The Tale of the Void Emperor

Among many mountains and hills on this cloudly land where Chaos Monolith Hills was situated, There was a place consisting of four wide and vast hills known as Newcomers Abode. 

In this Newcomes Abode hill range's 2nd hill, there were small open-air pavilions scattered around with people sitting inside and talking to each other.

Inside one such small open-air pavilion sat Theo, Sen, and Shiromy while discussing something...

" Sigh...When will Athan come out? Arcued went to inquire about it, right? Where is he? " Sen spoke with a sigh as a pout formed on her face. She turned to the left and saw Tealery coming towards them before asking, " Any news? "

" I contacted him, and he said that he will come here in five minutes. "? Tealery spoke as she entered the pavilion and sat down on a couch. 

There were four couches in this pavilion with a table in the middle.

She saw Theo looking at a scroll and asked, " What's that scroll? "

Theo looked at Tealery and smiled before closing the scroll and throwing it towards her, " Take a look. This scroll is known as Sun-Moon News Scroll. All happenings of this Midguard continent are written there. But it's damn expensive; cost 100 mid-grade chaos stones. "

Tealery was surprised and asked, " Where did you find this? " Turning to Sen and Shiromi, She asked, " Did you two read it already? "

" Yep. " Sen answered lazily.

" Yes. You should take a look too. However, there are many things that we can't understand yet. For example, we don't know many people mentioned in that scroll. " Shiromi spoke with a smile.

" I bought it at Northstar Hill Station; It's a bit deeper into this cloudly plains. " Theo answered Tealery's question.

" I see..." Tealery spoke as she opened the scroll and started reading it.

[ Alchemist Master Juze will visit the Silvermoon Lake after three days and hold a selection since he is looking for a student to pass on his teachings. ]

[ After an intense internal conflict of Bloodshed Flower House, Their previous leader was killed. But the opposing internal faction's leader was also killed shortly afterward, which caused their internal strife to lengthen to decide a new leader. ]

[ The Great Bridgade Palace will be hosting the next Rift Battle. Unlike the previous Rift Battles, This Rift battle's requirements are pretty low. According to our speculation, The Greate Bridgade Palace knew about the new rifts. Thus, they prepared early by mass recruiting Ascenders from Lower Chaosverse. ]

[ After the exciting battle between the challenger Yusalik Tentai and champion Horoki Faust, The previous 6th rank of Supreme Genius Leaderboard has retained his spot 6th rank spot. ]

....

While Tealery read the scroll and others just sat bored, waiting for Arcued, He finally arrived.

But Arcued's face was extremely grave, and seeing him like that, Sen, Shiromi, and others became serious.

They all thought that he brought some bad news considering his expression.

Arcued silently entered inside the pavilion and sat down on the same couch as Theo before speaking, " I don't know where to start. "

" Oh hell, Just start speaking. " Sen spoke with a grimace.

" Well, I was the last one to reach here as I arrived today while you all were busy doing events and finally done today. In short, It's been a total of six days since Athan arrived here. Sigh...I am so glad that you all didn't inquire about Athan and made it look like you don't know him. " Arcued finished speaking while shaking his head and sighed. 

" Why? What happened? I actually asked about Athan in the Newbie Event Palace, but it seems that none of them personally knew him. He was known only due to his Rank 1 on the leaderboard and his record-breaking feats. " Theo spoke while raising his eyebrows.

" Eh...Of course, we didn't make it look like we knew him. Why would we go over to strangers and say, [ Hey, look, That rank one on the leader is my friend, and we came here together? ] " Sen spoke with a chuckle.

" So? Why are you glad about that? What exactly did you find? " Shiromi asked with a curious face that hid seriousness. Because from the expression of Arcued, She felt that the matter was not simple.

Arcued smiled weakly, but his eyes only had admiration for Athan that bordered on worship, " Emperor declined all invitation from the representatives of various Hill factions here and even said that he would create one. Hehehe, We are all going to join once he creates it. But before that..."

Pausing there, He took a deep breath before saying, " I first inquired about him right after entering here from a lady named Mitra, which caused her to ask if I knew Athan personally, and I said yes. 

So, she instantly made a grave expression and told me about the entire process in Wonder Hill Pavilion, and warned me that I should keep a secret about the fact that I know Athan personally. Here's what happened..."

Arcued then told her about the entire process he heard from Mitra to Sen, Tealery, Shiromi, and Theo as they listened with focus.

In the end, They all smiled helplessly.

" It looks like we deep in trouble if those factions somehow found out that we are Athan's companions and friends. " Theo spoke with a weak smile.

" Well...As long as we stay inside this land of Chaos Monolith Hills, they can't kill us because of the rules and order set by here, but...they can surely beat the pulp out of us. " Tealery spoke as she shook her head.

" All those things are important, but Arcued, You didn't tell us about Athan's situation; where is he and when will he appear here? " Sen asked while masking her anxiousness.

" He is in the process of absorbing one of the rewards he got by breaking an all-time high record. It's not certain as to when he will return from there, but after asking around, it could range from a few days to a few months. "

Shiromi had a thoughtful expression the entire time after Arcued finished speaking, and finally, she stood up before speaking, " We are with Athan and will surely follow him, that's certain, right? "

She swept her glance at everyone before pausing at Theo and asked again, " Right? "

Theo closed his eyes as he remembered Athan's feats in the test and his interaction with him there.

After a few seconds, He opened his eyes, determined eyes filled with resolve, and nodded strongly, " I am with him. "

Arcued and Tealery looked at each other for a brief moment as they talked with each other through a soul link.

On the other hand, Shiromi spoke after hearing Theo's answer, " Since we are with him and will follow him, we should just stay low-key and do what we are supposed to do while waiting for Athan to come out. Once he comes out, we will talk to him about his plan and his decision. "

Everyone nodded, hearing her. Shiromi then continued as she looked at Aruced, " Arcued. After you finish participating in all events, please inquire about the steps and process to create the faction. According to what you heard from Mitra, Athan didn't know about the steps and process. But knowing him, His decision wouldn't have changed, so we can just make some early preparation and inquire about things so we can tell him after he comes out. "

" Good idea. " Sen spoke with a laugh as she continued, " Athan will surely teach them a lesson, hehehe. So, let's help him however we can while he is busy. "

Arcued, Tealery, and others nodded before everyone left the small Open-air pavilion to do their own things.

...

A month passed just like that while Athan continued to research and experiment about the wisp and voidlings, and it seems that he was finally close to achieving his desired result.

But he doesn't know that what he is doing will actually shake the whole Chaos Monolith Hills.

After all, The Chaos Enlightenment Tree had quieted down, and all the fairies had disappeared into the Tree since they were birthed from the Tree.

At this moment, Tree was silent, but it was actually paying close attention to Athan as if attracted by him.