Chapter 164: Welcome Ceremony
Priam quickly cleaned himself up, then left the room.
Outside, he saw the four of them waiting for him. All of them had gone up one level. It was fast because they had been at the previous level for a long time.
The three from the Ylisse clan were at the same level 1 as Priam, while Dandara was at level 2.
The four left the central mountain. Around it, the entire army was waiting anxiously, all of them with shining eyes.
Priam took out an emblem he had received from the worker earlier. When he activated it and raised it high, it connected with the central inscription of the place. He had permission to use this power to teleport everyone to the location.
He didn’t need to have any knowledge at all. He just had to activate the emblem, and everything happened automatically.
In a few moments, the space around everyone became distorted.
...
In seconds, everyone from the faction found themselves in an immense plaza.
They weren’t the first to arrive. Around them, they saw all the other five factions, with their respective Super Geniuses.
Priam’s gaze moved over those people.
The first thing that caught his attention was that Sallya and Inigo nodded politely, clearly showing respect toward the newcomers.
As for Daraen, she gave them a quick glance, then immediately looked away.
It wasn’t known whether she felt ashamed of the things she had said before, or whether she felt resentment. But clearly, she seemed inclined not to cause them any more trouble.
Finally, in a group with less than 600 people, was the faction that had placed last.
Everyone was surprised to see Walhart standing there at the front. He looked healthy and had clearly been helped by his family to heal quickly. But...
He was wearing an overcoat covering his entire body, with a hood hiding his face.
"Pfft..."
Flaris almost laughed, but controlled herself in the end, making only a light sound with her mouth.
She, Shione, and Lumiere knew very well the reason for Walhart’s rebellious goth boy look. The branch he had been beaten with before had a strange ability to leave permanent marks wherever it hit.
Not even with the best resources of the Divine Plane had they managed to remove them. So, to avoid being humiliated even more, they had decided to keep his exotic appearance covered.
Another thing soon drew attention.
Around all the factions in the plaza, there was a large circle of Elders.
All of them had a strange red symbol on their clothes.
Priam turned to Dandara. She was on his right, side by side, since she was now his vice-commander.
Seeing Priam’s gaze, she murmured, "Those are the Law Elders. Their job is to make sure all the sect’s rules are followed. They even have the power to punish Elders, and no one wants trouble with them. Besides that..."
She paused briefly, taking a deep breath.
"Those two right behind Walhart’s faction... are his parents. They are precisely the commanders of the Law Elders."
Priam snorted when he heard that. All the Super Geniuses were children of people with some relevance in this branch of the outer sect. As for that max-level bastard Young Master, he was precisely the son of the most feared people... though that fear wasn’t because of their individual power.
The atmosphere was solemn.
Sounds of swallowing could be heard continuously. That immense space was so silent that even the fall of a pin could be heard. The disciples could almost hear the beating of their own hearts.
Suddenly, a ray of light emerged in the sky.
Everyone looked up and saw the space there distorting.
Slowly, the space stabilized, and then everyone saw it.
It was like a gigantic open portal, or a window opened to another place, created with the power of space.
On the other side, everyone could see a colossal statue.
It should have been the size of an immense mountain, and its form was identical to the statue the disciples had seen before going to the final entrance test.
It was the image of Sovereign Astrapion, who governed this universe.
A tall woman, with a great sword on her back, also appeared in the sky, leaving the opening and arriving in the region where the disciples were.
It was the Lead Elder of this branch, Mishnar, whom Priam had met before. But this time, she had a faint halo of light around her. That wasn’t an ordinary light. Priam could feel that it was a terrifying unknown energy.
Mishnar stopped in the skies, above everyone.
When she appeared, it was as if the entire world changed. The air became filled with strange fluctuations that made people’s pores slowly open, greedily absorbing her faint aura.
"Greetings, Lead Elder Mishnar!"
All the Elders spoke in unison, then bowed respectfully.
Right after that, they turned toward the colossal image on the other side of the portal.
Without a single word, all the Elders and most of the disciples knelt on the ground.
Since there weren’t supposed to be people there from the Mortal Plane who didn’t know that image, they didn’t even bother explaining anything.
That was the Sovereign who would bless all the young Mages of the sect. They felt that if they didn’t bow, it would be as if they had blasphemed against a god.
But not all the disciples actually knelt on the ground... a small group stood out, precisely Priam and the other four main allies.
Shione, Flaris, and Lumiere didn’t kneel because they didn’t know this etiquette and, since they saw Priam and Dandara standing, they thought it was better to remain as they were.
As for Dandara, she didn’t kneel... because, instinctively, ever since she saw the image of that statue for the first time in her life, she could only feel a deep and inexplicable disgust. Adding that to the fact that Priam remained standing, she decided not to bow either.
As for Priam...
He would never kneel out of respect for this figure.
He had been captured, tortured, and enslaved for thousands of years because of him in the past. Even so, after reincarnating as Priam, he chose only to live his life and not seek revenge. But...
Life gave him a good slap in the face.
Even without him seeking it, those Sovereigns wouldn’t leave him in peace. They sent people and killed all life on his home planet.
Those Sovereigns wanted to play with him... so he wouldn’t let it slide.
As long as he had a chance, he would dedicate himself to becoming stronger. He had no hope, but deep down, he already wanted to surpass those Sovereigns one day.
"Where did this brat come from? Kneel immediately!"
This order came from none other than the leader of the Law Elders.
He was tall, thin, and had a stern expression. Seeing everyone kneeling except precisely this group of people, he was internally delighted, so he gave a severe order.
After his shout, everyone’s attention turned to Priam. He was drawing a lot of attention now.
Mishnar also turned her gaze to him.
"It’s fine." She spoke lightly, not showing the slightest displeasure toward Priam.
"How can we accept disciples who don’t care about the rules? Don’t you think he should come forward and apologize for this heresy?" that same furious Elder questioned.
Everyone was aware of the conflict and the shocking result of Priam and Walhart’s fight.
That same Law Elder, right after his son returned, seemed to become possessed by rage, and he didn’t hesitate to spend an exorbitant amount of resources to buy the best healing pills.
At that moment, no one said anything, because no one had the courage to go against this Elder. He didn’t have more power than the Lead Elder, but in fact, everyone feared him more than her.
"It’s just an apology, right? Then I apologize." Suddenly, Priam spoke without any emotion.
"Sorry, Great Sovereign. This young man came from the Mortal Plane and doesn’t know the rules... no one told me any of this. Besides that point, the tailor who sewed my pants used such stiff fabric that if I try to bend my knees, they’ll tear in half. And I guarantee the Sovereign doesn’t want our audience to end with a sight none of us are prepared to witness."
When he spoke the first part, everyone nodded, understanding the fact they had forgotten. He was indeed someone from the Mortal Plane.
But when Priam spoke the second part, everyone narrowed their eyes.
Was this young man clearly talking nonsense at such an important moment?
"How absurd! You need to be punished!" shouted the leader of the Law Elders.
"You’re the one who needs to be punished. Respected Law Elder, do you think your current conduct is respectful toward the Lead Elder? She already said it’s fine, which means this matter is over and the ceremony can continue." Priam’s voice echoed calmly, making everyone in the place become tense.
"You keep bringing this up, intentionally causing problems. If you want to be a man of the law, you need to act like one. As the person with the highest authority inside the outer branch, tell me, aren’t you being rude like some random bastard?"
That Elder’s face changed, and his eyes pulsed with a bloody light.
But he couldn’t answer Priam’s sharp questioning.
Suddenly, the sound of clapping echoed in the air.
"Good, what sharp rhetoric and moving speech. It’s rare for a young man to know how to speak like this nowadays." Mishnar herself said with a light smile on her face.
"Lead Elder..." The Law Elder’s expression changed, and he quickly bowed in her direction.
"When all of this is over, isolate yourself for three days. Your intellect has fallen greatly after so many years in that position, and your arrogance has risen to an extreme level. It even makes me question whether you still deserve that post," she said with absurdly harsh words, but in a light tone.
Everyone’s heart tightened. The Lead Elder had said these things in front of everyone. She didn’t give him the slightest consideration.
"Yes, I acknowledge my mistakes. I will reflect on myself." That Law Elder lowered his head even more, with a trace of poorly hidden rage appearing in his eyes.
Mishnar didn’t look at him. Instead, she smiled at Priam. "Little boy, is there anything else?"
Priam shook his head.
"Then, let the welcome ceremony begin."