13 Ominous Lights of the World Leylines

While Hokuto was undergoing her training, the world itself continued to move. As the general populace went on their own business, royalty continued to engage in politics, intrigue or a mixture of both and while the warriors of the land continued to roam and train in battle, something sinister was going on.

Somewhere deep in the underground, in what appeared to be a hangar of some sort, a council of men and women dressed in thick, black robes were seated around a round table. One of them cleared his throat and began to speak. "The operative we sent to pursue the spy who found the [Rose Sword Saint] is dead. Did you find out any information about the killer?"

"Reporting to Black Deer. Our scouts found out the wounds didn't come from the Sword Saint; they came from concealed weaponry," one of the women seated at the table answered the question immediately. "We have reason to believe the operative was caught off guard and killed because key vital points had been ruptured by the concealed weaponry used by his target."

"That fool," the man named 'Black Deer' scoffed. "He was too overconfident. He believed that the dark matter energy we cultivate here would strengthen him enough to kill the target in a head-on fight. Is Nagahara Yun someone we can underestimate? Certainly not. Humph, this is bad for our plans. We need to conceal ourselves for now."

"Are you kidding? It's too late to do that now. The Dark God has willed it so, to put our plans into motion now. The blood has been spilled on the soils of Heralldia. We must begin!"

"Where the Abyss Temple has failed, we will pick up their centuries of work and history. We need to first, and foremost worry about our number one adversary, the North Blossom Kingdom. I fear for the worst, as there is accurate news that the 37th Heiress to the throne has become the one and only disciple of the [Rose Sword Saint]." Black Deer continued to talk.

"Then what should we do, Black Deer?"

"The answer is simple, Red Crane," Black Deer once again spoke to the woman who had been dominating the conversation (aside from himself). "We must put our cultivation to overdrive. We shall trigger the overloading of the leylines that run through Heralldia. This should cause some tangible effects on the surface. Very few people have done research on the leylines of Heralldia and those who have will most likely not have any allegiances to any kingdom or nation."

"I understand," Red Crane answered as the other council members remained silent. "Then, I will instruct our workers to multiply the output of our generators."

"You should go now, Red Crane," Black Deer commanded her as the latter nodded and quietly left the room in a blur. He then pointed to two men and one other woman. "Blue Frog, White Tiger, Green Lion. I need the three of you to oversee the situation on the surface. Let me know if there are any unexpected developments. Also, let me know if the North Blossom Kingdom has made any unusual moves. King Ren must be panicking right now trying to prove our existence. He most likely still believes we are the Abyss Temple."

The people named "Blue Frog," "White Tiger" and "Green Lion" also quietly left the room, though they moved in separate directions, seemingly phasing through the walls of the hangar. The only people left in the room now were Black Deer, one man and another woman. Black Deer looked at the man.

"Purple Owl, go and assist Red Crane. Be sure that our generators aren't overworked and keep them running stably. We cannot halt our production and cultivation of dark matter energy. If something unexpected occurs with the World Core, do not hesitate to inform me. Remember, we don't want to destroy the world!" Black Deer barked out as the fellow named 'Purple Owl' obediently nodded and left in the same direction as Red Crane.

Clearly, Black Deer was the head of this cadre. Only him and the last woman of the council remained.

"Blood Lotus, your job is the most important. In order to stop the North Blossom Kingdom from doing anything stupid, we must prepare a counter-measure against the young Princess."

"You are too cold-blooded, love." Blood Lotus giggled.

"We don't need to kill her. You need to hurry up and develop your Bloodia Seal. When the time is right, we will try to kidnap the Princess so you can implant the seal into her. No matter how strong she becomes, the Seal will cause her strength to wildly fluctuate, sure, but it will allow her mind to become corrupted by our ideals..."

"As you wish, dear."

Black Deer smiled faintly.

On the surface.

People began to start seeing strange things occurring in random parts of the land. The earth started to crack and when it did, pillars of black light suddenly erupted from them. A powerful shockwave of energy would then emerge, causing severe structural damage to anything unfortunate enough to be near them. People who happened to watch the commotion would be severely injured.

While it was fortunate nobody actually died, panic started to settle in. To the East, in the Lands of Dharma, the effects were the worst. Temples and houses and even castles were affected by the emergence of these ominous black lights. The Clockwork Nation which was to the South was not as heavily affected, but the shockwaves from the black lights disrupted their operations heavily as equipment broke down. However, they were able to record the phenomena on camera-like apparatus.

To the West, the Magic Kingdom of Myria-Rune was experiencing similar turbulences. However, as opposed to panic, they were instead astonished - Black Deer had miscalculated in this aspect. If there were any concentration of people familiar with the concept of "leylines" it would be located in Myria-Rune.

They didn't recognize what the light itself symbolized but they were able to comprehend based on news sources that the locations of these eruptions were no mere coincidences. Black Deer failed to anticipate this point which should have been mere common sense because his organization had stayed underground for an incredibly long time.

Their brief study, as well as notes taken from footage borrowed from the Clockwork Kingdom, had given them a stunning revelation.

Someone, or something, underground had been triggering the world leylines to explode with surpluses of worldly energy!