On a beautiful night, a beautiful woman in a beautiful room looked at a beautiful city.

Beautiful she might be, her face was colored by sadness.

It brings me joy to see you well, Croix. I only hope I can hug you in person.

The Crimson Capital was no longer showing the Grand Prix through massive magical projections throughout the city. As Round 3 brought the 16 teams away, there was no show to be had.

The woman, who had been kept in a gilded cage like a prized songbird, was able to see the sight of her son. A loyal knight helped him escape from the palace. She did not wish for her son to live a caged life like her.

Yet you’ve come back. In a tournament to be king... My dear boy, may the Goddess of Light keep you safe. As long as you’re safe...

The hour was late so the woman was about to sleep after finishing her prayers.

It’s quite chilly tonight.

She tugged her blanket up, however, she caught a scene where ice began to grow on the door. The ice swallowed the enchanted door completely and shattered it.

A figure approached, covered with icy mists. The woman was nervous. She felt whoever it was, their power was far above her own. A light from the magic candle in the room revealed the face of the forceful intruder.

“Grace?” She gasped.

“Come along, Giselle. Let us go home.”

Countess Grace Weiss of Stormberg who was wearing a white and blue battle dress truly cut a very dashing figure.

After a moment of shock, Giselle leaped at the pale blue-haired sister of hers and embraced her tight for a reunion too long overdue. After a few seconds of pure joy, Giselle realized how absurd and illegal Grace being here was.

“How did you get here? You shouldn't be here! You must leave! Quick, before someone sees you.”

“I see your habit of missing the bigger picture hasn't changed. Come. I’ll leave with you or not at all.”

Grace pulled Giselle’s hand, despite her protest. The Level 4 wasn't able to mount any meaningful resistance. Giselle saw many ice statues along the way; they were knights who guarded the palace. Her sister’s handiwork no doubt.

“Are they...?”

“Alive. Barely.”

The two talked in a hushed tone. There was no commotion or alarm so Grace’s intrusion was still undetected it seemed.

“How did you breach the palace?” Giselle asked. The heart of the Latias Kingdom was supposedly impregnable.

“Through the hidden passage of the royals.”

“King Laharl died without divulging that information to anyone. There shouldn't be anyone that knows such matters, let alone possess the key necessary to open it.”

The one who spoke was a man. As the two sisters came upon a wider hall, there was a group of people there.

“Chancellor Soren.” The Countess’s voice turned chillingly cold.

“...The Royal Knights,” Giselle gasped. The Chancellor was followed by the best of the best of Latias knights. There were four of them here, all Level 5 Pathseekers.

“...Well?” The Chancellor waited for the answer to his question. “We can't have such vulnerabilities unattended to, can we? Kindly tell us, Lady Countess.”

Grace did not humor the man.

She had long sought a way into the palace to free her sister from the pig of a king who took her captive. After many years, she found a lead. One half of the key to open a secret escape passage meant for royals. However, all her efforts to find the other half resulted in dead ends.

Enter her nephew’s vassal, a wolf in sheep's clothing, Tanael.

Before the Grand Prix, he gave Grace the other half of the key and so the deal between them was complete.

Apparently, he tracked the descendants of the palace’s architect that currently lives in Celedony. There were no records about the architect. If there was, Grace would have found it. Therefore Tanael must be using unconventional means to gain the information. She guessed it involved asking the dead, a lot of asking and the dead.

Seeing the Countess had no intention to answer, the old Chancellor shrugged. “I’ve never put stock in the absolute reputation of this place myself. There is always something, or someway, or someone that becomes a crack on the wall. Still, the plug needs to be mended to prevent a repeat. Please?”

The reply came not in the form of words but a directed fighting spirit. Despite being a Level 4, the Chancellor was unaffected, protected by the Royal Knights.

“Talking to you is pointless, evidently. Pity. I hope you’d have more sense, like your sister,” the Chancellor looked at Giselle. “Madam, please return to your room. If there’s something you require, it will be brought to your room.”

“...If you don't hurt Grace, I will,” said Giselle with a defeated tone.

“If the Countess stands down. She will be escorted out unharmed. You have my word,” Chancellor Soren nodded like a kind, trustworthy uncle.

“...Grace?”

Giselle found herself unable to move. Her sister held her hand and didn't let go.

“I will not leave you. I’ll never let you leave ever again.”

Such conviction in her words. Chancellor Soren looked disappointed. Was it toward Grace, or himself? The Royal Knights readied themselves sensing conflict was inevitable.

“You must think of me as if I’m a base man keeping Madam Giselle and many other women captive. I did so not out of depraved desire but for the good of the Kingdom. Our Kingdom’s future is in the balance. Uncrowned children now running around the kingdom thinking themselves worthy of it. Some possess outlandish visions or unbridled ambitions. They will destroy our kingdom if they are unchecked! You are one of such safety measures, Madam Giselle. I humbly ask for your understanding.”

The Countess’ anger was a blade of ice that stabbed deep into the bones.

“My sister is not your bridle! Or this nation! She has a life out of this gilded cage and it was taken from her all those years ago.”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

An ice flower bloomed around Grace’s feet.

“I’m here to give it back.”

Chancellor Soren sighed at the imminent attack. “If you do this, you’ll be branded a traitor to the nation. So will Stormberg. So I ask again. Please stand down.”

“Does it look like I give a damn?”

A blizzard in the form of a woman unleashed its might. It was met with another four forces of nature. The woman was as absolute as the lowest limit of the thermodynamic temperature scale. Her path had led her here. Despite the adversaries, the word defeat never crossed her mind.

***

Theus Mercea was looking at a glass vial of blood.

“To think I came upon something like this. Fate truly wants us to be together, oh my lovely Ciel.”

“You sure it’s her blood? How did you even get it?” One of his team members asked.

“Simple. My House’s reach is considerable. It wasn't cheap though.”

“You sure it’s her blood?”

“Positive. I’ve run tests. It’s undoubtedly hers.”

“What are you going to do with it?”

“Here,” Theus tossed the vial of blood to him. “Make a love potion from it.”

“Okey-dokey.”

“Umm, will it work though? Miss Valentine’s family withstanding, she is also a Silver Legionary. She definitely has robust defenses against curses or abnormality inducements,” a different member of Theus’ team said.

“I know what to do. Leave it to the experts.”

The man’s family was actually a lineage of the Blood Church. Very few knew of this. Theus was one of them. In the matter of blood, few could hope to rival the followers of the Devil Goddess of Blood.

“It won't act as a curse or the like. It will be something like an imprint. Like a baby bird forming a favorable impression on a being it first sees only much stronger. The person herself won't feel anything odd or changed as a result. I’ll get it done but Theus still has to make her drink the blood back somehow. Injection works too.”

“Leave the matter to me... Khukhukhu. The puzzle is falling into place. Once I marry Ciel, I’ll kill that old goat grandfather of mine and take control of the House. With two duchies at my side I will take the throne of Latias and usher in a new dynasty!”

The hateful members of Ciel’s team came to mind.

Croix and Boram, who Theus’ hated from his guts since the days of the Academy, and Avel who Ciel, in her momentary lapse of sanity, dated.

He would settle the score with all three in the Grand Prix.

Theus was still stewing about what Boram did. He didn't reflect on why he lost. It was a draw but he was unable to defeat Boram even when all he did was defend? Such humiliation.

He was determined to use Forbidden Arte to kill the master-and-disciple pair. If circumstances allowed, he would kill Croix too and take his dragon for his own. The Grand Prix would no longer cuddle the contestants. It would get bloodier as it progressed.

Kill the opposition, get the girl, and be crowned in glory. Theus felt he was entitled to this.

***

“Enough.”

Thus spoke Popess Sallustia.

“Is something the matter, Fellow Daoist?” Wen Shenhu, the mild-mannered leader of the three Immortals said.

The three had been moving all around the continent for a few weeks now. Sallustia went with them to make sure they didn't go unchecked.

But nothing was ever simple when it came to Divinity.

The three Immortals’ objective was a Divine Beast from their homeland. Their investigation showed the bull had fallen a few years ago so they searched the bull’s core.

It was hard, even for being above Level 5. Not much else to do besides combing the continent meticulously. The four started in the major cities, population centers with the most people. From the Human Dominion first, which meant the Free People Coalition, Latias Kingdom, Zetel Sultanate, and Herkelan Empire.

Even though the traces of the divine were rare, they were of the divine realm themselves so they found some traces eventually.

So naturally the immortals unearthed these traces.

The first one was a remnant of a divine being at the land of Zetel. Entering the pocket realm wasn't simple. After a grueling effort, even for them, it wasn't what they were searching for. However, the treasure was in front of their eyes. It would be useful for their cultivation so they took it.

The destruction of the pocket realm rained devastation on the surroundings. Fortunately, there were no major cities nearby but lives were lost and the terrain had irrevocably changed. Sallustia did all she could but her power was limited.

The second clue was in the south. A water divinity this time, the same affinity as the bull they searched for. Turned out it was a Level 6 monster. Enraged by its disturbed slumber, the snake monster wreaked havoc. The destruction encompassed a wide area. The immortals eventually slayed the beast but it caused all the water in an even greater area to evaporate. Effectively creating a drought in the already water-deficient southern deserts.

The millions of beastfolk tribes in the area would be devastated for the years to come.

Sallustia could no longer stand by and tolerate the presence of these foreigners. They already looked down on the humans because they were lower than them in cultivation. Other races such as the beastfolk were viewed as even lesser and so was their regard towards them. They held no remorse as they talked about how to split the Rank 6’s core.

Currently the four were at the east of the Human Dominion, in a wasteland of no people. It was here that Sallustia made her move.

“I will ask you three to leave this land. Your actions have brought harm towards the people.”

The other two Immortals scoffed. How dare this woman who had lower cultivation than them speak like that to them? Back in the Sect, such disrespect was unthinkable. Some crippling was in order it seemed, as was the norm.

“Fellow Daoist Sallustia, your upset is understandable.”

Unlike his other colleagues, Wen Shenhu tried to appease the Popess.

“The fate of our home is tied to whether we find the Sea Rumbling Bull or not. I admit we have been overeager and took insufficient care. It won't happen again.”

“No.”

The tone brooked no argument. Sallustia’s decision was final.

“Heh. If we refuse? What are you going to do, woman?” Tao Wang crossed his arms.

“Your powers aren't even as high as our ankles,” Bai Songbing flapped the long sleeves of his robes to make a show of it.

“I know you three are the lowest amongst your fellows. Your betters aren't able to cross the World Barrier like you did. Their talent is too heavy of a burden, so here you are.”

That touched a nerve.

“All right, I’m killing her. No objections, right, brother Wen?”

Before Wen Shenhu answered, the sky parted. Silver auroras bathed the earth with its majestic glow. A grand staired bridge appeared in the sky as if connecting the earth and heaven. Ancient and imposing, words could hardly do it justice.

“The Bridge of Immortality!” Bai Songbing’s eyes went wide. “This woman, is she making a breakthrough!?”

The weight of the world seemed to be focused on this place, preventing all four from moving.

“Have you ever wondered why our side has so few Pathseekers that have crossed the mortal limit? It's not because of the lack of talent.”

Beams of light fell upon the four and they ascended against their will.

Tao Wang looked upstairs. Beyond the blinding veil, he saw glimpses of white-winged individuals. Dozens of them, clad in regal armor and holy divinity. Arms at the ready, they watched the three immortals from the shining heavens above.

“Th-they, they are all...” Bai Songbing’s voice trembled.

“Level 6. Or Spirit Venerable in your culture,” Sallustia said with her staff aloft. Bathed in divine power like a holy being, she looked like someone out of this world. Her hair turned into brilliant silver and swayed in the wind of historic occasion.

Among the angelic formation, there was one among them with two pairs of wings behind his back. His aura eclipsed all the other angels and the three immortals. An archangel.

“I see,” Wen Shenhu remained calm and composed, like a scholar. “So that’s how it is. I stand in awe to witness the works of your Dao Emperor.”

“It’s time for you to leave his place,” Sallustia was infused with power unimaginable. Controlling a strand of such power was a daunting task. “You don't belong here.”

Bai Songbing and Tao Wang struggled to break free but it was futile. All four were being swiftly taken up as if by the workings of the world. The grand bridge was a silent witness of the extraordinary happenings as it always had since its creation epochs ago.

Sallustia took a moment to look upon the city of Sephoria, the seat of the Estellian Church.

My time is up. I wish I had more time but the Goddess planned otherwise. My absence will bring much trouble, but I believe in all of you, my friends. I leave this world in your capable hands.

When it was done, all that remained was the silver auroras hanging above the sky and particles of light that fell like silver snow. Popess Salustia and the three Immortals were nowhere to be found.