"Moon Lady… we need to find a way to distract them so that the others can get in," Kyōji whispered to Lilac, who softly replied,
"My name is Lilac. I'm sure you know this by now. And also… you don't need to worry."
Lilac had astounding control of the darkness, as someone with a Lightmark. And, in darkness especially, she would be able to draw upon herself, a "Night Cloak", which allowed her to use the full extent of her abilities. However, that wasn't to say that summoning her Full Moon in daylight wouldn't allow her to use its true abilities to an extent too.
"Woah…" Kyōji murmured, as the Night Cloak wrapped around Lilac in a veil of swarthy, ghostly darkness, and she used the darkness to summon moonlight in the form of the "Full Moon", which appeared as a blue moon in its full glory, unlike the incomplete state it would be in daylight.
"What the hell…?!" The elites gazed upon it with wary eyes, as it rested just above the Black Dragon Manor and enveloped the Crimson Moon wholly.
And, with it under her control, Lilac then cast great spells of moonlight and pummeled the Black Dragon Manor with the power of both darkness and light, causing devastation everywhere and forming an opening into the Manor.
Then amidst the chaos, Kyōji and Hinote bombarded the disorientated elites with a succession of attacks.
"Hah! With how you guys were talking earlier, who knew you guys would be so weak?" Hinote said, before slamming into one of the elites with his fist, which was imbued with the ritualistic magic of rot, and sending them flying.
Hinote usually fought with just his fists, similar to Kyōji, who tore through his enemies with the strength of his Tiger Spirit. But Hinote also inflicted curses and cast ritualistic magic into his opponent's wounds through contact, making you worse off than him as the battle continues.
"Ugh…" One of the elites groaned, before shaking off the disorientation, "You'll fucking regret this!"
Kyōji grinned, as he stood side-by-side with Hinote, "Regret what?! We'll kill you long before we regret anything!"
Meanwhile, as the others passed into the Black Dragon Manor, they went through the Heavenly Illusory Halls, the main halls leading to both the Library and the Keep, they were met with fifty warriors, led by two figures.
"So, you're the ones threatening the Black Dragon Manor." One of the two figures said, smirking menacingly, "Let me introduce ourselves. We're a part of the Black Dragon Manor's main forces, the Frenzied Blasphemer Warriors, as two of the 24 Lords of Hysteria!"
"Hmph," Bōshi muttered, "We don't give a shit."
"Well, it's deemed respectable if you introduce yourself before killing someone." One of the Lords of Hysteria spoke, before all of the Frenzied Blasphemer Warriors behind the two charged.
But, a giant Ent arose from the ground, crushing most of the Frenzied Blasphemer Warriors. Then, tree roots emerged from the ground and pierced the bodies of multiple fellows, followed by Rei's blue flames, which consumed the tree roots and the bodies of the other warriors.
Meanwhile, Nuru transformed into an Redfur Gorilla, much more ferocious, big and terrifying than their Silverback variant, and tore through the remaining warriors.
"Intriguing," One of the Lords of Hysteria murmured, "You fools are far stronger than I expected. Now, die!"
They both snapped their fingers at the same time and in an instant, the floor began to melt into a pool of black sludge, which they all felt they were melting into. It was as if eyes were watching them, and their piercing gazes were making them sink deep into this black sludge. This was the spiritual pressure of the Lords of Hysteria and the power of the vassals of a powerful possessor of a Spiritmark.
"You'll have to try harder than this to kill us, you fools!" Rei proclaimed, as blue flames emerged from the black sludge, and the illusion was blasted away.
They charged at the Lords of Hysteria, but suddenly, black slugs began to fall from the ceiling of the grand halls and drown them.
"Of course! We're not the Lords of Hysteria for nothing! Let us show you our true power!" They declared before they suddenly disappeared, and were drowned in the black slugs.
It was as if they had suddenly fallen into a void, and before them now, were themselves. Or, more accurately, their souls. A grimdark, dismal interpretation of their souls, that kept them still, as their souls were quickly being separated away from them without their notice.
This was the greatest ability of the Lords of Hysteria, capable of sending them into an abyss of eternal hysteria.
"Separate!" The Lords of Hysteria announced, just before their souls were about to be separated from their bodies for eternity, leaving them as only soulless, crazed husks forevermore.
But, before that could happen, Seiji, with the power of her melody, melted the grave illusion with grand music that erased their power, and Shuku followed up with a slash infused with Crimson Fire, splitting the Lords of Hysteria into two halves.
"Ha… Ha…! Let's hurry up! We need to head to the Great Hall!" Nuru yelled, "We've been fortunate that the Black Dragon Manor hasn't had the time to fully organise themselves, or else we certainly wouldn't have lasted for long. Especially against their elites!"
Seiji nodded, "I noticed that even the elites from before, as they called themselves, are stronger in overall fighting ability than the Lords of Hysteria we just encountered. It's best if we continue avoiding them."
They were right. As Kyōji, Hinote and Lilac were currently struggling against the elites that they battled against outside the Manor. And, to add to that, Frenzied Blasphemer Warriors continued to spew out of the opening.
"Ugrh… we've dealt with two, why can't we deal with any more of them?!" Kyōji yelled, using his hands as claws and ripping the flesh of one of the three remaining elites.
"They're resilient, and they have the most inhumane reflexes I have seen in my life," Lilac said, gritting her teeth as she summoned slices of moonlight at tens upon tens of the Frenzied Blasphemer Warriors at once, "And, what's more, I can't help since I'm occupied!"
Meanwhile, Hinote fought against the other Frenzied Blasphemer Warriors and a Lord of Hysteria, who had injured him severely with an attack to his lower chest, causing him to continuously bleed.
But, that wasn't the greatest of their problems. On the shores of the Darklands, a blonde-haired man in his mid-twenties, carrying a ball of string and a few other items, walked leisurely. And, this man could be said to be the cream of the crop among those of the Black Orphanages.
One of the only few allowed to leave the region, only due to his unstable nature and mental state. And, his "name" was:
The Puppeteer.