(Author Notice: as I have mentioned in my discord... a serious rainy storm has hit my town area and knocked a power cable, leaving us with no electricity or connection. I thought it will be fixed today, but they are still working on it. I went to the café to write and edit my Chapters. I edited two Chapters for now, and will release the third around the usual hour. Again, my apologies and enjoy your time reading. <3)
***
The Inverse Sanctum... Shadow Dimension.
As Levi and his friends went to settle down inside the Conference’s dorms, the Bishop was sitting on his throne in silence with the Hound standing beside him. The Hound kept twitching like it was painful to stand motionless for too long.
After Dominic beat him black and blue, the Bishop punished the Hound with indifference... he didn’t give him any further orders or speak to him again. He just left him to squirm next to him, knowing that ignoring his pet was worse than beating him senseless.
A few moments later, the Bishop received a dimensional call from his peers... the other six Bishops on Earth.
He opened the dimensional screen, and it expanded into six smaller ones... two showed as black screens, but the rest appeared as shadowy entities with a different colored misty scarf behind them: Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow... all of these colors were dark and gloomy.
"What’s with the emergency call?" Bishop Va’ren asked expressionlessly.
He was the Bishop of the European Continent/Western Asia, and the one most opposed to Bishop Na’thir... Levi’s mortal enemy.
"My pawns have brought me news on the situation with the Supervising Radian."
Bishop Ro’valk shared calmly... her expression unreadable behind the shadowy veil. If it weren’t for the dark red, misty scarf behind her, no one would be able to tell them apart.
Hearing this, everyone quietened down and gave her their full attention... even Bishop Na’thir leaned in closely, awaiting updates impatiently.
His own pet was beaten senseless, and he still had a long list of targets to finish... still holding a grudge against the ones ruining his promotion.
Most importantly... he still wanted to capture Levi alive to explore his secrets, not forgetting about his form-switching weapon.
But... he could do none of this, not until he was assured that the Supervising Radian wasn’t going to stick his nose in their planet.
"I don’t have the full details... but it looks like Dominic wasn’t bluffing." Bishop Ro’valk said sternly, her tone slightly feminine. "Rumors are spreading within the World Tree that Dominic had a meeting with the Supervising Radian, and it went well... it’s rumored that the Radian has decided to bless their minor holy regions with an increased divine light range."
She was the Bishop of North America, and her sources were trusted by her peers... she had the largest channel of spies across the globe in very important regions and nightcrawler nests. Not even the rest of the Bishops knew about their identities.
"..."
"..."
"..."
The Bishops went silent... their expressions might be unreadable, but it was clear that none of them were pleased with the news.
They had been conquering Earth slowly and comfortably because of their unofficial peace treaty against the Saviors... However, if the Radian was to give them orders to focus on Earth, they knew their honeymoon phase was done for.
They would target their empires, challenging them to Death Games, and they couldn’t afford to lose.
"I know what’s on everyone’s minds... but you are overthinking it." Bishop Ke’laas shared, his tone low and soft, "Earth is helpless... its Life Force Potential is on the low end and the Radian will never move resources from other vital areas to focus on it... he would be risking his supervising position if any of those vital planets were to fall under his command."
"Still... if the news is accurate, then the Radian will keep his attention on Earth for a long while." Bishop Va’ren said solemnly, "He might not order the mobilization of Saviors, but if we were to make a big move, he might order them to defend and win... he can’t allow this planet to be attacked when Dominic has brought him what he needed... it will send the wrong impression about his authority."
Most of the Bishops nodded in agreement.
They understood that Dominic might not be able to convince the Radian to get rid of them and turn their planet into a protected territory under the Primordial Tree of Life... However, his attempt did put Earth on the Radian’s radar.
Sometimes, this was enough.
"How bothersome... Bishop Na’thir, you know I am not a fan of pointing fingers, but I am afraid this situation is on you." Bishop Ro’valk intoned, her voice flat, "My sources told me that the one bringing the Sun Amulet was a kid from your territory... Levi Larson. He was the sole Daywalker to leave the ancient site with his memories intact and the Sun Amulet in hand... You should have taken care of him when you had the chance... and you had plenty... right?"
While the rest of the Bishops were confused about this, as this was the first time they had heard such a name before, Bishop Na’thir’s expression turned frigid underneath the shadows.
’Does she know about that night a decade ago? How? Who told her? My connection to that night is known by only me and Darius within the Organization... Damned snake, does nothing escape her eyes and ears?’
He felt threatened... understanding that if she knew about that night, there was a chance she also knew about the treasured eyes.
This was the worst-case scenario.
After all, if she were to rat him out to the Black Veil Queen, she wouldn’t hesitate to ask him about it... and he couldn’t lie to her.
No one could.
In simpler terms, he would hand over the eyes and most likely get excused without a punishment or a reward.
Bishop Na’thir hadn’t accepted the humiliation and punishment from the last Silent Convergence just to have his grand plans foiled like this.
But... he couldn’t say any of this or show even the slightest change in his breathing.
"If it wasn’t him, Yanhuan would have done it or someone else... I know you fools can’t help yourselves from pointing fingers, but this ain’t my problem." Bishop Na’thir replied coldly and hung up the call the moment he saw Bishop Va’ren’s shadowy mouth open up.
He knew that vermin was going to mock or insult him... he had no plans to stay behind and listen to his bullshit.
"Master... do you want me to bring him to you?" The Hound asked, his head lowered.
The Bishop paid him no attention... he kept tapping his finger on the armrest, analyzing the situation and the best next move to make.
’Bishop Ro’valk wants to make me a scapegoat if the situation deteriorates beyond the bottom line... I have to keep a low profile so no matter what happens, I survive. Otherwise, the Duskbound Order won’t hesitate to forsake me if it means pleasing the Radian and keeping the planet under their control.’
Many people thought that the conflict between the Duskbound Order and the Solar Aegis Sanctuary was black and white... but in reality, the conflict had been ongoing for so long, the colors had blurred out a long, long time ago.
Now... unless a planet’s Life Force potential was high, forcing them to fight tooth and nail for it, their ’conflict’ was mostly negotiable regarding lesser planets.
If the situation got bad enough to force the Radian’s hand... they wouldn’t hesitate to give up on a single Bishop to give him something to show for. In response, he would leave the rest of the Bishops to carry on with their slow corruption.
Everyone wins... but the natives, of course.
Even if the continent was freed, it would take no less than a decade before a new Bishop gets set up on the continent to carry on with the previous Bishop’s duties.
By then... the Radian would be excused since everyone, but the natives, would have moved on.
"Levi Larson... I am genuinely beginning to regret showing mercy that night." The Bishop uttered coldly, his tone laced with a tint of murder as he gazed at the void above him.
Although he knew that Levi should be under the protection of the World Tree by now, the Bishop still had no plans to leave him to sit in peace... not when his plans were being foiled left and right with Levi always being in the front row.
A pattern was being created... Levi was becoming a problem to his ambitions, even when they hadn’t met since that cursed night.
"Rain, Fang... once you conclude your missions, return... I have a mission for you." He sent a dimensional message with a cold tone.
When the Hound heard this, his expression turned nasty... but he didn’t make a sound, understanding that if he were to object to having his missions given to his peers, he was only going to piss the Bishop off.
***
A couple of days later...
Levi stood on top of a snowy peak in the southern pole, hundreds of kilometers away from the World Tree.
He wasn’t wearing any thick clothes against the cold... he didn’t need to, not when he had already succeeded in fusing aetheric energy and sunflames.
Right now, it might not show outside his clothes, but Levi was wearing a thin layer of aetheric energy that was infused with sunflames, making it flicker in gold.
Besides the change in appearance, Levi also benefited from an increase in heat, feeling like he was wearing a warm blanket on a rainy night without the threat of getting burned by it. Yet... this application was the least interesting as he had found much, much more.
"How do you feel?" Ash’Kral asked as he watched Levi manifest a dimensional portal with the word: Ready?
Levi took a deep breath while thinking of the training he had gone through in the past two weeks... The more research he had done on his opponents, the harder he worked to create the right abilities against them.
Now... it was time to face the music.
"Let’s kick some ass." Levi’s expression broke into a serene smile, stepping into the portal without looking back once.