Chapter 73 - 73 - The Glass Palace

Stepping out of the vehicle, Lucien stood frozen at the marvel of human ingenuity. A humongous glass tower, reaching all the way to the sky. In fact, standing in front of it, Lucien felt so infinitesimally small, like never before. 

From where he was standing, he had to squint his eyes and focus to even see the top floors of the colossal structure.

Sera, standing by his side on the pavement, looked at his Young Master with a delighted expression. She enjoyed how he was lost in something that actually felt like nothing to her. Though like him, she reacted similarly, though for vastly different reasons.

For her, this untainted, living, breathing metropolis was alike the single ray of hope piercing through the despairing darkness of the night.

In the time she came back from at the time, no cities had survived the catastrophe. Humanity forced underground, lived in what was called as Havens, was more like a giant encroaching bunker, or like mine, shafts carved out from the depths of the mountains. 

Towering metal and glass structures, these bonafide crystal palaces were tales of the children's stories, nothing more. 

So, although for vastly different reasons, Sera could understand the momentary shock that enveloped Lucien's mind and froze him on the spot as he glanced at the De'Angelis Corp Skyscraper for the first time.

"Is this…" He muttered, unable to finish his words, as he tried to raise his head so he could spot the top, albeit without success.

Still, despite his mumbled, half-completed sentences, Sera could understand what he was getting at. With a growing smile stretching her expression, she lightly nodded, gently placing her right palm over the boy's closest shoulder.

"Yes, this is what you can now call home, and hopefully even more in the future." She warmly spoke, looking proud and happy that his young master appreciated her design. 

Unfortunately, time was running short, the evening sun had cast long shadows on the ground. The slanting rays of the descending sun glimmered with a warm, orange tinge to the sky. 

"Lucien, we need to move on. Although the registry is just a matter of signing a few documents, there is one more matter that we need to settle.

Sera's words caused a slight frown to sour the happy-looking boy's face. Averting his gaze from the sky, he turned and looked at the blonde woman with an unwilling expression.

"Do I need to? Why do we need to do such a thing… I still don't understand it: If you are the owner of this building, this whole 'empire' as you claimed back in Eden, then why do I need to present myself in front of a bunch of outsiders?"

Sera heaved a helpless sigh, as an apologetic expression now dominated her face.

"I know, Lucien. It may sound strange, but even though I'm the leader of the group, the 'CEO' if you prefer, I am not the only one with power. The company makes its decision through a group of shareholders, upon which I hold the majority of the shares."

Sera explained the reason for the situation they are about to walk into once again. She knew that his presence will cause an unwelcome stir amongst that pit of snakes and rats, but there was nothing she could do. Back then, she couldn't have built up this strong presence in the modern world by herself. Though she was powerful, she was far from her master in terms of strength. She needed help, she needed assistance back then, to lay the foundations of what is now the De'Angelis Corp, a shining beacon in the central section of this urban domain.

However, the truth was that like many other giant companies, the De'Angelis was far more than a giant conglomerate with vast reserves of money to support itself. No, the De'Angelis Corp was far more, it was a specific way of life, a real-life sect hidden behind the curtains.

The De'Angelis Corp, or more precisely, the sect wasn't unique in this manner either. Most of the power that governed, controlled life itself in the city was held by the strong, powerful families, and in some cases, the variety of clans be it human or otherwise. While the citizens lived out their short and ultimately meaningless existences in blissful ignorance, behind the curtains the world wasn't as simple as they thought it would be.

As such, Sera was its founder and current Sect Leader, the boss whose words should be the ultimate truth, no matter the reason. Slightly below her in the power chain, a ring of elders and high elders stood atop the societal mountain, leading hundreds, if not thousands of disciples and trainees.

As a woman with a clear vision, and a defined purpose, the sole reason that Sera built up such a legacy ever since her time of arrival for the sole purpose of reuniting with the Young Master, the boy, his beloved Master's second iteration, and help him stand at the very top of the world, hopefully, this time without losing most of it in the journey.

Due to this, Sera mostly stayed away from the day-to-day of the sect, and mostly relied on her second-hands, the elders, to decide on worldly matters. In fact, she was so recluse in the matters, that nowadays apart from a select few privileged, not many knew about her at all and mostly thought that the sect and the company were managed by the High Elders reigning over everybody.

Admittedly, that was a mistake Sera now, looking back, regretted, as because of this very lack of attention, people have slowly forgotten the most important first commandment, she herself had taught: that everything ultimately belonged to The Chosen One, the Young Master that once he returns would take its seat at the top.

She was aware that her proclamation would not be met without resistance. The High Elders, each would want to push their own cherished disciples to be selected and titled with this misinterpreted title. For over the years, this statement has been transformed into a test of power, a display of individual might. There were three stages for this trial that stated that only the one that managed to achieve the perfect score would be crowned as 'The Chosen One'. 

Nowadays, this yearly event, this tournament was transformed into a huge event that was used as a measuring stone for ranking and sorting the disciples. From the lowest of ranks, accepting them into the inner, more carefully guided circle, to ultimately allowing them to take on and become the direct apprentice of an elder and step into the ranks of the Core Disciples, this Test of Mettle was now a grand event.

Staring at the building, Sera could only sigh, as she was aware how the years of neglect had transformed the meaning in the minds of his disciples…

While the sect itself was still considered relatively new, their dogmas and teaching were all ancient truths, providing it a stable base even if it didn't have several lifetimes of history to support it itself.

—-

With a frown and a sour look on his face, Lucien couldn't do anything but nod and follow along. Knowing full well, that those old fogies would not easily accept him, he was sure that the challenges of the day were far from over.

Though even he didn't expect that the problems would arise even before he would even take a single step into the grounds that were supposed to be his…

As they slowly made their way towards the entrance, the guards standing in the front, suddenly the one on the left stepped forward and blocked their way.