The Twilight Duchy used to have a policy where they would accept weak people of the fallen Skysand Kingdom.
The policy included everyone below the Third Realm.
However, people of the Third Realm were not allowed to enter due to political reasons.
Yet, Kyle was incredibly powerful.
Should they also turn him away?
They weren't sure.
"Please, wait here," one of the guards said.
Kyle nodded, and the guard jumped over the wall.
For people of their power, this wall was only a suggestion.
About two minutes later, the guard and a new person jumped over the wall.
This was an Expert in the Late Third Realm.
In fact, all of them were Experts, which surprised Kyle.
Warriors and Experts were rare in the Skysand Kingdom and the Winterfire Empire.
After all, they hadn't undergone any rituals.
Yet, they seemed quite common here, judging by the three people Kyle had seen.
The powerful Expert looked at Kyle with narrowed eyes.
"Mr. Freeman," the Expert spoke. "I am Lieutenant General Harkonnen, and I decide who enters and who doesn't. I am responsible for this border, and I make the rules."
"Nice to meet you, Lieutenant General Harkonnen," Kyle spoke politely. "I am interested in staying inside the Twilight Duchy for a couple of years to comprehend the Fragment of Wind's Expansion. I ask for permission to enter."
The man looked at Kyle for a while.
"Give me a display of your power," he said.
"Would my Momentum be appropriate?" Kyle asked.
The Lieutenant General nodded.
The next moment, Kyle activated his Momentum.
The world around them turned grey.
The air seemed to stop moving, and the trees froze.
The animals froze.
The birds landed.
Time seemed to stand still.
The three people of the Twilight Duchy felt like they couldn't breathe anymore, which was surprising since people of their power didn't need to breathe.
They felt like they couldn't pull in the Ether around them anymore.
"Th- That's enough," the Lieutenant General spoke with a strained voice.
Kyle deactivated his Momentum again, and the air resumed moving.
Yet, none of the animals dared to move.
Kyle's Momentum was so powerful that it even affected the Ether in his surroundings.
Usually, Momentum only affected the feelings of any intelligent being around the user, terrifying them.
However, Kyle's Momentum had grown to such a degree that even the Ether in the surroundings became too scared to move without his permission. The Twilight Duchy used to have a policy where they would accept weak people of the fallen Skysand Kingdom.
The policy included everyone below the Third Realm.
However, people of the Third Realm were not allowed to enter due to political reasons.
Yet, Kyle was incredibly powerful.
Should they also turn him away?
They weren't sure.
"Please, wait here," one of the guards said.
Kyle nodded, and the guard jumped over the wall.
For people of their power, this wall was only a suggestion.
About two minutes later, the guard and a new person jumped over the wall.
This was an Expert in the Late Third Realm.
In fact, all of them were Experts, which surprised Kyle.
Warriors and Experts were rare in the Skysand Kingdom and the Winterfire Empire.
After all, they hadn't undergone any rituals.
Yet, they seemed quite common here, judging by the three people Kyle had seen.
The powerful Expert looked at Kyle with narrowed eyes.
"Mr. Freeman," the Expert spoke. "I am Lieutenant General Harkonnen, and I decide who enters and who doesn't. I am responsible for this border, and I make the rules."
"Nice to meet you, Lieutenant General Harkonnen," Kyle spoke politely. "I am interested in staying inside the Twilight Duchy for a couple of years to comprehend the Fragment of Wind's Expansion. I ask for permission to enter."
The man looked at Kyle for a while.
"Give me a display of your power," he said.
"Would my Momentum be appropriate?" Kyle asked.
The Lieutenant General nodded.
The next moment, Kyle activated his Momentum.
The world around them turned grey.
The air seemed to stop moving, and the trees froze.
The animals froze.
The birds landed.
Time seemed to stand still.
The three people of the Twilight Duchy felt like they couldn't breathe anymore, which was surprising since people of their power didn't need to breathe.
They felt like they couldn't pull in the Ether around them anymore.
"Th- That's enough," the Lieutenant General spoke with a strained voice.
Kyle deactivated his Momentum again, and the air resumed moving.
Yet, none of the animals dared to move.
Kyle's Momentum was so powerful that it even affected the Ether in his surroundings.
Usually, Momentum only affected the feelings of any intelligent being around the user, terrifying them.
However, Kyle's Momentum had grown to such a degree that even the Ether in the surroundings became too scared to move without his permission. They had no idea what would happen to him.
As Kyle flew over the Twilight Duchy, he saw a couple of towns and cities.
After some time, his suspicion was confirmed.
'They don't have rituals here,' he thought. 'There are no Knights, Fighters, Sorcerers, Beast Masters, and so on in here. Everyone is treading the path of a Warrior or Expert.'
'Crazy.'
After flying for a while, Kyle noticed a humongous black castle, which was even bigger than King Skysand's castle.
'Well, I guess I know where the Duchess of Twilight lives.'
Kyle looked around for a bit.
'She must have noticed me already. The fact that I'm still alive means that she didn't immediately decide to kill me.'
'That's a start.'
Kyle flew closer to the castle and landed in front of it.
The gates were closed, but there were no guards.
'Well, based on how they view legality here, I assume I am allowed to enter.'
Kyle approached the castle gate and pushed.
The castle gate was quite heavy but not locked.
'You probably need to be an Early Royal Knight or Mid Expert to open this,' Kyle thought.
After opening the gate, Kyle carefully walked through the hallways.
The more he entered the castle, the denser the Light and Darkness Ether became.
There was no doubt that the Twilight Duchess was home.
After a while, Kyle reached another big gate.
He looked from side to side awkwardly.
Then, he knocked politely.
No answer.
"I'm going to enter, if that's okay with you," Kyle said after a couple of seconds.
No answer.
Kyle took a deep breath and pushed on the gate.
"Oof!"
'Fuck, that's heavy!'
He looked around for a moment again, making sure that he didn't anger the occupant.
Then, he cracked his knuckles and tried again.
He pushed against the gate with all of his power.
Surprisingly, the floor didn't crack under the strain.
The gate opened very slowly as Kyle's entire body was straining.
It took a couple of seconds, but eventually, Kyle managed to open the gate fully.
He looked forward, and as soon as he did, he saw a pair of white eyes looking into his eyes.
Naturally, this pair of eyes belonged to the Twilight Duchess, who sat on her throne.
She was quite small. At most, she was less than 160 centimeters tall.
She had long black hair and wore a long but simple black dress.
The Twilight Duchess just looked at Kyle with a neutral expression.
Kyle just looked at her awkwardly.
Then, he raised his hand in greeting.
"Eh, hi! I'm Kyle Freeman, and I would like to stay in the Twilight Duchy for a couple of years to comprehend a Fragment! Of course, only if that's okay with you!"
The Twilight Duchess only looked back without saying anything.
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