To destroy the Dark Hall is a pointless act.
With the empire in the hands of the Devilheart family, destroying this immediate threat is merely winning the battle but losing the war. What Kairos did by sending the location of the Dark Hall training centre back to his father, wasn’t to take immediate actions.
Instead, it was him casting the fishing line to hook the largest prey in the pool:
To take the Dark Hall captive.
As the enemy manoeuvre him towards their goal, he meet their every move and turn it instead towards his own objective.
Who will be the ultimate winner is yet to be decided.
Kairos and the other four confidently walk through the valley’s gates and into the Dark Hall secret base.
Behind them, the guards whispered, “Is it really okay to bring them back?”
“I don’t know… It feels like we are doing ourselves in, but I can’t figure out exactly from what.”
“Don’t worry. No matter how fearsome they are, once they are sworn in with Soul Slips they are still our comrades and cannot betray the Dark Hall.”
“I… I truly hope you’re right. You and I were not there at the academy, but just look at the fifty of them. I’m sure they had thought that way too…”
The five of them walked towards a rusted gate, not unlike those used at dungeons to keep prisoners in. They had a prickling feeling that the moment they step through this door, it will be a way of no return.
“The feeling was intended, surely,” the boys felt.
A young looking man with trimmed beard and glasses slightly bend forward and bowed at them.
The five of them stopped and returned his gesture.
Straightening his back, the young man said in a crisp voice, “Young masters, we have been awaiting you. Please follow me.”
He turned and opened the gate, beckoning them to follow.
Each step he took was two or three of a normal cultivator to force the five teens to jog in order to keep up.
However, Kairos waved his hand and in a moment, the young man was walking alongside them at the same speed.
A vein budged on his head, and the young man slowly increased his speed.
His steps quickened but the teens remained next to him.
His Ki enveloped his entire body as he fully activate his technique.
Wind carried his every step, allowing him to glide forward while walking. He appeared striding forward as anyone else, but every time he raised his foot, his body will rush forward.
Then, after a while, the group reached a junction in the path and they finally stopped.
No matter how much he struggled, it was impossible for him to outdistance the boys. He couldn’t tell what Kairos did and couldn’t give them a humbling lesson. Instead, he was the one humiliated.
Kairos did not use much to even the odds. His eyes could tell the swirl of energy around the young man that controlled the wind in every step, and he easily deciphered the method and came up with a counter almost immediately.
It sounded unconceivable that Kairos would hold such power at his age, but the truth was simpler. He only had to contact his Greater Lightning Spirit, Tempest with a thought, and static electricity started pouring on the young man. He was oblivious at the waves of energy at him, but his speed that was gained by the control of the airstream had already slowed down.
He was like a man wading in a river upstream while the five boys were walking alongside on the shore. Because he wasn’t purely using his own strength to walk, but carried by a gust, he could not tell there was a great force working against him. Nevertheless, now that he had stopped, he could tell there is something strange at work. The time needed to reach this crossroad isn’t different from walking normally, but he had already exhausted more than half of his internal energy wrestling with the air currents.
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At this time, sweat already are freely dripping from his forehead, and he said while suppressing any signs of being winded, “We will go to the Jade Hall first. The Dark Hall is separated into several Halls, each governing a different, important, task.
The Jade Hall is the place where your loyalty is given.”
The young man turned to the left and walked at a normal pace, no longer using his movement technique.
Kairos asked, “Besides the Jade Hall, what are the other Halls?”
The man did not hide anything and replied, “There are 9 Halls in total. In the organisation, the Command Hall is the head of the 9 Halls and controls the whole operation at every moment. The second is the Death Hall, where missions are listed – rewards and punishments are also meted at this place. The third is the Invitation Hall, where names of our targets, our invitees are created.”
Edward asked curiously, “Invitations from who, for what?”
“From Hades… for a permanent residence under the earth.”
Shrugging when the boys shivered, the young man continued, “The fourth is the Dance Hall. It uses the Dance word, and therefore is for dancing, partying and socialising.”
“An important place then, no wonder it is ranked four,” Kairos breathed, and the young man nodded in appreciation.
To learn to socialise and mingle, is to learn to infiltrate and invade. It is the most important skill of their unit.
“The fifth is the Silent Hall, where you will learn patience. The sixth is the Thoughts Hall, where you will learn how to take action.”
“Patience comes before action. A good creed,” said Tommy.
“The seventh is the Knowledge Hall, where you will learn the secrets of the world.”
“To learn how to think before equipping yourself with information. That is indeed the correct path. Without ideas and thoughts, even a mountain of data is useless,” Alan said.
The expression of the young man turned more and more serious as he realised what kind of calibre are the teens they had brought into their halls.
“The eighth is the Combat Hall, where you will learn to survive, and the ninth is the Jade Hall, keeping your Jade and Soul Slips.”
“The pen is mightier than the sword. Combat can only slay a weak enemy, but words can exterminate a nation. Indeed, the Combat Hall deserves to be the eighth. Keeping the Jade Hall as the ninth is also an interesting thing, the first hall is the head, and the last hall is indeed the tail, keeping the body whole,” said Edward.
A grim smile appeared on the young man.
He turned to look at the last of the five teens, Jim, “This one is dangerous too… the whole time he had not spoken a single word. Silence is golden. To know the value of each word at such an age, he isn’t someone to be underestimated either. A natural assassin… I’m glad they will soon become a part of the Dark Hall.”
He shuddered thinking if these five teens happen to be their enemies, what would happen.
At the same time, Jim’s thoughts were wandering around, “Wow, this place is so dank and dark… It’s like a magical dungeon. I wonder if there are a drake guarding treasures at the bottom… heheheh. Maybe I can sneak away later and explore the place?”
….
After half an hour, the group finally arrived at a door made of ancient white jade. In this darkness, it felt creepy like polished bones. In fact, the designer had this in mind. This is the gate of death, once someone passes through this entrance they should snip off any thoughts of returning.
“Come in,” the young man stepped into the room and said.
When the five followed him in, they found the place shrouded with misty darkness. It is impossible to see beyond a meter, yet the young man gestured for them to wait and walked away without stumbling.
The five relaxed without speaking.
The darkness is not a natural thing, but a black cloud of dust that blocked their sight. Unfortunately, the same thing could not bar their Soul Perception.
They could tell that beyond this curtain of dust is a huge room with many people. Not only does it separate the light from them, any sound will also be silenced.
The five continued searching through the area with their thoughts, as a dragonling escaped from Kairos’ robes and flew into the place.
“A room keeping Jade Slips, and 9 other rooms keeping Soul Slips, one for each hall. The Soul Slips are all labelled as well…”
The young man returned a while later and handed each of them a Jade Slip.
“I will now say the vow to give your loyalty to the Devilheart family. You will act in their accordance, and be their eyes, ears, and arms. You will be glad to work for them, you will be glad to die for them. Do you have anything to say?”
The young man waited a moment, and Kairos took the opportunity, saying, “Why do we give our loyalty to the Devilheart family, and not the throne, or the empire?”
“They are the regent.”
“I understand their position, but what about our seniors in the Dark Hall that gave their loyalty to the throne?”
“It doesn’t clash. The Devilheart family are loyal to the throne as well. Your seniors had all renewed their Soul Slips.”
Kairos smiled without saying anything more.
The Devilheart family had only recently become regent, yet they already had their hands in many pies.
Seeing that no one else had a question, the young man started the ritual and commanded, “Speak after me.”
The group spoke the binding contractual words, changing their Jade Slips into Soul Slips as a portion of their soul entered the small token. If they tried to reveal the secrets they learn in this place or go against their new master – the regent of the throne, their Soul Slip will light up indicating their betrayal. At that time, a feedback in their spirit will stop them in mid act, and anyone can now crush the activated Soul Slip – destroying their soul at the same time.
After that, death will come swiftly, and not painlessly.