"Hey… What is your dream?"
Two figures sat quietly under the moonlight, watching in peace as the star twinkled with celestial radiance. The leading figure stood up in pure bliss, folding her arms behind her back by cuffing her left with her right. She was stood at least a head above an average woman, with long white hair that could give Rapunzel a run for her money. The heavenly eyes which seemed to pierce through every living beings' soul, flickered under the moonlight, mesmerising the guy that she was with.
The other figure was a haggard middle-aged man. Wearing a week-old lab coat, the man seemed completely out of place with his ruffled hair and bone-dry body. Akumu looked back at the woman who asked him that weird question and asked: "My dream?" Why the sudden question?"
Dream smiled. "Don't know… Just curious."
"..." The unkempt researcher frowned. He slowly got up and basked in the same moonlight that his companion was under. Akumu's face was wrinkled and dry, while Dream's was as flawless as jade. It was a strange comparison, but Akumu felt inferior while standing next to the ethereal beauty.
"Hmmm, let's see… I think that my upcoming trip to the Uncharted Wilderness to study ways to enter the Immortal Realm would help in advancing our knowledge of Immortality."
"No, no..." Dream shook her head. "Not that! That's just a job that I've forced upon you," the gorgeous woman chuckled while flashing her perfect set of teeth. "What I really want to know is… What is YOUR Dream, not mine."
"T-That..." Akumu was finally caught in the spot. For him, as long as Dream was happy, he was happy. So why would he care about his own selfish desires? However, Akumu also didn't want to disappoint Dream with his answer, so he got to thinking. What was it that he truly desired? Why was he fighting so hard to gain Immortality?
Akumu's face brightened after a solid ten seconds of thought. Truth to be told, he didn't really need to think too hard about it. After all, the answer was right before his eyes. Scratching the back of his head, Akumu straightened his hair and replied with a brilliant smile.
"My dream is..."
❖❖❖
The Neutral Lands. The Abyss. The Tree of Darkness.
"I see…"
A low voice echoed through the halls of the famed Allfather's manor. Firmly rested next to the gorgeous woman sculpture was a floating phantom, highly reminiscent to that of a Grim Reaper. Dark smoke wreathed all around him, spreading ominous mana that could easily choke an average cultivator into a comatose state. Though he had no face, everyone in the room could tell that the man wasn't all that thrilled.
"... I'm sorry, we failed you." A white-haired boy was shaking like a leaf, all while he knelt before the magnificent being.
"No, you didn't fail me… The mission on the Heigui Enclave was never meant to be easy. We're fortunate that Midori was willing to sacrifice his life for the cause." The Allfather sighed. He remembered the first day he'd met the Gargantuan Treant. Midori was a Spirit Beast that hated conflict and hated to kill. If not for the Allfather's magnetic charisma and the promise of separating the Uncharted Wilderness from the main continent… It was hard to tell if Midori would have jumped on board.
"Hah… Make arrangements with the Spirit Beasts that followed Midori out to return back to the Uncharted Wilderness. I'm certain that he wouldn't want them to continue fighting for our cause."
"Understood," a muscular black-haired man that knelt right next to Shiro replied.
"Mmmm, Midori… I'd never expected that he would be the one to sacrifice his life first..." The Allfather moaned. Other than the fact that Midori was compassionate about everything, the Allfather quite like the Gargantuan Treant. Or perhaps, it was because of his compassion that the Allfather found a connection. Nonetheless, the hulking Treant had now withered away into the afterlife, and the Allfather couldn't hide the grief that rose up in his heart.
"However, thanks to his sacrifice, we've obtained a Spirit Saint safe and sound," Kuro added. "Not only that, the Heigui Clan is done for… At least for this generation. No matter what they do, they won't be able to recuperate their losses from this attack. The Lantis Republic, who had been enjoying relative freedom for a while, will be forced to recuperate while we strike at the rest of the world."
"Speaking of which..." The Allfather turned to the black-haired beast of a man. "What happened to the assault on Saint Firebird? You sounded so confident when you pitched that idea to me..."
"..." Kuro's vibrant eyes instantly turned dark. He bowed down and in a fit of despair, replied sadly. "I'm sorry… We didn't expect the Himmel Empire to act so quickly." The towering man gritted his teeth. "We'd expected to ambush Saint Firebird in his premises, where no one is able to protect him on time. However, Saint Firebird never returned to his home and instead hid in the Imperial Palace."
Kuro gritted his teeth as he remembered the cause of his failure. "By the time we realised our miscalculation, Guardian Sword and the pesky Spirit Saints from the Alliance had entered the Imperial Palace as well. With so many Spirit Saints concentrated in one area, we just couldn't take the risk… Please punish me for my lack of foresight!!!"
"..." The Allfather looked down at his trusted companion beast coldly. The two objectives of the Black Masks were integral to the final part of the Grand Scheme. With Saint Heigui defecting and Saint Firebird dead, the balance within the cultivation world would be set to a tipping point. However, the Black Masks had only completed one of the two main objectives.
They have weakened the Kori Federation with Saint Suhavis' assassination and destroyed the Lantis Republic's myth of invincibility. However, the Himmel Empire was still as strong as it was before and would prove to be a pesky thorn in the Allfather's throat.
The floating shadow paused for a few seconds before placing his left hand on the beautiful statue before him. "I'm tempted to punish you, but we can't afford to lose any more valuable members of our organisation anymore. Momo and Midori are dead. Kin and Gin are captured, and their curse has been lifted. I'm only left with five of the Nine Colours, I can't afford to lose a single one more."
"... Thank you, Allfather." Kuro gulped and heaved a sigh of relief.
"If you really want to thank me… Focus on the next task at hand." The floating shadow pointed up to the concrete ground that separated them from the surface. "It's about time for the Black Masks to come out from our hiding."