Formless Ascension: My Affinity Is Limitless

”That’s King Alexei,” Albert was the one who spoke. His voice came out strained and low, but he explained for both Donovan Jr. and his daughter to hear. ”Number four on the global power rankings... one of the seven to have crossed into the so-called Nascent Realm...”

”I have heard he’s a wild one. Rash and extremely powerful,” Donovan Sr. spoke, ”Now seeing him with my own eyes, the rumors do not do him justice. Someone like this... no wonder he has the guts to name his territory ’Tsar’s Dominion’. He clearly doesn’t give a shit about powers like the World Government.”

Donovan Jr. stared at King Alexei as his father spoke, a glimmer of awe and adoration in his eyes.

Behind him, to his side, Sophie was also the same, though her awe was one more of interest than hopeful ambition.

A proper array of attendants and guards stepped up to welcome King Alexei immediately, totally different from any previous arrival. In fact, for quite a number of seconds the focus was mainly on the giant man. The attendants seemed to have forgotten about the other two parties that had arrived just before him.

It was only after a while that they caught themselves and remembered their jobs. They quickly moved to attend to the other two parties that had arrived.

Golden Finger Chen looked thoroughly incensed, though he hid it well. Even he could see that making a fuss here would do him no good. If it wasn’t someone as powerful as King Alexei, he would surely have made his dissatisfaction very clear; however, keeping quiet here was the logical choice.

He waved away the attendants as they approached, though, showing his displeasure in his own little way as they tried to guide him to his own open lounge on the terraces.

The representatives from the Shadow Brokerage, on the other hand, were much more compliant. One couldn’t even see their faces behind their hoods. They remained silent the entire time, following after the attendants smoothly.

Meanwhile, King Alexei, who had taken up the entire spotlight, was still standing in his spot, observing the surroundings with intrigue. He had already assessed every party present and deemed them as minor players, so his interest was on the next thing that grabbed his attention: the splendour of Marina Archipelago.

”Hmm. She truly is very rich,” he muttered to himself. ”There definitely is something here giving her lots of tokens.”

He paused, then turned to the closest attendant standing in waiting for him.

”You. Where is your master? I don’t see her anywhere. There’s only four minutes till the summit begins. Don’t tell me she means to keep this King waiting?”

His tone was calm and non-threatening, but the words themselves, coupled with the power emanating from him, made the attendant in question feel tense. The poor lady began to stutter, trying very hard to communicate clearly but failing to.

”Ah, forget it,” King Alexei spared her the trouble. ”It’s only four minutes. Any more and then I can pick a problem with her.”

He began heading for the lounges on the terraces, meeting the eyes of those who were bold enough to meet his.

Shogun, the Yakuza syndicate head of Inagawa-kai, met his gaze head-on, eliciting a pleased tilt of a brow from Alexei. Golden Finger Chen was just getting settled in, so his attention wasn’t on the giant man. The four Shadow Brokerage representatives had settled in, but one couldn’t really tell where their attention was focused.

King Alexei’s gaze passed over all these parties, then fell on Stormcaller. The wicked-looking man was staring straight at him, his naturally confrontational face practically asking for trouble.

Alexei changed his bearing and headed straight for him.

Immediately, the bolder attendants tried to guide the giant man to a different lounge, but he had already chosen where he wanted to sit.

Stormcaller’s gaze became cold in an instant. He leaned up from his lazy slouch on the sofa, pushing the two ladies beside him away as King Alexei drew near.

”What a nice lounge. Very large and with a nice view too,” Alexei stepped into the center of the lounge, taking in the view before pausing suddenly and leveling a gaze at Stormcaller, a playful grin on his face. ”I’ll be taking this place.”

Stormcaller’s eyes twitched.

”Unfortunately, this place has already been taken.” He stood up to his full height, which, while shorter than the giant King Alexei, was still fairly tall in his own right. He stared up at the giant man with a menacing look, refusing to back down.

Every party present had gone utterly silent — the Yakuza, the Shadow Brokerage, Golden Finger Chen, the Free Ascenders’ Guild, and even the smaller mid-tier factions. Every one of them had their attention on the confrontation, waiting to see what would happen.

Meanwhile, the attendants and guards of the host, Jolene Okafor, had conflicted looks on their faces. On one hand, there was the fact that they definitely couldn’t allow a fight to happen here. It simply wouldn’t look good for Marina Archipelago and neither would it be a good look for the first Global World Summit to be held in the new integration era.

On the other hand, these were two powerful figures stronger than anyone here by far! There was even King Alexei who was already within the fabled Nascent Realm. It was the job of the guards here to maintain order and formality, but no one was going to step into a fight between two entities of such levels!

Before things could escalate any further, a stately-looking man in a neat tuxedo, donning dark sunglasses like a secret agent, appeared right between the two powerhouses.

He seemed to have materialized entirely out of nothing. His sudden appearance gave Stormcaller a slight startle. The fierce-looking man whipped straight towards the new threat, his fist shooting forward, coated with chain sparks of lightning.

The gentleman in the tuxedo moved immediately, leaning slightly out of the way and parrying the strike with an arm, though not safely. An obvious strain was on his face as electricity coursed through his body, jolting him.

However, he still parried the attack.

A flash of surprise flickered through Stormcaller’s eyes for a second before quickly disappearing. It seemed Jolene Okafor had some actually capable people under her banner present here.