Mystical Journey

Garen's face was hidden under the helmet as he looked up at the stage. His expression could not be seen and the honored guests started to whisper among themselves. He was the only one who sat straight up, not moving an inch.

"According to the rules, the final victor is qualified to challenge one of the honored guests. Alliance Leader of the Scarlet Snow Alliance, please comply." The referee voiced out. As this was the will of the Three Great Holy Lords, not a single Energy Machinist was allowed to defy it.

"You only get to challenge once." Garen's calm voice could be heard from the helmet. "You don't have to waste it on me."

"Haven't we both been concealing our strengths for this exact moment?" Dark Light dispersed the black gas around his face and revealed his young, common-looking face which was rather pale and strange looking.

"Come! Let's prove it now which one of us is the true genius!!" he unsheathed his sword as he activated his terrifying Non-falling Light, which set off a series of shockwaves trembling through the air.

He stared at Garen fiercely as he had already suspected that this Garen might be the Garen he knew back then. He was the best friend that he couldn't get in touch with. He had searched the Scarlet Snow Alliance thoroughly and couldn't find a second person called Garen. The only person who was called Garen was the rumored leader of the scarlet Snow Alliance. Hence, the suspicion within him rose. His best friend, who had always revealed his strength that was weaker than the Inherited Level had suddenly become a topnotch Sect Master powerhouse. The strength between these two was too great, which was the reason why he wanted to make full use of this opportunity to challenge him and place himself in the light of the whole situation.

He had been wanting to fight against Garen ever since he found out Garen had hidden his true strength!

Garen remained still in his seat.

However, the Judge's Light Barrier could not care less how he reacted as the area he sat alone had turned into the battlefield.

The surrounding honored guests were isolated on the outside, leaving Dark Light and Garen together within the barrier.

The air twisted as Garen's seat was directly sent towards the stage, forcing him to sit directly in front of Dark Light.

As Garen realized he could no longer push the issue away, he sighed.

"You, are no match for me." He did not stand up as he did not wish to reveal his identity so soon. However, he did not expect the situation to end up like this.

"We will fight to see if I am no match for you!" Without saying another word, Dark Light unsheathed his sword and it immediately turned into a giant black scorpion and engulfed him. He then transformed into a black figure and lunged towards Garen.

"Dark Light's Extreme Slash!!! Double!"

Two streaks of black blade's marking in a cross shape were shot out into the air and were sent directly towards Garen's position.

Garen's Non-falling Light spread out, shaking the battlefield's protective screen greatly.

"It's useless." Garen sat in his original position as he looked at the blade's markings flying towards him quietly.

"My Absolute Energy Field, Faded Creation can absorb every external energy as nutrients. Your attacks are useless."

The two blade markings became slower and smaller. By the time it reached Garen, what was left was two thin black lines struggling to move forward. Ultimately, they disintegrated and popped apart like burst bubbles.

"Interesting!" Dark Light's revealed a ferocious smile on his face but his gaze had become more serious than ever.

"We have known each other for so long and I thought I had hidden a lot of my true strength. However, I didn't expect you to be this terrifying and acted as someone more innocent than I am. I can finally reveal your true identity!"

"Aren't you the same?" Garen was speechless under his helmet. "Don't you feel ashamed that you've acted as if you're a Resonance Level even though you're at Non-falling Level?"

Two of them exchanged words quickly between the Non-falling light at an advanced. Hence no one could hear what they were talking about. Although a low-level communication was not allowed, an advanced one would be hard to restrict.

"Why did you come here and challenge me all of the sudden?" Garen asked without beating around the bushes.

"What do you mean? I suspected your identity and decided to test you out. I was still on the fence about it but I didn't expect you to admit it."

"Take this, Sky Shadow Slash!! Ahh!!" Accord shouted crazily as he changed his tune. "At least respect me and attack me! Won't winning against me by just sitting there make me look bad!?"

"Alright alright..." Garen was helpless. Accord had never understood the concept of being polite and had always reacted on impulse. Hence, Garen decided to abide by his wishes.

Do it. Let's Do it...he thought.

He raised up his right hand, hesitated and switched to his left hand. He then placed his hand forward and... pointed out... with his thumb...

As Accord approached him with his sword, envy was written all over his face.

"Ah!!!!" His cry had become more miserable and everyone could hear his true cry.

His swung his sword with all of his might but it came to a halt in front of Garen's thumb.

Boom!

Accord's collapsed as if he deflated like a balloon. He crawled on the stage as all of his energy had been absorbed by the Faded Creation...

He stared at Garen weakly. "You merciless bastard!!"

His eyes rolled as he passed out.

No one could see Garen's face under the golden helmet. He sighed strangely as he gently tapped on his seat. Then, he started to levitate and went back to his VIP seat without moving at all.

He had never once stood up from the beginning until the end.

The whole battle lasted for only tens of seconds. Those people who wished to see Garen's true strength were disappointed. However, since Garen was a Sect Master Level powerhouse and one of the recently popular strongest people around, they understood deep down that the other powerhouses would no longer require to mingle around in this world if a Non-falling Level was able to force him to use his full strength.

"The challenger has failed." The referee announced calmly. "The overall schedule of the competition will start now..."

A rumbling similar to an earthquake came from underground and everyone present could feel the ground shaking.

Garen looked around. Although everyone was notified beforehand and prepared themselves for this moment, everyone seemed to not be able to hide their excitement from such a massive migration technique.

"This is amazing! To be able to migrate tens of thousands of people, including the crowds into a perfectly new stage for the final match. This delicate migration technique is not something a typical powerhouse can perform."

However, Garen felt uncomfortable for some reason. He felt a strange unease around this boisterous competition.

"Which part of this feels off?" He kept looking around but he didn't notice any suspicious target. The most crucial thing was that he could not sense any sign of the men in black earlier on.

"Have they completed their mission? Or are they about to create an even greater trouble?"

Garen's mind analyzed quickly for every possibility.

"The divisional competition has been fully merged. Today's competition has ended and the finals shall start at five o'clock in the morning. It will be an elimination from one Sect to the other."

The referee spoke again.

The competition itself was very pure and transparent. Although it was filled with people, the competition was only held once every few years. While there would be a lot of people participating in it, Energy Machinists were people who cared about efficiencies so it would not be dragged for too long.

The merging had been completed.

The blue sky above the arena turned red in a blink of an eye.

Everyone participating in the competition had already been placed into a huge circular arena. Surrounding them were the audiences and there was a huge amount of camera equipment planted among the audiences, broadcasting the event live to the districts far away from this region.

"Black Jade Dragon! Black Jade Dragon! Black Jade Dragon! Black Jade Dragon!!"

A uniform cheer covered the entire sky. Similar to of a tidal wave, everyone chanted Black Jade Dragon's name in unison.

The people from the third competitive zone had finally realized that they had been moved to a huge arena. The entire zone three competition zone, including the participants and crowds, had only covered a third of the extremely huge arena. The remaining two-thirds of the arena had already been filled with people.

The arena was a circular and tall stage. There was a tall and muscular copper brown man raising both of his hands up as he walked around the stage with a gleeful look.

The Magnetic Field's Black Jade Dragon.

There were a few fanatics raising and swinging their metallic signboards with the words 'all the best' written on it high up in the air.

"Wilder!!" Black Jade Dragon shouted as he patted his own chest.

"Black Jade Dragon! Black Jade Dragon! Black Jade Dragon!!!" The crowd cheered louder. Some girls screamed.

"What's with his attitude?!" Garen and the other honored guests were rather unhappy about it.

"He's the strongest man from the Magnetic Field so it's natural for him to be arrogant." One man responded.

"White Lion and Dark Light were not as wild as him!"

"Young man, what's bad about being wild?"

"What do you make of this, leader of the Scarlet Snow Alliance?" The female elder beside Garen looked at him.

"It's their freedom to showcase themselves. I have no right to judge them." Garen said calmly.

Black flying ships were densely packed in the sky above everyone's head. The ships were moving about slowly, giving off a terrifying and oppressing Energy Field. It was obvious that there were some very powerful powerhouses sitting inside these ships.

Among these ships, the largest one was as big as a mini city. It was hexagonal and was fully black, levitating in the sky freely.

The emblem of one of the three major Sect, Magnetic Field, could be seen imprinted on it.

Garen raised his head and looked at the Magnetic Field's ship. The blackhole-liked Level Ten presence could be clearly felt and there was at least ten Level Nine presences entangled about among each other as well. The oppression from the Energy Field was very immense as it covered the entire sky.

***********

Inside the Magnetic Field's ship.

The floor was beautifully furnished with black flower texture. There was a lady in a full body dress which spanned towards the ground, she had a black top hat on her head. Her low cut dress was pitch black and the skirt had merged with the ground, which made her seemed like a giant tree growing from the metallic floor.

Her skin was extremely fair, her almond-shaped eyes were sharp, giving off a cold and seductive elegance.

A few males and females sat in front of her. They seemed to have just finished reporting to her, waiting calmly waiting for her orders.

"Magnetar Holy Lord, my household's Saint had determined that the opponent will make their move in the finals. Do you want to attack together with us or insist on your desire? Please give us a response." A man with a stern face said softly.

Magnetar Holy Lord shut her eyes without reacting to his question at all. She seemed to be pondering as she crossed her little snow-white hands on her abdomen.

"We've come to this situation and you're still doubting the other Holy Lords? If we don't unite together and fight against the threats towards the Energy Machinists, we will die in the hands of those greedy people hidden in the shadows! Holy Lord your Highness, have you not make up your mind?"

The man seemed to be the leader of these people. His presence was immense as he carried along the aura of a Level Nine. He looked extremely handsome and extravagance in his black suit.

The atmosphere turned dull all of the sudden.