Mika was breathing heavily—he really could not breath, his heart wanted to run out from panic.
“Wha…are you okay?’ Zeifar asked. He’d randomly teleported to her house, it couldn’t have been for no reason and—there was a fear in his eyes she had never seen.
“D—Dubai—It’s…” he tried to breath.
“Take a breath first,” she muttered.
He shook his head, “It’s only going to get worse from now.”
“What do you mean Dubai will get worse from now?” Zeifar asked.
The boy was out of breath, he seemed more scared than the one who would have to participate.
“Actually, sit first,” Zeifar said, “Now explain.”
Mika rubbed his face and said, “So the evaluations for #9739’s ranking came in, well,” he didn’t look happy, “The thing is, there are these ‘Traditional Rounds’ which could be considered as the main Noviar Rounds—they’re fixed for every world of the same ranking, and international based,” he explained, “So the higher the rank, the worse the Rounds.”
“Obviously,” she commented, “The benefits and problems have to be balanced.”
He made a face, “You knew that?”
She nodded, “And I expected #9739 to be high ranked, from a few otherworlds I’ve studied, we’re pretty advanced.”
“That’s the problem. #9739 is in the first rank: Celestial.”
Zeifar could remember him telling her about the six dimension rankings:
I: Celestial
II: Astronomical
III: Nebular
IV: Galactical
V: Solar
VI: Lunar
“But Celestial worlds rarely fall under Rounds, the last was the First World,” Mika said.
She tilted her head in confusion, “The First World?”
“You don’t know about it?” he asked, to which she shook her head.
“It was the first world to successfully finish the Rounds with majority of the population alive. Apparently the System was created there.”
The mention of the System piqued Zeifar’s interest. The System was created in the First World? Would that mean she could find out why she had suddenly become the System’s Master from that place?
Mika noticed the look on her face and said, “I think you can visit after the Traditional Rounds begin.” She nodded, ‘So, about the 4th Round?”
The Stellar Selection had been the 3rd, so the next would be somewhat related.
“Well, the general people will just continue clearing Dungeons and extra things like so, while the team of Strongest will go for Traditionals,” he explained, “The 4th Round and 1st Traditional Round will start around the same time, so neither has been decided yet.”
Zeifar made a face, “Why must the ones left do Rounds too?”
He shrugged, “That’s how it is for Celestial and Astronomical worlds, mine was like this too. It’s because by Noviar Law these worlds are too strong to be left in peace, I guess,” he laughed a bit, “And also because there aren’t that many Traditional Rounds, they’re tough but there’s a limit to how many there can be. They can earn a lot of points, but not all of it.”
“Oh.”
She was getting lost in thought again, “Does this mean there will be people from each Centre in #9739?”
“No, not all,” Mika replied, “Only the higher ranked centres.”
“Why the hell does everything have a ranking?!”
He shrugged, “The universe likes being organized?”
****
“I don’t know what exactly these Traditional Rounds are,” Danielle said, “But we need to get our work done before that.”
“Isn’t it…too soon?” Number 11 asked on the call.
Lauraleith sighed, “Nothing is ever too soon, you moron.”
Number 11 remained silent.
Someone knocked on the door to their room.
“Come on in,” Lauraleith said.
A panicked looking Number 13 burst into the room, “Agent 09! She—oh god, she, she’s…” he stammered, the fear in his evident, “…she…” He pointed out of the door, “In the bar…”
Danielle rushed out of the room.
But the moment she entered the bar, she stumbled, “What the…” Lauraleith stood behind her, just as mortified.
The crime scene was not necessarily messy, but it wasn’t…very good-looking either, of course.
“Notify the higher ups…” Danielle ordered, moving away from the place, her face still frozen in fear, “I said go!”
Number 13 nodded, running out to the elevators.
As the elevator doors closed, he wondered if his act had been that good, or were those two that clueless?
****
Mika stared at his seniors and the few Stellars in the meeting room, confused.
“Ma’am, why was I called?” he asked the senior who had called him.
She motioned towards the Stellar sitting at the head of the table, “She wants to talk to you.”
He repeated it in his head, “To me?”
{“Yes, to you dear. Could you sit?”}
Taken aback, he sat down.
The Stellar talking to him was clearly a Top-level. Her power was on a completely different level. That and…she looked rather familiar too.
{“I believe you know that girl, Zeifar?”}
He froze, then said, “Yeah, she’s a contestant for Dubai.”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
{“Hmm, that’s all you know?”} she raised an eyebrow.
“Of course,” he laughed, “Why would I know more about some girl from Dubai?”
{“That is true,”} she laughed along, {“It would be ridiculous. But I do need some information on her…”}
“I see. There’s a junior of mine working on Dubai now, I’ll ask him to contact you,” he smiled, as professional as ever. He did not need anyone knowing his relation to Zeifar.
The Stellar smiled at Mika. To her, he was a charming young boy with quite the ambition. Trustworthy, maybe a little too sharp though. The boy’s smiles never reached his eyes.
He was remarkable, he’d single-handedly completed his world’s Rounds. With enough effort, maybe he could become part of the Higher-ups of Galactix.
Without another word, Mika left the office.
“Losers,” he cursed under his breath, going back home.
****
“Well?” Zeifar asked, sitting in his living room,
“Who’s after me now?”
****
“You…what…” Agent 02 panted, his sight blurry, “…what are you?”
In the dark meeting room, splattered in blood and…bodies, a single figure stood, covered in shadows.
“A demon! That’s what he is!” Agent 01 yelled, gun aimed at the figure, “If I die, I’m taking you with me you fu---!” A glowing sword slashed through the man.
Agent 02’s eyes widened as he scrambled away from 01, unable to get up from the floor but unable to stay there either, “I—I, I don’t know anything—please—”
The figure only looked down at the man, clutching onto his leg.
“Nobody knows anything when they think they’ll be spared,” the glowing golden sword flew into his hand, “But,” the sheer coldness of those two eyes was enough to make a grown man fear him more than death itself, “Everyone suddenly knows everything,” the sword pointed directly at 02’s throat, “When they’re truly about to die.”
“Wha…what?”
“Go on, tell me how you wish to go. I’ve got options,” he continued, “Gun, sword, Skill, you name it.”
“A-a Stellar—yes, she was definitely a Stellar—she, she paid us…she said we only needed to—what was it, to…to kill that girl, yes,” 02 stammered.
Agent 02 had worked as an assassin in the past. Never had he expected to find someone this…
“Hmm,” the sword withdrew itself, as the boy looked away, his deep orange eyes like two suns, “You’re free to go then,” he said, leaving the room in the blink of an eye.
****
“Change of plans. Kill her as fast as possible.”
“…yes, ma’am.
****
Zeifar checked the time, “One more hour to go,” she sighed.
One more day till Traditionals’ selections.
“And there’s some nutjob trying to kill me,” she muttered, standing in her garden.
…
She blinked, “Eh?”
It wasn’t her garden--not anymore at least.
‘Click,’
It was a sound she knew as well as her name. The sound of a gun.
Zeifar turned around, “It’s like 3am man what the—”
“I’m sorry,” the person holding the gun said.
“…” she stared at him, her eyes scanning her surroundings.
It was some sort of alleyway, behind a hotel. Marina Walk.
“Zac, put the gun away,” she laughed, “It isn’t funny.”
“It’s not,” he replied, his hand not shaking even the slightest.
“It really isn’t,” another voice said from behind, “Number 11, You can put the gun down if you want,” Danielle said, her own aimed right at Zeifar.
Zeifar raised an eyebrow at him, “11? Just like your racer number?” she laughed. It was funny all of a sudden. Number 11, just like he’d been racer#11, her partner.
“I can’t tell if it’s a well-done joke, or if you guys are bad at this,” she sighed, “You’re only going to get hurt if you try this. Get lost.”
“Get hurt?” Danielle scoffed, “How? By someone without powers?”
“What gave you the impression that she can’t use her powers because of your dumb little barrier?”
It was a strong voice. Heavy, and definitely not someone any of them knew.
“Let her go, Number 10,” he said, standing at the opening of the alley, as casually as someone out for a stroll.
Danielle glared, “Number 13.”
While both guns were away from her, Zeifar grabbed Zac by his collar and threw him at Danielle, the two fell over together, caught by surprise.
“Why even try?” she sighed, the wind blowing hair into her face. The Skill she had stolen from Michelle Tan came in handy, “God, I miss Michelle,” she sighed as gold chains wrapped around a screaming Danielle and silent Zac.
Zac did not say anything.
Zeifar sat down on the ground in front of him, her deep orange eyes looking right into his, “So, who exactly hired you to kill me?”
He shook his head, “Only the higher ups know. But he killed them,” he motioned towards the person standing next to her now.
She looked up at him and asked, “You did?”
Confused, Damian nodded.
“Were you at least told why you’re supposed to kill me?” she asked.
“Something about you being a problem,” Zac answered.
She didn’t ask anything else,
“I hope we don’t meet again.”
****
Damian had come this far, only to realize he did not actually have any explanation to give.
“Well?” Zeifar asked, her face a mixture of confusion and amusement, “Explain.”
“Uhm…I can’t just say we’re twins from different mothers that doesn’t make sense does it?” he asked.
She shook her head, “But I can’t see any other,” she looked him up and down, “Explanation for it.”
“Well…” Damian shrugged, “How much do you want to know?”
“I can figure out most of it by myself, there’s not enough time,” Zeifar said, “I’m sure a Stellar would be able to meet me later.”
Damian raised an eyebrow, “Oh? You figured that out already?”
“It’s all over your face,” she said, walking off.
“How odd,” he muttered.
****
[As Dubai is Qualified to participate in the Traditional Rounds but there is low percentage of contestants, only 3-5 are allowed to advance.]
“ONLY THREE TO FIVE??!” Kazerin yelled, standing on the road with everyone else.
“We have bad luck with this place, I tell you,” Adrian grumbled.
Ever since the population had dropped, the rankings had also changed.
“Adrian is still 1, isn’t he?” Xavier asked. Adrian nodded, “But only because…you know.”
Cyrus looked at all of them, visibly horrified, “You killed your old boss?!” he asked. “No? I killed a pig,” Adrian replied.
“But what a coincidence is it, that all of us are somehow in the list of 100,” Zeifar said, distracted.
The ‘all of us’ she was referring to was not her team, rather the people all crowding a portion of the road of the Marina.
“This isn’t surprising honestly,” Ethan sighed. Danielle was glaring at them like they were her worst enemies.
“But who beat her up like that?” he wondered, “Oh, and I forgot to tell you,” he turned to Zeifar, “We can’t find Zac anywhere.”
Zeifar sighed, “Of course you can’t.”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“They tried to kill me,” she sighed, deciding it was best to just tell them the truth.
The others became quiet.
They had nothing to say.
****
“These candidates in the list I have right now…will be advancing to Traditionals,” Mika said, floating above the water, he was not there as some dude but as a Conductor now. It felt weird, but he continued.
He could see his mademoiselle, leaning against a railing on the empty highway, a bored but amused look on her face.
“There are 20 candidates, the Stellars will be voting live, the five with the most votes, you know how it goes,” he kept announcing, trying his best not to just throw away his tab and start crying in front of the everyone.
“So…Candidate.20, Michelle Tan.”
Ew.
“Candidate.19…” he went on and on, knowing very well who the top candidates were.
As a Director, he had to pull a few strings for his mademoiselle, right?
“Candidate.5, Lauraleith Alexander,” the girl’s name itself was annoying—asshole. Who in their right mind would go against Zeifar?
“Candidate,4, Xavier McRae,
Candidate.3, Cyrus Rayne,
Candidate.2, Zeifar Nadir,
Candidate.1, Adrian Luca-Delevane,” he finished. He could see looks of relief and sighs coming from the crowd—after all, nobody wanted to risk their life for this—as well as the Stellar chats going berserk over votes.
“Okay, votes coming in…” he scrolled through the little screen in front of himself. He knew who would get the most votes anyways—it was known that the blondie, Adrian, was the most ‘popular’. He wasn’t exactly popular, it was just that the group of Stellars which favored him had many Stellars—the Warriors, ‘Archangels of Eden.’
“5 more minutes until voting sites are closed for Dubai…”
The votes were lining up just as predicted.
“Alright!” Mika announced in a loud, clear voice, “The five with the most votes are…No#05 is Lauraleith Alexander…” Everyone gave her odd glances.
“4th, Kazerin Kotrov…3rd?”
Adrian was 3rd?
“Adrian Luca-Delevane…2nd, Zeifar Nadir—the contestant with the very most votes is Cyrus Rayne.”
From where he was, he could see Zeifar grinning—as if that was what she had wanted.
‘How did this candy-child get more votes than Ede—oh,’ Mika realized, the pink-head had gotten votes from both Olympus as well as ‘Parisia’, the group of the weird lovey-Stellars such as Aphrodite.
He didn’t like the idea of an actual child going to Traditionals.
“The mentioned Contestants are advised to mentally prepare…the portals will appear in 10 minutes. The rest can leave,” Mika announced through his ampilified mic-voice, disappearing in a glitch of purple and green.
****
Standing on the elevated highway, Zeifar yawned, turning away from the road.
Just out of curiosity, she checked the alleyway where she’d left Zac and those others.
“Zeif…?” Adrian asked, standing behind her, who was frozen all of a sudden.
She didn’t look back, “Turn around and leave. Now.”
He was too confused to ask, and she sounded too cold to disobey.
Adrian’s mistake was, he was a fast boy. His eyes reached the sight ahead of her.
“Is…is that…” he couldn’t be wrong. He felt queasy, “That’s…”
“I SAID LEAVE!” it was the first time Zeifar had lost her calm—the sound of her voice shook the entire alleyway.
But Adrian couldn’t move, he couldn’t breathe. He could see it—the motionless body of his teammate.
A hand dragged him out of the alley, “Let me go!” he punched, only to find himself looking into Ethan’s purple eyes, emotion visible for the first time in their months of working together.
“Let’s just go,” Ethan said, his eyes glassy. Adrian blinked, processing, and glanced back at the dark walls where Zeifar still stood frozen.
“But Zeif…”
“I’m fine. Leave.” She walked out of the shadows, her eyes strangely bright. They shivered—it was rage.
There were bloodied handprints on her shirt, her expression almost dissociative,
“You don’t need to go for Traditionals,” she said, walking in their opposite direction, she only looked back once, “The next time we meet…let’s hope this mess will be over.”
She meant it.
She refused to return to Dubai before the Noviar Rounds ended.
It was an oath, of sorts.
****