"Peep..." Zaramias' stammered through his words, awkwardly coughing, he explained, "Although I said that I knew what you were doing, it is only limited to voices..." His rugged expression looked quite adorable in face of Dan's counter-attack.

"That could still be considered as peeping!" Dan launched his a.s.sault, Natalie who heard Zaramias' explanation turned even more embarra.s.sed by the fact that he must've heard her lecherous and pleasure filled moans.

Zaramias rolled his eyes, "G.o.dd.a.m.ned it, even though I quite liked Juliet and her mother, that doesn't mean that I would readily accept her into this family..." His eyes narrowed like pins before sweeping over to Natalie who became fl.u.s.tered.

"Dad, must you scare her like that? It's not like she's doing anything to harm us..." Dan knew his father's actions were meant to intimidate Natalie and reveal her true att.i.tude, but the former understood that Natalie wasn't a woman that used her husband's coattails to raise her own status. All of her motives only focused on raising up her daughter.

"Dan, why are you so naive?" Zaramias coldly said, "Remember that a criminal will never admit to his crimes." His words contained several meanings and Dan kept his mouth shut. Natalie who realized that the two became silent, took this opportunity and said, "T-t-then, how can I prove that I am worthy of becoming Dan's wife...?"

Her words made Zaramias viciously smile in return. Natalie who saw his cold and calculating smile, froze while Dan who knew about his father's playfulness rolled his eyes in return.

He could only hope that his father won't go overboard in testing Natalie's resolve.

"Very well, since you put it like that, let's do what you want..." Zaramias glanced at his son and said, "No matter what happens, do not interfere, even if she's about to die, you shall never try to save her, understand? The household of Longinus doesn't need any weak people..."

Dan could only nod his head while tightly holding Natalie's hand, the latter lifted her head and stared at Dan while biting her lower lip, her expression revealed her worry and fear of dying.

She glanced at Zaramias and found that his expression didn't seem to be joking. Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself and accepted her faith. If accomplis.h.i.+ng Zaramias' trial meant that she could stay with him forever, then she will do it.

And if she failed and died, she could only hope that Dan would take care of her daughter, and love her more than he loved her. She expressed her intentions with her eyes and Dan received it as he solemnly nodded his head in return.

Facing Zaramias, Natalie took her hand from Dan's clutch and declared, "I will do whatever you want me to do, Father..." Zaramias' expression frowned when he heard the words 'father' coming out of her mouth. Natalie didn't mind the former's displeasure and continued, "However, if I fail, I hope that Father can take care of my daughter in my stead, tell her that her mother valiantly fought against her enemies and died with pride..."

Zaramias' momentarily closed his eyes as he fell into deep contemplation, 'Why in the h.e.l.l does it feel like I'm the one that is the villain here? I just want to test her loyalty towards the family...' He took a deep breath and his eyes, snapped open.

"Are you ready?" He spoke in a complicated tone, he was visibly moved when he knew her last request about her daughter. And unbeknownst to Natalie, her position within his heart and soared, reaching the same level as Dan.

Meanwhile, at the side, Dan stared at his father as the System Scan Process rapidly spun, revealing his father's weakness that he could exploit in case he goes overboard, 'Hmmph, even if you're my father if you dare to bully my little wife...' He inwardly thought.

Natalie's expression turned serious, clenching her fists, she replied, "I am ready whenever you want to, Father..."

Nodding in return, Zaramias took a stance, formed a mudra with both of his hands and said, "Prepare yourself..." Natalie a.s.sumed a defensive stance, "Come..."

"Then take this! Seven Emotions and Six Desires Formation!" A burst of resplendent lights exploded from Zaramias' body, squarely striking Natalie's forehead as the latter became frozen like a statue.

Sighing to himself, Zaramias returned to his previous posture and could only wait until Natalie surmounted the trial that he bestowed upon her. Rubbing his hands together, he glanced at his son and was taken aback when he found that the latter's expression looked dark and solemn, staring at him with a venomous gaze.

"Why are you looking like me like I owe you a hundred gold coins...?"

Coldly snorting, Dan replied, "You best not do anything to harm her, or else, even if you're my father, I won't hesitate to hurt you..."

In the face of his son's threat, Zaramias dryly chuckled, after all, he was to blame in the creation of this misunderstanding. Sitting down, he gestured towards the nearby chair and explained the reason why he did such thing to Natalie.

Inside dilapidated room filled with filled, Natalie could see a familiar emaciated figure, her eyes widened in shock when she realized that the skeletal figure belonged to her daughter, Juliet.

"Mom...It hurts..." Juliet moaned in pain, her shoulders trembled as she spoke these words amidst her pale lips. Natalie held her tears back, moving towards her daughter, she found that blood dripped from her thighs, and the scene reminded her of something sinister which scared her soul out of her body.

"So you finally woke up..." A familiar voice that she never wanted to hear all her life echoed beside her. Turning around, the figure of the vile man who fathered her daughter could be seen, viciously smiling at her.

"Why are you looking at me with such a venomous stare? Everything is not my fault, it's your fault for being so useless, that I had to have that n.o.ble, borrow our daughter for a while."

Natalie ground her teeth and sent a slap flying on that man's face. But alas, her strength was lacking and the man easily blocked her slap while returning an attack straight to her abdomen.

"Guaaah..." Natalie hunched, and the man viciously smiled before taking his clothes off, his lance hard as a rock as he approached his so-called daughter and spread her legs. Natalie immediately regained her calm, holding the man tightly and pus.h.i.+ng him away.

"Why must you act like that, Natalie, since you're unwilling to be intimate with me, I just have to make do with her..." The man spoke in a vexed tone, slapping Natalie away, her face looked swollen and purple, yet she still gritted her teeth and blocked his way.

After about a hundred punches, Natalie's consciousness barely maintained its clarity, yet his maternal instincts utilized its might in wholeheartedly blocking that man's path to her daughter.

Witnessing Natalie's resolve, the man chuckled, and everything around her turned into pieces., before it changed into several other scenes which tortured her, not only mentally but physically.

Even though in each trial, her consciousness threatened to give way. Her boundless love for her daughter pushed her through her goal. Her goal of protecting her daughter, no matter what happens.

The scene around Natalie blurred before it cracked into pieces, the illusion around her disappeared before a mighty figure of a lightning clad young man appeared on her vision, the young man turned at her and gently smiled,

"I'm the Progenitor of the Longinus, the G.o.d of Lightning, Barbarrossa, After witnessing your resolve, determination, and all-encompa.s.sing love that you displayed for your daughter," The young man stretched his hand out, and what laid on his palm was a seed made of lightning.

The seed emanated a might which threatened to subdue everything under the heavens,

"From now on, you will have the bloodline of the Longinus Clan and will also possess the Divine Arts of the Clan; but in exchange, you must swear upon your life that you and your future generations shall be forever loyal for the Clan...."

"If you agree, take this lightning seed and your destiny shall change; if not, pay no heed to my words and close your eyes. This world shall disappear and everything that you've experienced will be forgotten..."

The young man spoke in a calm voice, Natalie resolved her mind, from the time that he received Dan's kindness and care, she already considered herself as a member of the Longinus Clan, and as his woman.

How could she hesitate at this time? Stretching her hand out, the lightning seed dissipated in her mind as the illusion around her cracked, disappearing into nothingness as her consciousness returned to her true body.

Dan and Zaramias who was discussing seriously between each other turned their heads towards her, and at the same time, their expression changed as a thunderbolt manifested in the air.

Lightning crackled and Natalie's countenance changed, her visage that looked timid and easily intimidated transformed into a mighty and domineering one, her eyebrows became sharp and her eyes alone, could tremble anyone who stared at it.

Zaramias' turned joyful while Dan felt relieved, the phenomenon before them, could only mean that she accepted the grace of the G.o.d of Lightning, the Progenitor of their Clan.

From now on, Natalie will forever be his woman, and she will be a member of the Longinus Clan, for all eternity.