Chapter 265: Returning to Base (1/2)
Chapter 265: Returning to Base
“Very well… I will respect your decision. If you truly have no desire to return, then you may stay. On your own.” As he spoke, Satan gently nodded his head toward Mika. His dark eyes once more fell upon Lan Jue, who stood at her side. “Look after her well.” Their conversation concluded, he turned and dissolved in to a streak of black light. Without a word to anyone else, he disappeared in to the distance.
The elite of the Dark Citadel were close behind their master. Soon, all of them were small dots on the horizon.
Once more, the Pontiff sighed in a show of pity. “Kindness lives even in the heart of darkness. I only hope that these sentiments were real.” The Pontiff turned and nodded to his coterie, and then with them in tow descended back to Skyfire Avenue. It didn’t appear as though they intended to leave.
As they left, Mika buried herself in Lan Jue’s chest and began to sob. The Jewelry Master returned her embrace, running his hand gently through her fiery red hair. He comforted her quietly, as she shook against him.
The Gourmet let his clenched fists relax. Could Satan be believed? He was the Father of Lies! But the claims he never hurt Mina…
The Gourmet wasn’t sure how to process this information. But his ruminations were cut short when a soft hand took his own. He turned, and saw the Seamstress looking up at him with a small smile on her face.
She nodded, and spoke to him softly. “Come… let’s go home.”
He responded with a bitter smirk, then resolutely nodded his head.
“By the way,” the Wine Master interrupted, “you’re a Paragon yourself, now. What will be your title? Hades?”
The Gourmet shook his head at the suggestion. “I refuse to take that name. Even if I took it, it wouldn’t bring Mina back. No, I will be called the Infernal Vanguard, ever watching the darkness for her soul to appear. Maybe one day I’ll be able to bring her back.”
The Infernal Vanguard! So the universe would come to know the Gourmet – as the Eleventh Paragon –followed immediately by the Karmic Scholar, Skyfire’s Bookworm as the twelfth.
For the next several days the Pontiff would sit in conference with his fellow Paragons. The Wine Master, Gourmet, Bookworm, Keeper and Pontiff would all be locked away as they spoke on things no one else was privy to.
Lan Jue did not participate. There had been a great deal of misfortune surrounding the Citadelians’ visit, but his responsibilities had finished with the reception. There was still much he had to prepare for, at any rate. For protection’s sake, Lan Jue decided to bring Mika, Xiuxiu and Ke’erto West Hill. He would carry on training the young men and women, with their help.
They arrived the same time, and when they showed up at the base Lan Jue was surprised at what he saw.
The star-lit training field was full of students, seated in orderly rows as they meditated. Their needles lay on the ground, twinkling in the dim light.
“You’re back?” Hua Li’s distinct voice encroached.
Lan Jue looked at the golden-masked instructor with surprise evident in his face. He approached quickly, and spoke in hushed tones. “What’s going on?”
Hua Li laughed. “I should ask you! Skyfire Avenue must be the proud poppa of a brand new Paragon. He released the whole of his protogenic expulsion, so that the entirety of Skyfire must have felt it. How could we pass up such a rare and awesome opportunity? I won’t lie, I profited quite a bit from it myself. It must be tenfold for these young pilots. What’s more, with all the work and medicines we’ve been doing, it appears to have had a wonderful affect when paired with the protogenic powers. They’ve been meditating since this morning, with no evidence of difficulty or desire to stop. All of their needles popped right out, too, entirely of their own accord. You can feel it – their internal energies are much more powerful than they were, and are joining well with their biology. As far as I can tell, our first month’s attempts at tempering these guys are complete.”
Lan Jue was quiet for a moment as he thought. Eventually a small smile crept across his face. “Luck is absolutely an aspect of power. I guess how much they absorb is up to them.”
Lan Jue found a place for Mika and the other girls before joining Hua Li in their dorm. He spent the next several minutes telling him what had happened on the Avenue.
“Two new Paragons?” Hua Li’s eyes were like saucers, and his expression was hard to describe. “So there are now five Paragons residing n the Avenue. That kind of power can shake the pillars of heaven!”
Lan Jue sighed at his comrade. “Unfortunately, the Clairvoyant has closed his eyes for the last time. He’s performed his final prediction, and now without his guidance we’ll definitely be seeing a change in the Avenue. The presence of the Eye of the Tomorrow was mostly what kept the West and North at bay.”