Approaching Storm II

Above an endless horizon of clouds were numerous floating ivory-colored cushioned, gold armchairs that formed a ring of seats facing each other. It was impossible to see through the dense layer of calmly moving clouds, almost as if the world just stopped there. The sun in the sky stayed unmoving and directly above the ring, making everything brighter than usual but not at an annoying level.

An insane looking middle-aged man was sitting in one of these seats and waiting for something. His eyes were covered with a black blindfold that was tattered and torn along the edges. A glamorous and flamboyant uniformed robe which looked slightly like a religious cassock, screamed wealth and power as it perfectly fit his slightly twitching, feeble, and slender figure. His hair was frizzy and untamed, creating bangs and a matted texture. The most noticeable aspect about him, besides his psychotic manner, was that both of his arms were gone and the armholes where the shoulders should have been, were neatly stitched closed as if they've always been absent.

After a few minutes, the seats started filling up with humans wearing the same intricate white robes as the crazy man. They were all appearing out of thin air as they got comfortable in their lavish seats.

Suddenly, a larger and more impressive seat materialized high above the others in the center of the ring of seats and a stunning beauty appeared in it, looking like a tyrant with the terrifying pressure coming off of her.

It was Archbishop Odella...

It took a while before every seat was filled. Everyone was silent as they respectfully lowered their heads, not daring to look at their superior directly.

"Thirty-three Bishops were able to take this mission..." Odella faintly nodded her head in approval as this number should be more than enough. Other than that, she didn't react in any other way. She treated the whole situation as something too far beneath her and the powerful beings surrounding her as mere ants.

Each Bishop simultaneously greeted her with a "Your Eminence..." before finally looking at her, fervently awaiting directions. The way they acted felt extremely unnatural and unsettling as they worshiped her. Most of them were unique looking just like the armless bishop but in their own ways, coming in all shapes, sizes, and origins. By the standards of Lumeria, each one of them had the authority and influence of a medium or large country.

"I'm sending all of you to this location to complete two objectives," She glared at them with a dangerous and threatening look in her eyes, "I've had too many failures lately and my patience runs thin. This is your only warning, do not fail me... No.3 will further elaborate on the objectives..."

With all that said, Odella disappeared along with her chair and all of the bishops looked at the crazy person in question.

They completely understood why they were only worth a few of her seconds and words of her time, as they were truly insignificant compared to her in all departments. She didn't care about their names so they were given numbers to identify who was the strongest. The only ones she even remotely cared for were the top nine Bishops which were referred to as the "Respected" by their peers because of their immense strength and worth in her excellency's eyes. No one minded her attitude though, simply because they all had fanatical opinions of her along with an intense desire to serve the church with their whole being.

Besides the people in the top nine, they were all S~grade mortals of varying strengths with the average being at the peak. Since they were only Bishops, they were generously allowed to be rebirthed as angels and given immense power that they would've never dreamed of.

"So, what do you have for us, Leonardo?"

Speaking in the seat to the right of the armless lunatic was an odd-looking but handsome and buff dark-skinned monk with extremely short and curly bleach-colored hair. His arms were inflated with muscles that were disproportionate to the rest of his body, making him look like a human with wide tree trunks for arms. His royal blood, glowing hazel eyes burned with an intense need to fight or crush something as he eagerly awaited the mission details from his close friend. Deep down, he wished for this mission to include some violence so he could get his blood pumping for once! He was Knox, No.5 of the Bishops and second in command for this mission, right behind his mentally ill looking buddy.

Leonardo the Hysterical Artist, Knox the Poisoned Fist, and one other within the group of Bishops we're all apart of the top nine numbers. The Respected were all transcendents with T~grade power. They were the only ones that could theoretically last a few seconds against Odella in a fight, hence the title. If they were able to obtain peak T~grade power like Odella, they could be granted as much authority as an Archbishop. But that was a tall order even for prodigies and geniuses like them.

To answer Knox's question, Leonardo stayed completely silent with only a faint mumbling escaping his lips as he looked off into the distance. Mental mana burst from his figure in a pink wave as it penetrated each of the Bishops without resistance. He was a powerful physic mage that used mind type mana to do pretty much everything, even talking or transferring information when he didn't feel like doing it physically. He might seem dangerous and maniacal, but he was surprisingly clear-minded with only a minuscule amount of internal insanity within his brain. He was more of like a mad genius under that deranged shell.

Knox, along with everyone else, shuddered slightly when their minds were forcefully invaded and memories of loads of information and related files were stuffed into their skulls, "I'll never get used to that feeling for as long as I live..."

They all started reviewing the info while memorizing every detail. The first objective was to join the big shots heading to Kassio and observe the situation. The second was to size up the incoming superior of this mysterious organization and verify a few things for the church. The third objective was to find and erase a no-named Dragon Slayer that goes by Kyren and make an example of him to Kassio's citizens to regain their shambled image.

"Hmm, don't you think it's overkill to send thirty-three of us for something so small? You all know that I was recently given a task by her eminence that I must spread my plagu-"

"Stop spouting nonsense!! We also all know that you have your minions to fulfill your tasks so don't try to wiggle your way out of this one!" Knox snapped and glared at the woman on the other side of Leonardo, not giving the Respected sitting there a chance to flake out like she usually does, "It also says that the leader of this mysterious organization is possibly a transcendent so this is a good amount of manpower just in case."

A young-looking, dirty-blond-haired girl that had a smooth complexion laid back in her chair next to Leonardo, not minding the annoying lecturing in her ears while her arms crossed behind her head in a relaxed manner. Her dimmed and gloomy crimson burgundy eyes lazily fluttered in an exhausted manner, not caring for Knox's ranting. Her whole demeanor was laid back and depressing with an aura of death and sorrow surrounding her. She wore an intricate gold-rimmed, pitch-black crow mask that was meant for plague doctors. Besides the menacing mask, she looked like a beauty that was supposed to be slacking off in college. She was No.8, Jillian the Black Death.

.....

Everyone made quick and unemotional farewells after discussing the plan of action and other details before disappearing just as easily as they appeared.

The only ones left were the three Respected. The other seats all vanished, making them face each other in a triangular formation. When they said their goodbyes, it was more friendly as the three were pretty close.

As soon as everyone was gone, Leonardo destroyed the world and he was suddenly in a divine looking carriage of the church. That world was created using mind mana and the other Bishops were only there as mental personas, not physically. The spell he used was similar to [Personal Dimension] but not as useful because he couldn't store things there or do many other things. He could however invite anyone he had a mental link with and they could communicate there.

In actuality, all thirty-three Bishops were already on their way to Kassio using their own personal modes of transportation and would be there soon, along with Templar armies under their command.

"HEHEHEHEhehehe, seems like the storm—hehe—is going to be a big one—hehe—this time..... perfect." Leonardo continued to let out a chilling and low giggle as he yearned to grab some interesting material for his beloved art. He noticed that the files mentioned something about a unique dragon never seen before and he wondered if he could play with it... maybe make it a stuffed model or encase it in magic crystals to preserve it forever?

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Extraordinarily high in the sky, far above the snow-covered tips of the lush Vilvetan Mountain range and many miles away from Kassio, an armada of magically levitating ships with sails all swiftly flew at a steady pace to their destination. On these rune-covered ships was the Magic Association emblem on them. The number of ships wasn't large but the vessels themselves were massive compared to normal ones as they exuded a pressure that warded off any aerial-type beast-ranked creatures and below. There was on deck heat control, wind resistance, and oxygen generation barrier magic that didn't make it difficult to work while at greater altitudes.

On the deck of each ship were hundreds, if not thousands of uniformed association mages doing maintenance and other tasks, expensively geared adventurers with unique-styles patrolling and helping out where they could, and elaborate carriages and crates that couldn't fit in the hull of the ship that belonged to the Merchants League.

Inside the lavish and comfortable Captain's Quarters of the larger mothership were four people. Rosalind earnestly shook the hands of the admiral of the fleet before he left through the door to check on things outside. She turned around to face the individuals also in the cabin with her and greeted them in a sweet and grandmotherly tone, "Did you have a good time exploring sweethearts?"

Denmark adorably grumbled as he averted his eyes from Rosalind and puffed out his cheeks, "Don't treat me like a child when I'm much older than you little girl! Moreover, I wasn't exploring. I was checking on my adventures because some got height sickness... Hmph!"

Mercia let out an alluring giggle, "Oh hush you little brat. I saw you eagerly examining the ruins and magic circles below deck so don't even try to act cool and responsible around us!"

Now exposed and without any refute, he grumbled even lower as he slumped into the Captain's chair at the head of the desk and spun around like a bored child, deciding to ignore the outside world in his shame. He didn't like being called or treated as a child, but he certainly acted like one most of the time.

Once they met with the Emperor one week ago, they went their separate ways to gather their respective manpower and resources, and then some ships were sent to pick them up as a gesture of kindness from the association. This fleet was previously in three different parts so they only recently joined up with Rosalind's fleet and they were already pretty close to their destination. Lorena and Gibson who were also members of their social circle, along with others, didn't join them because they already had rides waiting for them once they left the capital.

Mercia also took a seat close to the walls and smirked, "Unlike you, I was checking with my supervisors to see if all the tributes were accounted for," She paused and looked at Rosalind with a foxish grin, "These ships are quite outstanding in both speed, performance, and storage capacity... How about selling me a few thousand? Perhaps a million if you can handle it. I can get some of my colleagues interested too. You might even gain more sponsors than you already have."

"Hehe, I would love to, but these babies are still going through testing with a few kinks that our research department can't seem to fix for the life of them," She clasped her gentle and elderly hands together and radiated an optimistic aura, "This is one of our first large-scale tests so I'm relieved that we haven't plummeted to our deaths in a ball of flames yet, that's a major plus!"

Denmark flinched and jumped up from his seat as he looked at the kind old lady in horror, "WHAT!?!"

"Ah, that's too bad. Tell me if there's any progress and I'll still be open for business any time..." Mercia masterfully used wind magic to bring herself a cup from a nearby cabinet and conjured some water and ice using a spell as it slowly filled from a magic circle on her hand. She calmly and elegantly took a sip as she did the same thing for Rosalind, no longer interested in a business deal with an unfinished product.

He gawked at them as they both peacefully sipped their ice water as if they just told him the world was ending and it was no big deal. After remembering Rosalind's unusual personality, he hesitantly sat back down but more alert than before. Even if he was a peak A~grade who could easily survive it, no one enjoyed flying miles in the air on a magical death trap!

Although she's never lied once in her life and she was always excessively blunt with her words and opinions, she would never willingly endanger anyone so it must've been better than she made it out to be..... right?

Doubt started creeping into his tiny palpitating heart as he tried to take his mind off of it.

As the two women lively chatted and Little Denny sat stock still, looking silent and grave while waiting for his impeding doom, the topic of the mysterious organization came up.

"This superior is from across the Void Chasm right? If I can obtain the secret method for crossing it, then my business can finally expand past Lumeria where I've been stuck for so long. I've already monopolized this continent so there's only scraps left here... Hopefully he's here on peaceful terms so that I can benefit. I'll need to build connections with this superior and his underlings... maybe I can-"

"Ahem, children are present," Rosalind jokingly gestured to Denmark and he scowled as he sent a non-harmful aura burst at her in annoyance that the whole armada felt. Unaffected by this, she continued the conversation, "Whatever reason this person is here for, he or she must have decent intentions if they haven't taken everything on this continent by force with that dragon as a pet. Gosh, let's hope that nothing goes wrong with all these powerful individuals causing an incoming storm and this superior isn't angered. We have no idea how powerful they are."

Mercia gazed absently through a nearby porthole, seemingly in deep thought, "Here's hoping..."