Chapter 30: The OtherSide.

Chapter 30: The OtherSide.

North.

The Otherside.

In a certain luxurious architecture.

The Other Side. That was what the people on the reverse side of the world called them.

A collective name given to a vast and diverse race—High Bloods and Celestials. Or so they were classified.

It all began with the first opening of the gate. Not only did monsters emerge from its depths—they did too.

Back then, a long war broke out between them and humanity.

Yet. Despite their overwhelming advantage against humans—who had only just awakened to power—neither side could claim victory.

The war reached a stalemate.

The Progenitor of the High Bloods, the rulers of the Celestials, and humanity strongest, pitted themselves against each other.

And yet. Though the battle raged on, it ended in a draw. Neither side had won. Neither side had lost.

The cost was too high. Too many innocents had already perished.

If they had continued like that. Not only humanity, but the people on the other side, either one of the four forces might face extermination.

And so, to prevent that the three leaders came to a consensus. And now, today—

"Ahh. What a drag."

"Dawn, you fool, be serious; the meeting's about to start."

"Sure, sure."

Inside a room. Rather, inside the grand chamber.

A fusion of old-world elegance and modern refinement, a long, jagged-edged table dominated the centre.

About twenty of them, ten on both sides of the table, arranged like that.

Behind the arranged parlour was a high place covered by a veil.

No doubt about it, if you were to look closely, you could make out a figure from there.

Yet, except for their crimson eyes that shone off the blinds, one couldn't see anything more.

Seated on one of the first two chairs that were the nearest to the throne was a young male.

Long black hair, eerie crimson eyes, with an air of nobility around him, wearing a black coat with gold patterns trailing the outfit.

And likewise, opposite him was a girl who completely was the opposite of him.

Long silver hair and a pair of mismatched eyes, blue on the left and red on the right, with the hair of a haughtiness around her.

Despite her figure, her outfits were on the more simple side.

On the other hand. Seated at the long table before them were also various ministers and nobles who had been here before now, their expression, naturally, solemn.

It wasn't until after they spoke that a woman approached from the front.

She wore a corporate dress, a black suit, and a black skirt that reached all the way to her knees.

Like most people in the room, she had crimson eyes.

At a glance, anyone can tell the people here were different from most.

Not to mention the heavy concentration of mana in the air by different viscount nobilities.

"Good day, Your Majesties. I have been granted the authority to lead today's proceedings. It is an honour to stand before you."

"Quit the formalities and get to the point."

"Y-yes, ahem."

The woman cleared her throat after being rebuked by the silver-haired princess.

And thus, the meeting had begun.

"A few hours ago. Narveral received a letter from the Associates on the other side of the world."

From there, she had begun to explain.

According to the reports that the affiliates had received, the technology from their side had been involved and associated with an attack that cost the lives of several innocents.

Currently, not only the Affiliates, but even the World Entropy's [Exalted Goddess], the Cladenstine's [Monarch], and the Church's [Illuminator].

In their name, each of these three forces had demanded an explanation from them.

And to this, their response—

"Tch. Who was the fool who secretly colluded with the Order to harm the lives of the innocent?"

The silver-haired female with an almost irritated expression had said that, bringing utter silence to the entire chamber.

"Jael, easy with your bloodlust. We don't need anyone dropping dead from sheer intimidation."

"And surely, it wasn't the Carmillia faction, nor the Vlad faction, nor the Tepez faction."

The Black male who was referred to as Dawn earlier had spoken up, as his gaze scanned over the aristocrats.

And while he indeed said that, they could tell it was nothing but sarcasm that came from him.

Yet, at the same time, they couldn't help but shiver as his gaze washed over them.

"Wait, wait, don't tell me, Covenant, was it your faction?"

Upon hearing his name being called out. The head of the Covenant House let out a soft sigh.

Duke Covenant.

A burly figure, his presence alone demanded attention. A thick beard framed his stern face, and he wore a long, high-collared coat, the deep hues of gold, red, and black making him stand out.

"Make no mistakes, my prince, we, Covenant, have avoided contact with the outside world since his majesty's order."

Duke Covenant had said that, motioning his gaze to the figure behind the blinds.

Once again, silence fell.

"Then, who's the unfortunate person that has put us into this predicament?"

As per the contract they had signed with the other side long ago.

It was a non-aggression pact and, additionally, a non-interference pact.

Each side was to stay their hands away from each other. Especially when it came down to things like this.

But now, not only had the pacts been broken, but as a result of this, innocent lives had been taken.

Should the other side want it. They could have spread word about this, putting them in a bad light.

Worse comes to worse.

Things would erupt into a war between both sides, which neither of them ever wants.

"Dear sister, it's obvious; none of them would admit their mistakes; after all, the punishment is simple."

Dawn had swiped his hand past his neck as he said that.

"They and their clan would certainly be returned to nothing but memories."

As Dawn said that, most of the viscounts shivered but managed to calm themselves.

"Your Majesties. Regardless, what has happened has happened. We can't change that fact. The problem now is what the affiliates want from us now."

Amongst the nobility seated.

A man had stood up. 

He had the appearance of a young man in his twenties, dressed in complete white; even his hair was white, save from his crimson eyes.

Naturally, at a glance, anyone can feel the slyness of this man emanating from him.

"The Nosferatu house, huh? You lot have been growing in power lately, but that doesn't grant you the right to speak freely before us."

"Oops. Pardon me, your majesties."

The Nosferatu noble had simply let out a sly smile as he sat back down.

Jael, for some reason, kept an eye lingering on him but soon waved it off as she turned to the attendant.

"Alright, speak up, what does the other side want?"

The attendant straightened her posture, though she was still visibly shaken.

"Uhm… According to the message, the affiliates are inviting us for talks. Additionally, they have proposed a small competition."

As she said that. The room stirred.

"What?"

"Huh?"

"That is—"

This took them by surprise. But naturally, not everyone entertained the idea, nor were they pleased by it.

Hence—

"Your Majesties, I saw we refuse!"

"Yes! Yes! This might be a trap!"

"Yes! We don't know; they might be planning an ambush."

Their collective rejection came swiftly. But before the chorus could grow louder, a deep sigh filled the room.

Silence.

What followed was an overwhelming amount of pressure that exuded from him, silencing the entire room.

For people like the attendant who couldn't handle the pressure, she found herself kneeling on the ground.

Some of the other attendants in the room even collapsed entirely.

"Who granted you permission to speak? This is your mess. We've violated the pact, yet you keep running your filthy mouths. Do you have a death wish?"

At this point, Dawn had stood up from his throne.

His crimson eyes had wrapped around eerily; a dark crimson aura had materialised around him, doubling down the pressure.

"Stop it, you fool. Do you want to kill her?"

As Jael had said that, the pressure disappeared. Rather, she had cancelled out the pressure.

"I—I'm... okay…"

Dawn trailed his gaze over to the woman who did her best to get up despite the embarrassing position.

"Her aside, what do you plan on doing, Jael?"

With that said, Jael mused as she tapped her fingers against the armrest of her throne.

"... Let's see, I doubt she had finished speaking when some fools had interrupted."

"Y-yes. Apparently—"

Getting up, the attendant then began to also explain an upcoming test by the Affiliates academy and that they planned on using using them as a benchmark to evaluate their students

"So, they want their students to have at it with ours, huh?"

"Apparently so."

A grin spread across Dawn's face.

"Interesting. What do you say, Jael?"

Jael mirrored his expression, smiling. "Yes… interesting, indeed."

She then seemed to mutter something under her breath as her gaze trailed off.

And though she mumbled as quietly as she could, Dawn, who also sat beside her, caught a few words from her murmur.

However, he decided to ignore that as they moved to their next agenda.

Following that. All that was discussed after that were the same old politics between their race and nothing more.

Then—Sometime After the Meeting.

Inside another chamber.

One would no doubt see a group of around five or more, circling around as they spoke.

"Dammit! To be embarrassed by two brats like that!"

One of the nobles had said with much irritation as the clenched their fist, hitting it on the table.

"You said it. However, I hope you haven't forgotten why those two brats—"

"...Tsk, I know, dammit."

If they could have made a move those two, and it would work on them, they would have done so many years ago.

However, due to their identity, status and power, it wasn't exactly easy for them to pull off.

Not when those two are the rumored Children of God.

"Tsk. To think they would become a thorn in our side. Eliminating them would be no easy task."

However—

CLAP! CLAP!

Slow, deliberate applause echoed through the chamber as a man, with a twisted smile spoke aloud.

"My fellow nobles. I beseech you. Let us bide our time. Sooner or later, our time will come. Hehehe~!"