In a large stadium behind the Capital Hall, the adult nobles were seated in the stadium seats that circled around the match stages.

They were the only ones there as they came early, and they were in an intense conversation.

"Your Highness, you mean to say Oratin city was devastated in one single day?" shouted one of the higher-ranked nobles.

"Yes, Dorian. It's not just Oratin City, some smaller cities were also annihilated by this mysterious force," replied King Caspian.

"What do we know of this force? Have we ever met them? How do we identify them?" asked one of the dukes, Anthony Grant.

"Not much, but they are speculated to be immensely powerful, as there was not a single life left after they were done with the cities"

"How is that possible? No force in the continent should be that strong!" exclaimed duchess Beatrice Forst, the wife of the duke Orson.

"Frankly speaking, we are going in blind. We know nothing," sighed the King.

"So, what do we know? At least, we have to know something," fumed Phillip Vargas.

"Watch your mouth, Phillip. This is not your home," hissed Todd Elliot, accompanied by some other nobles.

"Yes, mind your manners, Phillip. You are in the presence of the King," scolded Duke Dorian Hayden.

Phillip Vargas looked in the eye of the nobles that scolded him. He wanted to retort, but he gave up.

"Hahaha, we all know Phillip is always like that," laughed the King, who was not a bit disturbed by Earl Phillip's arrogance.

The King's expression changed to a serious one, "However, he is right. We have to know something, and we do know something--"

He was interrupted by his brother who sensed something, "but, what?"

"It is not looking good," confessed the King.

The King's solemn tone managed to put all the nobles on edge.

In a fit of courage, mentally gulping, the commoners representative, Addison Dale, asked, "What is it, your highness?"

"At first, we suspected that it was an organization, which is true. We found out that they possess an individual capable of producing a devastating energy beam technique. We realized that the denizens of the fallen cities might not be dead, but instead captured for an unknown reason."

"But, on our second investigation, we finally identified the type of energy utilized for the Energy Beam technique!"

"What was it?" asked Viscount Hector Dotson.

The King narrowed his eyes in caution as he mouthed, "Nether Energy!"

All the nobles got the shock of their life when they heard the King.

"What do you mean Nether Energy?!" Henry Bell asked.

"It is not possible," exclaimed most of the nobles.

"My King, are you sure it was Nether Energy," eyed Todd Elliot.

The King replied, "Yes. Believe me, I know the full implication of my words, but it is the truth!"

The reason the nobles were in a panic was due to the significance of the King's word.

It was widely known that cultivators used a form of energy called [Spirit Essence], but what about Netherans?

Do they also use [Spirit Essence]?

Of course, they didn't. They were invaders, they couldn't possibly manipulate [Spirit Essence].

They had their own energy form, which was called Nether Energy!

A vile energy from their homeworlds that embodies the true concept of Netherans, Corruption!

It was the bane of [Spirit Essence]!

The King explained, "We all know the only beings capable of harnessing [Nether Energy] are the Netherans. I'm afraid this mysterious organization is affiliated with Netherans, that will explain the missing people."

"If what you say is true, that must mean the mysterious organization is building an army. It could be an army of Zombies or any other Netherans!" deciphered Conan Aztec, the brother of the King.

"This is a threat!" exclaimed Baron Carl Hudges.

"I know. That is why I assembled this impromptu meeting," commented the King.

"What do we do?" asked one of the nobles.

"How do we proceed? We left our territories" asked another

"I have arranged for the other territories to be protected, while we all stay in the Capital. We must assume the organization means war, as we do not know their goal."

"Still yet, for them to attack our cities. They must be aggressive and must be punished," stated Duke Joel Gardener.

Conan Aztec asked his brother, "Should we contact the other kingdoms, now that the threat of the Netherans is on our neck?"

"Not yet, we must assess the authenticity of this threat, so that we don't falsely alarm the kingdoms," replied King.

He had thought of every avenue he could branch to, every decision he could make.

It was his duty as a king to lead his people to greener pasture.

He continued, "I must assume, for worse, that their end goal is the total corruption of Aztec. I must assume they are in the shadows watching our every move. So, we will turn the lights on them!"

"We will continue with the annual competition, making them think we are not onto them. I have positioned strong soldiers in almost every city. Their goal is not to protect the territories, but to secure information on the mysterious organization if they attack. After that, their second duty is to assist in the defense of the territories."

"So, we bait them," asked Joseph Decker.

"Yes"

"At what cost?" Robert Richmond inquired.

"I believe, whatever is necessary," stated the King.

His presence became more dominant as the nobles who were in doubt felt suppressed just by looking at him.

"Duly noted," nodded all the nobles.

In his usual rapid change of moods, the King smiled, "Let's forget about all the negative affairs. Tell me, what should I expect from your younger ones?"

"Hahaha, as expected from the King. Let me just say, my nephew, is going to win the competition, " bragged Todd Elliot.

"Ho, if I remember correctly, your nephew is Gavin Elliot. Quite a fine young man, he made a good impression," replied the King.

"Yes, he is at [Realm 1 Stage 9]. Also, he has learned the first style of the Elliot family technique series."

"That is nothing. My son, Joshua, is easily at that stage. I think he is the most likely to win," preached Phillip Vargas.

"Hahaha, now I'm interested in who would win," laughed the King.

A noble asked him, "Your Highness, what is going to be the preliminary stage?"

"Hahaha, let's have patience." He smiled, "As I am the one to determine the preliminary stage, I look forward to their performance. The young ones are the future."

The adults continued bragging, betting on their younger generation.

...….

"So, what is next? Do we go back to the guest house?" Nico asked Gavin.

The King's celebration was done and they had no idea of what to do.

Lola slapped her brother's head, "Did you forget we have a competition to attend? Sheesh! I wonder what goes into your head sometimes."

"Gavin, last I remembered, the competition is just behind this hall," quipped Jaya.

"Yes, let's wait a little bit so that we don't go there too early," explained Gavin.

"What happens if we go too early?" asked Andrew, one of Pinesun city's six contestants.

"Idiot, do you want to go early? Don't you know that it is way cooler to come in late?" scolded Nico.

All the while, Jake was lost in his mind.

He recalled the words of Cheyenne, 'She said she is going to kill me when next we meet!'

While he wasn't scared, he knew if they were to fight, the odds would be against him.

'She is stronger than me. I didn't need my Akashic Eye to sense that. In fact, she is way stronger than people think. If I were to compare, she would be at least on equal strength with the Four Stars.'

Jake was very careful not to use his Akashic eye on Cheyenne. He had no idea if she would detect it.

He had made up his mind not to rely on the special eye on the competition. At best, he would only use its basic ability.

The reason for that was due to the backlash of the eye. It would leave him mentally drained, and without his mind, Jake was just a mindless creature.

The second reason is not to attract unnecessary attraction. Just yesterday, he had narrowly escaped an attack from a mysterious creature, who "smelt" he was special. Jake didn't need a repetition of that.

Though, Jake had heard that they were a few special people in Aztec.

For example, the royal family. They are said to possess the bloodline of a demonic beast.

Also, the dead Queen was said to come from a special family that does not reside in Aztec.

Hearing this Jake thought, 'Where they are normal people, they are also special people. It is a universal trope.'

He wasn't overly proud of his special eye. Instead, he was more curious about it.

The Akashic Eye, as stated before, was born from his desire to seek perfection. So what was its potential?

Did it even have a definite potential?

His mind was brought back by Gavin's voice, "Jake, we are going."

Jake's eyes opened, 'Hmm, it's time.'

He followed the group as they strode to the stadium.