The Conqueror of Zones

by Shadows Finger

The central garden was bustling with liveliness as virtually all fairies had gathered together at this hour, numbering into the hundreds of thousands. These fairies had all reverted into human size for this special occasion as a type of formality, as such; the area seemed more packed than it usually would due to its size.

  The core members from the allied races were also in attendance seated on crystal-like water chairs positioned around the center of a spring at the center of the central garden.

  Looking around the well-decorated area, one would see magical crystals floating around the spring emitting a soothing kind of power that refreshed one's soul. Large cultivated plants grew around the room wrapping around the pillars like snakes, their leaves shining with the abundant light of life as if they were near the very source of it.

  Standing at the corner of the area beside a large pillar was a lonely looking dwarfin, he leaned his back against the post with his arms crossed before his chest as he gazed at the young dwarfin who sat beside the currently gathered core allied races.

  Zyne had a deep look of regret in his eyes while looking towards the seated Leon as he muttered under his breath, “Sigh, you really have grown brat... it seems that removing me from your life has not caused much harm but rather, fuelled your own self-dependence despite losing your forging intent. Maybe, this result wasn’t such a bad thing...”

  As if he sensed something, Leon quickly shifted his eyes from the members gathered around and scanned across the room. Upon noticing Zyne who stood with his back against the pillar, a look of surprise came over his face, but soon it became filled with hatred as he thought to himself, “Zyne... humph!”

  After Leon thought this, he then moved his eyes towards the group of dwarfins who surrounded him, but before he could focus on them, he was distracted by two individuals who had suddenly entered the central gardens. A handsome red-haired youth and a peerlessly beautiful white-haired female who looked sickly pale.

  "Two humans? That's the guy I met yesterday is it not? Then who is that wo..." Leon thought upon recognizing Feng Yu, but his soon eyes contracted as he noticed that the woman beside the red-haired youth gave off a strange presence unlike that which is seen in humanity.

  "She is most definitely not a human, in fact, now that, look at both of them, that boy also carries a unique presence. He feels like a human, but his atmosphere gives the impression an entity beyond it," Leon muttered as he furrowed his brows, after a short while he removed his vision and continued his conversation with the gathered dwarfin elders.

  A few of the other core alliance members also noticed Feng Yu's and Jing Mingyun's arrivals and were even discussing them with hushed tones. Not paying them any attention, they both moved towards the central spring and quickly found a seat.

  Time quickly passed, and everyone who was supposed to be gathered had arrived. Feng Yu and Jing Mingyun were currently seated among the allied members at the central location, looking around with different expressions on their faces.

  Jing Mingyun gazed at the scene around her with indifference as a noble aura shrouded her being, while Feng Yu looked around with curiosity at the different magical instruments as well as the gathered races.

  "It feels like they belong to a world, not of this era..." Feng Yu muttered as saw a strange kind of unity and mood among the masses of natives gathered.

  Piiiiii! Suddenly, a bright ray of light shot to the sky illuminating the area. After a short while, it then beamed downwards rapidly descending towards the center of the spring before stopping on top the lake's surface. The lake slightly rippled as the ray of light gently touched surface before vanishing, turning into speckles of lights that scattered across the area revealing a stunning beauty who wore a blue-ish green dress that seemed to have a life of its own, with unusual plants growing around its hems and large semi-transparent sleeves.

  She had long delicate blue hair that glowed in a magical light as it flowed down her face falling down to her ample chest, with the majority falling below her back to her waist, at her front the two chunks of hair that fell down to her chest were wrapped around by a few strange golden vines with roses. Her eyes were round and narrow-ish with bright blue irises that gave of a serene light. Yet, if one gazed into them, they would see a kind of ancient profoundness that contradicted this look.

  She looked around the room at the various individuals and fairies with a smile on her face that instantly caused all of the talking to stop as everyone observed her in silence. After a short moment, she finally spoke, “Allies and fairies alike, today is a very special day for not only my kind but all our kinds as a whole. After many years of trials and errors, eons of battles against our enemies we have succeeded in recovering our Life Source Orb!”

  Phew! A bright light once again filled the area as a cyan colored orb appeared before her figure, slowly revolving like a planet as it filled the space with a strange power.

  Upon seeing this, the few core members who had not known about the details were shocked. Quickly, a loud commotion was set into motion.

  “What! THE... Life Source Orb?!” one individual exclaimed.

  “How did they manage to recover that thing from the insidious Kefalas?” Another said puzzledly.

  Feng Yu seeing the commotion couldn’t help but grip Jing Mingyun’s hands firmly, as only they know what kind of danger it was to steal that orb and what its success had cost them. Jing Mingyun feeling this, lowered her head, but quickly she recovered her firm demeanor as she looked forward with a prideful look in her eyes.

  Clap! A loud, thunderous sound soon resounded throughout the area bringing a stop once more to the audiences clamoring. The Fairy Queen seeing this smiled once more and spoke, “Good! Now that you're once again at attention, we can finally begin the Life Source Ritual.”

  As she said this, she snapped her fingers causing the orb to fall into the spring below her feet, upon touching the spring, the rippling waters became still and turned bright cyan. Soon, a few plants underneath this cool spring grew and wrapped around the Life Source Orb creating a type of platform for it to rest upon.

  After all of this happened, the Fairy Queen who floated above the spring waters closed her eyes. Quickly, a few fairies flew towards her location in a circular formation before they floated around the Life Source Orb that rested peacefully on this platform of plants.

  Feng Yu seeing this was curious as he pondered, “Fascinating, this looks even more intricate than that strange ritual performed by Matuk’s tribe.”

  After a short while of silence, a strange wind began to blow within the area rustling hairs and clothing of many individuals as well as the plants. Oddly enough, however, the water which was now home to the Life Source Orb remained still as if nothing in this world could stir its waves.

  The once bright sky of daytime becoming as dark as night, once more shrouding the land as the bodies of all fairies started to glow in brilliant cyan lights. If one focused on the bodies of the fairy queen as well as the fairies that circled the Life Source Orb, they would realize that they glowed in a different kind of light, but rather than of one color this light was instead filled with a vast majority.

  Instantly, the fairy queen abruptly opened her eyes which now glowed brilliantly as she opened her cherry red lips and chanted in a mesmerizing tone of voice. “ ♪♩♪♩♪♩♪♩♪♩♪♩♪♩♪♩♪♩ ! “

  Following her chant, the powers of the world started to condense as the dark sky now glowed in the same multi-colored lights that shrouded her body, sending streams upon streams of energy into the still Life Source Orb.

  The chants continued for some time, as more and more energies flowed into the orb. Eventually, there was a change, and the still Life Source Orb started to ripple with these multi-colored energies quickly reaching a point of over-saturation, it was at this point that the ever-still waters finally rippled.

  Ping! A sharp and resonant sound echoed throughout the area overlapping with the chants by the fairy queen as a bright golden ripple s
pread outwards across the lake with its origin point beginning from the Life Source Orb.

  Quickly, this ripple reached the boundary of the lake, but even that couldn’t halt its glory. As if space itself was no different from the lake below it, the ripple broke out of the spring traveling across the void spreading outwards beyond the forms of all individuals within the area.

  “What on earth is this?!” Feng Yu seeing this was shocked, as did a few individuals who had never expected such a scene. However, they soon regained their calm as they realized nothing dangerous happened when the ripple swept across their bodies.

  The golden ripple traveled further and further reaching all the way to the edge of the hidden realm of the Fairyland, upon arriving at this new boundary it finally came to a stop. The moment this happened, the ripple had started to resonate with the Grand Halo, creating a strange buzzing sound throughout the Fairyland.

  The Fairy Queen who had been chanting this entire time spread arms outwards as her palms faced the sky, finally she spoke once more, “Life Source Halo – Condense!”

  Following her words, the buzzing sound came to an end as the ripple which had reached the boundary of the realm shrunk at alarming speeds. Quickly, it shrunk to the size of the Grand Halo which surrounded the entire Fairy Palace merging into its whole.

  Bang! A rumbling sound soon after followed as the world shook, the Life Source Orb at the center of the springs glowed brilliantly on the platform of plants which started to rise towards the heavens very quickly reaching the summits of the palace, soon after positioning itself at the direct center of the now newly condensed Life Source Halo.

  Phew! A bright light of life shone across the entire realm as the dark sky faded once more into the daytime and prosperous life source energies from the new condensed halo had begun to nourish all within the Fairyland.

  Feng Yu seeing this was intrigued, as did a few individuals who observed this remarkable change, the queen seeing this, nodded in satisfaction as she now spoke in a resonant voice, “The Life Source Ritual is now complete...”

  Her voice fading away into the rising winds of daytime as if they ushered a new beginning...

  Chapter 126

  The Alliance Meeting

  The life source ritual was now over, and everyone within the region of the central garden became silent as they paid close attention to the now slightly exhausted Fairy Queen who gently floated to the ground before sitting at the central most chair amongst the allied members.

  After a short while, she regained her former manner revealing her noble queen-like aura once again. She swept her eyes across the gathered natives pausing briefly on the forms of Feng Yu and Jing Mingyun before speaking to the crowd.

  “Now that the ritual is complete, there are only two tasks left on our agendas. The first is the appointing of the members of who will be using the Healing Chambers to recover their injured essences now that the 'Life Source Halo' has been reformed and lastly, we will discuss the pressing issue about this era’s Chosen One's mission. If anyone has something they are not content with, you may say so now...” said the Fairy Queen with a resonant voice.

  The area remained silent as all of the allied navies observed calmly, a strange light flickering in each of their leader's eyes as they heard the words ‘Healing Chambers,” Feng Yu looked at Jing Mingyun who soon realized something, she quickly sent him a mental message.

  “Healing Chambers are the special constructs of ancient times, built by dwarfins and fairies to draw upon the powers of the Life Source Halo, they act as a type of medium aid in the recovery for injured lifeforms most particularly stronger lifeforms which had already condensed their 'Source Essence.'” said Jing Mingyun as her eyes revealed a look of recollection.

  Feng Yu hearing this frowned as he replied, “Hmm, it seems that the danger for you to use such constructs is more than I'd initially assumed since one can only condense source essence at the True Soul realm. What will happen if---?”

  As Feng Yu was replying his concerns, a set of slender fingers touched his lips preventing him from speaking further, she looked at him with a deep gaze filled with affection as she spoke, “I’ll be fine...”

  Looking at Jing Mingyun’s currently determined expression, Feng Yu couldn’t help but sigh to himself, and no longer pressed the issue. Jing Mingyun smiled in response and once more looked towards the Fairy Queen who was now continuing her statements.

  “There is a maximum of ten chambers as such we shall assign it to the members of the various alliances based on past contributions. Since my fairy clan is the primary source for the Life Source Halo, we will have the right of three quotas. The Dwarfins had aided in the creation of the chambers thus they will be given two quotas, as for the Merman Tribe, the Ancient Hawk Race, the Spector Lifeborn Clan, the Supreme Ogres, along with the Tree People will each be given one quota.”

  As she said this, the members of the Mermen Tribe, Dwarfins, Spector Lifeborn Clan, Ancient Hawk-kind and few others started to discuss among themselves. After a bit of discussion, they each agreed to the terms stated by the Fairy Queen.

  The Fairy Queen seeing this smiled and continued to speak once more, “Good! The members chosen from our side will be, myself Demetria, Zyne, and...”

  Upon speaking to her, Queen Demetria dragged out her speech intentionally causing the alliance members to grow curious regarding the third individual. Soon though, she finished her words, “His Excellency's Heiress...”

  Clank-clank-clank! The sound of weapons falling to the ground and glasses breaking to pieces resounded as the alliance members became filled with shock; they looked at Queen Demetria and shouted.

  “What?! I didn’t hear correctly could you repeat that again?!” one member said.

  “This... this is impossible!” Another said.

  “You speak nonsense! Demetria, do you take us for fools? The dragon race has long since vanished after endowing us with punishment for our actions of yesteryear!” Leon said in a loud manner, as he stood up from his seat beside the dwarfins.

  Fairy Queen Demetria seeing his response only smiled as she pointed to silent Jing Mingyun seated by Feng Yu’s side and spoke, “Leon Yarkvin, what you say is correct as the dragons did leave this realm that year. However, there was one who remained, let me introduce you all to Heiress of His Excellency, Jing Mingyun!”

  The alliance members looked at Jing Mingyun as if they were looking at a ghost; Leon also showed a curious expression as he saw the beauty seated beside Feng Yu. Instantly, he came to a realization, “So that’s how it is, no wonder I felt such a strange aura from her being, much like that boy who sits beside her... the presence of a higher life being...”

  As he muttered this, he couldn’t help but fix his gaze onto Feng Yu for a short moment. Feng Yu sensing his eyes returned one of his own and calmly looked at the current Dwarfin leader. Leon seeing this smiled while thinking to himself, “Interesting...”

  After a short while of shock, the members of the alliance soon got up and bowed towards Jing Mingyun as they spoke in unison, “We greet the Heiress Jing!”

  Jing Mingyun seeing their actions nodded her head and waved for them to return to as they were, as they saw this, the alliance members quickly sat down once more focusing their attention towards the queen.

  Queen Demetria then continued onwards with her statements, “You can discuss amongst yourselves later who among your kind will use the remaining quotas. Now, let us begin the alliance meeting. I’m sure most of you have already heard of the events of which occurred at the Dark Palace, and the announcement of the prison realm’s supervisor. This is a new generation for the Ancient Dragon Battlefield Wars, and the Chosen of the outer world has once more entered to partake in its trials. We have been lucky enough to be graced with a Chosen One in this era, as he not only aided us in freeing my reckless daughter as well as the renowned Zyne from Dark Palace's Prisoners Hall but also managed to invoke the ancient war command, thus becoming this era’s True Born Cho
sen.”

  The alliance members who heard these words were stunned as they didn’t think one person could have achieved so much in such a short time, they listened with even more interest as their Queen Demetria continued to speak.

  “As decreed by the dragons upon seeing the birth of a True Born Chosen, all native races must rally together to aid that chosen in completing their mission. If the mission is successful, not only will we be freed from the constraints of this world, we will also be able allowed to ascend returning once more to that ‘realm’ which we all yearn...” as Queen Demetria said this, a look of yearning vaguely shone in her eyes but quickly vanished.

  The members of the alliance also revealed similar looks but kept it under control, Jing Mingyun hearing the words that ‘place’ also had a look of longing on her face, but a determined look soon replaced it.

  Feng Yu seeing her change felt it interesting as he thought to himself, “That place eh? Hmm, must have been quite the curious world to have these ancient beings longing to return even after so many years...”

  Queen Demetria once more continued, “Let me once again make another introduction, seated before you all is this era’s Chosen One, Feng Yu...” As she said this, she pointed her slender finger towards the seated Feng Yu.

  Quickly, everyone’s attention was placed on Feng Yu, the only human in the area. A curious expression lit up on their faces as only now did they spare the energy to look at the human who was amongst them, the eyes of a few even glowed with a strange light as if pondering the unknown.

  “Greetings! Chosen Yu!” Unexpectedly, the first to offer their greetings was Leon from the usually stubborn Dwarfin Clan. He looked towards Feng Yu with a look as akin to a child who found something new. The other members quickly extended similar greetings before focusing their attention back to the queen.

  “Great! This year’s mission is no different from any of the previous eras. We must aid him in seizing or destroying the Zone Palaces of each of the central regions. However, before we...” As Demetria was continuing her words, she was interrupted by a commotion.