"What?"
Seeing this, Vex could not help but bend over and laughed loudly at Graves's reaction.
"You should see your face! Hahaha. Haaa... Anyway, now that you know..."
Graves remained frozen, his jaw shook as he could barely understand.
'This is... inconceivable. Why? Why my brother? Also, why did the informant say it was the Dark Brotherhood?' Suddenly, the theories and images inside Graves's mind converge into a single idea. A single person. Someone he knew very well.
'It's linked to Orion. Toren hid him. Sent him to the Outer World. Made me train him in survival long before. Gave him powerful tools that can serve him until he eventually hits the 4th Realm...'
Suddenly, Graves's instincts screamed as he snapped his gaze towards his two enemies, who looked ready to go. Both Vex and Kaeya were releasing the full extent of their Aura making Graves feel something he had not felt for years— dread. Graves could only blame himself. He had underestimated the Dark Brotherhood. He had expected that the dark mage, a Sorcerer, to summon a Warlord or Warlock—that would've been the worst case scenario and Graves could at the very least retreat before suffering permanent wounds from the Sorcerer and the summoned Conjurer or Augmentor. But... he had not expected them to summon 2 High Seats.
'They knew about the attack on their outpost and were prepared.'
The attack led by Graves Blade was a failure. Blade troops suffered corruption and had to retreat before being permanently corrupted or losing their lives. Conjurers and Augmentors from the Dark Brotherhood were killed thanks to Graves and help from House Frost... yet... As Graves stared at the two High Seats, there was something he could not comprehend. He had previously been in the presence of other Rank 6 beings, namely Arian Starlight, Elaine Frost and Jacob Constantine, not to mention the Elf Queen and two other Elders.
Members of the dark brotherhood were reputed to be humans who embraced corruption, leading to them having Conjurers powerful enough to be compared to the Elves and Augmentors strong enough to be compared to the Starlights and Kamo family. Graves knew all of that. And he also knew that the High Seats would be trouble, and yet, he felt something different. Something much more terrifying.
'They aren't normal High Seats. I don't know what it is... whether it's the power of artifacts or some kind of individual power, it doesn't matter.'
Graves shifted, in an instant, a pristine broadsword appeared in his right hand and a dark gray armor with silver engravings encompassed his body from neck to toe. Graves then looked at his two opponents and smiled softly.
"Blades are not as powerful Augmentors as the Starlights or Orcs nor have mages as powerful and skilled as the Frost or Pollux, let alone the Elves... and yet, we are strong. Strong enough to be feared by every organization and powerhouse of the Inner World." As Graves said this, his Aura exploded, and wild gusts of wind converged onto his body. Not only that, the environment itself seemed to change as a brand-new snow storm emerged around Graves and made Vex and Kaeya up their guard.
True Hybrids are impossible to be made as normal humans. Sure, magic swordsman and others exist. They can use full-fledged spells here and there, but they will never be close to being true hybrids. They will always be limited in mental capacitor or body constitution. However, there are two exceptions to this... the Dark Brotherhood and Blades. For the Dark Brotherhood, it is somewhat self-explanatory—embracing Corruption has a lot of pros and cons— But for the Blades, it is more complicated. Some Blades are born with talent in some weapons whilst having strong mental capacity and can concentrate on magic training more, others have close to no talent in blades and opt to become full-fledged mages. And others have so much talent in blades and Augmentation that it would be dumb to even consider wasting time in magic.
For Graves blade, it was the first case. Not only did he have strong affinity to the sword, but he also had a strong mental capacity to be able to use spells. However, he did not was time on spells. He did the most aggressive way—by being a near spell-less magic swordsman. Not only did it require immense mental capabilities and talent, but it also required time and patience. Thankfully, Graves Blade was a patient man when confronted with training. And that is what made him different from other Blades and 'Hybrids'. He had trained with Elves, obtaining a rare fighting style and breaking all expectations... however, that was all off the records as there was no one to witness the prowess... that was the case until he came back after hearing his brother's passing.
Graves eyes widened as prepared... for his last battle. "I won't die like an ambushed stag."
"Domain Expansion— Garden of Fleeting Winds"
Vex and Kaeya's eyes glowed as they too got ready and unleashed their domains.
"Domain Expansion— Red Moon's Light"
"Domain Expansion— Eternal Resonance"
The world paused. A red moon was materialized and it seemed to paint the whole world into the dark and sinister red of Blood.
Within that red world, flowers sprouted. From red to violet, the wave lengths of light shifted. Flowers were cut and regrown. Trees were pulverized and regrew. The world changed again, and again, and again... until it stopped. Right on the heels of that, explosions echoed inside that world, vibrations, Aura and Will leaked out of the barrier of three-way domain, seeping into the barrier above the Third Layer of Earth and shook the bottom of the Inner World. The vibrations did not reach so far as to be noticed by the humanoid races... but it was noticed by the great creatures slumbering at the bottom of the Inner World.
In the depth of the Sea of Forgotten Graves, located on the edge of Inner World and the Third Layer, deep underwater, a slit widened, revealing a pupil-less eye which had been hidden for centuries.
Inside the Dark Expanse—neighboring the Sea of Forgotten Graves— The Obsidian Spire shook, waking up a dragon, who had been slumbering for a long... long time.
Events similar to these occurred all over the areas of the Dark Expanse and Sea of Forgotten Graves.
Below the Inner World, in the Third Layer of Earth where Graves blade had chased the Dark Mage—who had summoned the High Seats.
A noise similar to a glass shattering echoed into the distance as the three-way domain broke. From the debris emerged Vex—High Seat of Blood of the Dark Brotherhood, missing his left arm. Not only that but his torso was filled with deep bloodless cuts. His complexion pale as he chuckled while turning to look at his partner in crime, Kaeya— High Seat of Time of the Dark Brotherhood.
Kaeya stood mere meters away from Vex, his expensive robe was more than damaged. Unlike Vex, he lost both arms and his upper body was covered in blood. He could not help but vexatiously click his tongue.
"Crazy bastard... Detonating all of his remaining Aura..."
"Haha, come on, you have to give him some credit, he still managed to injure two Middle Stage Rank 6s to such an extent."
"Tch, give me an arm."
"Wow, embittered are we?"
Despite his ego, Vex still obeyed as he knew not to provoke Kaeya, for his wrath was more than deadly.
Following that, blood flowed from Vex's body and converged towards Kaeya, solidifying into two blood-red arm. After giving Vex a quick annoyed glare, Kaeya brought his red arms forward and incanted.
Let the blood return to its river.
Let the flesh remember its shape.
Time—Unwind.
Right on the heels of that, a green glow enveloped both Vex and Kaeya, reversing the wounds and restoring their bodies.
If it were any other type of attack, Vex could have restored his arm using his own blood, but given that the attack was composed of Graves Blade's Aura—a component of his Will— There were only a few ways to recover their bodies.
"I'm leaving, drain his blood and get out of here. I can feel the presence of multiple Ancestral and King level creatures approaching."
Following that, Kaeya's aura exploded as he shot towards a certain direction, not before having a thought cross his mind as he felt the imminent danger of the creatures approaching.
'The Third Layer is a completely different world...'