3rd POV
"Is everyone here?" Chae Joochul asked.
In front of him was a group of 6 people, all dressed appropriately as if they were going to a big event.
"YES!" They all said in unison.
"Good." He turned to Shinhyuk, "What about that old bastard? Did he respond to our 'request'?"
"Well, yes. Although he said that he himself is unlikely to come, he will send his grandson as a representative of their clan." Shinhyuk said robotically.
"That's fine too..." Joochul murmured to himself 'But what was it that made that old bastard not come even when I myself invited him...'
'Sounds like one of his usual schemes... not that it matters, it's not my problem if he does something that causes problem. All I had to do was to bring someone from his clan.' He thought.
Seeing that Joochul had finished thinking, Shinhyuk opened his mouth and said, "Apparently, we will be meeting at the airport. Shin Myungchul said that since the barrier only covered England, there was no need to get together right when leaving-"
"It doesn't matter. As long as the kid is coming, it's fine." Chae Joochul cut him off.
"Y-yes..."
** Later at the Airport **
"Yo, Chae Nayun~" Shin Jonghak said as he approached Nayun.
"Hmm?" Nayun was taken by surprise as Jonghak was not behaving as usual. He even called her by her full name...
'Ah, it's probably because of Grandpa...' She thought as she glanced at her grandfather, who was staring at Shin Jonghak from the corner of his dead looking eyes.
'Yep, that's the case'
Shin Jonghak than turned his face to Chae Joochul hesitantly, to which he just noded, approving of his arival.
It was not that he was afraid to go war with Joochul, but because currently, he was here alone. There weren't any clan members, or anything apparently from the Shin Clan except himself. So if he messed up, Chae Joochul would go straight for his head.
Even if he was prideful, he could do nothing against power beyond his grasp, at least currently. If Chae Joochul decided to dispose of him here, then that was final. There was no "maybe" or"possibly" or even "likely". It WOULD happen.
And even if he fantacized his grandfather, he knew deep down that Chae Joochul was, as one of the nine stars, the same as his grandfather. His body may have rottened due to the passage of time, but the same could be said for his own grandfather, Shin Myungchul.
"Let's go. We don't have time to waste in some chit chats."
"Indeed." Jonghak agreed.
Later, the three of them boarded the Super private jet, while the Joochul's lackeys boarded a less "super" but still private plane, taking off without any hindrance.
*
**
***
3rd POV
'I hope this can go well...' Yeonha thought as she looked at the person from who the sound came from.
"Indeed..." Jinwoong replied.
Although he didn't show it, he was feeling nervous. Even after becoming so powerful, there were a few people that even he couldn't handle. Few of them were the other nine stars.
It was not because of experience or anything like that, it was simply because of a "bad match". Jinwoong's battle style was more passive compared to others. The only one who he had confidence against in winning or at least having a stalemate and not outright loosing was the seven star mage, which was simply because of their roles as well.
Because of that, even when publically, the nine stars were praised as the "strongest", there was a heirarchy even among them. The "strongest" was Shin Myungchul, Jonghak's grandfather, meanwhile just a little behind him, at least apparently, was Chae Joochul. Although, there was also the King of England, but he was not brought up in the ranking because he affiliated himself with a specific country.
Than Oh Jaejin and at the last was Heynckes. The rest had a ranking was well, but were not that important for discussion. Why?
Becase there were no longer nine of them, four had gone into hiding after the grand apocalypse, meanwhile one of them had ran away for some reason.
Still, even with five of them gone, the rest of the four were strong enough to stand against Evil Society and their own version of nine stars as a whole. They were THAT powerful.
The reason why Jinwoong didn't have that good of a relationship with Joochul was because he was the one that ran away. Yes, Jinwoong WAS one of the nine stars, but as of the moment, he was not. He had long given up on the title.
Right after the apocalpse ended, he ran away. In Joochul's eyes, Jinwoong was a snake. He was also a lot younger compared to the others, and was also less of a patriot. However, as a result of being on the weaker side, he was also the most "normal" one among the nine stars, PREVIOUSLY.
"..." Joochul stared at Jinwoong for a few moments, the pressure around them increased. It was as if Joochul was judging Jinwoong's presence.
"...!" Jinwoong tried his best to stay calm, standing firm against the man. He knew that the moment his legs gave out, it would be the end. He was already degraded in Joochul's eyes, and if he gave up even now, he would fall completely. He wouldn't be killed, but things would get quite comlicated.
Just one word from Joochul to the public, ONE WORD of disappointment, and all his work, everything would fall. From the various brands that Yoo Clan supported, their money bank, to the very treasurey in their guild house. But it would not be because of humans, but because of Evil Society.
The only reason they weren't "attacking" the human side of the balance directly was because of the current nine, or well, five stars. If Joochul said he was disappointed in Jinwoong, that would mean that if Evil Society was to attack the Yoo Clan, which they most likely would, the nine stars won't intervene. That was something that Jinwoong couldn't compromise on.
"Hmm, Good. Seems like backign away didn't make you rust too much!" Joochul said with a grin as he walked past him.
Yeonha kept silent as she observed the situation. She didn't like it one bit, but she couldn't do anything. After all, it was an absolute rule in the current society, the strong would rule, and the weak can only submit.
'One day... One day, I will surpass that old man and get back the honor of our clan!' Yeonha said to herself in her mind.
After a few moments of silence, they joined Chae Joochul and the rest of the crew. Yeonha as usual went to greet Jonghak and Nayun, meanwhile Jinwoong just silently followed.
As they approached the VIP enterance made with pure gold, the guards noticed them and stood straight at one place.
"Welcome, Sir Chae Joochul, Sir Yoo Jinwoong, Mr. Shin Jonghak, Miss Chae Nayun and Miss Yoo Yeonha, the masters are looking forward to their visit..." The guards greeted them.
"Good." Joochul said arrogantly, meanwhile Jinwoon and the rest just noded.
'Masters...? Do they mean the King and the Queen? Or maybe that person and the princess...'
After all, it was not wrong to think that the guards would refer to Kim Hajin that way. He was, after all, the lover of the princess, "acknowedged" by the King[?] and the Queen. Ultimately, he had a similar position to a Prince of the country.
Entering the place, their eyes navigated the hall, identifying whoever they could.
"!!!" However, most of them, well, everyone of them except Joochul stopped when they saw the rest of the current nine stars gathered at a separate larger table in the middle.
"Grandfather?!" Shin Jonghak meekly exclaimed as his eyes went straight to Shin Myungchul, his grandfather, the "STRONGEST" of the nine stars, the current "strongest" of humanity, at least in the public's eye.
"Oya? I never thought that I'd see you here, kiddo." Heynckes said, glancing at Nayun.
"Master?!?! What are you-" Nayun exclaimed shockingly, surprised to see her old master here, but was cut by Joochul, who retorted,
"Stop teasing the brat, Heynckes."
"Ah come on, why ya take everything so seriously?! For real though, you're too protective of the kiddo, let her have some freedom!"
"She can have as much freedom as she wants, but that has nothing to do with you."
"Whaat~~! You're just jealous that I don't look as old as you~!"
"Where did that come from?! Say and again and I..."
Heynckes continued to joke around as Joochul continued to retort back to his jokes. Meanwhile, a more peaceful conversation was taking place between the grand father-son duo.
"Rare to see you in events like this, Jonghak. Glad to see you're in great shape as always."
"Of course, grandfather! I never skipped training your teaching" Jonghak said while rubbing his nose,
"Haha, you never gave up on that attitude of yours, I told you not to be formal with your speach, we're family." Myungchul said lightly.
In truth, even after becoming the strongest of humanity and having a questionable[?] way of thinking, Myungchul was still a family man. No doubt he was the most strict when it came to everyone else, maybe even more than Joochul, but he was without a doubt a good grandfather when it came to his family.
*Ahem* *Mic Testing*
Everyone stopped conversing and looked towards the source of the voice that came from the second floor.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the first ever audition of the White Crystal. I am Zelen, CEO of Roton Coorporation." Zelen announced with a smirk and paused for a few seconds before continuing.
"Today, I, as the representative of Roton, will tell you the method of utilizing the mythical treasure of this word, an artifact said to possess and infinite amount of mana, capable of maintaining an entire country alone! The White Crystal!" He announced as he revealed a huge cystal behind a cloth, the White Crystal.
As he finished announcing, gossips began circulating in the audience, something that caused the smirk on Zelen's face to increase. He was quite glad that everything was going according to plan...
Alas... he didn't knew that everything would go downhill in just a few more moments. Well, as they say, let him enjoy the moment while it lasts...
"Pss... hey!... do you think that guy really knows how to use THE White Crystal?!?!" Just as his personality, Heynckes whispered to the person next to him, who was, Unfortunately, Ah Hae-In...
"How am I supposed to know?! And why are you even asking me?! Ask that guy who said the thing..." Hae-In whispered a bit loudly compared to the man, clearly mad because the man had bothered her uselessly.
"Come on~ I just asked for your opinion~" He pushed.
"..." Literal veins started poping on Hae-In's head.
Not only was she the youngest in the group of these old men, she also had to listen to this old geezer's talk! And it wasn't even a one-time occurance! Heynckes had the most playful personality among the Nine Stars, and she had to deal with that, unfortunately...
"Now, let us introduce the biggest sponser of today's event, the very sponser that allowed us to use the Clancey Hall!" Zelen said as he looked at one of his company member that was standing near them, earning a node.
The man took out a large piece of paper, carefully reading it. However, strangely, he stopped in the middle as his eyes turned to that of shock. Zelen tilted his head to ask if something was wrong, but he just shook his head, asking him to ignore the earlier remark.
Afterwards, the man started talking in the microphone.
"The King Of England, the person because of which this audition became possible, One of the Nine Stars, Arthur Lou----"
*Bzzzzz* *Beep* *Beep*
The announcer was suddenly cut of by sudden robotic sounds. Everyone panicked a little and looked around, however, their panic only increased and someone of their faces even appalled out as they saw a very familiar sight in front of them, too familiar to be infact.
[ System Notice : The Second Main Senario Has Began.]
A robotic voice was heard as individual blue screens appeared in front of each person. Some were curious what it was, mainly the younger generation, some were vary of it, meanwhile the elderly faction was afraid, their faces appalled and eyes windened, which included the member of Nine Stars as well.
However, some of them, including Yeonha and Jinwoong, still had attention to the King, the only one they could see on the second floor clearly because most of the light was focused on him.
For some reason, the King didn't have the slightest of a reaction. He actually even sighed. It was as if he knew that this would happen...
'Is the Royal Family perhaps connected to the system?' Yeonha thought.
Why were they so afraid of the blue screen in front of them and the robotic voice they just heard? How was it "familiar" exactly?
It was because it was the same voice that announced the Apocalpytic Day, The Doomsday of Humanity. Yes, the Great Apocalypse started with this voice. The red screen had appeared even then, and as a result, those who experience the event first hand were terrified to see the same screen again.
'But this feeling... it's not as oppressive as father described it to be... Is it different this time... ?' Yeonha thought.
It seemed strange. According to what her father had told her when she was a kid, the red screen appeared out of nowhere and suddenly, right after did the Apocalypse started with huge gates forming in the sky and the atmosphere turning opressive. However, she didn't felt any of those feelings currently. It was also to be noticed that no gate or anything alike appeared, even after a few minutes had passed since the screen appeared.
Suddenly, the red screen changed its color to blue. The text also changed and a somewhat more detailed context appeared.
[Second Main Senario : Extermination of Evil
Humanity has completely recovered from the Great Apocalypse, however, Evil Beings still exist, which are disrupting the currently attained balance on the side of Evil. Remains of the Gates that formed on the rememberable day, Devils. Contracting countless Djinns, they are infiltrating Humanity from the inside. However, it is finally time for that to change.]
[Introducing the major participants of the event...]
The lights began automatically shifting places, a few auras appeared in the place, coming from the second floor. It seemed that these "major characters" were on the second floor...
'But that person is also there...' Yeonha thought to herself. She had already recognized one of the auras, and with that, she had also guessed the rest of them.
[ Holding the following Achievements... ]
[One of the Nine Representative of Humanity]
[Strongest Nine Star]
[Guardian of the Chosen Ones]
[Immortal]
[King of England]
{ Arthur Louise Alexander }
The lights turned to Arthur as the aura around him increased. An oppressive pressure was eminating from his body.
"..." Silence surrounded the hall, especially the so called "nine stars"...
[Proceeding with the next individual... the second major participant...]
[Guardian of the Chosen Ones]
[Immortal]
[Major Representative Of Humanity]
[Queen of England]
{ Elizabeth Mary Windsor }
The robotic voice paused for a few seconds, before it began resounding again.
[Proceeding to the Main Characters...]
[Princess of England]
[One of the Chosen Ones]
[Second Holder of the System]
[Queen of the Multiverse]
[The Second Strongest of the Multiverse]
[Genesis Class Weapon User]
[Loved by God]
[Blessed by the Supreme Being]
[Omniversal Royalty]
[True Immortal]
[User Of Nihility : Supression and Oppression ]
[Blessed by the System]
{ Rachel UI Nebula }
"..." The silence could only increase. Literally, not even the sound of breathing could be heard, other than the system, everything was silent.
[Proceeding...
[One of the Chosen Ones]
[First Holder of the System]
[King of the Multiverse]
[ The Strongest in The Multiverse]
[Genesis Class Weapon User]
[Loved by God]
[Blessed by the Supreme Being]
[Omniversal Royalty]
[True Immortal]
[Blessed by the System]
[ User of Nihility : Creation and Destruction ]
{ Kim UI Nebula }
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Word Count : 2614
Note for my webnovel viewers : So... I just realized that I forgot to upload the chapter 34 on this website 2, which was supposed to be released 2 weaks ago... I just realized that when I found the chapter number strange, and noticed that the titles didn't have a chapter 34, but went from 33 to 35 straight... Sorry!