Alejandro Morales sat in silence. Compared to the brewing rage he had had three months ago, he was currently the picture of perfect calm. He sat at the very top of a pillar that was at least a hundred kilometers tall. All around him, there were similar pillars, but even the tallest one of them was only 80 kilometers tall.
Although Alejandro didn't say anything, an invisible barrier surrounded him. It was clear that no one else was welcome to sit on his pillar. If one wanted to participate in this gathering, they would have to fight for the lesser pillars.
The dignity of the Morales wasn't something a mere few loud voices could infringe upon.
One after another, powerhouses appeared around Planet Morales. With their sharp eyesights, even from so far above, they could see this set up completely. Many of their expressions darkened, but there was little that they could do. They had already pushed the Morales to this point, it was impossible to ask for more at this point.
One at a time, the organizations and families that had chosen to participate sent forward one representative each. They descended from the skies with dignity and arrogance between their brows, each one very much used to ruling over trillions. They all represented the very pinnacle of the Seventh Dimensional and were existences that functioned as the backbone of the Human Domain.
One of the first was an older woman wearing fluttering green robes. Despite the dignity between her brows, she still had some of the tender lines of youthful beauty that had aged akin to fine wine on her features.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtShe was Inabella, a powerhouse of the Tier 9 Seventh Dimension, and a current pillar of the Viror family which Leonel had quite some contentious interactions with in the Void Palace.
The fact that she wasn't the Matriarch of her family, but rather an elder with even higher status than that, spoke volumes. She was considered to be an Ancestor of her family, but she had no choice but to greet someone who was technically her junior in Alejandro as though they were equals.
But the unfortunate truth was that in this situation...
They were.
The moment she entered the region of the pillars that pierced the skies like spears, her flight wavered and she nearly fell from the skies. She teetered, clenching her jaw in silence as she tried to maintain her steady flight, taking a breath and walking through the air with her best feigned attempt.
From start to finish, Alejandro never opened his eyes even a single time.
After a while of struggling, Inabella finally managed to land on a pillar that was 60 kilometers tall, landing stably. Although she looked up toward Alejandro with a hint of coldness in her eyes, she didn't say anything as she sat and crossed her legs and began to recuperate.
Those that were waiting on the outside watched this with solemn expressions. Inabella was quite famous in her day and she had also been a Domain Ranked Disciple of the Void Palace.
And yet, she had only been able to claim a 60 kilometer tall pillar. The worst part was that the lowest pillar there stood at 50 kilometers tal.
In this context, 10 kilometers was too small of a gap.
Those families that were substantially weaker than the Viror family had on especially ugly expressions. If even the Viror family was like this, what chance did they stand? They realized that riding the wave to condemn the Morales family wouldn't be as easy as they thought it would be in the beginning. Numbers were quite useless in the face of absolute strength.
After some hesitation, dozens of families chose to withdraw while some became even more selective with who they sent forward.
Soon, a new batch came forward. They were much more prepared for the sudden pressure in comparison to Inabella, but even so, their performance wasn't much better. In fact, not a single one managed to reach the 60 kilometer pillars, all of them accumulating along the most numerous 50 kilometer pillars. In fact, some of them still overestimated themselves, falling to the ground below red-faced and embarrassed.
While none of the failures died, they had no choice but to walk at the pace of a mortal to leave the area of the suppression, only to become the scrutiny of everyone above. Witnessing others being embarrassed to such an extent only made others less and less likely to participate.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmIt took a very long while before the next 60 kilometer pillar was filled, this time by an older man. This was a gentleman that would be very familiar to Leonel. He was an elder of the Thrusting Skies Sector, Malstar Skies.
However, to everyone's shock, Malstar's toes only tapped the 60-kilometer pillar for a split second being he pierced forward like a streaking arc of lightning, appearing on a
70-kilometer pillar and exhaling a slight breath.
Inabella's eyes snapped open and her pupils constricted. Malstar and her should have been on the same level, how could he possibly land on a pillar higher than herself? Although he had used a lower pillar for leverage, Inabella had experienced that pressure herself. If it was so easy, she would have done it herself. The only explanation was that Malstar was stronger than her now, at least in movement technique.
Malstar didn't seem to notice the expressions of everyone else, landing on the pillar with a calm expression and sitting in silence.
Inabella frowned, but she could do nothing. Trying to reach the 70-kilometer pillar now, and likely failing, would only make her lose face. She had no choice but to swallow this. There were enough that had failed that while Malstar's performance was shocking, it wasn't enough for attention to be turned to her inadequacies.
As for Alejandro, he likewise said nothing, not even opening his eyes. There weren't any rules. If you could figure out a loophole, more power to you. He couldn't be bothered to give a damn.
At that moment, several powerful pressures came from above, new groups descending in waves.