Ascension of the Nephilim

The odd spiel confused even Dorothy.

"Ma-Master. I said something weird!" Dorothy immediately called out to his master.

"It might be because you are bound to my soul. Not to mention that power I had to draw if to make up those lies about the Relational Superiority might be connected to it.

"Is your Lord Kyros associated with the famously bizarre Time God, Calaminus?"

"... I don\'t know. But if that weirdness is affecting you, then he should be somehow... Anyway! How long do these dragons have since they are about to die?" Martha asked. She was constantly discussing the plans with the three Hs. 

"Not too long. In fact, I don\'t think they can survive after this battle at all! If turning into a lesser dragon gave them a few weeks of life unless they consumed and easy more, they would die. But now that they have assumed this form, they will definitely die."

"Even if they eat us?"

"Dragons are beings of great vitality. I was nearing my evolution to be a Heretic God. So this is why I was able to cling to life and even made a world down here absorbing the nutrients of earth. But these dragons are high-expense creatures. Do you know why dragons only come out to raid and kill and fall into slumber in their homes and caves?"

"I see. Their conserving energy."

"Exactly. They cultivate their bodies by feeding, but they will need to shut down other parts of their body because they will live rather short lives if they don\'t. Even if they do eat you, the power they need is just too little. A few humans won\'t save them."

"What if it\'s orcs?"

"Unless they can eat several level twenty orcs, they won\'t survive. But even if there are, the energy they will waste to kill them is another issue."

"Right. So it\'s a good thing. Even if we die, Lord Kyros won\'t be harmed since we made the orcs panic and gather their men. These dragons will die no matter what." Martha sighed in relief. At the very least, this battle will end up giving Kyros more advantage.

"Knights! This is a battle against time! We still have hope!" Matha called out to the group, and she began to explain what she just learned from Dorothy.

Dorothy soon also explained the power of the Lord of the Fallen, Kyriachos. The name sparked their memory, and all the Thane reacted at the name. Dorothy then offered another tempting offer.

"I will reveal My masters\' power. You must be curious, right? How did she seal the heart and capture my soul and bind it? This is important since you might die if you try and eat her." Dorothy teased.

The Thanes agreed once more.

But what can we do? If we drink these blood, although it won\'t be the same permanent Dark Maddening, we will still give in to the madness and be mindless beasts which these dragons can easily kill." Martha called the group chats with all three of the Hs.

  "Lady Martha. What if you had more magic points?"

"The slaves still have magic restoring potions? I thought you said that that vial was the last one?" Hems asked.

"About that... When I met the slaves, I was searching for a means to replenish our strength. And Fate led me to the slaves."

"And we drank all of their magic restoring potions! They do have a few potions to life-restoring potions, but it\'s not fast enough if we are to fight these monsters that match a level, fifty cultivators!" Hemsey frowned. 

"Wait... You mean... It led you to the slaves? Not their resource?" Martha then asked as a strange suspicion crept into her heart.

"...Yes. Hems, Hemsey. I didn\'t explain it properly the last time. But as Lady Martha guessed. The magic restoring potions was not the means to replenish us. What\'s the best way for us to recover strength?"

"The blood of the living...! You can\'t mean...!" Hems shouted back.

"That is what Fate did! It did its part! But it makes sense. Lady Martha, forgive me. I did not obey your command. The moment we left, I made Myas run ahead and escape. She is the only one here that is fast and strong enough to survive and deliver the message to Lord Kyros. But I asked the slaves to remain. We can drink some of their blood. There are twenty of them here. They can offer some of their blood to you to fight! We don\'t have any hopes of escaping a flying dragon anyway!" Hunter explained.

"Hunter! You\'ve become insane! Those slaves are not our enemies! And they are to be part of the Steele family!" Hemsey chastised.

"Regardless... I have made my choice. The fact that the vow I made to Lord Kyros and the Coven has not been broken, and my soul was not attacked is because I kept the Steele family and Lord Kyros\'s best interest at heart! And besides, we don\'t have to kill them! We can just drink some of their blood! Lady Martha! Can that help you restore magic?"

"...Yes. But I forbid it. Send the slaves out. The magic point I can acquire is too few to even do-"

"I will be disobeying your orders, Lady Martha. I am a Coven first. My duty is clear. I will protect my Lord\'s Aunt more than any slave who has yet to be formally accepted in the Steele family. You don\'t have a choice, Lady Martha. I am staying up here. The dragons probably know and should be sneering at my decision to stay and to try to save you. If you do not use the blood of these slaves to regain more magic points, then we will simply die without being of use." Hunter threatened.

Martha cursed as a frown appeared on her face.

"The old woman urged these people. I may have lied to them about our chances..." Hunter\'s tone suddenly grew quiet as he spoke in the call.

Hunter was so disgusted at what he was doing. From the words of Lady Martha, surviving this was practically very small. All they had to do was fight and make these creatures waste the most of their energy to ascertain their death.

Martha was in great conflict but made her choice.

"My Blood Blades. I\'ll shoot them through an arrow. I can currently tell your location due to one of my new skills. Ask them to wound themselves and place their hand in the sword. I will try to devour their blood. This should help me restore my magic points without falling into the Dark Maddening. And then drop the sword immediately. Hems, Hemsey. Follow my instructions. I am still confident that my Path of Combat is stronger than these Thanes. I can direct the flow for several blows. But after that, you guys have to fight and prolong this battle!"

"I will fight until I die!" Hems declared.

"No! Fight to live. Lord Kyros trusted us to win this battle. How can the Coven of the Nephilim fall here and now? We fight until they die!" Martha declared.

And as Dorothy began to continue his podcast, Martha and the three Hs began to sketch a plan on how to fight these Thanes.