章 77: Cross Layer Conference
On an uninhabited territory about twice the size of Jupiter, a hanging wall of what looked like the remains of a castle collapsed with a loud thud, sending dust and debris into the air. A few helmets were strewn all over, but there were no bodies to be found. A man and woman in green armour surveyed the site while moving rubbles along the way. The castle seemed to have been very huge as they seemed exhausted walking around.
The two held a coin-like device which they used to scan the ruins. After about thirty minutes of search, they came to a stop near a crater that was several meters deep. A blue flame pillar about a foot tall appeared before the woman as she took the lead, heading into the crater.
As they headed deeper inside, they discovered torn pieces of clothing. A sudden slithering noise put both on high alert. A giant centipede-like beast pounced on them, but they evaded, and the woman burned it to cinders. The man pulled out a flute and put it to his lips.
Several beasts began to swarm to the two. The man played the flute, and the beast exploded into blood mist while the woman continued to burn them effortlessly. After five minutes of fighting, everything became quiet again. They continued descending and reached the bottom of the crater after a few minutes.
A half-rotten corpse lay in the crater, with bugs crawling all over it. Covering their noses, the man babbled, "Ugh! This place stinks". Annoyed by his actions, the woman snapped, "Zip it, Gavi".
"G…av…i…?" a horrendous voice uttered, causing the two to shudder and jump back. Like emerald lights, the corpse's eyes glowed green as its fingers began to crack and twitch. Parts of its rotten flesh fell off as it stood, revealing its redbones. It exuded a terrible pressure capable of flatting a city.
The two warded off the pressure without much problem and created a safe distance between themselves and the corpse. "Great job, Thena, now the thing knows my name", complained the man. Having his name uttered by a walking corpse wasn't something he dreamt of.
"Now's not the time for unnecessary tantrums. That thing, I don't think we can win against it." She confessed as beads of sweat dripped down her chin. Gavi was the same. The pressure exuded by the corpse told them just how dangerous their situation had become.
The two suddenly felt like a mountain was crushing them as the corpse approached them. Realising they couldn't move, they expended their strength to defend themselves from the pressure. "What kind of insane pressure is this?" Gavi wondered as blood leaked from his lips. He gritted his teeth as his legs buckled, and he dropped to his knees, sending several cracks into the ground.
Thena wasn't doing any better. The pressure was so much that she felt like her insides would explode. "What the hell is this? If a dead Alpha-Sentry is releasing this kind of pressure, then what about one that is alive?" Cracks began forming under her feet, creating a chain reaction with those from Gavi's end and spreading across the surface of the territory.
"I n…e…d t…o …il… …im. Drak… t…er l…e…der." The corpse uttered. The two were taken aback by what it said. Though its speech was unclear, they roughly made out what he said. "What the hell is that thing talking about?" Gavi wondered. Blood was leaking from his lips when suddenly the entire territory began to quake.
The quake was so severe several mountains began to split. Gavi spread his element sense to cover the entire territory to observe the situation. His face turned ashen as he murmured, "The core is unstable?"
He turned to Thena, "Thena! This territory is about to explode, brace yourself". With an annoyed look, she responded, "I know, so just shut it!" Like a sinkhole, the territory began to collapse inward, mountains crumbled, and hills were flattened. The sea rushed in, making it seem it was enough to cool the core.
The two screamed as they struggled to resist the never-ending pressure. Like a hot metal ball in butter, they broke through the territory, appearing on the other side. No sooner than they had emerged when the territory exploded, sending a huge shockwave several miles away.
The corpse with the two suspended in space as debris of the territory floated around them.
In a large colosseum-like facility, a man in a gold suit with a pair of glasses stood on a podium, surrounded from all sides by representatives. They were the various heads of Piora in their respective layers. Due to how long it takes to travel to other layers, most attended virtually through holograms.
The only non-Piora head in attendance was the head of the Azeria family, Rakshasa Azeria. The man on the podium stepped forward as he spoke, "This footage was taken a few weeks ago when Ranger Gavi and Ranger Thena of the Tauratet Rangers Society were sent to investigate a disturbance on the territory of an Alpha-Sentry."
"The result as you can all see, is the destruction of the territory and almost fatal injuries to the two rangers. The rangers ran into a deceased Weiner, who had somehow retained a fragment of his will after his death. The only thing he uttered before his will fragment was extinguished, "I need to kill him. Drak, their leader."
"Though it was unclear what exactly he meant by that, the layer security council led an investigation, further revealing what Weiner truly meant. One of ours, the battle beast, has switched sides and is now leading the enemy he helped push back years ago. It is still unclear why he is doing that, but one thing for sure is, him being on the other side won't bode well for the layers."
One woman in shorts and a jacket stood from her seat, interrupting with barely suppressed rage underlying her tone, "Niall, we are all just overlooking it for the sake of time, but it's all ticking me off. Why is that man here?"
"…I assure you, his presence here is justified as he has information concerning the matter at hand", Niall replied from the podium. The woman hissed and looked down at Rakshasa with contempt. "Information he couldn't pass on to you?"
"If you have a problem with me being here, why don't you drive me out yourself instead of bickering about it? Or, are you afraid of me?" Rakshasa smirked, looking her dead in the eyes. She gritted her teeth and released her aura. "Azeria or whatever you call yourself, don't provoke me with those cheap taunts. You are just giving me a reason to beat the shit out of you." She hissed.
"Bold words for a coward who ran at that time. If it's a fight you want, I am happy to engage you at any time." Rakshasa said, stepping away from the corner where he sat. Seeing him not protecting himself with his elemental abilities annoyed the woman even more.
"You think you can take me on without your abilities? You must be out of your mind." An unfazed Rakshasa responded, "I don't need to waste my abilities on a cheap slut like you". He glared at her with a smirk as he spoke.
"You…" the woman roared about to attack when a bellow cut the tension visibly thickening at ridiculous speeds, "Do you have time for meaningless fights right now?" Undeniable authority rolled off his tongue like a decree from an immortal king.
On the podium, by Niall, a young man looking about twenty-eight years old appeared. His shiny black hair tied into a ponytail made him stand out even more. All the women's hearts fluttered as he walked majestically to the edge of the podium.
He walked with such elegance; any woman would fall for him if they saw him. Though he was only a little over two meters tall, his unfathomable strength was indisputable. "Anyone who wants to throw a fit can come and take a swing at me." He raised his brows, staring at them with a light smile…a sword made of shadows suspending before him.
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