Brand New Life Online: Rise Of The Goddess Of Harvest

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"King Hasan…?" Mark asked.

"Yes, perhaps not many would know of him, he was a religious and military leader, founder of the Nizari Ismai'li sect widely known as the Hashshashin or the Order of Assassins, as well as the Nizari Ismaili state." Rose said, very knowledgeable about these subjects. "You could say the word "assassin" as we known it originates from this ancient sect. Well, although it is thought across the modern world that such a sect is long gone, that couldn't be far from the truth. Once their King was gone, his descendants and other various assassins that took over his title as the "Old Man of the Mountain" funded various separate sects. Most perished in wars for power and resources, ultimately, after over a thousand years, the last remaining sect the Black Hand, remains."

"S-So they originate from the middle east?" Mark asked. "What the hell are they doing all the way in Canada?!"

"Perhaps in the past they limited to the middle east, but that hasn't been the case for a long time," Olivia said. "They are among the most dangerous organizations in the underworld and sworn enemies of the Clock Tower. We know very little about their goals, whatsoever. Every member we've captured alive quickly took their life using a curse ingrained in their hearts. And even trying to speak to their souls has proven to not work, as whatever they have made a pact with instantly devours their soul upon death."

"Really…" I muttered. "Then how do you know so much about them?"

"Mostly from history, you know, they're so ancient that ultimately information would spill out one day, abandoned settlements from hundreds of years ago and so on could end up being found," Olivia explained. "Well, I actually lied, there had been some cases of some being captured and interrogated. Although the methods in which they were interrogated are… too harsh for me to say."

"Too harsh? Were they tortured?" Mark asked.

"No, mere torture is not what I meant, Mark," Olivia sighed. "You know what one must do to capture someone that would instantly kill themselves from a curse heart and have their souls devoured? You must use the power of a demon to fight another demon. Those that have successfully interrogated them aren't good people either…"

"I-I see…" I nodded. "Um, so this Black Hand people… They're the ones here?"

"Yes, it is most certain by now," Olivia nodded. "They're a dangerous group, sworn enemies of large organizations of Magus. Especially the Clock Tower. One thing to note are their powerful abilities."

"So they're not only Warlocks but also Assassins, right?" Mark asked. "And those tattoos they have, do they serve some purpose?"

"Yeah, the tattoos are part of their ceremony of initiation," explained Olivia. "The black hand tattooed in their face or other body part is also part of such ritual. It contains powerful Demonic and Cursed Runes, allowing them to channel immense dark powers from negative emotions generated not only by them but by their surroundings. Alongside that, they seem to draw power from Curses which they inflict upon themselves. It is also said they connect them to the power of a Demon."

"That's a lot of powers but fit what those defending this domain saw…" I said. "I remember each one of them also had a unique Cursed Magic Technique Ability. One girl could charm Hollows and make them follow her in large groups, another could combine them and evolve them into giant monsters, and then fuse with them, and the other… the other was the strongest, apparently an ancient sorcerer of immense power that has lived in here for hundreds of years."

"Hmm, that's right," nodded Olivia. "I am glad you're familiar with their accursed powers, this'll make things easier to understand at least, and also simplify how we can counter them."

"Anyway, with what the little Wendigo here shared with us, we must have finally figured out their goal, they have been trying to access the Realm of Dreams and Nightmares, and they seek the Nightmare Sea, a conceptual accumulation and condensation of Nightmares within this ethereal Realm." Rose said. "From what little I know, it is an extremely dangerous place that no person should ever step into, as they would immediately die. It belongs to the Ten Forbidden Places of the World."

"Is that so…?" I wondered.

"Yes, the realm of dreams and nightmares by itself is full of mysteries and is among one of the most intriguing and dangerous of them all," Olivia said. "I am amazed your domain possess a permanent door to it, just how were you even able to obtain such a thing, Elayne? Countless Magus families would do anything they could to get their hands into your Domain you know? This Realm is perhaps the hardest to access to."

"A-Ah… Well, I would rather keep that a secret for now," I said. "Sorry."

"Oh, it is fine," Olivia smiled. "I apologize, I might have gotten too excited there."

"Yeah, forgive her please, she gets like this whenever we talk about topics of her interest," Rose sighed. "More than anything, now that we know their goal, we must quickly prepare to stop them. It is almost a given they'll try to infiltrate your Domain again or use another method to enter the Dream Realm from nearby. We have to stop them before they do anything funny."

"You're right…" I nodded. "What do you suggest we could do against them? If they're so secretive, isn't it quite impossible either way? We can only wait until they attack us to retaliate and find them…"

"Oh fear not, there are many ways we can prepare," Olivia said. "We could reinforce the domain to generate a tougher barrier, and an expanded extra domain around the domain, which will weaken foes near the barrier for example."

"Extra Domain?" I asked. "I didn't know that was possible… So I can set a domain around my domain?"

"Indeed, this would be like layers," explained Olivia. "Domains and Formations are pretty similar you see. So it shouldn't be impossible to do this…"

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