The second round of the Heavenly Succession had blessed Ninna with a beginning even more perfect than the last one–it was as if the Heavenly Dao itself was tacitly supporting her!
Instead of having to search for one of the forces that the Ur Family had prepared for her and the others, she had simply appeared directly in the territory of the Tetrachroma Palace. Fortunately, it had been simple to prove her identity, and before she knew it, they were already referring to her as 'the Dame'–a title that she was fine with, especially because they had proceeded to bother her less after christening her as such.
All that she wished for was to be allowed to cultivate in peace, forgotten by all worlds. And for a while, it seemed as if her dreams had become reality. Nobody had come to annoy her or talk to her, and she could grow stronger smoothly in a perfectly fine-tuned cultivation world.
Her strength had soared like there was no tomorrow and the abundant essence of the Foundational Elements had served as ideal nourishment to further refining herself. But just then, whilst she had been still happily cultivating, now at the Deiform Soma Stage, those four stooges calling themselves Masters had come to disturb her.
That had been the moment when her perfect retreat had become marred by uncertainty and worry. A powerful troublemaker had made themselves known nearby, and she had been forced to do the bare minimum to prepare for their potential arrival at her abode.
Commanding the most powerful forces that she had access to at the moment to act as her protectors, as it would benefit all of them if she reached further heights smoothly, she had again focused on cultivation. Yet this time, she had been unable to be as carefree as before.
Due to all of the pressure, she broke through all the way until the peak of the Deiform Soma Stage within a comparatively short time frame. Even amongst all of her peers, she was surely ahead of most! She almost began to delude herself into believing that nobody would be coming to interrupt her, that she had been worried about nothing...
But then, there came today. An unassuming morning–or was it evening already? She honestly couldn't tell, as she hadn't paid much attention to the passage of time recently.
There was a nagging feeling at the back of her mind, making it impossible for her to properly concentrate. The more that she tried to ignore it, the more severe and distracting it grew. But even when she finally formally acknowledged its existence, it still became stronger with every passing second.
That was when she was fully snapped out of her cultivation state, and realized that her instincts had been warning her this entire time. Something, or someone, was coming–and they were almost here!
Extending her perception to the borders of this world, she saw nothing amiss and was just about to request her underlings to thoroughly sweep the surroundings, but then she felt an unknown person's perception brush past her, almost imperceptibly.
'Shoot! Whoever they are, they're already here!'
Growing alarmed, her eyes fluttered open, and she prepared to clash with the intruder. Secretly, however, she thought about her single use life-saving item, an antique-looking watch that she kept in her Storage Ring. If worse came to worst, then she might as well flee–she definitely wouldn't allow herself to die today.
"Excuse the disturbance, Miss Ur. Theodore of the Winter Family has come for an unannounced visit."
Suddenly, a surprisingly pleasant male voice spoke, and an astonishingly handsome figure appeared right at the boundary of the world that had served as her cultivation 'chamber'. It was a young man with white hair and icy blue eyes that appreciated her without a hint of ill will to be spied within them. There was a polite smile on his charming face, and although Ninna had seen many who could be called gods amongst men, she still felt her heartbeat quicken a little at his sight.
But she didn't allow his wonderful visage to cloud her thoughts, instead growing even further alarmed, rapidly analysing the situation that she now found herself in.
'Although he is still at the Holos Acclimation Stage, he managed to evade the detection of all of my Celestial Stage guards. That much could be chalked up to a Talent or Proficiency of his, but it certainly cannot explain the undeniable danger that he exudes–he is strong, almost terrifyingly so!'
Looking past the surface, she recalled how he had introduced himself, and soon almost widened her eyes in disbelief, yet managed to suppress the urge to do so.
'Wait! He called himself Theodore Winter–and he certainly looks like the depictions of the Winter Saint that I've been shown before, just a lot... hotter. But enough about that! Screw off, lust, you're a nuisance right now! Ahem. More importantly, he clearly pointed out that I'm from the Ur Family. And that means...'
Narrowing her eyes ever so slightly, she grew significantly more unsettled.
'Not only is he the one that gramps has asked me to watch out for, but it's far worse than I thought! He didn't just uncover that someone's been messing with the competition–which would be pretty much inconsequential, because far too many factions are doing so. But somehow, he also figured out that it's the Ur Family! He's not even supposed to be aware that we exist! What went wrong? And how did he come to know about all of this?!'
Concealing her shock to the best of her ability, she made the most ideal choice that she currently had available to her–to fish for additional information before figuring out how to proceed from here on out.
Before her minions could intervene and potentially do anything stupid, she hastily stopped them in their tracks, earning her some secretly disgruntled looks. Then, she faced Theodore once more.
"It's an honour, Winter Saint. I've heard much about you–you're a household name, after all. There is just one thing that confuses me, however. How come you recognize where I'm from? I was certain that someone like me would be far beneath your notice..."
Sporting a somewhat embarrassed expression, she masked herself as a flattered maiden, a bit taken aback by suddenly having run across a renowned celebrity. She knew that she likely couldn't fool him in such a manner–at least not completely–but there was no harm in trying.
"Someone like you, you say? Don't sell yourself short! I can sense that you're a force to be reckoned with. And not only that, you're breathtakingly gorgeous as well. In what world could you possibly be beneath my notice?"
His praises genuinely delighted her, even though she couldn't tell whether they were mere honeyed words or if he actually meant them. Regardless, he had brushed aside her real question, evidently not intent on answering it–as expected.
'Well, I tried, but I failed. Gramps can't fault me now, right?'
Allowing the tip of her ears to burn up slightly, she evaded his gaze momentarily, then gathered herself again and outwardly became more guarded, playing her role to perfection.
"Y-You sweet talker! I bet you treat every girl like this, so who'd believe you? But more importantly... what brings you here, to my humble dwelling?"
His smile unbothered by her accusation, a hint of fighting spirit blazed in his gaze, completely unhidden.
"Well, I've recently grown a lot more powerful, yet there isn't anybody around who can withstand a spar with me. Having come across you here, I wondered if you'd like to engage in a friendly duel?"
His claims served to incense the peak Celestial Stage guards who observed the situation from afar. If it wasn't for the fact that their Dame had told them to stand down, then they would have come after this arrogant, unwanted guest already! Who did he think he was to show them such disrespect!?
'If he wanted to eliminate me, then his best approach would have been to attack me while he was still hidden. That way, I barely would have been able to react. Looking at it like this, it seems unlikely that he aims to genuinely harm me.'
Pondering for a moment, Ninna soon considered another possibility.
'However, he may also desire for me to lower my guard. To truly come to blows without causing excessive collateral damage, he might request that we leave the Tetrachroma Palace's territory altogether–although going that far would be unnecessary–which would deprive me of many of my advantages. Let's probe him a little.'
Worriedly glancing at her cultivation world, she showed a helpless smile.
"But if we were to clash here, then this wonderful place would become ruined beyond repair. Do you have a location in mind?"
In response, he pointed straight into the Lesser True Void. For a moment, she thought that everything would be going exactly as she had suspected, but them his words genuinely took her aback.
"From what I've seen, the Lesser True Void between here and the next-closest worlds is more than expansive enough to play host to our battle. And best of all, you'll be able to utilize the Array here to empower yourself further. So, what do you say?"
Almost staring at him in disbelief, she had to try her hardest to keep her composure.
'Is he crazy? Why would he deliberately handicap himself like this? Is he looking down on me, thinking that I can't put up a good enough fight otherwise? Or did I misjudge him, and he's truly here for exactly the reason that he stated?'
Recalling all that she knew about the Winter Saint, she definitely wouldn't put it past him. But was he really as virtuous as he presented himself to be? She highly doubted it–one would have to be a fool to genuinely believe it!
Taking a deep breath and allowing herself a short pause to think some more, she soon looked conflicted, and a bit cautious.
"In truth, it sounds a bit too good to be true. Forgive me for doubting you, but I'm sure you understand that a girl in my position has to look out for herself. Do you really want nothing more than a duel? There's no hidden agenda or goal at all?"
For a moment, it felt like she saw his gentle smile turn a little bit amused, but she couldn't tell if she had simply imagined it. But what she could be certain of was that the look in his eyes had changed, perhaps grown more intense, causing a real blush to uncontrollably steal itself on her cheeks.
"Your worries are perfectly reasonable. In your shoes, I wouldn't trust someone like me as far as I could throw them either. To be completely honest, before meeting you, I truthfully just intended to spar a little. Now, however, I think I might want to get to know you better as well."
Anybody could tell that although his words and behaviour appeared flirtatious in nature, this was really merely a way for him to sugar-coat his true intentions. The Ur Family was suspicious, and so was she–it was perfectly reasonable for a Supreme Pillar heir like him to investigate her.
'I know this, I really do! So why, my heart, do you beat so uncontrollably? Damn it! I swear, being this attractive should be a crime!'
Unbeknownst to her, right before he had revealed himself earlier, Theodore had unleashed his devastating, fatal charm in its entirety. After all, it could serve as a potent weapon in this scenario, making it far easier to achieve his objectives.
And if he could somehow add this Supreme Pillar heir-equivalent beauty to his ranks while he was at it, then that would be even better! Still, he was aware that it wouldn't be simple–it might require hundreds of years of investment on his end. And yet, if he truly succeeded, then it would definitely be worth it!