Chapter 191: Second Sky
In order for someone to enter the Second Sky, they would need to go by ship.
Kai and the others knew that.
But they weren’t expecting the process to be nerve-wracking—the ship climbed with a hunger that pressed them all into their seats. The engine’s roar deepened, turning into a guttural one that vibrated through the hull.
And with another surge from the propellers, the vessel shot upward with blistering intent.
Swoosh—!
Recalling what the bald professor said earlier, they breathed rapidly to increase their heart rates.
And inside, they were also circulating their mana.
None of them could see the barrier separating the First Sky and the Second Sky. Couldn’t see the shimmering membrane of pearlescent light that stretched across the entirety of the illusion above like a second horizon.
However, they could feel it.
Kai sensed the vibration inside his Primordial Locks.
Since the barrier contained an immense amount of pure mana, fueled by mana ores, it emitted this invisible pressure—which could be felt clearly by Supernals like them. It’s stronger than the pressure from the barrier separating the surface and the First Sky.
It’s not necessarily harmful for the Supernals but uncomfortable.
Having their Divine Locks shaken isn’t a good feeling.
Calmly, the lieutenant looked down and tapped his smartwatch several times.
Blue light flared through the pipes embedded in the ship’s interior walls, and outside, Kai and the others could see a translucent white energy shield from the viewport that bloomed around the hull, encasing them in a cocoon of protective light.
And then, they punched through.
Rumble—!
The turbulence upon piercing through the barrier hit like a physical force.
Everything shook—the floor, the walls, the seats, even their bones.
Bree squeezed her eyes shut—and her knuckles turned white around her safety belt from how hard she was clenching it. Her whole body became rigid with fear; she could not hide. Falling from this height would mean death.
Even a Supernal like them wouldn’t survive it.
Kai saw it.
He reached across the shuddering space between them and closed his hand over hers.
Bree didn’t open her eyes, but her grip on her seatbelt loosened. Her breathing slowed. It was clear from how the tension in her shoulders began to fade away that Kai’s considerate gesture made all the difference.
It was assuring enough for her to endure the turbulence.
Even Barbara was in the same boat.
Despite wearing a mask that covered her features, Kai could see that she was really nervous from how hard she pressed the back of her head against the wall. As fierce as she looked, she was still eighteen years old.
Just the same as the others.
A new experience like this would still affect her like this.
Surprisingly, it took the ship half a minute of violent shuddering—before it went through the barrier and emerged on the other side. The ship burst through the upper boundary, and then the world became calmer.
The turbulence lessened, and the deck steadied beneath them.
"How was it? Thrilling, isn’t it?" the lieutenant asked while unbuckling himself with the ease of someone who had made this journey a hundred times. "Managing the separation layer is always a constant problem. Angels need to balance it really well, or things would go wrong.
"If the layer is too dense, travelling between the lower and upper skies becomes a gamble. Too thin, and the Blue Void spills straight down to the surface." He shook his head at the thought, happy that he wasn’t one of the people who regulated the layer. He waved his hand. "But there’s no need to worry. It’s relatively stable now. There is a chance we lost a wing on the way up—but thankfully, we didn’t."
Kai and the others stared at the lieutenant with a wry smile behind their masks.
It would be really good to know the risks before departing.
"I’m kidding." The lieutenant waved his hand, seeing the stress blatantly clear in their eyes.
Kai and the others fixed the lieutenant with flat stares, wry smiles hidden behind their masks.
A heads-up about the risks before departure would’ve been nice.
"I’m kidding," the lieutenant said with a chuckle, as though now were the perfect moment for humor. He caught the blatant stress in their eyes—and wisely chose to drop it. "The forcefield is more than strong enough to handle the stress of pushing through the layer."
"You scared us there," Kai spoke up. "What’s your name, Sir?"
"No need to know my name; it’s not important. I’m just someone passing through your story." The lieutenant brushed the question aside and pointed a thumb toward the circular viewport beside him. "First time in the Second Sky, correct? Go on. Take a look."
Kai unbuckled his belt but stopped to glance at Bree.
She shook her head before he could even ask the question in his mind, still gripping the belt, still not ready to move. Kai didn’t know that Bree was afraid of being on a ship, but then again, he had never been with Bree inside a ship.
Since she had no intention to sightsee, Kai made his way to the viewport alone.
And what he saw beyond stole the breath from his lungs.
Unlike the First Sky, the cloud floor below had a faint blue tinge to it; subtle but noticeable, as if the very cloud was infused with the blue sky. And the clouds weren’t flat. They rose in great sculpted formations, hills and mountains of vapor that caught the light and cast shadows onto the lower reaches.
Even though they were already in the Second Sky, the forcefield still rippled around the ship.
Faint distortions skated across its surface—proof that the winds up here were stronger.
Still testing their defenses.
Another thing that caught Kai’s eye was the towers that pierced the sky in the distance.
Impossible sky-spires that were crowned with crystals at their summits—that blazed with an intense amount of energy, beacons in the blue-tinted vastness. Kai’s brows furrowed, and he turned to the lieutenant, "What are those towers?"
"Obelisks of Polias," the lieutenant replied. "Think of them as massive lighthouse radars. They measure the density of the dimensional fabric within their range—and meticulously track the Blue Void’s activity to detect Sky Gates before they fully form.
"Each one has a strand of power from the Goddess of Wisdom, Athena."
"How many are there?"
"A lot."
"How effective are they?"
"Not effective enough."
Kai’s curiosity was piqued as he now stood within the Second Sky.
On the surface, every event broadcast to the public took place in the First Sky. Even the grand showcases of the mightiest Angels were staged there. Everyone knew the sky had five layers—but public knowledge was deliberately capped at the First Sky.
Seeing the Second Sky with his own two eyes is quite exciting.
"You can ask all your questions to me," the lieutenant said—seeing the curiosity clearly in Kai’s eyes. "We’re going straight to the northern region of the Dodona Sector. It’s about thirty minutes away, so we have time."
Along the way, Kai asked many questions.
He asked about where the Angels in the Second Sky live, the social structure, the sectors, the current major situations—and even about what the Guardian Military Department was used for.
Since the lieutenant didn’t seem to mind, he asked any question that came to mind.
Angels within the Second Sky lived in compounds that were tied to their academies.
For instance, the seniors of the Eventide Academy had more or less ten compounds across the entire sectors that they were responsible for. And there was no compound that was specifically used to host a dormitory and such.
Senior Angels could sleep in any compound unless directed otherwise.
Living expenditures solely depend on their performance.
High-performing Angels would live well and eat well, while those who underperformed lived the opposite. Underperform for enough time, and they might be executed. Despite the stark differences between the First Sky and the Second Sky, the core system was still the same.
Angels who can’t serve mankind well enough would be better off dead.
Kai also learned that the seniors are separated into the Assault Unit and the Aegis Unit.
One unit was trained to hunt down the Noble Star Beasts and seal the Sky Gate for good, while the other held the perimeter, ready to contain the worst-case scenario. The Guardian Military Department existed for a single purpose: to support the Aegis Unit.
Only special forces could support the Assault Unit.
After all, the concentration of corruption inside a Sky Gate is incredibly high.
Just a momentary exposure would turn them into minions of the Blue Void, so their main task was to support the Aegis Unit to maintain the perimeter. Researchers had developed gears to block low-level concentration from Pest-class or maybe Scourge-class Star Beasts.
But the gears are expensive to make, so they can’t be standardized across the department.
As for the current major situations, the lieutenant isn’t authorized to talk about them.
Not to them, at least.
Somewhere along the way, Barbara also asked her own question.
"What happens when the Sky Gate isn’t closed?" She asked. "Does it only mean that all the Star Beasts inside would come pouring out?"
"Star Beasts started emerging within the first four hours, so it happened more frequently than most of you would expect," the lieutenant answered. "But the real issue isn’t—the Star Beasts themselves. It’s the corruption. Once it sinks in and terraforms the area, even a Pest-class Star Beast becomes nearly as powerful as a Scourge-class. It’s a disaster."
Kai was surprised to find out about this.
He thought the Sky Gate’s biggest problem would be the Star Beasts in them.
Instead, it was the corruption.
But then again, the Blue Void sought to devour the world and reshape it to its own design—so none of this should have surprised him. The Star Beasts were merely its limbs, reaching out to seize the realm and scour mankind from existence.
"The Sky Gate you’re heading into has already broken. Star Beasts have been pouring through it, flooding the northern region unchecked. This is our second attempt to contain it—if we fail again, the situation will spiral," the lieutenant said.
And it made Kai, Bree, and Barbara even more nervous.
If this was the second attempt, then there had already been a first—and that meant lives had already been lost.
Soon enough, the ship finally arrived at the border of a green plain.
It landed seamlessly, and the sound of the engine fizzled out.
Kai and the others stood up, preparing to step out.
Before them, the lieutenant stopped himself from pushing the button and turned to face them.
"The three of you might want to brace yourselves," He warned before pushing the button.
Swoosh—!
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