Marlene and the two elders immediately made the question that has been bothering them from the very beginning, what's the history of Milo's family, because from their point of view they are traitors.
But they don't have records of ever serving anyone, in fact that's why they escaped from the Clear Water kingdom, because they didn't want to be used, so they can't imagine their ancestors working for someone that could go as far as to curse them like this.
Milo wanted to tell the glorified version of the history of his clan, but under Daimon's cold gaze, he didn't dare to do so and instead told the truth, of which he only knows a part, because despite him having more than one thousand years of age, he is the youngest in his family.
Naturally after hearing that, the elders and Marlene wanted to give Milo a beating, their clan members can only dream of ever reaching the age of that guy after all.
According to Milo, the history of his family goes all the way back to the foundation times of the four seas, where the hero and the others were still alive, as Daimon already guessed, Milo's clan or more accurately the angelfish clan was subordinated to one of those four guys.
It's not that weird considering Thea's family was the same, many of the strong forces or families of nowadays worked for one of the four that lead their respective seas, according to Aurora, Underwood's family has always been the right hand of the Light Palace, and surprisingly their left hand was none other than Bell's family, but after the war ended the sects were re-organized and since they had poison affinity, they were put under the management of the Black Fortress sect.
In other words, back then, the Light Palace had four sects at their command, while the Black Fortress only had two, which made Daimon joke saying that, the so-called "re-organization" was done due to the Shaman's pettiness, considering Abaris belongs to the family of the first Shaman.
Anyway, the story goes like this, back then the angelfish clan wasn't divided, both males and females were part of the same group, like any normal race, they had a king and a queen and though they were descendants of a magic beast that evolved to human form.
Which would put them on the same side as Thea's family, the angelfish clan back then didn't take part on the conflict, they lived isolated from others, that was until the king was visited by one of the four leaders.
And here is where things get interesting, because unlike what Daimon originally thought, it wasn't the "Sword of Snakele", the one that convinced the king of the angelfish clan to join them, but the guy who was leading the Maelstrom Sea, in other words the one who was said to have a Hydra lineage.
'Supposing that those four were system users, the hero of the Mermen Sea will be related to Adam, maybe their systems aren't the same, no they shouldn't even be similar since one is darkness oriented and the other is light oriented, but there is a reason as to why that guy was called a hero, his system was the hero type like Adam's'.
'But then if Marcus's system is related to the guy that tricked the White Walker race, why is his mission requiring him to mess with the angelfish clan, that were subordinated to the Hydra guy', thought Daimon.
The more Daimon discovered the more questions were created, which was honestly a headache for him, though Daimon didn't know why Marcus ended up being given this Milo guy's family, it's not like he didn't get anything out of this.
'Well, at least this confirms the fact the Hydra guy was also a system user', concluded Daimon, because this curse that restrained Milo's family was definitely not something even a Maximum Stellar ranked can do, and since even back then, the strongest participants of the all-out war, were at most Maximum Stellar ranked, then the curse came from a system user for sure.
Continuing with Milo's story, the king of the angelfish clan accepted the deal offered to him, and then he called the weapons to join the cause of the Hydra guy, but the queen was a "coward" and refused to lead the forces that obeyed her and instead draw a line between the two sides of the clan.
Since the king accepted on the name of their race, which included the queen and the branches that obeyed her, when the queen refused to enter the war, the whole race was hit with the negative effect of going against the contract.
But in Milo's words, "That woman had many tricks up her sleeves", so using some underhanded method she changed the punishment from death to a short lifespan, that being said the leader which they "betrayed" ended up losing a really important battle due to that, so using a special method and before the queen could get rid of the remaining negative effects of the contract, a new punishment was added, which was the origin of the curse that killed the members of the elder's branches, not too long after they had offspring.
"My family fell in disgrace due to that coward bitch, and we were hit with the negative reaction, which resulted in all the army that was sent by the king being eliminated, the king included, leaving only my… Rust Blood angelfish branch", venomously spat Milo, which made Marlene frown.
"You said you belonged to the King branch, are you trying to pull something here", she didn't have even one bit of pity for these "relatives" she just got to know, they were safe and the idiot king was blinded by greed and decided to enter the war, the queen wasn't a coward, she didn't want her clan members to pointlessly die for other people, she who had the lives of her clan members on her hands could understand it.
The glory and fame the winners of a war enjoy, is created over thousands of bones and oceans of blood after all.
Milo gritted his teeth, he really didn't want to talk about it, because it was part of his shameful past, but seeing the white flames that suddenly appeared on Daimon's hand, he swallowed his pride and then said.
"The Rust Blood branch was in charge of domestic matters, so they weren't deployed onto the battlefield, that's why we lived, and the king had many lovers, among them a maid who belonged to my clan, she ended up pregnant and that child was the ancestor of my family".
In other words, Milo wasn't a royal, but a descendant of an illegitimate son, something worth mentioning is that the royal members on the angelfish clan of Marlene, didn't depend on lineage, Marlene's mother was part of the Bellus branch like Miriam, but Marlene was born as part of the Queen branch.
And while they didn't know who her father was, it was obvious he wasn't part of the Queen branch as they are all women, it was a matter of "luck", and previous to Marlene there was just one member of the royal branch on their records, and that was the woman who was taken by the king of the Clear Water kingdom of back then, in other words the nowadays White ancestor.
So, the methods to determine royals between the two sides of the angelfish clan were as different as they could be, and apparently the King branch didn't have that ability to use luck, which meant that the Hydra guy probably aimed at then Queen branch from the very beginning and the idiot king was used to get them, but ultimately the plan failed.
Marlene and the elders had more questions, and Daimon was the same, unfortunately, Milo didn't know anything else, he only got to know this much because he was the only one that showed enough talent to reach the high Stellar rank like his great grandfather, but he was still young.
That's in part why Marcus eliminated the restrain on him first, because he was talented, and also because he was the most "appropriate" for the job, those were the words Marcus used according to Milo.
Marlene and the two elders had worried expressions, the enemy that was hunting them had the capacity to awaken a diluted lineage, to transform people from a non-combatant branch into royalty which specialized on fighting, while they couldn't even love past eight hundred years and advancing was really hard for them, with the exception of Marlene.
Daimon knew what they were thinking, such was the headache that facing against a system user could bring, that capacity to pull a surprise out of nowhere was in fact really troublesome.
"Don't worry, now that you entered the alliance you'll be out of the scope of that guy, at least until he gets to see you personally", said Daimon to Marlene and the two elders, which made the latter ask in response.
"How are you sure about that…", asked Miriam, she knew that the silver haired masked youth held an important status in the so-called alliance, considering that even the Matriarch of the Light Palace listened to him, so questioning him publicly was a bad idea, but that was her job, if the answer's price was her life, then so be it, she wasn't going to stay around for too long anyway, if she could help her clan one last time, that was enough.
Surprisingly for her, Daimon didn't take her question seriously, but he also wasn't to explain her about systems, so he limited to say.
"Because I'm part of the alliance", of course that left Miriam speechless, but seeing Marlene gazing at her, she slightly bowed towards Daimon and then sat down again, Marlene inwardly sighed and then turned to see Daimon while she pointed at Milo.
"He…", Marlene doubted, she wanted Milo to die because he was one of the reasons as to why Tara died, turns out they exploited a "flaw" in the array, the reason as to why Lora was able to bring in outsiders, which wasn't part of the authority she had, was because of Milo.
With the help of a rune master and the aura of Milo which "resembled" that of Marlene's, because he is now a member of the royal branches, they tricked the array, essentially making it think it was Marlene.
Though Marlene wanted Milo to die, the contribution a Stellar rank can make in the battlefield can't be ignored, and her clan doesn't even have one as of right now, so how could she have the face to ask for that, so ultimately, she changed her target at Lora.
"Will you hand her over to us, she will be punished according to the law of the clan", said Marlene, to which Daimon nodded.
"She's all yours since she doesn't know a thing, besides the stupidities that guy told her, as for him, don't worry he is getting what he deserves, but even trash has its uses, you'll see in a moment", it's all Daimon said.
"Mm", Marlene limited to make a low sound, but she was smiling, sure there is a saying that there no eternal enemies, just eternal benefits, but when the enemy killed someone, you cared about, the bigger picture can go to hell, the enemy must die by all means.
In any case, Daimon had no use for Milo, the guy's battle prowess was trash, and he already had sentenced him to death since the moment he turned out to be Marcus's subordinate, through the mission of his system.
Because losing him will affect his mission even if it is just a bit, and also because that is a perfect way to provoke him to so that he takes it against the scheming guy, two birds one stone and at only the price of a useless piece of trash, it was such a bargain.
Lora heard the one in charge sentencing to dead and her face paled, she earlier noticed that Marlene was no longer a Stellar ranked, and yet she was still being "spoiled" by the universe, in the form of that silver haired youth taking her side so easily.
"Why are you the only one to get everything, what am I lacking compared to you, why can't I become stronger or get a strong backer, but you can, even when you are now weaker than me!!!", she shouted, at this point she knew her death was coming, so she didn't bother to hide the dark emotions that were bottled in her heart.
"Just for that you betrayed your whole clan, never I forgot to look for a way to lift this curse that was casted on us, but you also went to join the descendant of the one who cursed us, how stupid can you be", answered Marlene, there was no need for her to argue with a traitor, she will be paying for her crimes with her life and her death won't be peaceful, that is for sure.
Milo on the other hand was pale, the guy actually peed himself when he heard Daimon saying that he was going to die, he expected to be turned into a servant, based on his high realm, the king branch put a lot of weight into that and his mindset was oriented to that too, so while humiliated he still expected to be incorporated into the forces of the enemy, with his strength couldn't he earn enough merits to raise in the ranks, is what he thought.
But he was instead told he was going to die and what's worse, given the very few he knew about Marcus, the silver haired youth was probably an enemy of his Lord, in other words he stupidly went against someone that is on the same level as his Lord.
And what's worse is that his Lord didn't warn him about this enemy, and that made him think he was used as a pawn to test waters, despite his talent and all, he was currently the weakest of his surviving clan members.
And since the war wouldn't be occurring in the future but in the nearby present, his future prospects were useless, current power was what mattered, in a moment Milo's mind twisted, all the flattering words he received from his father, uncles and grandfather became insults, as he was sent to die.
In reality that wasn't the case, but his mind broke upon the face of death, his family might have been able to extend their lives, but their mindset wasn't the correct, after living in disgrace while only wishing to be able to exert their powers, they became rather unstable, so when Marcus granted them their wish, they of course went wild.
Could be that it was made like that, so Marcus is able to easily control them through their lust for power, on other words just like the king of the angelfish clan from back then, the idiots were just meant to be used.
Daimon took out his mirror plate and then sent a message, in response, Remi who was dragging Fabio by his neck, came flying and then landed on the center of the amphitheater as he kneeled in front of Daimon.
Daimon then gave Remi his orders, which made the masked White Walker shiver and thank all his ancestors, that though he was originally an enemy, he didn't attack anyone related to the silver haired youth that now had his life on his hands.
…
Once Remi fulfilled Daimon's orders in the presence of Marlene and the others, faraway from the nearby area of the mobile city Entra, at one of the many mobile islands, one whose atmosphere was quite lugubrious, as the lack of people walking on its streets, suggested.
There was a small run-down house, which didn't stand out from the rest, but the people inside of it will for sure stand out, considering there were many black robed figures all exuding the pressure of the Stellar rank, lined in front of a young man with gray skin, who was sitting on an improvised throne.
"Where is that idiot, he is late for the gather, don't tell me that he can do something as simple as catch some stupid whores on the Lord and Arch ranks, with the help of a high stage Stellar rank!", the gray skinned figure was none other than Marcus, who was angry because Milo was late ten minutes already.
"Lord, let me go and see what happened, though the angelfish clan is weak, they should have a powerful barrier, there is also the fact that those guys joined the operation, so Hal might have his hands full dealing with the high stage opponent", suggested one of the black robed figures.
Marcus tapped his finger on the armrest of his throne, before he turned to see one of the black robed figures that was standing at the most left side.
"Manuel, it is your descendant's failure, go get him and be sure to bring me those women, your clan will be taken back one step on the waiting line".
The black robed figure bowed down, and then said.
"As the Lord wishes, I beg pardon on that boy's stead, we are just too eager to serve the Lord, since our family has been waiting countless years for his glorious arrival", the words of the black robed figure, made Marcus's pride grow, so ultimately, he just waved his hand without taking things further.
But then just when the black robed man called Manuel was about to leave, the door of the rundown house opened, which made everyone's eyes fall on the entrance of the house, thinking an enemy had appeared.
They all relaxed when they saw it was a familiar face, Milo to be more exact, but they then frowned noticing the high stage that accompanied him wasn't in their line of sight, in fact the army that followed him including that woman who sold her clan members, over the promise of power wasn't there, and the women he had to retrieve wasn't there as well.
"You little bastard, why don't you kneel for the Lord!", shouted the black robed man called Manuel, he is Milo's grandfather and a recently ascended high stage Stellar ranked, similar to that guy who could use lightning that was accompanying Milo earlier.
A sordid sound was the response as Milo fell to the ground, which earned him a gaze of approbation from Manuel, maybe the mission went wrong, and the best way to not affect his clan was apologize in front of the Lord who liked flattery.
But then after a couple of seconds no words came from Milo's figure who was laying down on the ground, which made Manuel frown, he approached his grandson and tried to pat his shoulder just for his hand to… sink into it.
"What the hell!", Manuel removed the black robe which Milo was using, just to see that his grandson had melted into a puddle of black blood, pieces of bones and organic matter, which was exuding some kind of dark mist.
Besides Manuel who was at disbelief, Marcus was trembling due to anger on his throne, his subordinate was sent to die in such a horrible way in front of him, it was a blatant insult, and he of course recognized that black mist.
"Well, well, well, it seems those bastards think they are some bigshots, everyone, we'll raid all the dens of Black Wave and will till the last one of them!", ordered Marcus.
"We listen and obey!!!", all the black robed figures shouted in response, the opportunities to earn merits didn't come by to often, but since the opponent insulted their Lord, this was a great chance for them.
Without they knowing, both Marcus and the other party were set on the stage like chess pieces, by a certain silver haired youth, and Marcus was yet to suffer another really important setback later.
