Descent of a God

Meeting

Jude POV:

"I still don't feel right about doing this meeting without any backup," Virion said warily.

We were in a small clearing on a rise just above the town of Slore. The occasional moist breeze carried with it a strong smell of the sea, making me sticky despite the frigid air.

"Stop worrying so much, I'll crush if they dare attack us," I snorted as a slight smirk appeared on my relaxed face.

"With the way, the Vritra's side has been planning everything—breeding asura half-bloods, creating mutants with our continent's mana beasts, and now the ships—I can't imagine how long Agrona has been planning this. And I can't shake the feeling that this war is more of a game to him than some passionate endeavour."

"If Agrona was so easy to predict, he never would've gotten this far," Aldir acknowledged reluctantly. "Since he, like all the other asuras residing in this world, is prohibited to participate in this war directly, he's been coming up with ways to go around that by being the almighty hand that moves his chess pieces—at least for his side."

"And who is the almighty hand that moves the pieces for our side?" Virion asked with a raised brow.

"You are the one leading this war, are you not?" Aldir reminded.

Virion shrugged sceptically. "That's what I tell myself at night."

"All right," I intervened. "Is this the meeting place?"

"Of course not," Virion let out a sigh, tying back his long white hair.

"This is the farthest I can take us before we traverse to our real destination," Aldir clarified. "Our destination is in the middle of the ocean."

"Lead the way," Arthur gestured.

Aldir's feet slowly rose from the ground as a milky aura covered both him and Virion. Soon, the aura lifted Virion into the air as well. Virion's lips shut tight as every muscle in his body tensed like a cat picked up by its scruff.

 As I propelled myself up off the steep edge, I took the time to admire the hawkeye view of the bustling town directly below me.

Just as my body began to descend, I used the power of my white core to will the mana to lift me. 

Sylvie and I stayed a few dozen meters behind Aldir as we surfed the top of the clouds. This far up in the sky, the only sound that could be heard was the sharp whistle of air around us, making the journey peaceful despite the purpose of our trip.

Aldir and Virion had stopped above the clouds, waiting for us to catch up.

"I'm sure I don't need to say this to you but I will anyway. No one knows how much the Vritra actually know so it'd be wise to keep your true strength hidden during this meeting." Aldir's voice rang uncomfortably in my ear as if he was whispering right next to me.

"What about Sylvie?" Arthur shouted.

"Lady Sylvie will have to transform back into her miniature from," Aldir answered. "I will carry you down, Arthur."

As we fell beneath the layer of clouds below us, plummeting through the blanket of white, the moisture in the air dampened our clothes, until we spotted the shimmering ocean gently rippling in all directions.

Despite the phenomenal view of the never-ending stretch of water, my gaze instantly focused on the dark specks littered across the ocean to my right. About a few dozen miles north, I could see the fleet of Alacryan ships heading toward the shore near Etistin City, the capital of Sapin.

Floating on top of the ocean was a pitch-black platform about the size of a small house.

As we descended just a few dozen meters above Virion and Aldir, I could make out two small figures that had blended in with the platform they had been standing on from afar.