The clear blue sky looked like a calm sea turned upside down. More than a dozen islands of varying sizes floated in the air, keeping close together as they advanced in unison.
The largest island lay at the center, covered with rolling mountains, green vegetation, and a network of waterways.
There was even a "sea" surrounding it.
The seawater extended from every side of the island until it completely enveloped the rock beneath it, forming a flowing shell without spilling a single drop.
The other islands, large and small, were scattered around it like satellites, each maintaining its own distance.
No island clouds supported them. The islands simply floated there, defying all common sense.
Sunlight spilled over their surfaces, refracting through the gravity-defying water around them into rainbows that shifted with the viewing angle. Seen as a whole, the floating archipelago looked utterly dreamlike.
The islands crossed the sky without a sound.
This was Strong World, the airborne stronghold created by the power of "Golden Lion" Shiki.
An old-fashioned Japanese palace towered over the central highlands of the Main Island.
Dark timber and white walls formed the main hall, crowned by a broad, red, four-sided hip roof.
Inside the palace, polished wooden floors stretched across a spacious interior.
Japanese paper sliding doors divided the vast space into separate areas. Ukiyo-e paintings of waves beneath a setting sun, or coiled dragons and crouching tigers, adorned the doors.
The overall atmosphere felt less like a palace and more like the headquarters of a yakuza organization.
"...Hmm..."
Inside the main hall, Shiki sat in the seat of honor, wearing a black kimono trimmed in red beneath a haori striped in gold and orange.
His signature long golden hair spilled around him like a lion's mane.
A ship's wheel was lodged in the bald