"What?"
Keith, who had just come to the living room after taking a shower, confusedly looked at his girls who were now surrounding him, wearing grins on their faces.
A few minutes ago, he had sensed Rebecca erect an Isolation Barrier that prevented him from listening to their conversation, and she seemed to have made some plans with all of them during that period.
"Let's fight." It was Qingyue who said those words, and he curiously raised his brow at her.
"Fifteen against one?" He smiled. "That's unfair."
"Seventeen. You forgot Void and Eira." Feifei grinned.
"They won't fight me." He smiled at the two Magical Beasts, who, to the dismay of the girls, walked over to sit by his sides. "See." He said as he crouched down and patted their heads. "Go, have fun with Ruru and Riku."
Keith sent the two of them inside Aerzar, where his two young werewolves now lived, and Eira had been enjoying their company for a while now, having made friends with the siblings.
"So, Fifteen." He stood back up and then glanced at all of them. "You will get hurt." He warned Fiona, Amira, Reina, and Helena, which made his maid and the Twins tense up, but the little Mourntale only grinned at him.
"I want to fight." She told him, making him and Amelia both smile at her enthusiasm.
"Suit yourself." He nodded.
"Master..." Fiona was a little uneasy in her heart with the idea of ganging up on him with the rest of the girls.
"It's okay. Even if you had fifteen more with you, it would have not made any difference." Keith glanced at his watch and then looked at all of them again.
He grinned when he found his dear wives wearing serious expressions now, quite displeased at his words and being looked down upon by him.
"Did I say something wrong?" He grinned.
"We shall see." His blonde wife smiled back at him, her eyes now shining in their true shade.
"I am actually impressed that you are already at the Peak of the first Martial Realm. But that's not going to help you." He sincerely said.
"We wouldn't know unless we try, right?" Qingyue quipped, and he shrugged at her words.
"We have three hours before the guests start arriving, so, I will be punishing all of you for a day inside Aerzaar. Don't blame me. You brought it upon yourself." He grinned as he encompassed all of them under the hold of the Steele of Time & Space, and when the girls blinked next, they found themselves inside a huge hall, which just did not seem to end.
A few of them had already been here before and knew that this was the training room inside the Palace, but those who were coming here for the first time dumbly stared at the night-sky ceiling, where the beautiful and mystical phenomenons of the cosmos were being displayed.
"Shall we..." Keith was just about to finish his words when he instinctively jumped high up in the air, and he laughed when he saw golden chains sprout from the floor where he was standing.
Amelia had taken action without wasting any time, and it was the same for Qingyue and Rebecca, who summoned their Aura Souls and rushed right at him.
Following their lead, Iseul, Yingying, Marianne, Nana, and Ayesha rushed forward too, and the rest stepped back to compose themselves and get a grip over their palpitating hearts.
They watched as the purple Hunter Bird separated from Rebecca's body and proceeded to attack Keith from a different direction, and they were the first ones to make it to him.
A dull thud sounded out when he blocked her fist with his left palm, and then his figure blurred a little as he spun and landed a kick on her Aura Soul Beast, which was sent crashing into the floor.
He blocked another fist and then a kick that Rebecca threw at him before he skillfully grabbed her wrist and flung her over, using her as a shield against the Serpent that was coming to bite him.
"Not bad." He chuckled when he saw Rebecca step on the air and push herself out of the way, allowing the Serpent to continue rushing at him. And when he glanced around, he saw that there was no escape.
Keith did not bother dodging and allowed the Aura Soul to take a bite at him, and Qingyue's eyes immediately narrowed when she found herself unable to break past his Aura Defence.
"Too weak." He mocked her and then erected an Aura Shield to protect himself against the Golden Spears that targeted him.
Keith suddenly felt the hold of gravity lock onto him, dragging him down to the floor, and even without looking at her, he knew that Rebecca was responsible for it.
And at the same time, Iseul attacked with Shadowy creatures that manifested out of thin air, wrapping around his limbs and rendering him incapable of using them to block the oncoming attacks.
A loud explosion sounded out when the various Aura attacks hit him, emanating a bright flash, and then there were all these various specks of Light that remained and rained down, mesmerising the onlookers.
However, the real reason why they were mesmerised was because of him, who was floating in the air, unscathed, wearing a very light smile on his lips.
"How did you do that?" Rebecca straightforwardly asked, having caught him creating several small and spiralling discs of Aura and Mana, which had blocked all their attacks and neutralised them.
"Secret," He grinned at her, and none of them bothered to ask him again.
They all readied themselves for another round, and Keith smiled when he heard a shattering sound and saw Amelia's body lighting up with both Speed and Strength Runes.
"Don't disappoint me." He mocked them again, and this time, he faced a much stronger onslaught.
In just a matter of a few seconds, the girls who were watching them realised that the scale of this battle was out of their league.
However, the young Mourntale, to the disbelief of the rest, excitedly rushed forward when she saw the opportunity, and everyone winced when Keith sent her rolling on the floor with a brutal kick.
To their relief, she soon got back on her feet, but her arms were visibly trembling now as she had used them to block his attack. He was harsh, but he was still mindful of her limit.
Fiona gulped in fear when she saw a group of Aura Soul Beasts surround Keith from all sides.
A golden Pheasant, a green Serpent, a purple Hunter Bird, a red Cat, a grey Raven, a teal Peafowl, a brown Lynx, and a Beige Hawk cornered a lone Wolf, who was obediently standing next to its Master, and as soon as the Beasts attacked, it raged.
Sparks flew as the Aura Souls clashed against each other, and the girls suddenly panicked when Keith raised his hands and created several discs around him.
"The Second Disc of Demise: The Reverse Mirror."
As soon as his words reached their ears, the amethyst Discs revolved faster and brightened up.
Amelia, Qingyue, Rebecca, Iseul, Yingying, Nana, Marianne, and Ayesha were all suddenly slapped back by a terrifying and invisible force, and the Runic Shields they were wearing on their bodies started cracking before they crashed onto the floor and drifted across it.
A deathly silence descended in the hall, and the girls who had not joined the fray could hear their own heartbeats as they forgot to breathe.
Amira and Reina subconsciously stepped back, giving up any thoughts about joining the fight.
Keith was just too brutal, and when they saw blood leaking out of Marianne's mouth, they were even more scared.
However, both Nana and Ayesha seemed fine, and their Aura Souls were still active.
"Rest." Keith smiled at the shadow of his blonde wife, who bore the pain and stood up, wiping the blood from her mouth.
Her Aura Soul Beast, which was a brown Lynx, was flickering, reflecting the rattled state of her mind and body, but when she stubbornly shook her head, Keith disappeared from his place and appeared right in front of her.
Marianne's heart dropped as she expected an attack, but then her mind blanked when he kissed her on her lips.
"Rest," He told her again after he pulled back, and Marianne obediently nodded her head to him this time.
It had been a while since he had last kissed her, and his taste made her forget all the pain that her body had experienced a moment ago.
She quickly sat cross-legged on the floor, suppressing her blush, and started utilising the Recovery Art to recuperate.
When Keith finally took his eyes off her and looked around, he found Amelia, Qingyue, Rebecca, Iseul, Yingying, and Ayesha all up on their feet and apprehensively looking his way.
"Told you. Even if you had twice your numbers, it wouldn't make any difference." He smiled. "You are still in your Primal Desolation Realm, and you have no hope against me. Not even you." He looked at Rebecca and teased her. "However, I am impressed. You all have improved a lot."
"Was that a Battle Art?" His blonde wife smiled at him, and the rest perked up their ears.
"Yes," He chuckled when excitement flashed in her eyes.
"Teach me!"
"Six hours. If you can still stand up on your feet, I will teach you this Art."
His words did not scare her in the least. Instead, her eyes gleamed in excitement and madness, and she rushed right at him to continue their fight.
The rest were a lot wary of him now, but they still attacked him to help Rebecca. Even if they could not utilise the Battle Art right now, they could still learn about it by watching her practice it, which would help them a lot later.
They had never planned or thought that they could beat him.
All they wanted to do was to push themselves to their limits and see how much they had improved since the last time they battled, and they still had a lot to show him.
The girls who were watching the battle were eventually pulled into the fight too when Keith sent dozens of Shadowy creatures to fight them, and for hours, he tortured all of them, finding pleasure in their misery, which they were not shy to point out and curse at him for.