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The sky above the Jade Continent shimred in a fractured light.
Thousands of drones floated like tallic fireflies, their cara lenses gleaming gold under the rising sun.
From the hovering airships above to the millions of screens flickering across every surviving city on Gaia, all eyes were locked on one place.
The Grand Celestia Arena.
Once a political battlezone, now rebuilt as the beating heart of a new world order. It's marble stands curved like the ribs of a giant, stretching miles wide, pulsing with energy. The symbol of the Ascension Gas blazed in the air, a golden crown ford of seven wings and a serpent biting its tail.
And beneath that emblem, a single woman floated in the air.
"Ladies and Gentlen of Gaia!" Her voice rippled through the air, soft yet commanding, the kind of voice that could bend silence to it's knees.
The woman decended and stood on a floating platform of glass, suspended in midair above the roaring crowd.
Her body shone with elegance, skin like moonlight, curves sculpted in perfection, and her blue hair cascading down her shoulders like rivers of liquid.
Her white dress hugged her form, glittering with runes that shifted as she moved.
"I welco you," the beautiful lady said, smiling with practiced grace, "to the long-awaited return of the Champions Trophy!"
The crowd exploded.
Cheers roared, banners unfurled, and cara lights flared brighter than the stars.
She paused, letting the chaos settle, the glow of her holo-mic reflecting in her violet eyes.
"For six long months…" she began, her voice turning low and heavy, "our world has stood on the edge of despair."
The holographic display behind her changed, the sky darkened to scenes of destruction. Cities burning, mountains splitting, and oceans bleeding crimson.
"The reappearance of the Kalki, what many believed were demons, others called monsters, shattered the illusion of peace. Nations fell.
Kingdoms vanished and even the divine ones themselves trembled."
Her tone softened. "...One of them being The Great Roro Empire from the Indian Continent."
The cara zood in on her face, "we don't know how or why they disintegrated, but it's a face that this empire no longer exists. It's said that the aftermaths of the invasion of that unidentified Kalki, the family mbers decided to split apart."
"Now, finally though..." she continued, "six months later, the world finds itself at the dawn of sothing greater.
The Age of Champions has begun. And tonight, before all the gods and mortals who watch, we begin the tournant that will decide the fate of every living human under heaven."
The ground beneath the arena pulsed as ancient runes glowed beneath transparent floors.
The massive crowd grew silent.
"Our warriors," she said, sweeping her hand towards the 7 towers, representing the 7 new age nations co from every corner of this scarred world, the remnants of kingdoms, the prodigies of bloodlines long thought extinct, and those who bear the blessings…or curses…of the divine."
Images shimred behind her, faces of champions from every nation.
"And yes," she added with a teasing smirk, "even a few…fallen ones."
A murmur rippled through the stands. The dia drones zood closer, her every gesture magnified.
"But before we begin," she said, her voice softening, "let us rember those who gave their lives during the invasion of Kalki's in the past few months.
The heroes who fell protecting our world from the chaos that ca with the Kalki's return."
A mont of silence spread across the arena. The noise, the lights, even the air seed to still.
Then, as the wind carried through, the great holographic screens above began to display images of fallen soldiers, mages, and naless faces lost in the six months of terror.
Her eyes lowered. "May their souls find peace in the beyond. And may the light of Gaia rember their sacrifice."
For a heartbeat, the world felt united again.
But then…
A chi echoed in the won's head.
Sothing soft, crystalline, but wrong.
The woman froze. The crowd couldn't hear it, but she did. A voice, no, a string of laughters rang in her mind.
Her pupils dilated, glowing faintly as a system interface flickered in her vision.
[999 Gods laugh at your declaration.]
The lady's perfect smile didn't falter, but her trembling body was enough to know that sothing wrong had happened.
She blinked, and for a brief instant, her reflection in the hovering lens was not hers.
A faint, golden eye glared back.
The mark of the Omniscient.
They're watching again, she thought, swallowing the knot in her throat.
"Apologies," she said aloud, steadying herself. "A little…divine interference, it seems."
The crowd chuckled, knowing that these occurrences had beco more common in the past few months.
Far beyond Gaia, in the realm of the unseen, the gods truly were laughing. Their laughter shook the space between realms, rippling through the systems and sanctums like thunder made of mockery.
"Let them laugh," the woman whispered, the mic catching none of it. "Because this ti… we'll make them watch."
She straightened her back, the runes on her dress lighting up once more.
"Now then!" she called out, voice rising again with controlled fire. "Champions, take your positions!"
The arena roared to life. Massive gates opened around the seven towers as 2 other people descended beside the host of the auction of the glass platform hovering in the stadium.
"The stage is set," The host, Lara said, her voice echoing like a hymn as she nodded to the two robed figures.
"The gods are watching." One said.
"The world is listening." The other comnted.
She lifted her hand toward the heavens.
"Now, let the Champions Trophy…begin!"
***
Unfortunately, what none of them saw coming was that a person said to have been died in the aftermath of the Kalki's assualt with King Venus was watching it all unfold from the sidelines as his figure slowly rged into the shadows.
"Guess it's finally ti to show that I've returned."
"That the Future King of the Indian Continent still lives."
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A/N: Thanks to reader Kevin_Lista for giving a gift worth 100 coins!!
300 coins worth gifts left for 2 Bonus chapter!!!
12 hours to go before the offer emds—
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