Victory Ceremony
1 day later. Obscure Orb Sect's Godly Space Station.
The Obscure Orb Sect's Godly Space Station is situated in the same Universe its home Kingdom is, their core. However, this one was between the Universe and outside in the endless cosmos. It was built to both— create an image of being impenetrable and instill awe in others. It was one of the largest Godly Space Stations in the world, way above the Interchanging Dust Dynasty's, although they were in the Third Step and it wasn't a Godly-classified Space Station, and even the Phosphorescent Flower Sect.
When Heian Ciemnosc arrived here with his Master and the suddenly teleporting Low Battleship that the young black monster’s force was missing, the ceremony had already started. The entire Obscure Orb Godly Space Station brimmed with life, and the people of the Existence were rotundly happy, while the Evergazing Existence’s acting leading figures were somber and lifeless.
A contrast. Sure. But nobody cared, be it the winner or the losing side. They all did their role well as the festivities had just started, and the world had heard, for the first time, what war in this new Change is like.
Besides all the boasting and arrogance that the Existence’s people could afford after winning the first ever Existences’ war in the world’s new Change, they were comfortably strolling, taking food and drinks, and observing the numerous shows and highlights.
Step, step, step… step step step- step step step- step step step… step, step, step.
As Heian Ciemnosc walked with Calisneia holding his left arm as if she could not bear to part with it, he looked to his left where a digital screen, a square kilometer long, showcased a part of his chase of the enemy’s key target of their younger generation, not just a portal-like ring.
The young black monster silently observed and showed a tiny trace of a grin before it was immediately erased. Then, the young black monster continued walking as seemingly nobody noticed Calisneia. She even went as far as to show affection in public and leaned her right cheek on his left shoulder, holding his left arm dearly and like a claw, not letting him go.
“Look! It’s young black monster! Claws out, claws out! Rawrr!” - “Kyaa~! He’s more handsome and tall in person! What they say about celebrities isn’t true. Hehe.” - “Is that his dong? I think I saw something slap the shit out of his pants…” - “Daughter, you had me to grow up with. Why do you behave this way? What did I do wrong?” - “...”
All Races of children, young ones, and sad elderly walked around and noticed Heian Ciemnosc. They pointed at him for half a second, retracting their hands in 5 parts of respect and the other 5 out of fear. Some were astounded to see their idols, others curious. Some others were naughty but were polite, too. And others fell pensive…
After walking for 2 hours, Heian Ciemnosc and Calisneia arrived at the ginormous central building. Several kilometers above, where one could see spacecraft and high-end festivity celebratory decorations, fireworks performances, and materialistic shows were ongoing.
“Do you want to go with me?” After looking up, craning his neck, and letting Calisneia look at the thing she bit so much she accidentally tore overly pale skin from… several times, Heian Ciemnosc looked down and asked his wife. Calisneia didn’t respond and just tilted her head slightly to the left. Her jet black hair and that pale white strand of a female layer of hair that could cover her face dangled to the side, conveying ‘do you want me there or not?’ with a gaze.
“I want you to come with me,” Heian Ciemnosc dashingly smiled and made his Master slightly smile from the left corner of her mouth. She nodded while looking up as Heian Ciemnosc held her right hand and dragged her inside. It would be a short way up since a hundred servants were already waiting for him with sweaty, nervous expressions and demeanor.
Walking through the crowd, Heian Ciemnosc lightened the mood by simply showing a few gestures. That was enough to calm everyone down. Immediately after, he left the main entrance and reception hall to a bunch of smiley fellows who couldn’t believe someone younger or of a similar age to him had accomplished so much.
If only they knew about the trio Special Lotus Bodies Heian Ciemnosc fought in space and their characteristics, they might not have reacted this hard…
After taking the VIP personal elevator, Heian Ciemnosc felt his body make a light jump from outside the little box. Calisneia was as if she didn’t feel it, while Heian Ciemnosc regarded it as a little funny experience. He had tried his 7 meter dark tail just for fun. This was, indeed, nothing compared to it.
…WUAAAH~~! CLAMOR~! TRUMPET!
Then, as soon as the elevator’s doors opened, Heian Ciemnosc and Calisneia were bathed in numerous, varying decibels. Heian Ciemnosc plastered a tiny, smooth, polite grin on his overly pale, red lips and walked with Calisneia, following half a step behind him. She looked at him and thought, ‘This is your moment.’
“Owaaaah~! And what do we have here?! It’s theeeeee… YOUNG - BLACK - MONSTEEER~!!!” Suddenly, from the only person speaking in a microphone that was previously naming the heroic acts of the people he previously named looked in Heian Ciemnosc’s direction as if he always knew the adamantly handsome, young black monster was there and shouted.
The crowd followed the man’s words, making it seem like a kid’s party, but that was where the fun lay. The serious stuff might start later, but not just yet. After clamoring for his title, the crowd cheered one last time before relaxing, showing smiles of pride and contentment as they got to keep their homes intact.
As for the other side? Besides the Evergazing Existence provoking others, could they say anything after losing?
Heian Ciemnosc flashed a dashing smile, with overly white teeth, at the crowd before slightly quickening his steps towards the ‘VIP’ zone. It wasn’t different from others and was just isolated by the crowd from the younger generation’s young heroes. The latter group consisted of a handful of tens of thousands, each with visible, honorable merits during the frontline war.
Among them were Elena, the young black monster’s Teams and temporary military force, the Phosphorescent Flower Sect, Obscure Orb Sect, and obviously the Crimsonbreaking Faction, among other organizations’ younger generations.
Heian Ciemnosc walked to them as the announcer, a tall half-Titan and half-Beast Monkey, spouted some more preliminary stuff. He arrived before Elena, who noticed Calisneia right away, and her eyes glowed with such intense worship that Heian Ciemnosc nearly felt cucked. The others didn’t even catch the sound of Calisneia’s footsteps as they lightly sounded and only greeted Heian Ciemnosc with a nod, knowing his reservations.
Heian Ciemnosc narrowed his eyes a little and engaged in Soul chatting with Elena as Calisneia’s shoulders were under Heian Ciemnosc’s left arm. If they could be seen by a third party, one would think they were mother and siblings. How cute would that be?
“... And now!” Before long, the superficial day sky turned darker, giving Heian Ciemnosc a comfortable, cold feeling. Coincidentally or not, the crowd felt slightly relaxed as they noticed the air seemed cooler and fresher than before, which was strange considering they were here yesterday, and Godly Space Stations don’t have imminent weather changes. The announcer’s voice became stern, and the atmosphere on the rooftop became solemn.
“The Quiongu Fanhui Existence, with its leading major player in this war, the Crimsonbreaking Faction, was underestimated.” The announcer’s words caused the crowd to grow noisy, but they nearly immediately quieted down. The announcer continued, “But… and I’m asking the rest of our Universitalities of Yore Universal Land… and all other Universal Land…!”
The atmosphere became quiet, the tension built up, and the announcer skillfully captured the viewers’ minds before exploding. “DO YOU DARE UNDERESTIMATE US AGAIN?!”
“WOOWAH! HUA HUA HUA!” The crowd didn’t miss this chance to act like apes, showing their goddamned resolution. If their morale wasn’t the highest, the morale didn’t exist in this world. The announcer did not let the flame dwindle, “The enemy of our Existence has been captured! They resisted!! Can you believe it?!”
“They dared to break the rules. Then, they dared to plead to our Existential Sixth Step ruler. Now, they wanted to flee?! Cowards!!” The announcer’s eyes were full of emotion, and that much was unmistakable. And yet, he didn’t stop to take a breather, making his voice sound breathless and slightly hoarse. “You have done the impossible for this Existence, first in the world! And first to show the might an Existence should have!”
The announcer pointed at the younger generation. The atmosphere was no longer solemn, and an honorable sensation spread everywhere. The lights changed from festive to dull golden and brick red.
“You may forget the enemies you annihilated and forced to submit, but you cannot forget your actions! Why you fought, whom you fought with, what you fought for, and your purpose!!” The announcer’s voice was loud but wasn’t full of emotions like before. It emanated clarity and glory. These were clearly the works of this mixed-Race monkey’s charms.
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“Whenever this Change passes, people would also read your actions first on the line,” the announcer let it drop. The crowd, as expected, erupted in cheers.
CLAAAAMOOOORRRRR~~!!!
“... Stay silent!” The announcer’s voice became strict, and as he spoke, a transporting spaceship floated from the opposite of his stage. The crowd’s pupils shrank as they watched the leading figures carry a few dozen men and women onto the execution zone!
The rooftop was stupidly enormous, and most of the crowd was at least 3 to 10 kilometers away from a small zone, enough for a few hundred to stand within a 10 square meters distance between each other, designated to be the execution site for the enemy’s ex-leading figures.
“... … …” The scene was strangely filled with respect. The crowd didn’t dare to move and come closer, and even Heian Ciemnosc and the other ‘VIPs’ remained on the spot as they turned and observed from afar. Apart from the dozen people with Godly Energy handcuffs around their wrists, the Obscure Orb Sect, Phosphorescent Flower Sect, Golden Terra Sect, and some other peak Fourth Step organizations’ leaders were present.
“There isn’t much to say. The executions will start immediately. They do not deserve to be paid their respect.” A Blue Elf, the Obsure Orb Sect’s Sect Master, Prada, declared as he formed a saber out of Darkness elemental energy. It was shaped to be an excellent executioner.
“Behold, this Change’s beginning,” the Sect Master said, standing 2 steps behind the Evergazing Existence’s annihilated Sword Majestic Pavilion’s Head, Fernando, and to his left. The Sect Master lifted both arms, holding the Darkness energy saber, and hacked down.
Head Fernando wore the emblem of his Sword Majestic Pavilion, but it lacked luster and seemed slightly cracked. He was a Geeko Reptile from the Beast Race, long and creamy. He looked creepy and lacked black hair atop his head, clearly a distinctive genetic, but he wasn’t Mutated.
Swish… Crack! Crumble. The Geeko's head half-rolled before becoming mushy goriness on the floor. The emblem partially cracked into 2 before suddenly turning into smoke. The other arrested enemies’ emblems were destroyed, too, turning into pitiable smoke.
The Vice Head, Quin, knelt behind him. She was a half-Human and Elf, with white skin and bright white hair. When the Head’s body became a headless corpse, she closed her eyes, gritted her teeth, and bent her body in pain. This was the prize of not surrendering. The Evergazing Existence wanted all or nothing, and its leading organization, the Sword Majestic Pavilion, was tremendously powerful.
However, the other side had the Crimsonbreaking Faction and the Wrath Nihility Academy. They hesitated. That hesitation brought this younger generation’s systematically decisive battle. Thereon, their doom.
Although their Head’s head was cut off from the neck, he wasn’t forgiven, and his head was crushed under the Quiongu Fanhui Existence’s leading figure’s might. It wasn’t just a message. It also reminded the world of what happened to cowards. To those who thought they could defy the sacred Glorious Nexus Entente.
Was there something worse than extinction or being targeted by the world’s Entente? No. But there could always be a second. To flee and be caught, then executed for cowardice. That was the second worst fate.
The execution was simple and brief. It did not need any flashiness or spectacular words. It wasn’t an honor to carry out these acts either. It meant losing strength as a Universal Land and fewer experts in the Existential Sixth Step organization’s possession. It was a loss, only a loss. Wars were in the nature of all living beings, things, and thoughts. But a loss is a loss.
A mergeable organization lost because of the puny cowardice of a few, or of 1, but too many irresolute fellows. This was the show of not only the new Change’s undercurrents beginning a few shy decades after the 10 year war… It was also its first tragedy.
“... Come.” After looking at the departing back and transporting ship the Existence’s leading figures as they departed, Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes change to Elena’s pristine, beautiful, charming, mature, loving-back face and commanded. Elena was surprised, but before she knew it, her left hand was taken, and Heian Ciemnosc walked straight towards an elite group without anyone from his inner circle.
As for Heian Ciemnosc’s Master, she had padded his shoulders and left him after a couple of light kisses on his cheeks, encouraging him to do whatever he wanted with his future. Talks about trust weren’t even necessary.
“Hello, I commanded you to take that viper formation of Frigates midway to the blockade,” Heian Ciemnosc walked into the elite group smoothly and faced the not-so-quiet but polite, well-dressed young man looking at the faces in his little clique. The latter looked at Heian Ciemnosc and politely bowed before his eyes widened, and a glow appeared in his pupils.
“Ah, young black monster! I remember it was a risky mission. But, in the end, it was worth it. Hahaha.” The young man said. Another fellow, a Titan 4 meters tall with blond hair, spoke up with ‘dissatisfaction’ as he looked at the young man, “Boss, what ‘young’ black monster? Isn’t it obvious that the commander isn’t a juvenile anymore? Who else can com- arr- semi-command hundreds of thousands of spaceships and achieve a sure-for victory??”
“Aahh! Right, right, right!” The young man nodded, lifted his glass, and toasted, “For the black monster!”
“Cheers~!” The elite group echoed slightly, attracting enough attention to see a calm ‘young’ black monster mingling with other fellows. Was the world expanding or giving birth to a new Existence? What’s happening?!
“This is my wife, Little Headmaster of the Wrath Nihility Academy,” Heian Ciemnosc chatted a little before starting the business. Elena stared at Heian Ciemnosc as her eyebrows gradually, softly raised. She smiled thinly at the end of his words, and the elite group became astounded as they bowed repeatedly and started bragging about how they would become an upper echelon in their organization soon, thanks to the war.
One thing led to another, and before the elite group knew it, they saw ‘Pale Darkness’ rank at Kingdom’s Ruler#100 in Mini Warlord. Besides that, the Crimsonbreaking Faction and Wrath Nihility Academy suddenly gained more partners beyond potentially becoming commerce associates.
When they least expected it, Heian Ciemnosc said the right thing, and other than openly flirting with the more mature ladies, with Elena even smoothly ‘checking’ those who checked her chubby, everyone was utterly respectful of Elena. It was pretty biased, but it wasn’t anything new in the vast expanse of the Universal Lands. The reverse was also pretty standard, although it was all innocent since Elena was quite scary, and these ladies couldn’t dare to.
After chatting with them, Heian Ciemnosc brought Elena away, and she side-glanced the shit out of him, but there was a lot of work to do. As Heian Ciemnosc glanced at the rest of the crowd, not just towards the ‘VIP’ portion but everyone else, Elena smirked from the left corners of her lips. She wanted to hide it, but Heian Ciemnosc noticed.
After frolicking and teasing her about it, pinching those corners among many pairs of eyes, they walked to their next victims, and a long night of creating an outer circle of connections had just started. It was in its most infancy stage.
. . .
Within the Obscure Orb Sect’s Godly Space Station Central Building. Inside one of its meeting rooms. Heian Ciemnosc, his inner circle, and a few hundred other younger generation cultivators sat around a table with a 2 meters width.
It had been 11 hours since the night victory ceremony started and 1 since it ended. At the center, spanning over 450 meters in diameter, the Obscure Orb’s Sect Master stood. He circled on the spot to look at everyone twice as they received gifts and were told their congratulatory words. Some of the people attending this younger generation even flirted or passed business messages, but it wasn’t something to give anyone fault for.
As it ended, and they were only a few minutes in this meeting room, the Sect Master finally stopped circling around and looked in one particular direction.
Because of being the big brother of a certain someone, that someone was Pera. She made Heian Ciemnosc sit beside her bigger throne as the supreme commander of the younger generation’s forces in the war.
Heian Ciemnosc noticed the Sect Master’s gaze and stood up straight. He was a little too pensive, and his body leaned forwards, but he wasn’t distracted. Pera held onto his right hand with both of hers, intertwining fingers with her adored big bro.
“Mn,” seeing Heian Ciemnosc’s actions, the Sect Master satisfactorily nodded. He casually said, “I have to give the ‘best play’ of both wars’ battlefields to yourself, Officer Heian Ciemnosc.”
If anyone doubted Heian Ciemnosc’s accomplishment or didn’t yet believe it, hearing the Sect Master call his position in the Crimsonbreaking Faction along his name did it. Such honor from the strongest under Fourth Step cultivators’ leading figure wasn’t just for anyone. He only called Pera and the Tenos by their name and the upper echelons of the Obscure Orb Sect by their position.
“Senior, I wish for some gifts. They aren’t that many, but are quite exacting,” Heian Ciemnosc crossed his hands and slightly leaned forward. His darkest eyes somehow made the Sect Master feel at ease completely. He smacked his lips before ever so slightly nodding.
“Ahh, someone of your caliber knows what they’re asking for. Don’t play with this old man anymore, and tell me what you want. Even if it’s Pera’s hand, become an Acting Elder of my Sect immediately, or learn the Milblades Storm, that’s nothing! Eh, go on, ask me.” Sect Master Prada said. His words gained him a dissatisfied pout from her disciple, but the Blue Elf cleverly avoided it with a guilty conscience.
Heian Ciemnosc grinned, squeezed the small but slender cinnamon fingers, and shook his head before laying his requests. “Sect Master, I do not require Little Pera’s hand. She is like my little sister. Besides, she’s too pouty, you see? As for what I want to ask of you, Senior… Please, I’d like to, first, request from you, beforehand, to be understanding.”
“...” The Sect Master looked at Heian Ciemnosc, and his eyes slightly narrowed, but he still felt a pleasant connection with his Darkness element affinity and his Soul whenever he landed eyes on Heian Ciemnosc.
“First, I’d like the Milblades Storm to be taught to a few of my family members. Second, I have a comrade who is in need and requires Soul nourishment and body replacement resources. If Senior can accept the second, please speak with the Interchanging Dust Dynasty. Thirdly, I request Senior to have all organizations below the Fifth Step grant me full access to their libraries, records, historical tales, smallish anecdotes, and writings. I’m not asking for their Arts but merely their knowledge. I don’t mind inscriptions prohibiting me from seeing through their intent, so I won’t learn their Arts. I only ask for the secrets to be left behind.”
“...” The Sect Master’s countenance was collected until Heian Ciemnosc mentioned his third point. He pressed his lips hard. Yet, after 3 seconds of pondering, and with the crowd looking at each other at such an outrageous request, he confidently spoke. “That can be done. You had me thinking you wanted half a Universe for you or something. It’ll take time to process, so don’t be hasty.”
“Master! Can I go with Big Brother?! I want to see his daughter, and I will be their teacher. I’m already category 5, anyway. Right?” Pera said, shocking the Obscure Orb Sect’s outsiders. The Sect Master looked at Heian Ciemnosc and saw him calmly nod, which put him at ease.
“Sigh… no more than 8 months! You’re still far from the Godhood Step!” The Sect Master acquiesced, but the majority of his words were berating towards someone’s little daughter-in-law in the future.
Pera stuck her tiny tongue out and walked out with Heian Ciemnosc. The meeting concluded, and only the sound of footsteps remained.
…
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This is the end of Volume 7 — Era's Burgeon.