"I know that the two of you have arrived, just scan the card given to the two of you at the scanning tool at the front of the entrance."
"See you on the other side."
"Yea."
Taking out his card and scanning it on the entrance tool, red lights flicker for a moment and before he can make sense of what"s happening, he"s already standing beside Ash and facing the Emperor sitting on his throne.
Nightin took all this into view, but didn"t pay much heed to this. This pressure is nothing compared to what he has to face when saving Charlotte, because the upper realm which Charlotte was referring to was different from the one he expected, she was referring to the actual ranked high grade realms led by the weakest DemiG.o.ds and Great Saints.
d.a.m.n it! I only have eight years left before I"m twenty five years of age and I"m still far from even contending against Great Saints.
Ash merely smiles throughout, no fear or excitement on his face, no antic.i.p.ation or boringness in his eyes. Just like a puppet, he stands there and stare straight into the Emperor eyes. But he"s a puppet uncontrollable by anyone, not even his master general Silver can force him to do something against his will.
Impressive! The Emperor stared straight back into their eyes, they were actually not losing to him in terms of demeanor or guts and wasn"t able to gain the upper hand.
Maybe they didn"t even need until right before the great calamity to exceed him, just lesser than fifty years might suffice.
"Now then, young n.o.ble, what is it that you want to know about the appointed role?" The Voyager Emperor asks, being the first to break the silence. His advisors and generals watching from their seats, wanting to see just how these two youths will stand out.
"Voyager Emperor, I don"t think that I"ve made any contributions to be given ten thousand soldiers to serve under me. Their potential may be limited, but this manpower should only belong to n.o.bles of the seventh grade at the very least." Nightin explains the initial reason, before adding on,
"I"ll also know want to know why you were hiding the details from me, about why you"re giving me the ten thousand soldiers."
"Voyager Emperor, I share the same sentiments as my friend Nightin. If you"re unable to give us a satisfactory reply, then don"t blame us for refusing this once in a lifetime chance to step onto the battlefield. As a General on our first conquest." Ash Interjected in, taking a stand to support Nightin.
His ash coloured fringe combed to his left, revealing only his right eye. Yet that one eyes shows his pent up anger ever so slightly that only the Voyager Emperor and few generals realised it.
"Are the two of you questioning me now?" The Voyager Emperor questions in anger, but this was just a trickery of his to expose them. If the two youths still manage to remain unfazed, then he might really have to admit defeat.
"Voyager Emperor, I beseech an answer on our behalf!" Ash replies back sharply without holding back. Nightin remains silent, but just him standing beside Ash added on to their demeanor as one duo.
"Good! Good! Good!" The Voyager Emperor stood up from his throne and says "You two have really done better than expected. Since the two of you know about it already, I"ll allow general Leo to fill you two in on the details."
As his final words lands, a general wearing armor with a sword sheathed to his side stood up from his seat, his action and attire showing his strict behavior and expectations of himself.
His armor and sword were well polished, his hair were short but still combed neatly to the side, his eyes well clear and ordinary, his attire too, but this only added on to his mysteriousness. There"s no possible way for a mortal to step onto the battlefield, or so his aura reveals.
When Nightin and Ash see him, they stop in their tracks. The man was looking at them, just one look from him and they are rooted to the ground. Immobolized and unable to move.
"So you two are the two chosen youths to lead the war this time? Follow me then." Leo says as he turns around and walks towards the exit, leaving the place with Ash and Nightin following behind him.
The Voyager Emperor and the rest of his advisors and generals watched them leave without making any comments, they respected the decision of general Leo. As a general of the Voyager kingdom, none of them questions his loyalty. To become a general of the Voyager Kingdom, betrayal means losing the natural habitat of water and land.
Leaving the room, they follow closely behind Leo along the hallways painted the colour of the ocean, painted with the best quality paint with seagulls and the natural sun as the background. The entire walkway was giving off a sense of tranquillity.
Soon, they arrived at a door which labelled
From the outside, they can hear the clas.h.i.+ng of swords, the tens of thousands of hot blooded soldiers who are ready to wage war on their opponents in the battlefield.
"Now then, I"ll give the two of you a month to prepare your soldiers for battle, they have already been allocated under their respective general." Before Nightin or Ash could ask any questions, Leo had already left before they can even realise.
"Is it just me or there is something wrong with this army?" Nightin asks, his brows furrowed.
"Guess we"re in deep trouble, I sense the same omen as you." Ash answers excitedly as he dashes straight into the area, Nightin following closely behind.
"Who are you?" The soldiers on guard duty questioned upon seeing Nightin.
"I"m your newly appointed General." Nightin replies before walking forward, telling the soldier "Lead the way."
"Yes." The soldier then walks ahead and lead the way. Along the way, he also introduced a few details about the army and why they were treated as the weakest army even after eight years.
Apparently, they were once the strongest army among the batches ten years among them, but that one battle which they lost haunted them for life and even caused many of their cultivation to be stagnant.
This is because their general who had been leading them for two years died in their stead, he was someone who gained their respect and he was also the one leading their army to greater heights.
But the Trinity Predators which kill their general were just way too strong for a bunch of middle grade Martial Kings. Ever since then, they"ll always request for the Voyager Kingdom to send them to hunt down those predators, but their attempt was to no avail as they face rejection after rejection.
"Soldiers! Gather around!" Nightin rallied the soldiers together as they got into fall in position, forming rows of three as they faced the front, their eyes unclear of the future.
Yet, he realised that there were only three thousand soldiers around, but before he could process about the possible reasons, the card which is also a token in his hand vibrated, sending a transmitted message into his mind.
"Young n.o.ble, I"m unable to tell you the reason why, but I"ve changed your ten thousand soldiers into three thousand soldiers and as for their strength and loyalty, you may know them better yourself compared to me."
"General... Is that you...?" A weak voice which was familiar sounded off. Cutting Nightin away from his thoughts as he raised his head.
When Nightin paid close attention to the three thousand soldiers at the front, he realised that all of them were familiar faces which shouldn"t even exist in this world...