The Nine Lords Of Order - Chapter 43

An old man with a long face full of wrinkles was currently inspecting a report with a frown on his face. He was the person who was in charge of exchanging merit points for the right to ascend towards the floating islands. The process to ascend the city was not as simple as most people thought. After a person achieved the two basic requirements to ascend (rank 4 and 1,000,000 merit points), the person in question would quickly be investigated by the officials from the city.

If something suspicious was discovered about the person who wanted to ascend the islands then certain measures would be taken. If the person was vile and corrupt, then that person would be killed. If the person was discovered to be a spy from another power then that person would also be killed.

Currently the old man was reading the report from a person who he just gave the right to ascend. He vaguely remembered watching this person arrive to the city just three years ago.

“That young man is suspected to be the individual behind the downfall of the Ascending Devil’s faction He half crippled and destroyed the future of hundreds and in the end he even caused the recent death of their leader. He is also suspected to own a face shifting mask.” After reading so far the old man frowned again. This person was rumored to be very vicious. He was not sure if granting this person the right to ascend was a good idea but since this person was brought here by the 13th Elder from Loftycloud Palace he also had little choice in this matter.

In the end he just sighed. Although this person was vicious he was still a talented chosen so his future was set to be bright.

Looking above, the old man saw a giant eagle which carried two people flying in the distance. Soon this eagle pierced through the clouds and disappeared from sight..

…

On top of the eagle was a young dignified man and a young noble lady. The lady had beautiful blonde hair which was now held in a ponytail. Her darker eyebrows were frowning and her blue eyes were squinting due to all the wind which was stroking her lovely face. She would occasionally throw a glance towards the person which sat at her side, within this gaze there were mixed emotions of love and worry. The young man was sitting with his legs crossed and his white hair was in a messy state due to all the wind, his dignified blue eyes revealed maturity and shined with intelligence.

The two people traveling on top of the giant Eagle were obviously Mars and Ena. Although Mars had long since achieved rank four he still had to wait for Ena to grow stronger, so it was only now that he was ascending to the islands.

Remembering the time they were brought to the Loftycloud island by the 13th elder, and then mercilessly thrown down it had taken them several minutes just to fall. Mars had thought the moment of ascension would be more awe inspiring and magnificent however it had been half an hour and they hadn’t arrived yet.

Sighing Mars also remembered the events which occured two years ago in the valley. He still felt fearful towards the claw in the sky. He felt anger towards himself for being so stupid and arrogant. And he still felt guilty about Eanred’s death

In the last two years he had matured a lot and was not as reckless as he was before. He also noticed that his growth speed had slowed down a lot after Eanred died. ‘If you look at your past with regret then its harder to move forwards with confidence’

Shaking his head Mars just closed his eyes and waited. He didn’t know what to do about this. How could he not feel regret? He had been foolish and it was this foolishness which caused one of his friends to die. He had promised to get Eanred’s eyes fixed before he met his wife, but now that promise would never be accomplished. He could only seek his wife and apologize while he asked for forgiveness…

Several minutes later an eagle cry filled Mars and Ena’s ears however this cry did not come from their own eagle. Soon they could even hear several more cries of Eagles and even wyverns!

Soon the giant eagle under their feet gave a loud cry as well and swiftly pierce through another layer of clouds. In swosh the scenery changed and hundreds of flying beasts could be seen happily flying around giant floating islands and rainbows.

Ena felt some water drops fall on her face. Looking around she noticed directly above them was long waterfall which streamed from a river in one of the floating islands and then dispersed into glittering water drops once it fell into windy sky.

The water drops caused faint rainbows to appear all over the place and decorated the scenery beautifly.

After a few more flaps the eagle quickly travelled through several kilometers and landed on a big island which seemed to be covered in vegetation. This island was just one of the tens of islands which orbited around the three main islands however Mars calculated that this place was still several times larger than the whole capital from the kingdom of Lugasta.

Descending from the giant Eagle Mars set foot on this place before offering a hand to Ena. He was not sure about why the giant eagle landed in this place. From the looks of things this island was fairly ordinary looking if it was to be compared to the other ones.

Not long after they landed an ordinary looking young man with a plain expression approached them. He looked as if he was in his twenties but who knew how old he actually was. This young man was wearing a simple black robes however there was an insignia on left side of his chest which had two words inscribed ‘Night Sky’ and a dark moon in the middle.

“Follow me.” After those few words the young man turned back around and kept walking. He didn’t even make sure if he was being followed or not..

Looking at one another Mars and Ena just followed him. As they advanced through this place they noticed that even the most common trees in here excluded an aura of spirituality. The flowers danced with colors and when they went close to any of them they would quickly burrow underground.

After some time a tall and square gray building appeared in their sights. There were no windows or any sort of decoration, only two big black gates decorated this structure which made this building to look simple yet eerie. The contrast between this building and the green scenery around it was quite striking and overall, it didn’t seem like a nice place at all. Specially because all the greenery seemed to be pushed several meters away from any wall.

As they approached the gates the young man who was leading produced a black token and just waved it before the gates. Although the gates seemed heavy, they opened very quietly. Mars thought that if were to be looking in another direction then he wouldn’t even notice that the gates had just been opened.

What was even more eerie about the situation was that inside this gray building there was only darkness. Even though the sun was clearly shining outside not even a speck dust or ray of light could pass through the already opened black gates. It was as if some sort of barrier was separating everything outside and inside this building.

The young man glanced back at Mars and Ena and calmly went inside. Mars who was watching carefully noticed that the young just disappeared It was as if that darkness had just swallowed him.

He hesitated for a second before taking a step inside while he held Ena’s hand. Although he could tell the situation was odd, he did not believe that it would be dangerous. After all they wouldn’t bring them here just to mess with them.

Feeling a soft barrier brushing against his skin Mars felt his surroundings were quickly changing and soon he appeared in the middle of a black platform. There were four bridges attached to this platform but each of them disappeared into the darkness. Mars felt that he had just entered a different world. Even though he had just entered a building, he could see there was now a purple sky and black clouds hanging over his head. There was even wind softly brushing against his skin.

Looking around he noticed Ena had disappeared from his side and he began to panic. He tried to unleash his aura but found he had been suppressed and only some sparks would circulate around his body. Soon the calm voice from the young man which lead them to this place filled the area.

“Here you shall be tested. Currently you are inside the Night Sky dimension. If you look closely you will notice there are four bridges around you. If you pick the one in the middle then that means you are choosing to join the Loftycloud palace. If you pick the one on the left then that means you are choosing to join the Night Sky palace. If you pick the one in the right then that means you are choosing to join the sword palace. If you chose the one behind you, then you are choosing to retreat and shall be expelled from this place immediately.”

Mars calmed down. Since it was a test then Ena should be safe. But then he was confused. Why the hell would he retreat now? However soon the voice answered his question.

“As I said, this place serves as a testing ground. Even though you just ascended, that does not mean you belong here. Below the bridges there are countless Night Crawling Ghosts. As you walk through the bridges your objective is to reach the end of them, however you should be aware that Night Crawling Ghost are particularly good at sensing intentions So if you have malicious intentions for joining any of the palaces then the ghosts shall turn hostile and you shall be devoured by them You can take the path behind if you wish to retreat.” After finishing saying those words the voice vanished for good.

Nodding, Mars headed towards the central path without hesitation.

Sorry for not posting for so long! If my maths don’t fail me then I owe you guys 6 chapters… I will try to catch up by Friday!

Volume two starts now!