Chapter 120: Start of the Banquet
The Grand Celestial Hall of Daewyth shimmered like a dream carved into metal and mist.
High above, chandeliers crafted from floating crystal arrays hovered in precise formation, refracting soft ambient light through programmable prisms. Each crystal shimmered with a hue from Daewyth’s signature color spectrum—deep ultraviolets, frostblues, and royal obsidian. Light danced across the marbled floor, which itself was a living canvas—microfiber tiles shifting subtly underfoot to absorb footstep pressure and produce gentle ripples of bioluminescent pattern, giving the impression that guests were walking across a starlit lake.
Along the edges of the room, serpentine tables of obsidian glass reflected the guests in perfect mirror-quality polish. Trays hovered slightly above the surface, carried by low-gravity servitors—elegant chrome-limbed androids that glided silently between nobles, offering flutes of luminous nectar-wine and floating delicacies plated on aerogel leaves.
Music filled the air—not from a string quartet, but from a living soundscape generated by a philharmonic AI. It sang in symphonic pulses that responded to motion, scent, and heat signatures in the room, ensuring that every corner of the hall was awash with harmonics tailored to the gathering mood.
Despite the luxury, a growing unease crackled subtly beneath the elegance.
"Still not here," Marsai muttered under her breath.
Her assistant stood trembling behind her, sweat dotting his brow despite the hall’s optimized climate. He wordlessly held out a holo-slate. Marsai tapped the screen, and the translucent projection rose before her—a condensed battle report from Biohive 81, timestamped only a few hours ago.
There he was: Nioh.
Hovering like an archangel in black steel, lightning crowned his silhouette. The footage showed the aftermath—smoke, celebration, the prince’s silent descent, and the populace weeping with joy.
Marsai’s lips tightened.
"Tsk," she hissed. "Why is he farming for positive impressions now? He didn’t even send a message."
The assistant didn’t answer, but instead hesitantly brought up another slide. It was a favorability graph, projected into a 3D lattice.