As expected, on the very next day, Kai was formally invited to attend the Convention of the Saints to share the information which he had collected as well as the experience he had gained from fighting the Chaos General of Wrath.

The Convention was to be held in 2 days' time, giving Kai barely enough time to prepare his material for presentation. Fortunately, he had Adeline's help and to a lesser extent, Akame.

Time flew past quickly and the important day soon arrived. Upon reaching the royal castle, Kai felt as if there were butterflies in his stomach. The last time he was here for the meeting before their trip to the Green King's abode, Kai recalled feeling more excited than nervous.

Perhaps it was because this time, Kai was a presenter rather than simply an ordinary attendee. Not to mention that this time, save for the King and General Hargreaves, all the 10 Saints would be present, including his biological father and his master.

As Kai was distracted in his thoughts, he wasn't paying attention to where he was heading as he accidentally bumped into someone. Fortunately, Kai wasn't walking too quickly as the person only stumbled a little.

Kai snapped out of his thoughts as he immediately apologised, "Ah, I'm sorry, I was so distracted that I failed to see you, sir." The person Kai bumped into turned out to be an old man dressed in white, smart robes.

Even though the man's hair had gone completely white, he appeared as fit as a fiddle, with a lean build concealed under his clothing as he stood straight. The old man replied casually, "Ah, don't worry about it, youngling. That barely tickled, hohoho."

Kai gave an embarrassed smile as he nodded in appreciation before taking his leave. When Kai had finally arrived at the conference room, his anxiety was at its peak as he struggled to move closer to the door.

That was, until he had heard a familiar voice calling out his name, "Hey, Kai, Adeline, you guys have returned from your mission too? I couldn't believe my ears when they said that you were going to be speaking in the Convention of the Saints, what an honour it must be!"

Kai and Adeline swiftly turned around to come face to face with their old friends, Julian and Julia. Behind them was a man with red hair dressed in a simple yet smart garb.

Julian continued, "Oh yeah, I believe some introductions are in order. This is the person whom we are serving, the Sword Saint Van Renard. Lord Van, these two are my friends and fellow members of the Rising 8, Kai and Adeline."

Van was first to initiate a handshake, as he said warmly, "Ah, I've heard all about your deeds during the 3rd Holy War and the most recent mission you were sent to. It's my pleasure to be your acquaintance, and I look forward to your presentation later."

Kai swiftly reciprocated Van's gesture as he replied in gratitude, "Thank you, Lord Van, for your kind words. I'll do my best to meet your expectations."

Kai then opened the door before extending his hand to usher Van into the conference room, which the latter gladly accepted as he walked into the room, followed by the twins and finally, Kai and his group.

When Kai entered the room, he was surprised to find that the atmosphere was rather casual, with people engaged in chitchat with one another.

Before Kai could scan his surroundings, yet another voice called for him, "Kai, Adeline, so glad to see you guys here! Too bad not all of us could attend this meeting, otherwise it would've been another reunion of the Rising 8!"

Kai quickly turned his attention to the source of the voice. It was Rachel, and she was together with an older woman with yellow hair as well as a little girl with blonde hair.

Adeline exclaimed, "Rachel! How've you been?" Rachel replied excitedly, "Great! This is my senior in G.E.M.S, Marissa and my master in psionic magic, the Child Saint Sariel."

After Kai and Adeline exchanged handshakes with Marissa and Sariel, Sariel asked warmly, "Ah, you two are Ray's students, right? A pity that I don't see him, maybe he's arriving late just like the Green King and White King."

Before Kai and Adeline could go and catch up with their peers, a commanding voice rang, "Full of time for your friends and none for your father, huh? You've certainly grown, my boy."

It was Red King Redmond, his appearance as intimidating as ever, especially with the red streaks that adorned his black hair. Beside him was a bespectacled man dressed smartly in formal attire, a stark contrast from Redmond's own.

The bespectacled man remarked coldly, "Well, he has always been an arrogant, foolish and stupid young man. I'm not surprised that he failed to notice you. Sorry for my harsh yet truthful criticism, Redmond."

Kai groaned, "Father...and Master Stergen. How've you all been? I trust that you're doing well?" Redmond replied, "Of course, I'm the Red King after all, hahaha!" to which Stergen added, "I see where the boy had gotten his foolishness from..."

Determined to put an end to the awkward conversation, Kai swiftly pushed Akame in front of him as he said, "I'm sure you two have lots to catch up with Akame, so she's all yours! Have fun!" Akame threw Kai an indignant look but it wasn't long before she was engaging in a long conversation with both Redmond and Stergen, much to Kai's delight.

Unfortunately, before Kai could get back to catching up with his friends, another voice cackled, "Hoho, if it isn't my boy, Kai and his friends! I hope you've all been doing great!"

The youths spun around to see a familiar wizened old man who was terribly short and another old man, the very same man that Kai had accidentally bumped into. Kai exclaimed, "Professor Gaia, it's certainly been awhile! What research have you been up to these days given that the cure to [Catastrophe] has already been discovered?"

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Warren Gaia stroked his beard as he chuckled, "My boy, science is an unending challenge, with new discoveries to be made every single day. I may have resolved the plague wrought by [Catastrophe] but there are still so many problems out there that I hadn't had time to investigate all these years.

Right now, I'm cooperating with the Sylph Kingdom to devise a method of increasing the reproduction rate of Saintwood, given the high value of its timber. These trees are an extremely interesting specimen after all, with their unique ability to absorb more sunlight than other plants which explain their need to grow in extremely sunny places. Sorry, I'm rambling a little too much, hahaha, pardon my excitement, kiddos."

Kai turned his attention to Warren's companion who he recognised instantly. Kai uttered in surprise, "You're that old man from earlier! I'm so sorry once again for bumping into you earlier! My name's Kai, nice to meet you, sir."

Warren chortled, "Ho, you 2 have already met? Why didn't you tell me that you've already met Kai, old friend?" The old man mused, "Ah, so this is the famous Kai Veridian of the Rising 8. Have you grown senile, Warren? I've never met the boy before, so how do you suppose I recognise him? Ah, pardon my rudeness, the name's Schneider, you can just continue to address me as sir for simplicity's sake."

Every conversation in the room went silent upon the revelation of the old man's identity. Kai gasped in shock, "Sir...you are the legendary man who took down Myro all on his own, the White King Schneider?"

Upon witnessing the tension in the room, Redmond laughed, "Hahaha, what's with those expressions?" to which Blood Baron Marcus, who had remained silent all this while, answered, "Lord Redmond, let's not forget that among the 10 Saints, the identities of the White and Black Kings remain most secretive. Even some members of the 10 Saints have yet to see them in person, myself included."

Schneider, upon seeing how awkward the situation had developed into, remarked bashfully, "Wow, there's really no need to get so worked up over my achievements, I'm really an ordinary old man with a strong spirit of adventure, so I go wherever I want most of the time hahaha!

My deeds in Myro was simply to return a favour to the Stormfury Family, since I owe the first King big time when I was just a snivelling brat. Didn't expect that it would kick up such a big storm, especially since I thought I had already drawn the short end of the stick, as I needn't fight with the 5 Pillars of Miran. I understand why you're keeping a low profile in the corner of the room now, Kuroka."

Everyone's eyes traced Schneider's line of vision as they landed on a knight adorned in black armour from head to toe. The knight remained silent for a while before removing his helmet, revealing a young woman with black hair. This was the #1 Saint, the Black King, Kuroka Blake.

Kuroka pouted, "Aww, you ruined my fun, Schneider, I wanted to see how long I could pretend to be an ordinary castle guard or escort. Guess the cat's out of the bag now, huh."

Everyone was stunned speechless as Kuroka walked towards Kai and whispered into his ear, "Mistress Amaterasu told me all about you, Kai Veridian, her little miracle. Let's talk more after the Convention, shall we?" Kai nodded his head nervously as Kuroka gave a sly smile before returning to her seat, with none daring to approach the #1 Saint.

Meanwhile, 2 other members of the 10 Saints, Baron Marcus and Martial Duke Ken continued to watch the events unfold in the conference room, as Duke Ken joked, "Time's really catching up to us old men, hahaha. Perhaps it's really time to pass the baton onto the next generation, which would most likely be spearheaded by the Rising 8, fufufu. Even my dear Jonathan is a member of that group, showing how influential they have been in recent times."

Baron Marcus nodded politely in silence before one of his aides, the vampire noble Michael, cried indignantly, "I really don't get it, successful as he might be, how can that boy Kai be acting so chummy around the 4 Coloured Kings, to whom not even members of the 10 Saints dare take lightly?

With the exception of the Red and Green Kings whom are his acquaintances from his mission then which won him fame as a member of the Rising 8, for him to be so close and personal to both the White and Black Kings, that is simply preposterous! I mean, all he did this time was obtain some vital information that us Crimson Sentinels couldn't get our hands on, so what's the big deal?"

A new voice answered his question, "Hmph, the lad didn't just acquire information that the Crimson Sentinels AND the Nirvanian Black Ops did not possess. He also defeated one of the 7 Chaos Generals, the mysterious leaders of the Chaos Legion who are said to wield powers beyond mortal imagination.

In fact, the one Kai had defeated was the very same individual who nearly killed the Green King, the Chaos General of Wrath, Amon. Kai's achievement should bring pride to all of us in Nirvania, or at the very least, to us Nirvanian Black Ops since his master and adopted father were alumni of our esteemed corps."

The voice belonged to a man smoking a thick cigar, the current Head of Nirvanian Black Ops, Steven. By his side was his deputy, Katrina. Realising that he had spoken out of line without having full knowledge, Michael simply gulped in embarrassment as he remained silent.

Baron Marcus who intended to diffuse any tension in the air, said calmly, "Ah, it's been a long time, Colonel Steven, as well as Major Katrina. Please accept my humblest apologies for the insensitive remarks that my aide had made."

Katrina replied affably, "There's no need to apologise, Baron Marcus, I believe that Steven here was just standing up for the lad, that's all. Anyway, don't you guys find that the lad resembles Ray a lot? They're both equally hot-blooded, talented and have an uncanny penchant for landing into trouble. I guess the saying, like Master, like student holds some water after all."

The 2 Saints laughed together, followed by their escorts as any remnant of tension was immediately dispelled by Katrina's remark. Before they could continue their conversation any further, General Hargreaves had stepped into the room with King Stormfury as he declared, "We're sorry for being late, but I beseech everyone to return to their seats at once, the Convention's about to begin."

Everyone swiftly took their seats as King Stormfury announced, "Thank you everyone, for your presence at this important meeting. Now, General Hargreaves, please proceed with the attendance taking before we begin our agenda formal."

General Hargreaves bowed before announcing, "The key participants for this meeting include the members of the 10 Saints, the Head of Nirvanian Black Ops, King Stormfury and myself. Of all the key participants, 2 are absent, namely the Snow Hunter Frost, who remains unreachable despite being awarded the position posthumously after confirmation of his sister's death."

Kai noticed that Julian and Julia were fidgeting uncomfortably upon mention of their master's name. Their worry wasn't surprising, given that Frost had went under the radar since the end of the 3rd Holy War, never once returning to Nirvana. In fact, throughout these 2 years, not even his close friends at Saint Cross, Shaw and Keith, had heard from Frost, making him effectively missing.

General Hargreaves continued, "The other key participant missing is the Lightning Saint Ray. His absence would be explained by one of the items in the agenda, but for now, just note that he's currently recuperating from heavy injuries."

Kai was shocked. No matter how happy-go-lucky his Master might be, the undisputed #1 young talent of Nirvania had always given Kai a sense of security, especially after his feat during the Night Wing incursion where he took on the top 3 executives of Night Wing singlehandedly without a scratch.

Kai made a mental note to pay a visit to his Master before setting out for his mission, as Adeline placed a comforting hand against his own and nodded. Things already looked grim at the start, as Kai was not looking forward to what would be revealed further into the meeting, which outcome could very well determine the future…