We walked for almost an hour, mainly through large commercial roads, filled with shops on the ground floors of two-story buildings as well as smaller stalls on the side of the stone-paved paths. Magical beasts ran through the streets, their riders barely paying attention to the road, since the beasts were experts at avoiding people.

On the way to our destination, the Ministry of Mana, we walked through several buildings where different functions of the Order were housed. Most notably, we passed by The Divine Court, where judgment is passed down to evil-doers.

The building looked like a massive open amphitheater with a giant ring of light levitating above it. It was a marvelous sight to see, but as I was once advised by my father, one that I should take care never to see from the inside.

Having walked through several monastery grounds, we couldn't help but notice a lot of monk-priests, dressed similarly to the ones we'd met at the End of the World. Kard, who had become especially frustrated with them during our visit, was surprised to see Elysian monk-priests being a lot more talkative than their southern counterparts.

The closer we got to the horn towers, the more exotic the beasts around us became. So much so that the number of magical rides on the streets decreased, but increased above us as spellcasters flew on carpets, small puffy clouds, giant birds, and all manner of other animals I had never seen or heard of.

We finally reached the building that seemed to be connected to the twin towers, and I looked up to see the horns seemingly stretching upward infinitely. The building itself was quite long and made entirely out of smooth, shiny, black granite.

There were no adornments or sculpting on it and the light was reflected perfectly on its smooth surface. The face of this structure that led up to the towers stood at the top of thirty shining white marble steps and even though the street in front of them was very busy, they remained spotlessly clean and empty. At the top of the staircase was a rectangular opening with no door, just a thick black veil covering everything behind it.

"Get ready," Seika said, and placed her foot on the first step.

In what seemed like the blink of an eye, four priests wearing long white robes with golden inlays appeared on all sides of our group. They didn't seem threatening, but one could never be sure with spellcasters.

"State the purpose of your visit, child," said the priest in front of Seika.

Name : Athuin Helinum

Race : Elf

Class : Divine Candelabrum

Level : 36

His hair was dark and short, unable to hide a long pink scar that ran down his left earlobe and into the collar of his robe. His eyes didn't seem to move at all away from Seika as he waited for her answer.

"Here we go again with the condescension," Kard scoffed under his breath, but received no reaction from any of the priests guarding the gates of the Ministry.

"We need to speak to the archons on a matter of great importance," she said, not taking her eyes off of the priest either.

"You are young," the priest said, "yet powerful enough to block our detection magic. And you are determined. You will not leave unless you get what you want."

"Exactly," she replied.

"However, the world doesn't work as you wish," the priest continued, as if he had only paused to take a breath. "And you are certainly not of the level or importance to request the company of archons. I suggest you leave."

As soon as the last word escaped the guard's lips, all four of them disappeared. Seika retrieved her foot from the step, not in defeat but so that we could discuss what to do next. Man, however, had already leaped into the air and landed on the fourth step.

The four guards appeared with the same speed as they had left, only this time they were surrounding just him, carrying weapons and pointing them toward Man. The two priests behind him each held a golden spear while one on his side was aiming at him with a shining longbow. The priest who had just talked to Seika was in front of him, standing calmly with his hands behind his back, seemingly undisturbed by the situation.

"The next step would have been fatal, child," the priest said.

"I guess I'm lucky then," Man replied coldly. "And so are you. It would have been really bad if you killed the heir to the Leka An throne."

The priest was clearly caught by surprise, as he momentarily removed his hands from his back but quickly managed to calm himself and reclaimed his posture.

"I apologize for not recognizing you immediately, Prince Manal Im, even though you’ve been using magic to conceal your Dark Energy signature," the priest said. "However, I would ask you to return to the base of the steps."

"We're here to talk to the archons," Man said firmly. "So instead of going back down and then climbing back up again, I might as well stay here. Will you please inform the paragon of Archon Simeon that we require an audience?"

"Once again, Prince Manal Im, I apologize," the priest said, and he motioned for the rest of the guards to put away their weapons, "but audience requests have to follow proper procedure. And this is far from it."

"We need to talk to the archon and we need to do it now," Man said, and he moved to pull something out of his pocket.

I recognized it as soon as I saw it. It was a smooth golden ring with the crest of the Holy Order on it. It was a ring that was worn by the archons, and since it was in Man's possession, it could only mean that it was my brother's.

Before the guard was able to inspect what Man had taken out of his pocket, there was a loud crack of thunder and a familiar curly-haired woman appeared next to the priests in a column of yellow light. It was Mielia, Archon Simeon's paragon.

Name : Mielia Setur

Race : Light Elf

Class : Divine Paragon

Level : 56

"You can leave us now," she said to the guards, who went out of their way to avoid her gaze.