Giant City, just like every other place in the True Universe, was experiencing the fury of the elements. But it was much better off than many other places. For Giant City was the military headquarters of the Celestial Empire, and its fortified security system ensured that very few structures were damaged in the chaos.
The Kaiser Reich House was the home of the Lord of Giant City – the Lord of the Giants. The Lord had one son and successor, a boy called Max. Max was a highly talented Celestial known by the masses as Max the Tormentor. And his recent run-in with Mane had pushed his talent to the very peak. Max had few friends, but the few he had were the best he could ask for. Amongst those few friends was Kahn, his best friend. Kahn was just as talented as Max and was known as Kahn the Great amongst the circle of Celestials. Kahn and Max were inseparable, and it was almost impossible to find one without the other. And indeed, at this moment they were together. Kahn had come over this time, as Max had complained of always being the one to visit Kahn. As fate would have it, they were together when the Universe Will announced Mane's breakthrough. And both stayed together as the turmoil outside continued.
Max and Kahn had speculative expressions on their faces. They looked each other in the eyes, each one thinking the same thing the other was, but cautious in speaking it out. Finally, it was the impatient Max who cracked. Parting his lips he put his suspicions to the table that his friend may share in them – if he already didn't harbor them.
"Do you think?" Max started, but hesitated to finish.
"That it is the same Mane we met?" Kahn shared in his friend's suspicions.
"Could it be?" Kahn spoke softly to himself.
Mane was a relatively rare name in the True Universe, but it wasn't so uncommon that there would be only one person with this name in the entire universe. In fact even on Planet Celestial, there were a few named Mane. The issue was Kahn's Glow: Sixth Sense. When the name Mane Harbinger was mentioned, Sixth Sense started buzzing like crazy, seemingly drawing Kahn's attention to the name. It could be that his Glow was asking him to take notice of the name. After all, this Mane Harbinger was the Supreme. But the thing about Sixth Sense was it didn't work that way. Sixth Sense cautioned him of things that involved him, and not anyone else. For it to be buzzing like it was, it was either that Kahn would be or had been involved with the Supreme, or that his skill had malfunctioned. Of the two options, the former looked the more likely. As for Max he just found it hard to believe that there was more than one vastly talented Mane in the True Universe.
"But if it is him, how did he become a Noble so quickly?" Max wondered out loud whilst staring at his friend.
"How would I know?" Kahn smiled wryly and said. As a race that had butted heads with some god clans, Celestials were well versed in the history of their universe, and that included the history of each Supreme. They knew about the lives of the 1st, all the way to the 6th Supreme with ninety-five percent accuracy. They knew just about everything that the god clans did. And it was because they knew so much that they were confident in their talent. For even with Supremes, the growth of Celestials was uncommon. In fact, there were some Greater Celestials who were so talented that they were able to match up to the growth speed of Supremes!
"But the 6th Supreme also grew pretty fast – much faster than anything in history." Kahn stated, and Max nodded his head.
This was indeed true. The 6th Supreme was an oddity who grew so quickly that the Universe Will wasn't able to keep up. No one even knew his true age because he was an Ascender before any prophecies about him were born. That guy was a freak. Some speculated that he had a method of hiding from the Universe Will. But such a method would have been known by the gods. Which meant that the 6th Supreme was just so talented that the universe couldn't keep up! Next to that kind of speed, the 7th Supreme seemed pretty mediocre.
"If he is the Supreme, it will explain one thing – why he was as strong as he was when his actual wielding level was lower than ours," Max stated, and Kahn nodded his head. Indeed, if that boy was the Supreme, it would explain the mysteries around him. Why he was able to travel across planets and why he was knowledgeable on the weaknesses of Celestials – their pearls.
"Here we were thinking that we might be able to take him on now that we have reached the High Earth Realm. Oh how deluded we were!" Max chuckled bitterly. Kahn shared in his friend's emotions, for they had never felt as helpless as they did now. They lost to someone whom they were chasing after, only to find out that they had a much larger gap to fill than they thought. It was a depressing feeling.
"We can only hope it isn't the same person," Kahn prayed.
"Yeah," Max agreed.
The two were not privy to certain levels of information. For if they were, they would have known what their fathers knew. As mentioned earlier, the Celestials information network was as expansive as that of many god clans. And that meant they knew as much as the gods knew, including the origins of the 7th Supreme. The Kaiser Reich and Romano Lords both knew that the 7th Supreme was born a mixed blood – half Asgardian and half Olympian. If Kahn, who already suspected that Mane was Asgardian, knew about this, he would have been more confident that the Supreme was the same Mane they knew.
Celestial City, home of the Celestial Emperor, also didn't take a lot of damage. As the most prestigious city in the Celestial Empire, its defense wasn't any weaker than Giant City. In fact, there some areas with powerful formations protecting them. One of these areas was the palace of the Celestial Emperor. But the Celestial Emperor wasn't home. He left for the huge mountain behind the palace without anyone's notice about an hour ago. And he had to be unnoticed. For there was someone within that mountain he had to protect.
2 Minutes Ago
Two men sat facing each other with a beautifully carved chessboard before them. The pieces were the conventional white and black, and currently the black pieces were fewer than the white pieces. The white pieces were under the control of a pale faced man with long white locks of hair. This man was clad in a large cloak that covered every inch of his body. The second man, who was in charge of the black pieces, had wavy black hair and charming good looks. The white haired man was a handsome man, but the black haired man was more of an ethereal beauty. These two men were Zeus and Atlas. As for who was the white haired one and who was the black haired one, that was easy to tell. For the God of Lightning – former God King of Olympus – shared a connection so deep with lightning that his hair served as his seal.
"Checkmate," Atlas captured Zeus Queen soon enough, and the Thunder God who assumed he was winning because he had been able to whittle more black pieces than Atlas had been able to manage, was left blushing at his loss.
"I lost again," Zeus smiled wryly as he rearranged the pieces on the chessboard. There was a light of excitement within the depths of his pupils, for he really was enjoying the game. Although he always lost, he was getting better rapidly. And he quite liked the improvement he was seeing.
"You're getting better, Lord Zeus" Atlas laughed whilst setting his pieces in their place. He and Zeus had gotten much closer in the past few weeks. Yet he dared not refer to the previous God King as anything other than Lord. For he had not forgotten the favor of his life from all those years ago.
"I have learned a lot from you," Zeus admitted, not bothering to tell Atlas for the thousandth time not to add the 'Lord' to his name. He knew when to quit a task that was sure not to yield any results. As for chess, he learned about it a few days ago. Atlas introduced it to him. And he loved it. Not only did he love it, he was a fast learner too. He showed just why he was a Spirit Emperor with how quickly he picked it up. And now even Atlas who was a seasoned player was having difficulties defeating Zeus.
"I must admit that this peaceful life is one I enjoy," Zeus smiled faintly and said. He should be mad that his son had overthrown him, but he wasn't. The pressure of being King had weighed him down greatly for many years. For the burden of making important decisions wasn't one he was fond of. In comparison, this life was much better.
"Lord Zeus is welcome to stay for as long as he wants," Atlas offered, before adding, "Though I know that you will not." Indeed, although Zeus preferred this life there was no way he could settle for this. It wasn't because he was ambitious, but because he couldn't leave Ares as the new King. It could be anyone but him. He knew his son well enough to know that nothing good was going to come from that.
"When are…" Atlas intended to ask Zeus when he planned to use Perpetual Rebirth. For the God King needed to regain his strength. But before he could finish, he was interrupted by the loud rumblings of the True Universe Will.
"ALL HAIL MANE HARBINGER, HE WHO IS ACKNOWLEDGED BY THE ALLVERSE. ALL SHALL PROCLAIM THE NAME OF THE SUPREME! FOR HIS PATH IS UNCOMMON AND HIS FATE SURE."
"ALL HAIL SUPREME EMPEROR MANE HARBINGER!"
Soon after both felt the elements rioting outside, and both looked at each other with a knowing smile on their faces. For Atlas knew that his question was now unnecessary.
"That kid won't let me catch a break," Zeus lamented, but the small smile that tugged at the corner of his lips suggested that he was pleased with what he was hearing.
"Kids are often like that Lord Zeus. They never allow us to rest," Atlas chuckled before placing the chessboard to the side.
"Should I start making the preparations, Lord Zeus?" Atlas asked but he knew the answer.
"Yes. We cannot delay anymore." Zeus stretched lightly before adding, "Olympus must be retaken before my grandson returns from the Dreamscape!"