Titan's Throne

Phantasma's Fear

"Kenshin is out of your league, forget about who he is and what he can do, with time you will see. Now as for Bastian, the way he solved the 'Blind Disaster' issue...to be honest even I am not sure how the boy did it. Even the Soul Crawler poison in the Inkume Girl isn't something easy to deal with. It would take a powerful organization on the same scale as our empire to deal with such, so I am not sure what means he used.

Either way, do not underestimate that bald prick. He is not a joke. He still could be a Mark Bearer so don't be disrespectful, otherwise, when the underworld calls, you won't even leave a corpse behind in this world and you will never be able to learn how it happened."

'If Duke Kai wanted to gain my attention, he did so in a splendid way.'

Phantasma kept her eyes glued on the young man until she saw him raise a hand. At that moment he was wearing his typical lab coat with a stress ball being fiddled about in his hands.

"We are here." Said Bastian with a serene face. The duo had reached a clearing with short grass and a few plants on the ground. Bastian pulled Phantasma to the centre and stretched his arms lazily. Phantasma was not happy about their location, and she did not hesitate to let her thoughts on the matter be known.

"I am not happy with this location. Besides, where is he? I can't see or sense anyone nearby."

Bastian flashed a cheeky grin and said, "In the face of absolute power, tricks like hiding are meaningless. Now, as for your other question, just look behind you. Oh, I have to warn you to prepare yourself, he can be...intimidating."

Phantasma tilted her head in confusion.

'Even if he were a Fusion Realm powerhouse, I am a Falsified Daughter, detection, camouflage and espionage are my specialties. Let's see what all the fuss is about.' Thought the lass as she turned around.

Phantasma never expected to see what she saw.

It was a large flaming silhouette of a figure, seemingly a man from his wide shoulders and flat broad chest. It looked like he was wearing a long black hooded cloak made from small black flames darker than the void itself. They were so dark it felt as if not a single ray of light could escape from them. The flames danced about wildly yet they burned nothing.

On the contrary, they were quite cold. A sheet of ice followed the man's footsteps as his large figure approached. Outside of his general outline, nothing else could be made out by Phantasma. The hooded cloak of flames was all-encompassing and even covered his legs completely.

As Bastian's 'Master' got closer, odd phenomena occurred.

They were in a sub-tropical environment that was in the middle of summer, but Phantasma's breath was becoming visible at an alarming rate. Within seconds she was no different from an active chimney that pumped out steam. Except her water vapour was cold. And it was getting colder.

'This isn't just cold, what is this feeling?'

Phantasma had met many Fusion Realm powerhouses throughout her lifetime, but this was the first time she had been intimidated in such a manner.

'The Falsified daughters are Infamous for their ability to hide their powers and their air of mystery, bet you met your match now b*tch hahahaha.'

Bastian was well aware of who the Falsified daughters were thanks to some education from Kenshin and some perusing of Sebastian's memories. Similar to the Inkume, the Falsified Daughters were a group of spies and assassins. Yet unlike the Inkume they were part of a bigger group. A unique group whose name shook the entire Sovereign Continent.

'The Falsified School of Thought.'

This was indeed a school, but not like any other. It was a super nation that had one of the most powerful armies on the continent. These armies were split into nine groups, each with its own type of soldiers. The Falsified Daughters were one of the lesser-known branches as its membership was low in count. But they more than made up for it in quality and skill. The Falsified Daughters put in a lot of effort to not be noticed by the common crowd.

Thus while Bastian was not familiar with the Falsified Daughters, he was quite familiar with the Falsified School of Thought. They were a nation whose primary export were the soldiers they bred. They travelled all over the world, looking for orphans and cast-aways with powerful bloodlines and talent. Then they trained them and sold them to other countries at a profit. They had no permanent base and were nomadic by nature. Their base was rumoured to be some sort of supreme treasure with infallible cloaking powers. This plus their powerful in-house army made them a friend everyone wanted to have and an enemy few wanted to make.

'That means Tino and her sisters were sold to the Thunder Tiger Empire. But one has to give those Falsified geezers props. It's impressive how loyal the soldiers they produce are to their new masters. But alas they are still too arrogant.'

Ba dump!

Ba dump!

Ba dump!

A loud heartbeat started to resound into Bastian's ears. And he knew it wasn't his. Bastian narrowed his big heterochromatic eyes and focused his senses on Phantasma.

'Her heartbeat is steadily increasing. And so is her body temperature. Her breaths are becoming shallow. Vasodilation of her blood vessels and this tensing of muscles, she is entering fight or flight mode.'

Bastian's bloodline awakening gave him incredible senses, especially his smell and ears. He also had incredible heat sensitivity, especially in humid environments.

'Earlier on I could barely sense her without using E-Vision, but now this is becoming child's play.'

Bastian looked on as Phantasma lost her ephemeral disposition. It was like he was watching a ghost materializing in front of him. Phantasma was subconsciously taking steps back with each step that Bastian's 'Master' took.

'This ability can be weaponized if done right. Should I use it as a disruptor of some sort? Or should I see if I can enchant it into some spell matrixes? The applications seem limitless. This experiment was more valuable than I thought. It is funny. I feel like I'm watching a logia user getting hit by Haki for the first time. Damn, I miss One Piece...'