of Houto took an unconscious step back and watch Gunner carefully.
Gunner glanced at them and then chose the twin ninjas and extended his hand. In his grip were two golden earrings that gleamed with a special light.
[Potara Earrings - Unique
Durability: 50,000/50,000
Quality: Perfect
Uses: Unlimited
Description: These earrings are worn by all Supreme Kais as part of their standard outfits, coming in various colors. The earrings can grant the wearer certain privileges, such as using the Time Rings that are exclusive to Supreme Kais. The earrings also have the ability to fuse two people into a single entity for an hour, and the two entities would have their powers merged and then multiplied between a scale of 5-10 depending on their compatibility.]
"Wear it and fight me. If you live, all of you get to leave. If not, you all die." Gunner instructed calmly.
The twins shared an uncertain look and seemed to hesitate. However, at this moment, the cultivators of Pan appeared in the sky and their auras billowed towards the entire group. Seeing them, the itinerant cultivators seemed to find their backbone as they roared their grievances to the sky.
Seeing this, the hearts of the Houto powerhouses chilled greatly, and even the unflinching Kekkai Gokou placed his right hand on the hilt of his blade, his body tense.
The Shin twins resolutely gritted their teeth and took the Potara Earrings from Gunner. Gunner instructed them on how to wear them, one on each ear facing the other side of the one the other person was wearing.
The moment the earrings were placed on, the faces of Shin Jukuri and Shin Hito changed greatly as they felt a strong pull and before they could resist, they were dragged towards each other as their bellies collided.
An explosive shockwave occurred that sent almost everyone flying back, and the faces of the powerhouses changed greatly as they sent the heart-palpitating power. Gunner's eyes showed fervency and excitement as he saw the light begin to die down, the two formers individual now merged as one person.
Unsurprisingly, they had the same face since they were twins and their demeanor was the same, but their attire was half-black and half-white now. They were also slightly taller and slightly more muscular, but what was more despairing was their aura which seemed bottomless.
The fused man glanced around at his compatriots, and then the cultivators opposite with endless disdain in his eyes. When he glanced at Gunner, his disdain was greatly lowered as his expression became serious.
He could not even begin to fathom the depths of Gunner's power when he was standing before them pre-fusion, but now, they could see his true power and knew that it was no less than theirs.
They knew for a fact that this was not going to be an easy fight, not in the least. However, they couldn't help but anticipate it as well, as they were bursting with so much strength it felt like they could destroy the whole continent.
