Book 5: Chapter 32 – The Pavilion Announces Its Presence To The World

Whilst Ace was causing quite the stir in the O'Brien Empire, his classmates were doing the same thing in each of their chosen schools.

Without fail, each of the ten students was able to defeat their targets in a domineering fashion. It was a day that everyone in the Yulan Continent would never forget – especially those from the Dark Alliance.

Osiris' task had been to challenge those of the Knights of the Night from the Dark Alliance, but unlike most other schools, this was a school owned and managed directly by the Cult of Shadows, allowing the cult to cherry-pick the very best young talents and groom them into devout cultists.

Had this been an ordinairy institution for young warriors that just happened to be in the Cult of Shadow's territory, things likely would've ended differently, but unfortunately, the Cult had already unknowingly provoked the Yin-Yang Pavilion the moment they attempted to capture Ace and control his mind.

Even though Ace had said he would deal with them in the future, Mathias had already decided to make them suffer a bit in advance. It was part of the reason he chose Osiris for this mission.

As the head of the Pavilion, he knew the history of each of his students. As such, he was well aware that Osiris had grown up in the dark alliance before being forced to run away from his home as a result of the Cult's actions.

Before the fateful incident, Osiris had grown up in a stable and happy household, having a loving mother, father, and older sister.

At the time, Osiris' father, Veraldo Leyran, had been the mayor of one of the weaker and more secluded towns in the Dark Alliance. Although he was relatively unknown throughout the alliance, he was loved and adored by his citizens because of his good nature and warm spirit. Unfortunately, it was that good nature that would go on to be his undoing.

Whilst out with his two children, Veraldo stumbled upon a wounded man and decided to do the decent thing and take him back with them to nurse him back to life.

Upon recovering, the man gratefully took his leave, but what none of them knew was that the man they had nursed back to full health had been an enemy of the Cult.

It wasn't until a bishop of the Cult and a few of his subordinates arrived a few days later looking for the injured man that they understood how precarious of a position they were now in.

Still, even though he was a Bishop, he wasn't omniscient. Knowing he had effectively committed a capital offence by unknowingly helping an enemy of his parent force, he did what anyone in his position would do and lied.

Not knowing any better, the Bishop had believed Veraldo's lies, and that would've been that had it not been for Osiris' scheming and ambitious older sister, Karmen Leyran, who wanted more from her life than to be the next mayor of a backwater town no one outside of it had even heard of.

Seeing an opportunity for a brighter future, Karmen unhesitantly revealed to the Bishop that her father was lying and that the man had left a few days ago.

Knowing he had been lied to, the Bishop captured the rest of the family and made them watch as he had his men massacre all of their town's residents.

If that wasn't sadistic enough, the Bishop then had Karmen prove her loyalty by being the one to drive a sword through the hearts of both of her parents.

Osiris' state of mind could be imagined. Seeing everyone he ever loved murdered right in front of him – by his beloved older sister, no less – caused him to swear he would kill them in the future.

When he heard that, the sadistic Bishop decided to stop Karmen from killing her brother, believing it would be more fun for him to struggle through life wishing to get his revenge, only to die with a belly full of regret.

With all that being said, one could imagine what would happen when Osiris was put in front of the young elites of the Cult of Shadows.

When they arrived, Mathias had already told him he didn't need to hold back. Whatever happened, he would be there to support him.

Understanding the hidden implications of Mathias' words, Osiris' challenge became a slaughter. Every young elite that dared to step on the ring, man or woman, found themself with an arrow between their brows.

This had long since gone passed a simple battle between schools; this may as well be a declaration of war.

Osiris had already fought and killed over ten opponents. The youth on stage was Idrim, the school's top student, a warrior at the peak of the sixth rank, but by the looks of it, not even he was a match for the silent archer.

Despite an age difference of almost five years and a rank and a half difference in realm, Idrim found himself wholly outclassed. He had been so proud of himself, having comprehended both states of wielding, only to find out that not only had his opponent accomplished just as much, he appeared to be far more adept at using them.

It took all his ability to barely dodge and block each of Osiris' arrows. As much as it pained him to admit it, he wasn't a match for his younger opponent.

He was just about to open his mouth to admit defeat so as not to end up like those before him when he found his leg wrapped in shadows.

"[Dark Tendrils]!" Osiris coldly called out as he controlled a shadowy stem to drag Idrim into the air as an arrow whizzed through the air aiming straight for his neck.

"Don't you dare!" Surlan, the headmaster of the Knights of the Night, roared in fury as he shot from his position to save his most promising student from certain death.

As a warrior at the early stages of the ninth rank, Surlan was easily fast enough to save his student; unfortunately, what he hadn't realised was that the self-proclaimed headmaster of the mysterious Yin-Yang Pavilion was actually a saint.

He had barely moved a meter when he found Mathias suddenly appearing in front of him, his palm casually thrust towards his face.

Mathias' palm thrust was so casual it may as well have been in slow motion, but his eyes shrunk to pinholes as he felt the space around him constrict, preventing him from moving a muscle.

The students and faculty watched in horror as both their headmaster and top student were killed right in front of them. An arrow pierced through the neck of Idrim whilst Surlan's head was turned directly into meat paste.

"Is that any way for a guest to behave in the territory of another?" Asked a seemingly indifferent voice from above.

"It was his fault for trying to attack the student of my Yin-Yang Pavilion," Mathias said casually as he turned to face the man in the sky. "Gediah, that's the second time someone senior from your Dark Alliance has tried to bully a student from my Pavilion…"

Gediah, the head of the Dark Alliance's Demoniacs and the husband of the Dark Empress looked down at the headmaster, his gaze frosty, but he didn't rush to take action.

It wasn't that Mathias scared him; after all, he could sense the man was merely at the middle stages of the saint realm. The thing keeping him from making a move was the veil of mystery that hung over the Yin-Yang Pavilion. There was simply too little information, but what they did know was that Ace, a peerless genius from the current generation, Wukong, a peerless genius from the previous generation, and Aiden, the strongest mortal of all time, a mortal who, if the reports were accurate, was even stronger than he, were all affiliated to this mysterious force, and now there was another saint level expert among their ranks. Until he knew more, he understood he could afford to be rash.

Still, as hesitant as he was about taking a hard stance, it appeared they had come for blood this time.

"There won't be a third!" Mathias continued, a dense killing intent drifting out of his body. "If the seniors from your little Dark Alliance attempt to bully any of our students in the future, I will personally slaughter my way into your headquarters and ask for compensation."

"It appears my Dark Alliance has been too quiet of late," Gediah sighed as his long sword appeared in his hand, a cold and fearful killing intent, no less potent than Mathias', erupting out of him. "Even a mere mid-staged sai…

Ugh!"

Before he could finish his sentence, feelings of fear and shock threatened to overwhelm him as a deep grey crescent-shaped axe beam radiating pure destruction tore through the air aiming to destroy him.

"Consider that your final warning," Mathias said indifferently as he put his giant war cleaver away, not paying any further attention to the head of the Demoniacs, as he turned to address the shocked crowd gathered around the school's arena. "My name is Mathias Bowyer, head of the Yin-Yang Pavilion, and this child who managed to defeat all of the top students of your Knights of the Night Institute is Osiris Leyran, the seventh-ranked core disciple of the Pavilion."

Those watching looked up at Mathias in terror and disbelief. They were all well aware of who Gediah was and how he was the second-strongest expert in their empire, yet he had been defeated in one move.

Still, they quickly got over their initial shock when they heard Mathias begin to speak, especially as the Pavilion's headmaster skillfully used his battle-qi so that his voice could be heard in just about every corner of the Dark Alliance.

"We came here today to show off the prowess of the students of the Pavilion and also to inform the world that in two months, we at the Yin-Yang Pavilion will be opening our gates to the public to recruit new students for only the second time in its history," Mathias continued, paying no attention to the various perceptions of saints scanning him. "Although anyone at the age of ten and under is welcome to apply, we have incredibly high standards, with the most important one being that each of our students must excel as both warriors and mages.

If you want to know more, feel free to come to our recruitment day in two months!"

As he finished, Mathias took Osiris without bothering to answer any questions anyone may have.

At the same time, hovering just above the palace, staring intensely in the direction Mathias just flew off, was a dark-haired, enchantingly beautiful woman that Ace would never forget.

Shelia, the Dark Empress stared off into space; what was going through her mind, only she knew.

It was only when her dishevelled husband appeared by her side that she seemed to come to her senses.

"Leyran?" She asked as a curious light flickered in her dark-coloured eyes. "Isn't that the family name of your disciple?"

"Karmen said she had an estranged younger brother," Gediah nodded solemnly. "But I never would have imagined he would have grown into such a young expert."

"What should we do about this Yin-Yang Pavilion?" Another of the Cult's peak saint-level experts asked as he appeared behind the royal couple. "They're proving to be more of a threat than any of us could have previously imagined."

All of the Cult's saint-level experts had witnessed Mathias' last strike, and as immortals, they could all sense the profundity of that attack. As such, they knew that purely in terms of comprehension, no one, not even Shelia, their empress was his match.

Still, that wasn't what kept them from taking action. Had Shelia made a move, they all would have followed her, but seeing as she had no intention of taking action, they stopped themselves. After all, Mathias had already proved that other than Shelia herself, no one else was a match for him.

"For now, we do nothing," Shelia commanded. "Let's wait and see how the other forces react before we decide on our next move."

As she flew back to her castle, she subconsciously rubbed her cheek as the image of a certain fire-wielding dark-haired teen popped into her head, a cold glint flashing across her eyes.

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Book 9: Part 4 – Biding Their Time