Far away from Ardoros, at a distance of 9,657 miles, passing through vast oceans with several expanses of land in the middle known as continents, existed a vast land completely opposite to Ardoros’s sight.
Stretching over an area of 3.7 million square miles, the whole land was ruled by a single monarch, with the center of power divided into two factions.
In the middle of this expanse existed the capital city with the single monarch, known for her tyranny, ruling over the whole land with the support of two principal factions surrounding the city from both sides.
Divided into two equal parts, the whole Jade Dominion was like a fortress, with the center being their monarch, Empress Liwei, who was the heart of this place.
On the division belonging to one of the two principal factions known as the Celestial Phoenix Order, the sight of colossal pagodas rising proudly while reaching the skies, encircled by serene gardens, was a mere sight to behold.
A majestic palace stood at the center of the mountain terrain of this faction, its roofs tinted with the lush green of emeralds, adorned with delicate dragon motifs, and its tiles shimmering like glistening jade.
Surrounding this magnificent structure are tall stone walls intricately decorated with serpentine patterns, creating a calm atmosphere atop the mountain peak.
The whole landscape stretches as far as the eye can see, with mist-shrouded mountains at the epicenter of the Celestial Phoenix Order.
chirp chirp
But today the atmosphere seemed much calmer; except for birds chirping, there were minimal sounds coming out of the main palace.
Today the center of attention for this whole expanse was the Order’s Ground, also known as Tournament Peak for disciple promotions.
“Woah!”
“Senior Brother is Best!”
“Come on, You can do it!”
Several cheers resonated throughout the peak, sourced from thousands of disciples standing around a huge platform, coveted inside a dome made of internal energy.
The platform stretched to half a mile, with two individuals and an old man standing inside.
BOOOM!
“Kughhh!….You bastard, Lin Feng!” Wearing a white and blue robe, clenching his chest, a man glared at another young man in front of him, who looked back at him with a soft smile.
“Senior Brother, please don’t curse me, it’s wrong.” With softened emotions filled with the pain of being abused like this in front of everyone, Feng showed his dissatisfaction.
“Yes! How could you curse our brother!” Several voices from the crowd emerged, supporting one of the naive and kind prime disciples, Lin Feng.
Unlike having several sects with different techniques passed down through them, the Jade Dominion only consists of two factions. Within these factions, disciples are taught different techniques based on their choices.
Furthermore, based on their current ranks, they are divided into categories, with senior members in the faction, such as a Prime Ranked Individual, being referred to as Prime Disciples.
SWISH
Feng’s figure blurred before instantly arriving in front of the man, whose eyes widened seeing such speed before swiftly bringing his sword to block.
CLANK
Thud
“Khuckk!” The man was brought to his knees due to the force behind the sword strike, making the floor beneath break instantly, gripping the sword with both hands while looking at the young man.
“Senior Brother…”
“I am leaving.” Looking at the battle happening on the platform, a young woman with a complete black cloak, hidden face with only amethyst eyes visible, stood from her seat before leaving her message.
“W-wait, Miss Bella, but you need to judge him.” A servant hurriedly ran towards Bella before bowing while reminding her of the reason she was here for.
Standing there, the young woman’s eyes turned towards the dome, inside which a handsome young man had brought a Prime Ranked individual to his knees. Glancing for some time, Bella stated, “There is nothing to see in him; he is just stretching the battle when he could easily kill that guy with one sword strike.”
Turning towards the servant, she continued, “Either he is delaying to impress someone or just wants to make his enemy fall in despair, that’s it.”
SWISH
Without waiting for another moment, the young woman’s body blurred before vanishing.
‘No, Senior Brother will kill me,’ the servant gritted his teeth, seeing his attempt to interrupt that woman from leaving fail.
.
.
.
.
tap tap
Moving inside the long hallway made of wood, the young woman’s amethyst eyes looked towards the vast expanse filled with several wooden houses and pagodas, unlike Heindal, which was completely changed under the rule of the Silvester family and Empress Olivia Silvester.
Ignoring all those scenery, her eyes settled on a flying ship with an Ether Reactor, providing it speed and strength to easily move between nearby continents yet not accessible to everyone.
As she approached the exit of the hallway leading to an open space, some sounds became audible.
“Haaah”
CLANK
“Haaah”
CLANK
The moment she entered that open space, the first sight that visited her was a young woman with pink hair holding a dagger while engaged in training spar with a private instructor.
“Jenny, I completed my promise to act as judge, now it’s your time.” Bella, with a blank expression hidden underneath her black cloak, reminded the young woman about her promise.
“Haaa…..What! Why so soon!” Jenny halted in her way, looking towards Bella with widened eyes. By giving her the responsibility of acting as judge, she thought she would have some time for training.
“I don’t know. Now, give me the flying ship. I will return in a week.” Without hesitation, Bella approached Jenny with her amethyst eyes filled with killing intent, directly detected by the instructor who swiftly jumped between her and Jenny.
“Stop there, young miss. I detected killing intent from her. Please stay behind me.” The instructor kept her guard up, not letting Bella make any movement, understanding the threat this woman held due to the predator aura she emitted.
“W-what? Hey, stop, you’re just new here.” Jenny hurriedly cleared the misunderstanding and swiftly moved towards Bella while ordering the instructor, “You stay here. I will come back in some time.”
“Let’s go,” Jenny called her before turning to leave the place and heading towards the flying ship situated at a long distance from her place, while Bella only nodded before following her.
“Did you find that flagbearer?” While moving, Jenny placed her daggers in side sheath inquired, knowing the reason for that killing intent some time ago related to the event of five years ago.
“Yes, last time he had escaped from our hand, but I just got a message from Amayara that he will be in the nearby continent soon.” Bella kept her eyes fixed straight without a blink of expression, moving in a composed form with sharp killing intent surging within.
“Um, Bella, I already told you to stay away from that girl, I mean Amayara.” Jenny stated but seeing Bella halting in her way and looking at her like that, she swiftly shook her head, clarifying, “I mean, let’s suppose if she was wrong about his death.”
Seeing Bella’s eyes narrowing, getting a boost, Jenny added, “I mean, how can we believe her like this? I don’t think that guy can die. After all, he survived all of us last tim…”
In the flow of words, Jenny recounted events of her previous life, not thinking that it would only cause more confusion for Bella, who is unaware of such things.
“…” Bella, seeing how Jenny was trying to persuade her to stay away from Amayara who shared the same goal as her, she added, “I arrived at that place after a day. Except for those two dead bodies, there was an intense smell of him present. I can never mistake his smell.”
drip
Unnoticed by Jenny, a trickle of blood due to a bitten lip wetted the black cloth which had become a facade to hide her misery, with eyes hollow due to all the good memories she had removed after the death of Ryuk von Selvius.
Jenny also averted her gaze, not having anything to say in this matter, not able to believe in the death of an individual who would have survived like he always does.
But Amayara had seen with her soul gaze to confirm his death, and even Bella was this sure. ‘Is Ryuk really dead?’
“I will not stop until I kill all of them, and no one can stop me, Jenny, not even you.”
