Top 2 Strongest Vs Top 5

5 weeks and 2 days later. In the workshop under the sea.

"And this here... woah! Teacher, your comrade is sooo good! I usually think I can beat you somewhere amidst the battle. I just can't face this person! Your comrade is like always knowing what I'm gonna do… and- and a wall before me. Have you ever beat this person?" Little Ish said as she sat on a simple chair to Heian Ciemnosc's right. She had gotten bored at looking at the insanely long thing before her, which both ends she couldn't see, and decided to duel the same person her teacher introduced to her. However, without any changes, she was utterly helpless.

“...” Heian Ciemnosc ignored her and continued to observe over the project before him. Of course, he did shake his head at her helplessness, but the little girl wouldn’t approve him backseating her even if that meant he cared for her, so she was on her own. Heian Ciemnosc sent his dark Neutral Energy all around the insanely long, broad, and tall structure, which was already being worked on and was no longer in the planning phase for all its necessary preparations.

Even as Little Ish fought with all her heart and tried to outsmart her opponent, the other person was too formidable. She looked up to see the project occasionally, for it was too massive, and it amazed her how her teacher could deal with it. Some time passed before she felt it was enough and no longer bothered the other person. When Heian Ciemnosc saw her chat farewells to Darkness Wife#1 before closing it to relax in her seat.

“Are you done?” Heian Ciemnosc asked. The little girl stretched some more, with the workers avoiding the sight and the Imperial Guards looking to see if they had to beat someone to a pulp again instead of letting their honorable assigned supervisor do it himself. She shook her head and cutely spoke, “Yup. Imperial Teacher, I’m ready for the next trial and about to enter the Second Step… Will you make my breakthrough in the jungle? Like one of those stories?!”

“Nope,” Heian Ciemnosc didn’t move his head as he responded while his left hand smoothly flowed, and more dark Neutral Energy circled in some other spots around the most immense project. After crushing her main protagonist-wannabe, he cruelly added, “You think those characters are good for something? Others find realistic problems all the time, but they never do and are never explained, which is kinda dumb. Are you dumb? My little royal princess?”

“Ahehee~! … Ahem! No, I’m not, teacher.” A silly little girl responded, mellowly and with a coy behavior. She straightened her back and responded again, much to her growing self and not like a spoiled little rat. Heian Ciemnosc looked down at her as she stared ahead, sweating under the imaginary presence his darkest eyes gave her. Just as she seemed to be at her limit, and Heian Ciemnosc was going to let her go, the vip elevator, newly constructed beside the gates, opened.

Step, step, step. “The Empress is present!!!” An Imperial Guard shouted when her eyes identified a tiny iota of the Empress’s aura. The entire room, except the workers, directly knelt and prostrated themselves before her, causing endless ‘PUTONG!’ to sound. Empress Shuna’s grace descended upon the workshop, but only some workers knelt. The others kept working after bowing to the Empress.

The workers couldn’t just stop because of her presence. This was just one of many ‘special’ procedures signed and written by the Empress. There were far too many steps to complete the daily quota of even missiles and ammunition, let alone top-notch battleships or top-notch arsenal. Heian Ciemnosc stood up, while Little Ish beamed when her mother came and rushed to stand before her, proud of being her daughter.

“Eh, I’ll take you with me to spend time together in a while. First, I need to talk with your teacher.” Ruffling through her daughter’s unique hair, Empress Shuna gently spoke and caressed Little Ish’s face before patting the bridge of her daughter’s nose. The little girl nodded and turned around after tightening a grip on her mother’s fingers. Heian Ciemnosc walked over with a knowing face, and before his little grin could twist and his words come out, she initiated.

“Seeing this face… Now, I think I can confirm that a majority of the Far East Region is within your grasp? Is your… Spirit Sense that large? And can your… dark Soul endure it?” Empress Shuna’s words halted Heian Ciemnosc. He nodded and put on a bored face as he stood before her. “Yeah, more or less. But there are a few places that just like avoiding me 24/7, although I’m not taking everything happening all at once.”

“Huh? Is that your limit?” Empress Shuna took a step forward as she asked again playfully. Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyebrows slightly raised before answering. “Oh, no. But it’s boring to know what everyone is doing. Even when I was just a kid, things like amorous couples and dramas weren’t my favorite scenes. I liked more the flora and fauna around me… I was new to all that.”

“Mmm,” Empress Shuna nodded upwards, becoming slightly lost, understanding Heian Ciemnosc’s meaning. But she continued to step forward, slower and like a predator, like a tiger walking through nature and searching for possible prey. However, she was no terrestrial threat. She is a dragon. Thus, as she passed by his right side, and her right wrist descended on his shoulder, her head slightly turned towards him, her soft words drilled into his ear, into his head.

“What do you have to fear? I can always compensate you. Besides,” Empress Shuna’s wrist rapidly descended, and suddenly, Heian Ciemnosc felt his lower belly with something crossing through his Academy uniform and land softly on his pale skin and muscles. “And I am very willing to know what I’m eating… for the rest of my life. Are you?”

“I’m not scared by words or bounds… only if I do them at my rules and desire,” Heian Ciemnosc’s right hand picked the hint and grabbed her waist and back, pulling her against his slightly strong-feeling arms and front. Even as she wasn’t trying to tie Heian Ciemnosc forever, right here and now, and possibly not in the future, Empress Shuna’s eyebrows rose when she heard the conviction under his every word. She smiled with dangerously narrowed eyes and spoke in a whisper. “I’ll take your word for that.”

“About what you came here for…?” Heian Ciemnosc tilted his head to the left, and things cooled off rapidly. It was a quick moment where nobody watched them nor dared to, and they were suddenly intimate. It was quirky, but it harmed nobody, eh. Empress Shuna nodded and said, while taking half a step back, “There are some things that are happening inland. You should discuss them with the Blauw Empire’s hierarchy now that tension between our… between 3 sides is brewing. I’ll give you up to the next year to train my little girl until she can defend herself in these incoming turbulent times.”

“Heard clear and loud, m’lady,” Heian Ciemnosc grinned without a care. Empress Shuna looked at him without blinking, content and satisfied with his confidence and sureness. Having come here and dealt with the crucial matter rapidly and efficiently, Empress Shuna nodded and turned to face her daughter while Heian Ciemnosc ate her alive with his deliciously adorable darkest eyes. “Little Ish, come here!”

“Coming~~! Agh. I swear I almost won against Darkness Wife#2, but she is so ruthless… even to her army. To think one can make their archers and ranged cavalry get down and go melee so vehemently, gosh!” Little Ish responded to her mother and complained in her heart while finishing the fight in her Universal Conveyance. She walked to her mother, and the latter pushed her daughter against her body before giving Heian Ciemnosc a comforted glance.

“I’ll get busy,” Heian Ciemnosc nodded back and said. He watched the pair leave as the Imperial Guards and some workers continued kneeling. Just as they were nearing the vip elevator, Heian Ciemnosc saw the Empress turn around while Little Ish was kept at her side. The Empress lightly shouted with a very soft tone. “Right, I almost forgot it. The Feathered Valley Pavilion and the Clashing Dust Cult’s upper echelons are waiting at the Small City’s central building! You should talk to them and explain to them your plans.”

“...” Heian Ciemnosc didn’t say anything or nod at her and simply tilted his head to the right with his darkest eyes, giving her a blatant stare. But then, he lifted his chin and lightly shouted back, “Who?”

“...” Empress Shuna smiled from ear to ear, looking into his darkest eyes in the distance before turning around and walking into the vip elevator. Heian Ciemnosc waved his hand, with only Little Ish waving it back while finally being defeated by another Darkness Wife. Heian Ciemnosc shook his head, imagining how to tease her the next time she lost in his presence. Afterwards, Heian Ciemnosc spent more time instructing the workers who had already stood back up and bid farewell to the Imperial Guards, now standing with a nod. Time to do business.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

… After exiting the workshop under the sea, Heian Ciemnosc flew his Ornament at mid-speed towards the Small City. He arrived 25 minutes later and took another 5 to enter the Small City’s central building and look for one of the largest meeting halls. His dark coat fluttered silently and without a breeze, granting him so much mystery that the maids, already traumatized with some training time, feel surprised to see him nonetheless.

Tu- tum~! Heian Ciemnosc opened the doors to the meeting hall and entered it with all casualness. His pitchest-blackest hair had grown back to below his ear, but it was naturally combed backwards. Although this was thanks to his All-Devouring Force Chronicles. It looked genuine, and, in a sense, it was. His attire and features were enough to marvel at the people who had already seen him before, and many times for that matter.

Immediately, Heian Ciemnosc became the main factor in dozens of people’s retinas. His aura and appearance were somehow much more enigmatic and striking than when he was outside. They felt he was completely different from when he went to visit them and when he was giving their hierarchy pointers. Instinctively, everyone under the pale purple clothed fellas deeply bowed down in greeting, with the pale purple clothed fellows slowly bowing in respect.

“Welcome, but you know that, by coming here, you have essentially shown the others your side, right?” Heian Ciemnosc stood before them and asked, placing his left hand in the pocket of his uniform pants. Pastor Miguel and Head Mo Liao stepped forward and clasped their hands to greet him again, drawing his attention to them. Heian Ciemnosc looked around a little before settling his darkest eyes down on them.

The meeting hall was different from the one the banquet was held in. It was circular, and although it could have any furniture, it was empty. The floor was a beige-yellow, with some fringes in between of a brownish-yellow color, turning everything quite luxurious without needing to gleam golden and cost millions of Stones.

“We do, Sir. But if we were afraid of an alliance forged by hatred and pseudo-ignorant benefits without harming each other, we would’ve tried killing you back then even if it meant our deaths… Something we weren’t aware of before…” Pastor Miguel came forward again with his smile, lowering his head somberly but keeping those corners of his mouth up and jovial. Head Mo Liao was next, and he bowed again before eloquently speaking. “We are here not to ask for help or introductions but to navigate through what’s to come. What is the Empire willing to do if our organizations… try to change history?”

“Hm,” Heian Ciemnosc grinned his pale red lips while looking at Head Mo Liao and started with a different subject first. “Head Mo, you always had a good talent for Soul. Although it isn’t that incredible, it should let you control even 7 more draconic Fauna if you’re careful enough, as I’ve taught your people.”

“Well then, welcome again to everyone present here. I will start by announcing: no. The Blauw Empire isn’t looking forward to start a war with the inland organizations, of course not.” Heian Ciemnosc’s blatant, tasteless words left them feeling somewhat complicated as if the train they were in halted and became stagnant for a few eternities. But Heian Ciemnosc’s following words were there to pick them up.

Clap, clap! “But a conflict is a different matter.” Heian Ciemnosc walked to the meeting hall’s center and clapped his hands. The lights went off, although that meant nothing for any cultivator, and a high definition hologram appeared 3 meters above him. “These are the number of Frigates, Destroyers of Low, Medium, Advanced Classes, and Cruisers. But this is the only information you’ll be shown as outsiders from our circle.”

“Wow…” - “This fast?” - “How could it be? This…” - “If this is true, they are too many.” The crowd reacted as they saw the smaller-scale drawings of each battleship placed from the left to the right in size order. The Cruisers were hella long and wide, covering a notable and heroic space in the meeting hall. Heian Ciemnosc continued to speak when he saw the expected reaction from these people.

“Each of these is fully equipped… and that might very well be understood as a regulation in the Blauw Empire’s army, navy, and air forces.” Heian Ciemnosc’s words picked the immediate interest from the sharpest individuals. One was Pastor Miguel, but surprisingly or not, Head Mo Liao was one of them and even asked Heian Ciemnosc first. “Assigned supervisor, does this mean your- the Blauw Empire’s forces are… not just concentrated in the navy? Is it also… for ground and air forces?”

“Of course,” Heian Ciemnosc jerked his head backwards and blinked. He didn’t show any more numbers from the military but showed another drawing, shocking them to the core. After witnessing the Blauw Empire’s navy’s Small Flotilla, the Pastor, Preacher, Head, and Grand Master relayed the exotic news and sightings to the rest of their organization’s hierarchies. No doubt they would invest some of their free time to run the catalog of these beauties. Thus, they recognized the Carrier battleship’s holographic blueprint at once.

When they saw the stupid amount of machine guns, artillery, and the number of rocket launches, with the auspicious HD rocket launcher protruding from one of its sides, they marveled and felt overwhelmed but pacified simultaneously. They were glad to have ‘befriended’ the Blauw Empire, but they also felt troubled and downcast when they remembered they weren’t even true allies. The amount of missiles one of those things could have was simply dumb and stupid.

“Why are you showing us this, Sir?” Even Preacher Alex, who only cared to ask how much and how many, felt inclined to ask. She couldn’t help but feel as if this incredible organization, changed in the last couple years, was holding in something damn good for them. Who didn’t want something that’d make their force substantially stronger? More defendable? Or simply untouchable?

“Yes, I do have something for you. However, this is not the Blauw Empire’s ‘trading’ here, but me, in exchange for your cooperation. Although my power and status are all linked and reliant on the Wrath Nihility Academy, I myself am not someone without any capabilities.” Heian Ciemnosc explained shortly before flinging his right arm backwards lazily and pointing at another holographic image showcasing a formation of 7 battleships.

“The Small Flotilla’s formation?!” Grand Master Errticol cried out. His eyes went wide at the possibilities, but he kept his mind at ease and composed himself. At the side, some Imperial Guards sniggered at the ‘country bumpkins’ looking up as if they wanted to off their necks already. The guests didn’t bother about them, knowing they were sure as hell not Heian Ciemnosc and couldn’t do as they wished without fear of its consequences.

“Right here… right now, I’m promising you blueprints and manuals for the Small Flotilla.” Heian Ciemnosc’s words were tempting, charming, and attractive. The Head and Pastor had to take a deep breath in so as to not nod their heads like chickens. Preacher Alex was astounded, but after pondering, she felt something was missing and asked. “That’s it? You’ll help us by gifting us all this vital information not even Third Step organizations can obtain without paying hefty costs?”

“It is costly for you, but while I believe knowledge like this shouldn’t be unnecessarily deprived of general libraries, physical or digital, little me’s opinion is worthless.” Heian Ciemnosc walked towards them lackadaisically, swinging his shoulders up and down as his upper torso moved akin to a predator’s. He finished his speech, “They might be too much for you, so much that you wouldn’t be able to do a thing and would rather just sell it. Well, you can do as you wish. But take this into consideration… it is the intention that counts sometimes.”

“W-what about…?” Head Mo Liao hesitated. Heian Ciemnosc looked at him, narrowed his eyes, crossed his arms, and looked like a hidden crowd under the obscure room. “Yes?”

“What about the Medium and Large Flotillas? Will you… also, exchange them with a favor?” Head Mo Liao sweated a little but decided to be blatant with a pair of imaginary sun-sized eggs. Heian Ciemnosc kept his silent stare, making the atmosphere awkward and grim, but then grinned and opened his goddamned pale red lips. “Nah, those will depend on the Blauw Empire. They are the Region’s named ruler. Only they should decide something as important as this.”

“It’s something the Empress and I agreed on. While keeping stability means some strengths cannot be spread, there are needs for limits and…” Heian Ciemnosc suddenly looked at everyone in the eyes, but they felt like he looked farther than into their brains. “Subordination.”

“!!!” The crowd fell paralyzed like a rain of shock fell upon them, and they became stunned silly. Heian Ciemnosc and anyone with some awareness could read their faces. He didn’t wait to be asked something obvious again and directly said with a polite smile, “Well, you all know what an Empire is allowed to do in terms of expansion. There’s a reason only the Soul Empire is the one Empire in Changes to appear in the highest skies. And why they have no fellow Empire soaring to the same step, quite literally.”

“...” The atmosphere suddenly changed again and bathed the organizations with an ugly sensation. They felt slightly disgusted by what it meant. They had history, and they knew both Heian Ciemnosc and the Empire respected it, but his direct words were like taking their wives or husbands and sending their children as hostages. It felt too stupid and close to civilians’ morbid methods. They, no one, liked that.

“Sigh, those times are still some time away from our current destination. We should speak of the nearest future,” Grand Master Errticol closed his eyes and heavily said. He opened them to look at Heian Ciemnosc, tiredness present within them as if he had lost some decades of lifespan. “What does the little black monster wants us to do in exchange for these blueprints and manuals?”

“First, they will go to you after the Blauw Empire makes its move. You won’t be notified, to keep secrecy, of course. But you will… oh, you will notice.” Heian Ciemnosc terribly smiled. Then, he continued as he ‘sat’ in the air and hung his legs downwards. “Secondly and lastly… Don’t be a pushover anymore. Show what the knowledge I’ve granted you really means. Don’t disappoint the world after you’ve come to know a little more about it. If you’re aiming beyond the skies, prove it!!”

Heian Ciemnosc’s face turned solemn on the second half of his answer, and the guests fell pensive.

…