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Chapter 306: The Grace Concert Begins
🕑 Added 2023-11-08 17:36:00 +0000 UTCCheck out our newest DnD one-shot, the Plague of Balt! Where a kind green hag is framed for a crime she didn't commit, twisting the trope on its head.
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The waves crashed against walls of white stone, rising ten feet in height and circling an oblong area five miles wide. Above these walls was an empty expanse, sticking out of the ocean like a stone island. Its surface held nothing but a large, circular stage in the middle, as well as throngs of people.
The Grace Concert, the event that would signal the end of Earth’s grace period, was finally starting.
The elites of Earth had rushed here from every corner of the planet. Some were rich individuals that had bought their place. Others were fierce cultivators who’d earned it, and there were also some who just happened to possess a low-grade starship that could cross the ocean. Everyone who had participated in the Integration Tournament had been personally invited, and special starships had been sent to pick them up—though some chose to come by their own means.
Starships, however, were extremely expensive items, and the spectator area could fit tens of thousands of people. Most had come by ship, starting their trip a week in advance to make it in time. One end of the concert venue—the Integration Starship—had been converted into a dock, where everything from yachts to cruise ships were currently anchored, with more arriving every hour. A large, circular area on the docks was reserved for starships.
To the dismay of many, airplanes and private jets couldn’t land on the Integration Starship, but there was an aircraft carrier waiting nearby, letting them land on it for a fee. A small boat then carried the passengers to the concert venue. As for helicopters, few had the fuel capacity to reach this place.
By now, most of the audience was just waiting in the spectator area that surrounded the stage. Some people, however, got special treatment. An entire section near the stage was cordoned off with the words “Ice Peak” declaring its soon-to-be occupants.
Suddenly, a large group of dots appeared in the distance. Few by few, the people turned to look. The dots approached quickly, revealing themselves as a fleet of small starships headed directly for the dock. As they made landfall, outnumbering the starships already there, the presenter’s voice echoed over the crowd.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” it declared, “the Ice Peak!”
Everyone clapped. Many cheered loudly, hoping to curry favor. The doors of the starships slid open, revealing hundreds of well-dressed, proud individuals. Most were fair of skin, with blue eyes and blond hair. Cultivation had sharpened their features, making them beautiful and handsome. They walked with their chins raised high, carrying a subtle, deeply-ingrained sense of superiority.
Whispers spread across the audience. The true strength of the Ice Peak and the alliance had been a source of endless discussion for many. Now, however, they realized that the major factions were even stronger than anyone thought. Of the Ice Peak members entering the venue, there were dozens of E-Grades. Dozens. People couldn’t contain their shock. Even a year after the Integration, E-Grades were incredibly rare!
And all the other members present were peak F-Grades, too!
It was clear that the Ice Peak had brought their cream of the crop, a show of force that would be transmitted across the planet and force everyone to bow their heads.
In the next moment, however, everyone stopped looking at the members of the Ice Peak. Their leader had arrived. Out of the largest starship came the man most likely to command Earth under the Animal Kingdom’s auspices, one of the most influential and strongest people on the planet, one of the Integration Tournament finalists. He had reached the peak of the F-Grade in the first month. Now, peoples’ jaws dropped to the floor.
“Alexander Petrovic!” the announcer declared again.
Alexander walked out slowly, carrying the air of a king. His dominance was clear for all to see. It wasn’t due to the dozens of E-Grades following him or the fact he’d received special mention from the Animal Kingdom. It wasn’t because he commanded a fleet of a hundred starships. It was because, in front of everyone’s shocked eyes, Alexander Petrovic was revealed to have reached the peak E-Grade.
The peak E-Grade within a year. Just one step away from becoming a legendary immortal. To the people of Earth, for whom even E-Grades were the greatest of celebrities, this was the stuff of myth!
What sort of talent was that!? What sort of power!
Everyone cheered and clapped, earnestly this time. The Ice Peak were tyrants to the common people but on good terms with the other elites. Of the people here, most yearned for the safety and comfort that Alexander’s rule would bring. So what if the common folk would be milked? They couldn’t care less!
However, this event was already being broadcasted across the globe, and the reaction of most people was vastly different than that of the live spectators. To the nations that lived under the Ice Peak’s influence, Alexander was their leader. For all his propaganda, they only considered him the lesser of two evils. They weren’t particularly enthused with him.
As for the people in alliance territory, who had decent living conditions and access to information, they hated Alexander with a passion. The alliance also employed its own propaganda, which undoubtedly helped.
Alexander Petrovic smiled and waved, receiving the cheers of the spectators. “It’s an honor to be here, everyone,” he declared confidently. “Today marks the beginning of a new era; the birth of a united, prosperous, powerful Earth!”
More cheers. The projection stones focused on the people cheering the loudest, somewhat influencing the people who watched the broadcast from their hometowns. A few of those cheered as well.
The Ice Peak members formed into a line that headed for their section of the venue, passing through the crowd that opened up for them. Every Ice Peak cultivator smiled and shook hands with anyone who asked, maintaining their cool and confident air. They were giving the image of established rulers.
After they reached their section, things calmed down again. It wasn’t long, however, before the announcer's voice rang again.
“The representatives of the Flame River and Bare Fist Brotherhood!” it declared. A new starship had just arrived, and out of its door stepped two women: Margaret Rust and Vivi Eragorn. The professor wore a set of clean, sharp, yet simple clothes, while Vivi donned a loose red dress that accentuated her beauty while hiding her curves. Their hair—one’s white and the other’s dark—both flowed freely, painting an image of calm confidence.
The crowd still cheered, though not nearly as hard as they had for the Ice Peak. Everywhere else on the planet, the reaction was the exact opposite. The ones in Ice Peak territory were disinterested, while the ones in alliance territory cheered excitedly. It wasn’t every day that you saw the two leaders of the alliance together.
Vivi stepped forward and raised her hand high, waving at the crowd. “Well met, everyone,” she said. “Let’s enjoy the show.”
Her strength, grace, and confidence, combined with her natural beauty, had many men pining for her. How could they not? Alongside the professor, she was basically the planet’s greatest woman, and she was pretty, too!
Not to mention her apparent peak E-Grade cultivation. She was the second such person to appear after Alexander—the professor was only Level 81—causing wave after wave of exclamations. One thing was becoming clear: after Jack Rust, whose status was unknown, Earth would soon have its second D-Grade!
Many people walked up to shake hands with the two alliance leaders, even risking the Ice Peak’s ire to get closer to Vivi, but she only brushed them off politely. The two women made their way through the crowd, seeming as relaxed as if they were strolling in their garden, to reach a place close to the Ice Peak’s area.
Alexander Petrovic strode out to meet them under everyone’s watchful eyes.
“Vivi, Margaret,” he said like they were old friends. “A pleasure to see you both. It’s a shame you couldn’t bring more of your factions, but I understand. Starships are expensive nowadays.” He laughed aloud like he’d said a friendly joke. The audience went quiet, picking up on his intentions.
“Alexander,” Vivi replied, her smile as slight as could be. “It’s not a matter of funds; we just preferred to use them to feed our people instead of renting out starships from the Animal Kingdom to make an impression.”
In one sentence, she’d both returned his insult and outed the fact that his starships were rented.
“They were offered to us on the basis of our effective ruling,” Alexander stated, still with a bright smile. “Besides, it’s important to keep up appearances. If I showed up by myself, what would people think of my noble faction?”
“Not much less than they do now, I presume. The bar is already pretty low.”
“Right,” Alexander said, pretending to look at them weirdly. He was making them out to be the bad guys. “I’ll see you both later. We need to discuss the terms of your official surrender.”
“We’ll see,” Vivi replied. “Thank you for your time, Alexander.” Then, both she and the professor turned to walk to another, more sparsely populated area. They wouldn’t have such a great view from there, but the concert was the last thing they cared about.
Alexander also walked away, leaving the spectators full of questions and gossip. Many were feeling uncomfortable. The Ice Peak and the alliance were already irreconcilable enemies. If something went wrong and the two peak E-Grades came to blows right here, wouldn’t the audience be caught in the crossfire?
As if reading their thoughts, a divine presence suddenly descended on the concert venue. Everyone looked up to find a humanoid form approaching from the sky, showered in light from above.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” the announcer declared again, struggling to keep his voice level, “it is my extreme honor to present the planetary overseer of Earth-387, an esteemed Elder of the Animal Kingdom, a noble heir of the Lonihor leonine family: Galicia Lonihor!”
This time, the audience held nothing back. They didn’t dare to. Their cheers reached the sky, echoing from cloud to cloud. Even the surrounding sea was upset by the volume. The overseer, beset by a faint, leonine aura of supremacy, descended to the seat of honor, a raised throne placed right in front of the Ice Peak area to signal that they had her favor.
“Overseer,” Alexander said, bowing slightly. “It is an honor to meet you in person.”
She nodded at him, not bothering to respond, in the same way that she had ignored the crowd’s cheers. She was an Animal Kingdom Elder, and these were clueless, bottom-of-the-barrel cultivators in a newly-Integrated planet. Even being here was already giving them too much face.
Not to mention that her mood remained sour. It had been less than a week since Jack Rust humiliated her faction and killed her son.
The announcer’s voice rang again: “To our esteemed audience, please enjoy the performance. When the concert is over in three hours’ time, this planet’s grace period will come to an end, heralding the arrival of the great Animal Kingdom. And now, without further ado, let the Grace Concert begin!”
The crowd stopped gossiping and looked at the stage expectantly. Smoke appeared out of nowhere to fill it. The sound of gears whirring echoed over the concert venue. Through the smoke, people could make out a man appearing from below, rising into the stage like he was emerging from the floor itself.
A sharp chord filled the air. Then another. A fast, electric melody that seeped into everyone’s psyche and excited them. The smoke began to clear, revealing long dark hair, a leather jacket, and a man wearing black, spiked bracelets. The tail of an electric guitar pierced the smoke, clearing it up, and Vanderdecken was revealed in his full glory, completing a guitar solo so fast that people couldn’t follow his fingers. The sound was ecstatic.
A few seconds later, he finished, and he raised his right hand in the air, extending his index and pinky fingers. “ALRIGHT!” he shouted, and the crowd cheered from their heart.
Many didn’t like metal music. Many were afraid of what would happen later. But not many things could unite people like a good show.
The announcer’s voice rang out: “The Animal Kingdom presents to you the singer of the Dao of Metal, the third place winner of the Elzin planet’s interstellar talent show, the highest-level musician of Earth-387: Kane Vanderdecken!”
“For the Devil!” Vanderdecken cheered, this time raising both hands.
All across the planet, people smiled and settled in to watch, excited to experience the performance of a cultivator showman. To everyone’s surprise, Vanderdecken had even reached Level 119.
He strung his electric guitar again. Though it was unplugged, its sound echoed everywhere, harsh but strangely lyrical, and the concert began. “GATE ONE…” Vanderdecken sang, completely ignoring copyright laws. The audience moved to the tune, getting inexplicably drawn into the song. Even Alexander Petrovic was enjoying himself, while Vivi and the professor were nodding along—though their minds were elsewhere.
Only the planetary overseer couldn’t care less. Her head was propped on her fist, and her mind was already working on the best ways to locate Jack Rust after this was over. She didn’t believe he would actually dare to show up on Earth—if he did, the Animal Kingdom Ancestor chasing him would teleport over in the blink of an eye. Even the Black Hole Church wouldn’t fight a B-Grade for him; he couldn’t possibly be worth that much.
Vanderdecken’s performance was captivating. For the people at the edge of the concert venue, however, it wasn’t as much. They were five miles away. They couldn’t see him, and the sound reached them distorted as well. They were here more for the experience and status than the actual performance.
However, life has a sense of humor. These people couldn’t see the concert too well, but in return, they had first-row seats for the sea around the Integration Starship.
Therefore, when the tip of a periscope first broke the surface of the ocean, they were the first to notice.
Comments
Dang it, I caught up… Now I have to wait for the next chapter coming off a cliffhanger😭. Also it’s pretty clear Vivi is pregnant.
Namorat
The tension is real :)
