Shang landed in front of Agon's castle and entered.
As always, the castle was empty except for the throne room.
Shang entered the throne room and saw Agon and Jerald talking about random things.
Agon and Jerald nodded at Shang. "Let's go," Agon said as he walked to his throne.
Instead of sitting down, Agon stopped in front of the throne and summoned his special Communication Crystal.
He extended it towards the back of the throne and held it there for about five seconds.
WHOOOM!
A wave of Mana washed over the throne room as the walls shone in white light for just an instant.
After the white light passed, Shang realized that he couldn't view the things outside the throne room with his Spirit Sense anymore. This was probably some kind of isolation Magic Circle.
SHING!
A couple seconds later, a violet portal appeared beside the steps that led up to Agon's throne.
"Just hold the Communication Crystal you got from Relon to the throne, and everything will happen automatically," Agon said as he walked towards the portal. "This portal leads to the meeting place for all employees in Area 23. Obviously, no other person is allowed to know about all of this."
Jerald and Shang only nodded.
Then, the three of them stepped through the portal.
After stepping through the portal, Shang could finally see where it led to.
It was a natural plateau.
The plateau was about 100 meters wide and filled with grass. Shang could see the clouds from the plateau, and he could even see the ground with his Spirit Sense.
Shang saw a lot of people, and his eyebrows rose when he felt their power.
There were over 20 High Mages within a 20-kilometer radius, and they were all Mid High Mages or more powerful. There were even three Peak High Mages!
Three Peak High Mages!
The Skythunder Kingdom only had one!
As soon as Shang felt the power of all these Mages, he knew where he was.
Only the Magic Purity Kingdom could have such powerful Mages. Additionally, based on the gigantic, white castle Shang could see near the base of the plateau, Shang knew where he was specifically inside the Magic Purity Kingdom.
'This is probably their capital,' Shang thought.
'Luckily, the plateau is nearly ten-kilometers-high, making it impossible for the Mages to see us with their Spirit Senses.'
Yes, the plateau was that high.
Even more, it was basically just a massive wall with a 90° angle.
"To think that filthy scum would one day find its way to the Holy Mountain of my Magic Purity Kingdom."
Shang narrowed his eye and looked at the person that had just spoken.
It was an old man with white hair and a long white beard. The old man was looking at Shang with contempt in his eyes, and he wore simple white robes.
However, when Shang saw him, he could feel the sheer power radiating off him.
Shang felt like this man was on the same level as Agon.
Of course, the identity of this man was obvious.
"I presume you are the Assistant Supervisor of the central region?" Shang asked with a neutral voice.
He specifically avoided calling him King.
The older man narrowed his eyes, and Shang could feel monumental pressure building around him.
It was like he was looking into the eyes of a pride-filled dragon.
However, Shang didn't even react to the pressure.
He had gone through too many things to be intimidated by a person that wasn't allowed to touch him.
For a couple of seconds, Shang and the King of the Magic Purity Kingdom only looked at each other.
Then, the King's eyebrows rose in surprise as all the pressure vanished.
After that, he looked at Agon. "Huh, you were right. He really didn't get intimidated," he said with an interested and surprised voice.
Agon only smirked. "Told you so."
Shang raised an eyebrow at the sudden mood shift.
"I must apologize for the joke," the King of the Magic Purity Kingdom said while smiling warmly and politely. "I simply wanted to see if Agon was overpraising you or not."
Shang hesitated for about two seconds before answering. "Aren't the Mages of the Magic Purity Kingdom supposed to hate everyone not practicing Magic?" he asked.
The King only laughed. "That's their role," he said. "But a role is just a role. The other paths require an antagonist they can fight against, and we fulfill that role."
"However, in the end, a role is just a role, and a job is just a job," the King added with a bit of mirth. "The very reason why I am here is to promote the growth of the other paths. Hating the other paths goes directly against the goal of my job and role."
Shang was a bit surprised.
The King of the Magic Purity Kingdom sure was different than Shang had expected.
Shang had expected some arrogant old man. In fact, the initial expression and demeanor the King showed had been exactly what Shang had expected.
"Nice to finally meet you," Jerald suddenly said with a smile as he stepped towards the King. "My name is Jerald, and I will be the new Assistant Supervisor of the southern region of Area 23."
The King only chuckled and walked over to Jerald.
Then, they shook hands.
"Nice to meet you, Jerald. You can call me by my name, Koran. We are all colleagues here, and there is no need to put up any pretenses," Koran, the King of the Magic Purity Kingdom, said.
"Thank you, Koran," Jerald answered.
"You know, Jerald," Koran added. "I'm glad that you got the job instead of Susan. I don't think we need two antagonists in this Area."
Jerald raised an eyebrow. "Susan would have gotten the job?"
"Yes," Agon said from behind Jerald. "If you died, she would have received your job."
'That would have been bad,' Shang thought with a complex expression.
"I've heard that you already met your new colleague, Charles," Koran said.
Jerald only laughed awkwardly. "Yes, we did."
"Trust me, I get it," Koran said with a chuckle. "He is a weird fellow. At a first glance, he might appear unreliable and impulsive, but that only holds true when nothing's at stake. When there are actually important matters, he always proves to be a valuable and reliable friend and helper."
Shang only looked at Koran with a doubtful expression.
That fire Mage didn't seem reliable at all.
"By the way, where is he?" Jerald asked.
"He will be joining us in about half an hour," Koran said. "Just try to work with his… special personality, and everything will work out."
Jerald only laughed politely.
SHING!
At that moment, another portal appeared at the edge of the plateau.
Then, the King of the Grandmountain Kingdom stepped through.
