บท 74: Gathering
If the colour of the skies could determine the nature of a place or its people, the territories in this layer would have been much more peaceful than they are. In this unknown layer, territories had varied colours of skies, unlike anything seen across all the other layers. Space warped as a figure appeared above the layer. Compared to the vast layer filled with countless territories, this figure was like a speck of dust on a beach.
He was burly and stood four inches over two meters tall. He folded his arms and gazed at the several territories within the layer with his snow-white eyes. Though far away, he could perceive all that occurred across the entire layer. His blue skin made him look like the genie from Alladin. His long, flowing white hair danced about him, making one wonder where the wind was coming from in such a place.
He had winged shoes that flapped as he flew over the layer towards its centre. Every gesture he made was so majestic you would think he owned the world. A scopenet appeared before him as someone spoke through. "Sire, the two who infiltrated the bout have been killed, but the mission was carried out."
The man flew on before saying, "Get information to a party in Aquasphere. Tell them to get rid of the annoying existence going to the Abyss of Kirin."
"Yes, sire". The call got disconnected, and the man appeared at the centre of the layer with a shift of his body. "I wonder how many more layers I have to destroy to get that bastard to come here?" the man said and snapped his fingers. In that instant, many territories exploded into nothingness like fireworks. He snapped his fingers again, but nothing happened this time.
The space around was distorting, and the view before him changed. He was now in a dark cave filled with many fireflies and bats. "Spatial isolation?" the man whispered as he looked around. "Have you finally decided to meet me?" he asked as a figure broke out of the darkness. It was hard to make out his face as the only source of light there was that from the fireflies.
His black eyes peered at the blue man before him. "What do you want, Drak?" the man asked in annoyance. Seeing that the man was in no mood to talk, he didn't plan on boring him with long talk. "I come with a proposal, Akrakus…"
Akrakus glared at him and swiftly commanded, "Don't mention my name!" his voice resounded as lightning crackled across the cave.
"Still fierce as always", Drak remarked. "Bring me the son of the Long family, and I will leave you and your precious layers alone."
Without hesitation, Akrakus turned him down, "My answer is the same as always. So don't waste your time, and this is your final warning. I'm not avoiding a direct confrontation with you because I'm afraid of you. You know what will happen to the layers if the two of us decide to fight head-on. Ready your army, and let me ready mine."
"If you touch one more layer of Tauratet, I won't be so kind to have a conversation with you, and that includes this layer. So just sit quietly like you always have and make use of your pawns till the appointed time when this ill-fated relationship is destined to end. Until then, DON'T BOTHER ME!"
The space distorted, and everything returned to the way it was, with only Drak left hanging above the layer.
"He is not joking alright. This makes things difficult for me." Drak frowned. "I was expecting him to agree since that variable came along, but he is much more stubborn than before. It would be interesting to see how far the son of the Long family will go. Should I send some calamity beings to Aquasphere to hunt him down?"
Drak glared at the layer and disappeared. What Drak did was a simple gesture, but every being within the layer was terrified. They had no idea what they had done to invoke a powerful entity's wrath. As Drak was about to leave, he left a message in the heads of all those in the layer. "You die another day".
That simple message left many confused and terrified. To many, a disaster had just walked by.
Two days swiftly went by, and the finals for the ranking bouts were about to commence. Terasphere was drowned in cheers and applause. Though many attended to their own businesses, they occasionally glanced at the screens above them. The buzz for the finals was better than anyone had expected.
Meanwhile, somewhere in Terasphere, a man with pale blue hair emerged from a house in a tree and dropped to the foot of the tree. "I know you are there, come out", he said as he reached the ground. A white mist appeared as a woman in white with long flowing gold hair appeared from it. She carried a sickle sword and was masked. She was the same woman who claimed to be Lin's sister (chp 39). Seeing her approach, he frowned. "You are early", he remarked.
"Something came up. You ready?" she asked and covered him with her mist. A woman with green braids dropped next to the man and pouted unhappily. "He is supposed to fight in the finals of the bout you know?" she said.
The woman in white spoke hurriedly, "There's not much time to waste. I received word from the family head. He is requesting an audience with all remaining members of the Long family."
The looks on the faces of the two morphed into one of surprise. "The family head is back?" they asked in unison. For a long-lost family, they were surprised their family head showed up out of the blue after disbanding them for so long. "Not just him. Our youngest brother too. As a matter of fact, he would also be in the finals of the bout."
"Whoa! This is unbelievable. The family head and the family's youngest master. Things are getting interesting", the woman remarked. "But we the Long family are scattered all over the various layers of Tauratet. How are we going to get information to everyone?" she asked concerningly.
"That's what I'm gathering you for. We are going to the various layers to gather those we can and leave the rest to the Royal Phantasm."
"The Royal Phantasm?" the blue-haired man asked in surprise. "For the family head to deploy the royal phantasm, his personal shadow guards, this must be very urgent", he summed. "Okay, then let's hurry. It does sting as I really wanted to fight that lava demon guy but, family first, I guess."
"Good. Let's go", the woman in white said, and they disappeared into the mist.
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