Frisnia’s announcement to include Orwell Mehest and his organization — Diogenesis — in the upcoming Danghai’s trade-talk spread like a wildfire. The Emperor of the Grand Empire — Solomek Grandy —protested, but could only stew under the massive relocation and rebuilding effort he was saddled with after the Venistalis Incident. With no pronounced resistance, the invitation became official.
All across Phantasia, players with investment in Tengen Continent flocked into Frisnia. They knew a history was being made, and they would be damned to miss the opportunity to twist said opportunity into their agenda. With the port of Danghai as the destination, the wheel of destiny spun.
Strangely, many of those opportunities took some detours.
…
Several ships arrived at a major port a few kilometers from the small town of Baiyi. The dock-master read the guest list, smiled at his assistant, and fainted on the spot. While fainting on duty was a clear bleach of professionalism, it was excusable in context given the visiting guest.
In the humble pier of concrete and gentle lapping waves, a rare meeting took place.
From an eastern-style metal ship, painted red and black, a huge Lion-man walked down the rampart with a Wolf-woman in hand. The Lion-man sported an imposing ducktail beard of impressive crimson. Even in his crimson three-piece suit, his rippling muscle was showing. His hair, tail, and ears of a lion were crimson. The Wolf-woman, his wife, followed him in a flowing summer dress. A huge sun hat hid her black hair, and animals (wolf to be exact) ears and tail.
Their names were Xerxes and Aquila Enma.
For Shyme Enma, she called them mom and dad.
“What a mess Shyme left behind,” Aquilla said, dreading the upcoming meeting. “Xerxes, are you sure you can deal with this? I heard Orwell is invited.”
“Children make mistakes, Aquilla,” Xerxes said to his beloved wife. “It is part of growing up. Shyme has a long way to go before she becomes a responsible adult.” The Lion-man made a disapproving face. “In fact, I want to meet this mysterious man she couldn’t stop talking about.”
“You mean the one they call Chronicler?” Aquilla said. “Don’t be too rough on him. He saved our daughter's life after all.”
The two then noticed the two different flying ships dropping from the skies — an orange ship fueled by thermal magical reactors, armed to the teeth with weapons, and a white ship driven by enchanted snow-white sails.
Xerxes huffed, “It appears we aren’t the only group planning to visit Shyme.”
Two people accompanied by their respective company walked down their respective rampart and greeted the two.
From the white ship was a black-hair maiden in white robes and a blue scarf who went by Alpine the Seventh. She led an army of a fellow maiden in white rope. Alpine greeted the two Enma with a neutral face, and composed air. She and her army were the image of pristine elegance and rigidity. Would it surprise anyone that the Snow Maiden Sect, from which they hailed, boasted a no-man policy and frosty exterior above all else?
On the ramp next to them was the fellowship of blood-red knights. The buff men in red armor marched in formation, led by their leader, who towered over the gigantic height of two meters. Beneath that coppery helmet of the humongous man was the scarred red-head — Red Blade Rubric of the Blood Iron Army. The man stood before Xerxes with stern eyes and, after the enormous tension, offered his hand.
Xerxes took it and shared the handshake between men.
The Divine Fist was the enforcement arms of the gods. They were the combination of three separate schools; Holy Sword Order, Blood Iron Army, and the Snow Maiden Sect. Those three were the highest military organization in the land with oversight to all A-Rankers and trained them in their army. Collectively, they acted as the enforcement wings of the Divine-races, keeping the potential S-ranker under control, and observing the existing S-ranker with hawkish eyes.
Despite having the highest concentration of A-Rankers on the planet, the Divine Fist rarely moved, preferring to be the aloof blade hanging over the neck of Phantasia. But when something warranted the blade to be swung, their participation was fast and ruthless.
The emergence of several unregistered S-Rankers — one of whom, Orwell, attaining reputation to be invited to an international summit — was enough for the Divine Fist to move.
“Good to see you, Xerxes,” Rubric greeted his old friend. “Coming to visit the brats.”
“Yes,” Xerxes said. “You too?”
“I have to,” Rubric said. “After such a horrible defeat, it was undeniable they needed more training.”
“Give Shyme some slacks,” Aquilla asked the man, who was more than an older brother to her child. “I think it is a good thing she lost. It’d humble her.”
“And weakened her,” Alpine said coldly.
“Oh, not this again,” Xerxes felt a headache coming. “Let me guess, you are going to say weakness is—”
“Weakness is a sin,” Alpine said frostily. “It is a fact. Shyme is getting soft to fall for this mysterious savior of hers.” Alpine’s lips quivered. “For an esteemed Divine Fox to find love is unacceptable.” The woman’s face darkened ominously. “Especially if it is an unregistered S-Rankers. Then there is a rumored Serenade might be following her path.”
Rubric watched his co-worker with concern, “Alpine, calm down.”
“Shut up, Rubric,” Alpine clenched her teeth. “I must defend the dignity and purity of high-bloods and must be protected.”
Xerxes sighed. This was going to be a disastrous meeting.
…
On the other side of Frisnia, a UFO floated in the sky above a mountain range which divided Centuria and Frisnia.
Yes, it was the UFO from everyone's childhood dream about meeting aliens and raiding Area 51. The shiny silver disc of supreme technology and anti-gravitation engineering floated into the sky. Its blinking light and sensor swept the area to guard against attack from an overzealous military.
But logically, it was doubtful the UFO would be under attack by any army. No one wanted to pick a fight with an organization led by Orwell Mehest himself.
…
Inside the silver ship were rooms and amenities expected from a well-functioning military. Diogenesis might be less than a year into its lifespan, but the impetus behind its growth was still impressive. Be it training room, research facility, accommodation and mess halls, Diogenesis had everything it ever needed to continue its mission to achieve a measure of independence from the meddlesome shadow of the gods.
However, it was a woman in a lab-coat walking to the mustering area at the center of the UFO who gifted the wings, which allowed Orwell Mehest to fly.
Arden Christy, a former researcher from the Isle of Knowledge and S-Rankers, opened the door into a mustering area, reflecting on how she partnered with the second most wanted man by the SCA.
After the annihilation of Venistalis, Orwell was imprisoned in a stone obelisk, defeated by the Chronicler. Christy, who barely survived the earlier battle with the future most wanted man by the SCA, had an epiphany as she gazed upon the defeated Orwell and the exhausted Chronicler. S-Rank labels weren’t enough. With the rise of that guy, Orwell, and those freaks of nature who repelled those two — Christy faced the immutable fact.
It was a matter of time before she became obsolete. The Venistalis Incident was only the beginning of an escalation that would rock the world. Christy was powerful as an S-Ranker, but the close call she recently experienced by these new breeds was conclusive. The entire power-ranking in Phantasia was about to experience a shift.
Faced with the prospect of joining the VHS tape as outdated objects, Arden Christy made the smart choice.
If you can't beat them, join them.
That was why she ambushed Chronicler and escaped from the Empress with Orwell. Together, they struck a partnership. It was the partnership of a lifetime. Being a man of his word, Orwell honored his agreement to the letter, and the new duo started the recruitment drive to shock the world. They built the organization centered on removing the iron-grip of everyone's mutual disdain — the Divine-races and their tools.
It was the dream job for Christy. With the help of Orwell’s Adamakles technique, her power explosively increased. She now had minions. Her new partner even found a common ground with their masked nemesis. This truce already guaranteed the likes of Ace, Chronicler, and Dream wouldn’t interfere with their action as long as the line wasn’t crossed.
They still had to be mindful about the Divine Fist and the gods, but Christy wasn’t worried. The greatest weakness of the god was that their arrogance stopped them from solving the problem before shit hit the fan.
Then she just received the words from her contact about an opportunity for expansion.
Arden Christy smiled and walked into the room where their instructor was busily drilling the recruits. The girl with darkened yellow-hair watched the men performing push-ups with a heavy, frowning face. Their third in-command was in a bad mood, as usual.
“Hello, Ruine, where is Orwell?” Arden asked her junior.
“In the lab talking with the vampire,” Ruine replied grumpily as she watched the struggling recruit. “They pick up the basics too slowly.”
“Not everyone has your modification,” said Arden.
“They have a choice,” Ruine sighed at the men. “They don’t take it.”
“Fair enough,” Christy left Ruine with her drill to find Orwell and informed him about the invitation. “Just don’t be too harsh on those newbies.”
…
Meanwhile, in the town of Baiyi, the company of one Wolf-girl named Shyme Enma had a minor breakdown.
“This is bad!” Shyme said, reading her letter. “Alpine is coming here!”
Beside Shyme, a pink-hair elf with the eye of an emerald clasped her pointy ears in fright. “Stop!” Serenade Asmodella cried. “It is obvious why she is here! That witch is here to kill us!”
“Great,” Sonovia Da Attra said in satisfaction. “Alpine will beat that love sickness right out of you two.”
“Oh, don’t talk like you are better off,” Serenade said to the traitor. “Rubric is here too, and he isn’t pleased about your recent record either!”
“Worth it,” Sonovia accepted her fate with grace. “As long as you annoying love-birds went down with me.”
Yuri, the blond-hair boy from Russia, sat on the sofa beside Charon, a maid with flaming hairs. Both were trying to ignore the commotion inside the small penthouse the group rented.
Ever since the utter failure called the White Tower Expedition, Yuri had been bunking together with the four. Shyme said the offer was her responsibility for dragging Yuri into the mess, but the young Russian knew better. Both Serenade and Shyme were using him as a lead to bait out Mr. Superhero, while squeezing every piece of Earth’s related dating tip from him. The two royalty of the mystic races had been scouring and ordering romantic Earth’s material from idol-magazines to good old romance movies to capture their hard desires. Personally, Yuri was tired of watching Audrey Hepburn movies as the two got hook-up on their research.
This sentiment was shared by Sonovia, who watched their high-class cabin turned into a flat of a romance movie fanatic. The macho-girl guffawed in awe as the Wolf-girl and the Elf somehow purchased a 70-inch plasma-screen television from Earth, got it shipped to this tiny cottage, and installed it in this humble accommodation. She tried to resist the two, but romance binge-watching had prevailed, and they quickly marathoned through Titanic, Howl’s Moving Castle, and an embarrassing 50-Shade of Gray.
Yuri, Sonovia, and the Charon had to watch it all, and by the end of the week, Yuri was sick of Emilia Hepburn.
To be honest, it wasn’t so bad. He got to hold Charon’s hand during Titanic. The movie was a pain, but her warmth made it tolerable.
Inside Yuri’s head, two voices were in conflict.
Those movies are sickening, the elegant but heavy womanly voice said. Did your people truly chase after such a stupid thing as love?
Aww, I think it is pretty cute, said a much girly voice
Cute? We are wasting time watching dumb movies about a girl falling in love with a boy instead of progressing with our resurrection! Our host is still puny and dense as a lead.
Always a muscle brain, The girly voice reprimanded her steely counterpart before resuming her triad. All in good times, at least we know how to proceed.
Beside Yuri, Charon Sol shuddered. Somehow, she felt a strangely familiar but terrifying presence she couldn’t quite remember.
