Sanz Kingdom, Upper Kingdom

3 days later. After spending the entire trip traveling through Universal portals, one after another, the vessel bringing the Wrath Nihility Academy to their destination was just a short hour before arriving at their allocated space station.

In his fifth year in the Wrath Nihility Academy, Heian Ciemnosc was already leading a large group on a mission outside the Universe, where the Academy was located. With several Second Step students under his command, Heian Ciemnosc was seen as a distinguished role model to follow and a nuisance for others. For example, a few teams sent with him weren't contented-looking as they watched Heian Ciemnosc walk from team to team, checking if things were in order and being received warmly by those students.

Having noticed these students’ attitude towards him without any previous interaction, Heian Ciemnosc proceeded to ignore them. Although he did visit them on the first day to personally ask about their situation, he didn’t return to them afterwards. They weren’t any priority, nor was there a situation. The trip to their destination was without event, calm and silent as the vessel moved through space.

This vessel was a transporting ship, but a massive one. It currently counted thousands of tons and tons of materials being exchanged between the Blackotia Kingdom and other Kingdoms. This meant that the Wrath Nihility Academy, which had maintained total neutrality over every matter, had started trading, focusing on it instead of resorting to it when necessary. Their destination wasn’t the vessel’s target. It would fly through space as soon as it left the 10,000 students in the space station.

Heian Ciemnosc would be able to call the Academy to pick them up only after a limit of 15 days since they descended onto the Sanz Kingdom, their destination, and where their main objective was also the entire Kingdom’s most important event for hundreds of years. After checking everything and everyone, Heian Ciemnosc looked at his heated medallion, which received a notification that his request to descend with his Fighters was approved.

He walked to his Concealed Ornament Team and remained there for a minute before everyone started spreading the news, not making a considerable announcement because of it. Of course, they had to descend quickly, attracting much attention from the space station. But those quick movements were typical for any Upper Kingdom’s space station or higher.

Soon, an hour passed, and Heian Ciemnosc stood up from sitting cross-legged on the hangar’s floor. His team members had already broke into the Spirit Rebirth realm, at least most of them have. Aleksander was still falling behind by choice more than anything. Elena had been sparring with other Spirit Rebirth realm students in her and Heian Ciemnosc’s team, getting used to the fighting in that realm. But she was still defeated by Heian Ciemnosc’s raw bodily strength, which she could no longer contain against with her Power Energy as she did a couple years ago.

Looking at the crowd, who looked at him with anticipation, already knowing they must be close to the Sanz Kingdom’s spatial territory, Heian Ciemnosc opened his mouth and declared. “In less than 40 minutes, prepare your Fighters to immediately descend onto the Kingdom. We won’t be making a stop. This is an Upper Kingdom and has its Third Step organization overlord rules, just as our Middle Kingdom has. Respect it, and don’t cause trouble, or you’ll be forfeited.”

His voice wasn’t as loud as when he first spoke to them before their trip commenced, but it was still in everyone’s ears. They nodded and stood up, springing into action to check their babies before getting inside and starting piloting procedures. But just then, a voice sounded. It came from a white young man, slightly thick in volume with defined muscles and a nice figure. He had yellowish short, smallish hair and wore a sleeveless Academy dark gray uniform.

“Why not? Maybe I wanna pee. Or maybe I want to get to know your teammates? And those teams around you. Ah! I mean, everyone in the group, you know? We need to underst-” The young man glanced at Elena, Sakura, Violet, Fengli, and even Yon and Arla as he spoke with hidden trips beneath his words. However, Heian Ciemnosc’s eyes simply glanced once at the young man briefly before narrowing them and sweeping them in another direction.

“Shut it up,” the young man was already in the Second Step, but he became silenced by Heian Ciemnosc’s sudden words, startling him. Before the young man’s reddening face could respond, Heian Ciemnosc added, “I’ll remind you, I’m your Commander here. Not just the leader of this group and every team above your team leaders. I am the rule you cannot disobey even if you’re in the Broken Crystallization realm. That changes nothing.”

“If you aren’t content, go and tell the Supervisor who’s been watching over you all along,” Heian Ciemnosc said with his head low and his tone uncaring, dragged on, and even pitched in a disdainful way. He continued, “I won’t accept anyone who doesn’t accept me. So, if you want to return, do so knowing you’re failing this mission… willingly. The Academy won’t forget that.”

“If you simply distrust me, then you should even more go back, crying.” Heian Ciemnosc walked forward, separating from his Team, not hesitating to walk hundreds of steps away. “I am not here to carry anyone. None of you here were selected just so you could have vacations. If that was the case, why not send every student who went to war? 10,000 students moving, each with their fully armed Fighters, isn’t a simple action.”

“The Sanz Kingdom doesn’t have much history with us, but just as many other Kingdom’s overlords have done, they acknowledged our position as the Blackotia Kingdom’s overlord. With this being said… who still wants to act like they are immortal in a place the Academy has only glanced from afar until now?” Heian Ciemnosc turned around after finishing his words and returned to his team. Elena nodded at him as he passed her by, and she went into her Bulldog Fighter.

“We’re ready, Commander!” - “Ready to go!” - “Everything’s almost prepared, sir!” The teams in the hangar responded to Heian Ciemnosc’s speech after a few minutes, sounding like a rising tide that couldn’t be stopped. It was light, not a commotion, but it still made the faces of that young man and other teams around him unsightly. The pressure was too much, and in the end, the young man had to say it too, with the others following after him. “Ready!”

With this small event gone, the hangar became quiet, still, and peaceful. There wasn’t impatience or discontent in waiting. When everyone was constantly looking towards Heian Ciemnosc’s unique Fighter. The hangar’s hatch opened. Although it wasn’t the main one, it was bigger than the transporting ships they used during the war. The teams’ eyeballs, including the young man’s and the others supporting him, became entirely visible from the front as they gazed directly into ‘raw’ space. It was completely empty and black, nearly impossible to distinguish something.

Fwuuh~...

Before anyone could wake up, they saw a seemingly invisible object move. It was smaller than a Bulldog, swifter than a General Model, and as agile as a Sweet Carolina Fighter. They wanted to look back as if they understood something. But many other shadows moved at a quick speed towards space, leaving the hangar. Those were naturally Heian Ciemnosc’s Ornament and his Concealed Ornament Team taking flight.

The startled students finally reacted after realizing what it was all about, quickly chasing after their Commander. But they were too slow as another 5 teams beat them to it. As such, in a matter of several seconds, thousands of Fighters came out from space and headed towards the Sanz Kingdom quickly. Some stayed behind and turned around to see the vessel they had been traveling with and its enormous size.

It wasn’t a moving fortress, only because it had anti-missile mini-turrets and a good layer of armor that could protect it shortly against top-notch machine guns. But it didn’t have much other than that. It had several floors that could be looked at from the outside. Those layers were further divided by many more floors, all holding several modules for maintenance and security, among other things, like personnel.

However, those Fighters were immediately called upon, already notified of a punishment once they arrived at the Sanz Kingdom for dawdling. Their team leaders called to them after receiving Heian Ciemnosc’s instruction and strict regulations whenever an ‘if’ happened. Now that they saw it happening, they felt like those things weren’t just for show and felt glad they didn’t dismiss such a concept.

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

As the small trail of Fighters flew from the hangar, a couple seconds after the last Fighter went out, the vessel closed its hatch before immediately departing from the space station. This space station was a few times larger than those from the Blackotia Kingdom, and the distance these had from the Sanz Kingdom was equal to the space stations around the Blackotia Kingdom. It was like that everywhere, as they were of a higher or lower grading.

Ignoring the calls and notifications of people who disobeyed his orders from before and letting them stack in his medallion, Heian Ciemnosc looked at the gigantic ball that was the Sanz Kingdom, many times grander than the Blackotia Kingdom and an infinitude of times than the Sinvonnia Kingdom. Although Heian Ciemnosc hasn’t walked in a Minor Kingdom, he could already tell what it would feel like to move through one after experiencing that much in the Blackotia Kingdom.

He looked at the space surrounding the Sanz Kingdom’s sphere, barely catching sight of it to the extreme sides of his windows. Only if he looked backwards could he see a completely different panorama. As he piloted his Ornament, the other COs were admiring the view, amazed at their eyes barely seeing anything else but the Sanz Kingdom’s spatial image, their minds easing up only after a couple minutes as they entered its aerial space.

The Fighters crossed the Kingdom’s natural barriers, meeting stagnant, patrolling Fighters accompanying a Frigate, forming an Upper Kingdom-extensive next that only let the safest zones to be traversed unobstructed. As Heian Ciemnosc passed through several patrolling teams, he had to show his authorization as they scanned his Fighter and unveiled his identity. He only needed to activate his Universal Conveyance whenever he received a patrolling team’s request for identification. There was no need to speak or show his face. Souls were absolute, after all.

The rest of the group didn’t have to do anything. At last, they continued to descend until they saw the land a few hundred kilometers below their Fighters. Even then, with the sight of all settlements nearby, mostly cities surrounded by a few Cities and numerous towns, villages, and fortresses. The Fighters’ speed lowered, and they no longer faced the ground but began descending while heading in a particular direction.

Fvvvwuuuumm~, fvwum fvwum fvwum.

The Fighters’ smallish engines were no longer soundless as they still flew rapidly. But even as their speed would’ve been almost at the top in the Blackotia Kingdom. Here, they were practically standard. It took them 2 hours to arrive before a City, where they saw many more vessels directly coming down and parking outside in its aerial territory. Heian Ciemnosc’s group flew into the City, their allocated underground hangar prepared for their arrival since they reached the space station.

As Heian Ciemnosc traveled the skies, he saw the clear difference between a Middle and an Upper Kingdom. The latter had many more herbs of standard use flocking everywhere, untouched and ownerless by even the Kingdom’s overlord as the ecosystem grew and, possibly in millions of years or slightly less, a new special zone in the Kingdom would be born.

After all, an Upper Kingdom was already in the grading for the vastest things in the world. Be it because of their expansive territory and its better advantages in terms of power levels, affecting other things such as array formations, comprehension of recorded legacies spread around the world, and even the most terrifying things of all that most cultivators, even in the Fourth Step may not witness… Ghosts!

Then, there was the increase and quality change between the Blackotia Kingdom, a Middle Kingdom at its peak, and the Sanz Kingdom in pure energy. Although it was much better than in the Blackotia Kingdom, it was still worse off than the cultivation rooms for a First Step cultivator. The former changes with nature, affecting everything in that Kingdom. But the latter is universal, and one only needs resources to create it.

This is how a Third Step organization may have millions of First Step peak experts but only a few tens of thousands more than a peak Second Step organization. They could also only be set in their respective Step’s Kingdom. Otherwise, and with due time, they’ll all become an organization of a lower Step. There was nothing worse for any organization than demoting a Step. Humiliation and shame were just the beginning of suffering for those organizations. Who didn’t want to kick others when they were done? Smart people. Most people are idiots.

If there wasn’t such common sense, any Second Step organization at its beginning would be able to obliterate any Minor Kingdom with a fraction of its second-strongest forces. Such things were impossible, and only little kids would wish for them. Besides, remaining in a Kingdom with a grade lower than one’s organization’s Step would be insanely costly, simply not worth it.

… Fviu~, fviu, fviu~. Heian Ciemnosc saw the zone where he was supposed to land and headed there. His flock followed without a doubt and maintained the same pace. In the last 20 seconds before Heian Ciemnosc arrived there, a few Fighters sped up, trying to catch up to him, startling the people below and giving them instructions on how to land their Fighters. However, his Team’s fighters missiles aimed at them, making those fighters abruptly halt.

“...” Heian Ciemnosc ignored that and established communications with the people below, who were coldly sweating and started to doubt whether to remain there or flee and report them to the City’s government when they received Heian Ciemnosc’s request for communications. Seeing a notorious name, the people below unanimously accepted the call.

“This is Wrath Nihility Academy’s First Step Commander. I apologize. This event wasn’t according to regulations. Please continue doing your work. We’ll add a few donations… If that’s pleasant to you.” Heian Ciemnosc let those words and muted himself with a command from his mind. The workers below seemed to calm down, nodding to each other as Heian Ciemnosc slowly came to a stop, and so did the other Fighters.

Seeing these few thousand Fighters hovering in the air like cute mortal weapons for even Second Step cultivators, the workers below felt slightly worried about making a commotion and started returning to their posts. Within minutes, every Frigate calmly flew to its destination, leaving the insubordinating Fighters stranded in the air under Heian Ciemnosc’s orders. Otherwise, the group had the strict command to shoot them down, treating them as a threat.

Oh, Heian Ciemnosc wasn’t joking.

The Fighters that behaved erratically understood that as everyone descended and parked in the underground hangar. But even as the Wrath Nihiliy Academy’s students were returning to the surface by walking, they were still locked by missiles of the Concealed Ornament Team, Crystal Fist Team, and Cari’s team, who remained above. After almost everyone was done parking their babies, Heian Ciemnosc stayed behind while the teams left to park their own.

Whoosh, whoosh…

Floating a hundred meters above the ground level, Heian Ciemnosc was out of his Ornament as he slowly moved towards those Fighters. The people inside them were silent and didn’t respond to Heian Ciemnosc’s request to video chat. Thus, he came out himself. His COs were left behind inside the Ornament as Heian Ciemnosc moved to float before the erratic Fighters’ leading Fighter, his appearance entirely black and even more so contrasted by his pale skin.

“You lift your helmet, open your window, or your cabin when your Commander is in front of you,” Heian Ciemnosc lightly ‘advised’ them. His words were followed by 2 seconds of silence. But Heian Ciemnosc did not speak again. He even seemingly looked at the leading Fighter’s pilot/captain. The cabin slid open, its windows retracted between the layers of armor, and the yellowish-haired young man from before appeared. However, the young man didn’t have a nasty expression, only a slight grin as he prepared his imposing words to come out from that twisted mouth.

“I only wanted to fly beside you, Commander. Nothing else, why did you have to aim at my people with such weaponry?” The young man said, his voice clear and ordinary at first, but then turned hurt and questioned Heian Ciemnosc. The latter only looked and didn’t respond. The young man felt his momentum being lost as he urged again. “Commander! No matter what, the punishment for misbehaving is only decreasing my merit points at best.”

“How many do you want? Five? Ten? I’ll give you 15 merit why I must be punished! The real reason why am I even being questioned here,” the young man said, pointing at his Fighter’s flooring. Heian Ciemnosc placed his forearms together in front of his pelvis, tilting his head to the right as he comfortably looked at the young man speak. Heian Ciemnosc then said without emotion behind his words, “Greg, I haven’t even addressed you before you started trashing about.”

“What are you questioning your Commander for?” Heian Ciemnosc continued, his eyes fearlessly looking at the person in the next Step! The others around Greg and his Fighter were wide-mouthed as they looked at Greg’s back and side profile, not believing this was happening. “Two cases of insubordination. I am starting to think that whoever put you in here didn’t think highly of you… Have you heard of Lionel?”

“You…!” Greg literally jerked his arm up, and insanely powerful Power Energy condensed, making Heian Ciemnosc’s eyes widen as he didn’t expect an attack. But it wasn’t. The Power Energy receded, only forming because of Greg’s rage and amazing Heian Ciemnosc… because he could tell this wasn’t miscontrol on the former’s part. That Power Energy was effectuated out of pure emotions!

‘Indeed, the Second Step… will be a lot of fun,’ Heian Ciemnosc thought as his eyes calmed down. At that very moment, Greg was secretly gloating and took pleasure in seeing Heian Ciemnosc’s sudden change. He grinned with the corners of his mouth twisting before starting to spit disgusting words from his mouth.

…

----------------------------------------

Let It Rain's note: Nevermind the signing, I just don't like that. Thank you for reading.