"F-father what are these creatures?" Song Baoshen asked his father in fear. After he had been grabbed by his father and thrown into the space crack, he saw entire army of strange creatures lying lifelessly on the ground while he father looked on blankly. All of this creatures were even more scarier than the worst nightmares he had ever had.
*KSHH*
His father didn't reply and looked up. He saw a blade stab out of nowhere and sliced down the very space with utter ease. From within the rip came a slender tall being with two tall curved horns on top of its head. This being had grey skin and white hair, wearing a black armor with golden lines drawn throughout its armor.
The Imperial Adviser couldn't sense anything from the newcomer and this terrified him, even more than the abomination and the fact that General Yang killed the entire army with a single sword swing. It should be known that after a person gains an enough degree of strength, the weaker people wouldn't be able to sense any extraordinary from them because they are in their own dimension of strength.
"Follow me, my king wishes to meet you" the strange being spoke in an indifferent tone but it changed into reverence when it mentioned its king. Imperial Adviser became terrified internally and looked at the newcomer in fear as he took a glance at the dead arm. The strange creature noticed and understood its apprehension.
"Don't worry about them, they are merely cannon fodder. Come now, it's best not to make my King wait" the strange creature spoke and extended his hand as he made a grabbing motion. The father and son duo suddenly felt the very space around them constrict as the moved towards the strange being. The trio passed through the rip in space and appeared inside a magnificently big hall.
In this big hall, there was a gigantic throne on which a colossal red skinned giant sat. This red skinned giant had horns like that of a deer growing out of its head, with black hair. He had wave like eyebrows and his eyes were triangular. This being's mouth was vertical instead of normal horizontal that everyone had. He wore a strange outfit of two simple cloths, one wrapped around its leg and the other around it back with the chest area uncovered.
The creature in black armor kneeled on the ground and made the father and son duo face plant.
"Your Majesty, I have brought our spy before you" the creature spoke in a respectful tone while looking at the feet of the red skin colossus. The red skin colossus opened looked at the father and son duo deeply. The Imperial Adviser felt naked in front of the gaze of the Colossus as he felt that no secret of his went uncovered.
The Colossus opened its mouth and asked the Imperial Adviser, the very palace trembling from it, "Tell me, have you conquered your own World and surrendered it to me?"
The Imperial Adviser's very soul shuddered as he answered, "I-I beg for mercy Y-Your Excellence, for I have n-not taken control of my World, b-but I assure you, it will be only a matter of time before I succeed"
The Red Colossus quietly looked at the Imperial Adviser for a while before asking, "What went wrong?"
The Imperial Adviser opened answered once more, unconsciously as if the words of the Red Colossus was absolute, "Your Excellence, everything was going according to my grand plan except this foolish son of mine made a tiny mistake which completely disrupted it. The General of Heavenly Army defeated the Asura that you had sent by a fluke"
"Fluke you say? I don't think one man from such a weak world as yours could kill my palace cleaner and an entire party with a single sword stroke by a fluke"
"Your Excellence, bestow me another one of your ar-party and I shall present you the World within an year"
"No, I shall reject your request. If one of your race could do such a deed, and he is a mere General of the Army, then that means there must be stronger individuals within your World, merely in seclusion."
"Start invading the World slowly from the lower Realms and conquer it. I will give you the command over this operation but heed to my warning, do it discreetly so that those stronger beings of your World do not get wind of this or we will suffer great losses. If you fail this mission, I shall eat your soul and give you the most painful death"
The Red Colossus decreed and waved his hand to dismiss his audience. The strange creature with horns along with the father and son duo simply disappeared from the hall as if they were never ever there.
.........
The strange creature with horns brought the father and son duo to an encampment outside of the Palace. The strange creature dropped them outside the encampment and said.
"This will be the party that you would be in charge of. All of them are slaves and if they are rowdy, take this medallion and insert your Essence into it, they will listen" the horned being dropped a pentagonal medallion and simply disappeared.
The father and son duo stood up, completely disheveled. So much happened in the last few moments that the son was becoming dizzy while the father felt that his heart could take no more.
"F-father, why did you betray the Jade Emperor? Weren't you sworn brothers?" Song Baoshen finally asked the question he had on his mind since his father killed his lover. The Imperial Adviser looked his naïve son and sneered,
"Sworn Brothers? Don't make me laugh, that man and I were never actually even close. I only acted and he was fooled into thinking that he has a close friend that would go through thick and thin with him"
"Then, why did you act? What was the reason for you to do that?"
"Reason? It's actually a very simple reason, very simple indeed. You see, I am just doing what he did to my little brother, nothing more and nothing less. It is he that brought this upon himself, not me. I am just repaying my gratitude and grudges" the Imperial Adviser spoke with killing intent in his eyes. Song Baoshen was scared by his father's killing intent and chose not to speak anymore.
............…..
Inside simple a room within the Palace of the Green Cloud Kingdom, an aged woman was sitting in the chair looking at the setting sun outside of the windows of her room. This woman had white hair, a wrinkled face and bleak face but her eyes showed liveliness and excitement.
"Finally, after such a long time I am able to bear another child and this child has survived all these months" the aged woman softly spoke to herself as she looked at her bulging stomach with a serene smile on her face.
*CREAK*
The door to the room opened and a maid came with a tray in her hands. On the tray were a cup of water and some pills.
"Your Highness, it is time for your medications" the maid spoke in a respectful tone while looking down. The aged woman, who turns out to be a Queen, turned her head towards the maid that entered.
"It is unneeded anymore, i am feeling very well since yesterday night and I even had the most comfortable sleep since the past decade. I also didn't feel the usual weakness and pain this morning; it seems that after such a long time, my illness has finally been cured" the Queen spoke with a happy tone. She looked towards her bulging stomach and softly murmured to herself,
"Maybe you are my lucky star that the heavens have finally bestowed me"
The maid's eye flickered with strange light when she heard the Queen's words. The light vanished within an instant and the Queen didn't notice the change in her eyes.
"But Your Highness, you must have your medications or His Majesty will be displeased if you are not taking care of your health"
Hearing the maid's insistence, the Queen coldly snorted, "His Majesty will certainly be displeased if he has the time to think about my health instead of staying in Concubine Lin's room all day long"
"Your Highness, His Majesty is stressed nowadays and Concubine Lin is the only one who His Majesty could go and relieve himself to" The maid spoke in a respectful tone.
"Stressed you say? What is he stressed about if I am the one who has to take care of the unreasonable council that have the free time to come annoy me instead of doing their work. Leave, and don't disturb me" The Queen spoke in an irritable tone. She understood the hidden meaning behind maid's words but didn't react to it. It was a normal attitude everyone in the Palace had with her.
"B-"
"Lowly servant, didn't you hear Her Highness's order? Who gave you the courage to oppose it?"
The maid was about to insist once more but a cold voice came from her back. The maid felt a chill run down her spine as the one behind her released a faint trace of killing intent.
The maid fearfully turned and saw a tall woman with a slender figure standing behind her. This woman possessed blonde hair and sharp azure blue eyes. Her skin was seemed to be very soft, as that of a Maiden which contrasted to the armor she wore. The aura coming from her was of a warrior but her appearance was that of a beautiful lady.
The maid bowed and fearfully when she saw the newcomer and hurriedly left. When the Queen saw who it was, a smile bloomed on her face.
"Little Gu, you're here" the Queen spoke in a joyful tone "Look at you, all sweaty. Didn't I prohibit you from practicing in the sun? How can you marry if you don't take care of your appearance?"
Hearing the Queen's words, the lady exuding an aura of warrior became embarrassed. She closed the door hurriedly lest anyone hear the Queen's words and came running to her. She sat down beside her legs and started massaging it.
"Aunt Xu, I don't want to marry any man. I want to always stay by your side and if I want to protect you, how can I do that without shedding sweat and blood?" The lady in armor spoke in a determined tone. Seeing her niece acting like that, the Queen sighed.
"Little Gu, how will I answer to your mother if she asks me about her son-in-law when I go to the Heavens?"
"Humph! You don't have to answer her alone. I will go with you" the Queen sighed once more looking at the spoiled attitude of her niece.
"I heard you were different from the gossips within the Palace, is something wrong? Are you hurting anywhere?" the lady in armor asked in a worried tone. The Queen shook her head and patted the lady's.
"No, in fact I am feeling extremely well. I haven't had such a comfortable sleep like last night's for a long time" the Queen answered and assured her niece.
"Oh really" the lady in armor became joyful and her gaze landed on her bulging stomach, "Aunt Xu, maybe your child is an angel which the heavens decided to bestow for all the sufferings you experienced"
The Queen hit her niece's head lightly, "Look at you, speaking anything that comes to your mind" The Queen didn't know what to do about her niece but unknown to her, her niece was actually right.
"I remember now, the Lieutenant Colonel of the Palace Army was looking at you discreetly when you were training. Do you want me to arrange a meeting with him?" The Queen suddenly recalled something and asked her niece. The lady in armor pouted at her Aunt who was relentless in marrying her off.
"Aunt Xu, for the umpteenth time, I don't want to marry" she said and then her gaze once again landed on her Aunt's stomach "If you are so adamant about wanting me to marry, I shall marry your son"
The Queen quietly laughed, "I see, what if my child is a girl?" The Queen asked with a smile but internally, her heart lurched as she spoke those words.
"Your child will be a boy, I definitely know it. You can say it's a woman's intuition" the lady in armor spoke in a confident tone. The Queen silently smiled and thought internally,
'I hope it is so'
......
Within another room inside the Palace of the Green Cloud Kingdom, the maid who had brought the Queen her medications discreetly entered the room. This room was very big, with a king sized bed, a carpet made from the hide of an animal which seemed to be extremely rare and a chandelier hanging from the roof. This room seemed to belong to an actual member of the royal family.
Reclining on the king sized bed was a young woman with black hair and black eyes. He skin was as white as jade and as soft as a baby's skin. She had supple lips which had pink lipstick on it. Her body was slender and her legs were long. Her chest was larger than average. She could be described as a Kingdom toppling beauty.
The maid entered the room and kowtowed towards the beautiful woman on the king sized bed.
"Your Magnificence, I have important news to deliver" the maid spoke in a reverent tone. The beautiful woman looked up from the book she was reading and gazed at the kowtowing maid.
"For you to disturb my free time, it must be something important" a soft voice came from the beautiful woman's supple lips which carried a seductive charm to it.
"Yes Your Magnificence, it is important. A few moments ago I was delivering Shang Xu's medication to her and she refused to take it. She said that she wasn't feeling any pain in the morning which she usually feels and she also stated that she had no problems sleeping last night" the maid said respectfully.
"I see, that is strange, strange indeed. It's already quite shocking that she managed to bear a child after all the meticulous care we gave her and now her illness seems to have been cured. You may leave" the beautiful woman thought to herself out loud before dismissing the maid. She looked towards the direction of the Queen's room as if her sight tore through the walls and could see her directly.
'It doesn't matter anyway; I have managed to get a firm foothold in the Palace. If there is an anomaly, I will take care of it then. It isn't like an injured animal is a threat to me"