Paradise Is Not Free

Following behind Lilith, who always seemed to know where to go, a large utopia suddenly appeared within our eyes.

"My god!" I shouted in awe at the advanced civilization living here.

Flying machines that looked to be powered by Qi seemed to pierce through the skies, and they appeared to be like small box-shaped cars, pure white. In comparison, the village itself didn't seem to be a village at all but instead a massive civilization.

The air was clean, cleaner than anything I had seen, outside of the darkness itself. The city was untouched by nature, appearing somewhat out of place, even with the vibrant wildlife around us. It was like I had stepped into Eden and then into another world altogether.

"Any of you see an entrance?" I softly voiced, breaking them away from the sense of wonder of this place.

"Just below," pointed Arkanos towards the little clearing on a see-through lake. Gazing at the large bridge, covered in sparkling silver metal, I soon began to take note of the hoards of people that had gathered about.

"This is strange," Lilith suddenly voiced, "doesn't anyone find it strange there can be so many people here when just outside this.. this bubble we saw so much death? There were no force fields or any type of barrier. These monsters can simply attack, and with their forces, this city will be gone."

"It matters not to us. The fate of this city is irrelevant. Whatever is going on has nothing to do with us." I casually declared, heading from off the ledge onwards toward the city below.

Leaping from off high, I plummeted towards the bottom with the wind piercing through my hair. Having the winds of darkness slow me down, I fluttered about like the wind landing safely with a smile.

Looking to my side, I saw Lilith step out from space itself while Yu Jing rode Arkanos down with a confused expression on her face. Shaking her head, she remained silent, peering in our direction.

Making our way around the lake, we approached the entrance of the massive draw bridge littered with man and beasts of all kinds.

"Can you believe it? An entire Supreme Celeste to enter. How dare they say it cost so much? What about the treatment itself? This has to be a scam!' A loud booming voice howled for all to hear.

"What? Why is it so cheap for you! They quoted me fifty Supreme Celeste!" Another roared.

"Sene, how much do we have?" Lilith softly questioned in my ear.

"um, about one fifty," I softly answered, peering into the ring of bael. I had transferred about two hundred into the banks, as Lilith had suggested, but I was not sure if they accepted cards or if this was more of a shakedown.

Approaching the large crowd of people, it had only taken but a few minutes to note that none of these people were in a line, but rather protesting or complaining about the prices.

"Hey, You," Lilith suddenly called to a large bulky goliath of a man with grey stone-like skin, "Which way did you come from?"

"Lucky Man!" The Goliath uttered towards me with a knowing smile, "I came from the west entrance, stated by the brochure. It warned that one must take one of three entrances or risk death. Why do you ask?"

"We took the north, through the Valley of Norma, and found death around every turn." muttered Lilith, with a chilling smile, "Anyway, thank you."

Walking away, I followed behind in silence as we made our way towards the entrance; knowing most of these people were not even in line, we saw two large machines carrying turret in each arm.

"I need one of those; I wonder if they have Gundams, or do they call it mechas here?" I uttered in deep fascination, drooling from the mouth.

"Gundam? They are called mechas," Said Yu Jing, coldly approaching us from behind with a deep scowl. "They can harness the power of a god and shoot bullets made from pure light."

Lifting my lips even higher, drool could not stop flowing as I stood before one, bearing down with its large bulky body, "Name, Age, and Race."

"My name is Lelouch, I don't have an age, and my race is Shadow Fell."

"error, error," It started in a robotic tone before a flash of harmless light flickered around me. Feeling my entire body being scanned, I frowned, especially as it took special care to scan the family jewels.

"Scan complete, Error. New race detected. Age, undetected, Qi Level undetected, price of entry free. Next!"

"Well... Ok then," I whispered, somewhat bewildered as to what to do next, stepping past the scary-looking mecha as Lilith appeared.

"Yura," She simply stated as the following flash appeared.

"Scan complete, Error. New race detected. Age, undetected, Qi Level undetected, price of entry free. Next!"

Giggling, she approached with a knowing smile, "It will seem whoever is running this show is looking forward to rare species.

"Arkanos, Age: 100 Race: Silver Dragon Cultivation: Demi-God" The mecha robotically declared, "Entry free."

"Yu Jing Age: 900 Race: Celestrial-Dragon, Cultivation False God! Entry Free."

"You're a dragon?" I shouted in surprise as she nodded without much care.

"One of the rarest in all the Bed of Chaos. Mother was quite lucky to land herself father." Yu Jing explained with a prideful expression to our surprise.

"Yes, but you killed him," I said as the pride in her eye did not seem to fade but instead grew.

"I followed my master's orders. It matters not if he is dead."

Nudging my arm, Lilith hummed into my ear, "Leave her be, not that it matters what she is. But I guess that's why she has such a good relationship with Arkanos, despite being such a bitch."

"You!"

"Hey, don't blame me, it's true. You talk to us like you are above the nine clouds, despite being inferior in almost every category compared to us."

"What? You are indeed inferior. It's not my fault I hold more potential and power within..."

"Ok, let's stop there. Potential? We can fight almost three or four major realms above us. If we are talking potential, we have the highest. Even with your Qi cultivation being higher than ours, we could kill you if we worked together," I added with a dark expression.

"Why not test this theory of yours then?" Yu Jing sharply challenged with a hungry expression gleaming from her eyes like fire.