Reaper of the Martial World

Book 4: Chapter 26: Clash

“Ava? What’s wrong?” Riley, Ava’s elder half brother, noticed that Ava had grown pale. He immediately thought that something bad had happened.

“Uncle Belmont?” Ava didn’t think she had time to explain, so she immediately turned to King Belmont, someone she had seen as an Uncle since her youth. “We need to stop that match!”

King Belmont turned a confused gaze toward Ava, “Little Ava? What do you mean? You know I can’t do that.”

“But…” Ava bit her lip. She knew her request was impossible. By the time she got there, the battle would likely be over. It was impossible for anyone without at list saint level cultivation to move to any point in this arena freely and in an instant. That was on top of the fact the area about the arena had become a no-fly zone. If they allowed just anyone to fly over the arena, then wouldn’t all of the spectators who had essence gathering and above cultivation move in for a closer look? Only people who were as obscenely powerful as Patia-Neva could circumvent this rule by hiding in space. Either that, or you’d need a concealment array powerful enough to fool experts, something Ava obviously didn’t have.

And, even if she did, she was still on just seventeen years old. It was perfectly reasonable for her to still not have stepped into the essence gathering level. She wasn’t as much of a monster at cultivation as Madeleine.

“What’s wrong Little Red?” Ava’s father furrowed his brows, just as confused as King Belmont.

Ava shook her head. Was she supposed to tell them that she wanted to stop this match because two of Dyon’s fiancées were about to fight? Was that even enough justification?

To Ava, this was of unprecedented importance. She had seen what happened to Delia although she too hadn’t stepped in. This was mostly because Ava hadn’t ever had a close relationship with Delia, so she had assumed that someone else would help – namely Madeleine.

But, as time passed, Ava noticed that not only had Madeleine not acted, but it was in fact Eli and Venus who had, two people she had shared life and death with. Seeing this, Ava immediately knew that there was something wrong with Madeleine. For her to not come personally meant that something big was stopping her.

Knowing that, Ava knew that Madeleine wasn’t in a good mind state. Couple that with the fact she was also aware that Ri had never met Madeleine before and Ava knew that this wasn’t a good combination. What if Madeleine lost her temper and did something she’d never be able to take back?

Ava had met Ri during both of their first campaigns and had a good impression of her. Ava also, despite not having a close relationship with Madeleine either, had a good impression of her as well. But, what really made Ava react so violently was the fact she truly cared for Dyon as a friend. Dyon was someone who had put his life on the line for revenge for her. She didn’t want to see two people he loved fight each other when they clearly had no idea who the other was.

‘Will you be able to fix this one?…’ Ava gripped her fists at her knees, taking deep breaths as she felt her mother’s arm wrap around her lovingly.

“I’m sorry Little Ava, I’m sure you have a good reason for wanting to stop this match, but I have to think about the crowd as well. This world tournament is meant to be a showing of how anyone can rise up should they be talented and work hard enough. If I make unilateral decisions that displease the crowd, it will spit in the face of this.” King Belmont sighed.

He meant his words. As a King, he had the ability to change whatever he wanted. But, if he went against the grain too forcefully, that would have drastic consequences. Losing the favor of the population is usually how a Royal God Clan’s power could be passed on to another who had gained said lost favor. King Belmont had too many important things planned to allow this to happen…

But, he had noted something else. As King, he also had access to information that others didn’t. He was fully aware that there were two members of the top 30 in that single group, that should have been avoided at all costs.

Although there was an element of randomness to the selection of groups, each selection started by separating out the top competitors from each other so as not to allow any spoiled entertainment for the later rounds. This also ensured that no one worthy was eliminated too soon.

That fact that both Ri and Madeleine were in the same group only meant one thing… Someone had planned this.

‘I guess your tests just keep coming, hm?’ King Belmont thought to himself.

**

Away from the stadium and within a spatial ring something great was finally happening.

Kaeda’s delicate face beaded down with sweat as her soul felt like it was on the brink of collapsing. But, every time she felt as though she had hit her limit, she felt another stream of soul energy filter in from the surrounding demon generals.

The Florence family technique blossomed in the air as Kaeda felt like she was finally taking the last bits of Dyon’s affliction away.

The more she worked, the deeper her appreciation for their successor became. This was a technique that Dyon used on his own near effortlessly. And, to top it off, despite not sharing any Elvin bloodlines, he had learned it in mere days.

It had not only talent Kaeda two months to learn this technique despite having been proud of her soul talent before, but she couldn’t even sustain it fully on her own without the help of tens of other demon generals.

However, this was what Dyon had been banking on. Ri was correct in seeing the Florence family technique as a solution, but, the problem was that it would have taken too long for them to learn. By the time that came to pass, Dyon would have likely been beyond helping or, even dead.

The problem was that his plans seemed to have been falling through even when Kaeda came rushing over, happy to have finally earned the Florence family manifestation.

To begin with, Kaeda had good soul talent. This was seen by her ability to learn music will, a will that was exceedingly difficult to grasp. Without good soul talent to be able to communicate efficiently with the world around you, learning music will was nearly impossible. So, Dyon hadn’t been surprised that Kaeda, one of his chosen Vice Commanders, had been the first to master the technique.

That said, it became very obvious very quickly that Kaeda couldn’t sustain the ancient Elvin techniques for the necessary amount of time. Although she was helping Dyon along with his eradication of the technique, at their pace, it would have still taken days more before Dyon could break completely free – especially with Kaeda’s frequent breaks.

So, Dyon had taken a risk. He manifested a clone to quickly explain his idea and luckily, Kaeda quickly grasped the concept. But then, another problem arose.

Dyon’s original plan was to have the demon generals share their soul power like he and Ri did. This required a base level of trust, something they should have had after fighting so many wars together, but, aside from that, it also required expert level control – a level of control that increased manifold for each additional demon general that helped. In addition to this, to lower the level of difficulty of melding souls, the soul strength of the demon generals had to be similar. Knowing this, only lower level demon generals were of any help.

At first, Dyon and Kaeda had only wanted the help of one other demon general. That would have kept the difficulty at the lowest level possible. But, it became clear very quickly that this wouldn’t be possible. Even two demon generals couldn’t replicate Dyon’s efficacy with the ancient Elvin techniques, something that they found absolutely ridiculous, but was true nonetheless.

What the demon generals came to learn was that their successor’s soul strength far outmatched theirs. Dyon had a saint level soul while the lower level essence gathering demon generals still had meridian formation level souls in most cases. They simply couldn’t compare. This didn’t mean that Dyon was more powerful than his lower essence gathering demon generals. After all, they still had their own powerful wills, their energy cultivation, as well as their body cultivation. But, when it came to soul cultivation and techniques, Dyon was unmatched.

Unfortunately, with this being the case, Kaeda had no choice but to keep adding to the amount of demon generals in their palm to back formation. However, she had been capped at three. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t control anymore than the output of three more demon generals. This, of course, was still much faster than her alone. But, in the end, it wasn’t fast enough. It would still take a few more days at that rate.

But, that was when Dyon sensed Arios outside of the ring. When Dyon had first come to the Elvin Kingdom, he had tried to send out an array through the dimensions. This had ended with his being knocked unconscious for months, but it had also proved that even at that lower soul level, Dyon had the talent to send his soul power out through dimensions.

However, sending out your 6^th sense through dimensions was obviously an easier task than drawing an array through dimensions.

When Dyon had seen that the problem Kaeda was having was soul control, he immediately knew that Arios was the solution to the problem. But, the issue was that Arios wasn’t here, he had been sent off to his family. And, he couldn’t use Alidor’s soul control because Alidor was still a step weaker than Dyon’s demon generals since he was still in the meridian formation stage – which meant his soul was even weaker than that.

Hoping against hope, Dyon diverted small bits of his 6^th sense to check the situation outside of the ring. He wanted to get out to the world tournament as quickly as possible. He was itching to battle and to see Madeleine.

In the end, Dyon’s efforts had been rewarded and Arios came.

At first, some might have been confused. Why would Arios fix their soul control problems? But, Dyon didn’t have time to explain it to them. All he said were a few simple words. “You’re in charge of soul control.” Then Dyon’s clone disappeared.

A few of the smarter Demon Generals immediately caught on. Amongst those of similar soul power to them, Arios was without a doubt the one with the most soul control. Why? Because of the Sicarius family death technique.

Arios had the ability to quite literally cut his soul off from his body and fake his death. This was a technique that Ava had also used in an attempt to escape Baal. But, Arios’ proficiency was on a completely other level. He had used it when Tammy had attacked him in the Elvin Kingdom. This was because he could tell that Tammy was struggling with something inwardly, so he had chosen to make it easy on her – this was of course on top of the fact he had a good impression of Tammy and they had had a good relationship. What Arios didn’t know, of course, was what Tammy had subjected his little sister to.

This aside, the Sicarius family technique required soul control of an unprecedented level. Arios, being able to completely disconnect, and then reconnect, his soul from his body was without a doubt the best option to control the souls of so many. And Dyon was proven to be right.

Soon, tens of demon generals stood together, fueling Kaeda and curing Dyon at a rate note seen before.

Just hours later, Dyon’s grin came coupled with the fluttering of his eyes as he woke up.

Seeing hundreds of pairs of eyes looking at him with a mixture of happiness and awe, he smiled. “Thank you.” After months of not using his voice, it came out hoarse. But, he got his message across.

Kaeda blushed profusely. Unlike many of the other demon generals, she was quite shy. In fact, when Dyon had chosen her as a Vice Commander just because of her music will, it had been questionable. These were the same question Kaeda had dealt with all her life – especially when the Demon Sage had chosen her as a demon general. But, she pushed through it.

That said, she couldn’t help but blush under Dyon’s kind words of thanks. “There’s no need to thank us, successor.” Kaeda kept her head lowered.

“Ugh,” Dyon tried to get up, but immediately slumped back downward.

Arios slipped by Kaeda’s shying figure to kneel beside Dyon, a serious expression on his features. “Don’t move.” He said sternly.

Arios slowly lifted Dyon’s arm from his side before sucking in a deep breath.

After months of focusing on flushing Dyon’s body of the odd red crystals, there had been no opportunity to handle the wound that had caused it all in the first place.

“I’m not doctor… But… Green skin isn’t healthy, right?” Arios cringed. The idea of a martial artist becoming infected was ridiculous, it wouldn’t happen. Or, at the very least, it shouldn’t.

Dyon winced as his arm was raised, but gently pushed Arios away anyway. Leaping upwards, Dyon took a look at his side.

The wound itself was narrow and only about three inches wide, but Dyon could feel that it was very deep. The green Arios was referring to was the sickening green veins that pumped to and from the wound.

Dyon could tell that it wasn’t infected because there was no pus. In fact, the veins were probably his body’s way of rehabilitating itself. When a person was injured, a flood of blood would come to area carrying all sorts of this needed for curing. Usually, that would also come with swelling. But, Dyon’s body hadn’t been able to swell because it was crystallized. In fact, his veins only just now began to pump blood properly, causing a stream of blood to begin to slide down his side.

“I don’t have time for this…” Dyon circulated his aurora and energy cultivation. Wounds became more difficult to heal the more powerful the attack was and the more powerful the body was. Unfortunately, Dyon’s body had recently become much stronger and the attack he had suffered was without a doubt powerful. The good news was that he now had a saint level soul, so his aurora worked at unprecedented speeds. The bad news was that it would still take a few more hours. But, he didn’t care.

Dyon’s finger lit itself, causing a blaze of fire to send flickers of heat into his surroundings. Barely gritting his teeth, he brought the flame to his wound, sealing it off and stopping the blood.

Kaeda blinked, “Successor, if you do that before we check for internal injuries, you may bleed out from the inside.”

Dyon nodded, “You’re right.”

Under the shocked gazes of the demon generals, Dyon torso began to glow.

Arios could only shake his head. He only knew a handful of people who would light their insides with fire will like this when there was a better solution to be had. The demon sage and Dyon happened to be two of them…

“Maniacs…”

Dyon chuckled as his eyes flashed with purple-gold. “Sorry, can I trouble one of you to bandage me up?” A long and thick length of cotton bandages appeared in Dyon’s hand.

Arios sighed. “You’d better be able to make them pay for what they’ve done in this state.”

A flash of seriousness crossed Dyon’s eyes. For Arios to say such a thing, it was clear that something had happened.

“If I didn’t give them this handicap, this tournament wouldn’t even be suspenseful.”

In the stadium, the crowd’s noise was booming louder than before. The 23 other members of Ri and Madeleine’s battle royale each found an edge piece to stand on. With the platform being so large, there was hundreds of meters of space between Madeline and Ri, and therefore them and the two of them.

Madeleine was silent. She didn’t know why but this girl in front of her was clearly powerful, but at the same time, she also had endless amounts of bloodlust aimed toward her.

‘Did I take out one of your friends? I could care less.’ Madeleine’s own anger was boiling and being targeted for such a petty reason when she had gone out of her way to not severely injure anyone was pissing her off all the more.

Flames of violet began to coat her dress, and yet it somehow didn’t singe it at all. In fact, the transcendent level treasure began to resonate with Madeleine’s flames, seemingly dancing along with the flicks and flares of purple.

Ri began to walk forward, brandishing her sword in her hand. Her hair was a jet black and her tails were just the same. All ten of them whipped violently in the air, sending shockwaves of void will with their every movement.

Although Ri was angry, she remained cautious. If this really was someone who could hurt Dyon, then she was without a doubt powerful. However, Ri had risen to a point in that past two months where there was little doubt that she at the very least rivaled Dyon before his saint soul buff. And, even if she didn’t, Ri was not the type to back down from a fight.

“Why did you do it?” Ri’s voice came out in a growl. It was bestial and commanding. She had to know why they had been targeted. What was the purpose?

Madeleine’s frown only deepened at this questioning. She couldn’t speak, how was she meant to answer a question. Especially when the question itself pissed her off. Why did she do what? Wasn’t it her job as a contestant to fight? Was she supposed to let others win? What was wrong with this girl?

Seeing Madeleine’s scowl, Ri’s anger deepened. But, she decided to try one more time. Something about this felt off to her. “Are you aware of who my husband is?”

Ri probed with another question. If this girl answered no, then Ri could settle on the idea of this having been a ploy of some kind. She had already asked Eli whether or not Dyon knew a purple hair and eyed beauty, and Eli had answered no, but there were a myriad of other possibilities. Even Ri’s hair color changed depending on her form, could she really make a conclusion based on something like that?

But, Ri never got her answer.

Madeleine was fed up. ‘At least you husband is here!’ Something in her snapped as the words raged through her mind.

She had no one to lean on. Her sister had died. Her parents weren’t as supportive as they should be. This was the day, after two years, that she was supposed to finally see her husband, and yet all she got was being locked down and practically under arrest, all while she had to watch helplessly as he was slandered. And now this girl was mad at her for simply winning her bracket? What kind of bullshit was this?

Madeleine flashed forward, her flames coating her palms as she executed a fanning technique.

Brilliant peacock feathers sprouted from her back, coloring the skies with beautiful greens and golds, but especially purples.

This was the first of legacy techniques Madeleine had gained from Amethyst. It was usually a technique for males, but it had been adapted by Amethyst to circulate a different pathway and complement yin.

‘Peacock Queen’s first feather, delicate palm!’

Ri’s eyes flashed in anger, “Ice petal’s dance, first petal: ice rain!” Her sword flashed forward, a magnificent lily of ice appearing behind her.

The clash was beyond words.

A tempest of flames and ice raged through the arena under the erupting crowd.

The beauty of peacock’s feathers shimmered under the oppressive cold, rebuffing it with its own intense flames.

Ri’s ice petals rained down shards of ice coated with sword will, wanting to tear through everything in its path, but instead being engulfed by a massive wall of purple fire.

Blinding northern lights colored the skies above the arena as sword met palm, neither giving way.

Madeleine’s deep purple eyes held a deep seeded anger as she stared into Ri’s blue-silver slits before they both leaped backwards.

There was no moment of rest and there was no room for talking.

Ri’s ice petals continued to rain from the skies, attacking Madeleine’s peacock feathers as they manifested.

Shocking booms resonated through the skies as the stones and metals that made up the arena were torn away – melting in the heat before being frozen over, just to melt once again.

Madeleine’s heart burned with rage as her palms flashed outwards again and again. She was no longer holding back, but she felt as though her attack potency was being sucked away by the mysterious black will of her opponent.

Ri’s void will flashed with her every step, her tails shooting beams of ice at Madeleine’s forming feathers, stopping their attacks midstream.

Neither woman backed down, it was a clash for the ages and the audience could only watch with baited breath.

‘Not enough.’ Both thought these words at the same time, unleashing their God Constitutions in unison.

Ri’s manifestation bloomed, a dark and sleek Kitsune forming in the air as a crown of radiating gold and jewels fell perfectly into the gem on its forehead.

A black gold energy began to drip from Ri as tattoos of gold raced across her tails. Even her jet black hair became coated with the ethereal aura.

Madeleine, though, lost out in no way.

Her constitution bloomed, radiating out unmatched purity as crystalline lights began to rain down around her.

The crowd’s cheering became a hushed silence. Two otherworldly beauties faced each other. Was a title amongst just the six beauties enough? Did that give these girls their due?

One was dark and bestial. She was petite, but her curves and figure were nothing less than perfect. Her long black hair waved in the air, contrasting her gentle-looking light blue dress.

The other was light and heavenly. She was the taller of the two, but her body filled her in flawlessly. Her chest was ample, and her hips were wide. Her purple hair, matted in twinkling flames, gave her an ethereal feel…

They were both goddesses that descended from the skies.

Outside of the stadium, Dyon was leisurely walking along with Arios and Thadius. He didn’t feel the need to bring anymore demon generals, that would just bring undo attention.

But, he froze as he saw something ahead.

“Eli?” Dyon flashed forward, ignoring the pain on his side as he made his way to the struggling Venus and Eli.

When he saw Delia’s state, he could only frown. But, what really got to him was how difficult it had been for Venus and Eli to carry them all of this way. It was as though they were really mortals.

Eli had never stepped out of the second foundation stage because he hadn’t had any opportunity to train in the last two years. And, it seemed like Venus’ cultivation had regressed from her lower meridian formation cultivation. Or, at the very least, she hadn’t had the opportunity to replenish her depleted energy as a slave.

Right now, they were both as weak as any mortal teenagers from the human world…

Seeing Dyon awake, a flash of happiness appeared on Eli’s features, “Dyon, we need help. Delia hasn’t been conscious for hours now. She took multiple wounds during her fight!”

Dyon nodded, taking Delia from Eli and placing her on an array to hover in the air.

After scanning Delia, Dyon’s head cocked to the side in confusion. She wasn’t hurt at all… In fact, something inside of her was shifting and changing… Seemingly for the better?

Seeing this, Dyon looked up to see the frail Venus and smiled, “Venus. I’m glad to see that you’re doing better.”

Venus smiled shyly and nodded in acknowledgment. Over the past two years, she had lost a significant amount of weight and it was clear that her cultivation had suffered. But, she was thankful to be free now. She had never brought herself to blame Dyon. How could she? He had been trying to do what was right. If anyone should be blamed, it should be those horrible Ragnor and Cavositas clans.

“Will she be okay?” Eli asked nervously.

“From what I see, she’s not hurt at all… I’m not sure what’s going on, but it’s likely the next time she wakes, she’ll feel better than she ever has.” Dyon reassured Eli.

Hearing this, Eli sighed in relief. He had examined Delia personally when he had finally made her way to her but couldn’t find anything wrong. Hearing it come from Dyon made him feel even better.

“Tell me, what exactly has happened so far?”

Eli quickly explained the tournament system and how they were in the second to last round now. He then explained what had happened to Delia, which caused Dyon’s brows to furrow.

“She just stopped mid-attack and coughed up blood?” Dyon didn’t like the sound of that. But, what made it worse was that when he asked Eli who Delia’s opponents had been, he said he didn’t know.

“They changed the rules this year,” Eli explained, “They said in the interest of fairness, no names would be called out.”

Suddenly, Dyon thought back to the Madeleine in disguise who had attacked them. ‘Could it be?…’

Dyon was liking this less and less. He hadn’t thought about it before, but the Madeleine that attacked didn’t have her normal hair or eye color… In fact, she hadn’t even worn glasses. Was that really how Madeleine looked now? If that was the case, there’s no way Ri would be able to recognize her…

And Madeleine. The last time Dyon spoke to her was before he knew Ri was a Kitsune. If they clash and Ri uses her Kitsune form, Madeleine wouldn’t be able to tell it was Ri either!

Dyon was beginning to panic. ‘Is this really what they want?…’ But suddenly, he had a thought that made him calm down. And eventually, a smirk replaced his apprehensive features.

“Let’s go.” Dyon smiled at the siblings, pointing toward the large stadium ahead.

“You’re bringing Delia too?” Eli asked worriedly.

“Of course, she has to make it through the final round too.” Dyon winked, not explaining any further as they made their way forward with Arios and Thadius following silently.

**

In the arena, there was only a single fight left raging.

Madeleine and Ri were so fast that they seemed to be gliding through the air, never once touching the ground for even a split second.

Ri’s black-gold tails whipped against Madeleine’s peacock feathers, causing domineering shockwaves of ice and fire to reverberate through the bustling arena.

‘Still not enough.’ Ri’s mind flashed as she stepped into a void, appearing to Madeleine’s back and striking her sword forward.

Madeleine reacted immediately, discreetly coating her palm with celestial intent and covering it with a wall of flames, parrying Ri’s sword to the side and stretching her other hand toward Ri’s throat.

Ri seemed unperturbed by this action, welcoming the palm with a black hole of void and rebounding it away from herself.

Madeleine glided backwards, wind will coating her feet as her qipao fluttered ever so gently.

“Tree of Life and Death.” Ri whispered these words, causing a tree of obsidian to appear in the air.

King Belmont gripped his chair at this sight, sending his gaze toward Big Red only to find his pair of eyes already looking toward him.

“Their daughter…”

King Belmont felt stupid. How had he not made the connection when he saw the tails? The problem was that ten tails didn’t match any legends the kitsune had. And, worst yet, Kawa had never mentioned a kitsune with black tails. King Belmont had assumed this girl was something else…

The last King Belmont had heard of King Acacia’s daughter, King Acacia himself had informed him that she was pretending to be his brother’s daughter. So, when King Belmont saw this Ri character registered as the Elvin Princess, he hadn’t made the connection between the two until now.

‘This… Both of them?… This boy…’ King Belmont didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. How many years had he and King Acacia been dear friends and how many years had they spoke of their children marrying? All of that was flushed away now.

The only reason King Acacia wasn’t as famous as King Belmont and Big Red was because he hadn’t been able to participate in their generation’s world tournament. Why? Because his manifestation was so powerful that it had taken centuries to manifest. The Elvin Kingdom, despite having unlimited quotas, never bothered to give him a chance until he proved they had no choice.

Ri, however, was oblivious to all of this. Her family’s ancient manifestation bloomed magnificently, sending roots of obsidian careening toward Madeleine’s delicate figure.

Waves of heat radiated from Madeleine as she watched the roots approach. But, they seemed to tear through even her violet flames!

‘Not enough!’ Madeleine sent her mind inward and toward the faint flicker of a faith seed she held. And then, a sight of unmatched glory was presented.

The cry of a phoenix rang through the arena, a domineering bird of violet flames appearing to engulf Madeleine as she charged through the obsidian roots.

Ri winced as she felt the manifestation tear apart under the relentless flames, but she also felt Madeleine greatly weaken as bits of her technique were absorbed.

Lionel watched this with a deadpan expression. But, the way he gripped the arm rests of his throne told a completely different story. ‘That has to be mine!’

The blinding light of the phoenix tore toward Ri.

It was at this moment that many realized that Ri and Madeleine were the only ones on the stage. In fact, their so-called competition had been blown away after their first few clashes. And yet, no one had said a single word. It seems those pulling strings wanted this continue until someone was hurt.  

Taking a deep breath, Ri’s meridians started spinning viciously. The energy in the air seemed to be water, and Ri’s body was a funnel accepting it all.

“Abyssal ray, Void’s wrath.”

Ri crouched to the ground, her tails pointing forward as a beam of dense blackness converged from each of them into a single entity.

The breath of the crowd seemed to be taken away.

One side held a dense darkness, seemingly ready to swallow everything whole.

The other side carried with it a blinding light.

Both were beasts, but each held a completely different atmosphere to them.

And then… They clashed…

A tempest of blacks and purples rolled through the air, causing an explosion of untold magnitude.

The arena itself seemed to disappear as the array that hovered it in the air completely shattered in on itself, unable to hold the weight of anything any longer.

The crowd could only watch, on the edge of their seats. Who won?

Ri and Madeleine stood facing each other. Each somehow just as flawless as they had began.

They looked each other in the eye silently for a long a time before each of their eyes shifted to the other’s collarbone.

In their last clash, the violent gales of wind had torn apart the stage the stood on. But, it had served another purpose.

Ri began to laugh, “You were using celestial will! No wonder!” 

Madeleine couldn’t speak, but that didn’t stop her from moving.

She reached Ri in an instant and didn’t hesitate to embrace her even to Ri’s surprise.

Ri’s eyes widened, but she eventually settled in, wrapping her arms around Madeleine’s trembling back. It was clear that Madeleine needed someone to hold on to right now. For her to have been so angry earlier, Ri knew something must have happened although she didn’t know what. To Ri, Patia-Neva had given Madeleine the same message she received.

The crowd watched in confusion. It wasn’t as though they minded two beauties hugging, but they didn’t understand how they had gone from fighting to suddenly being the best of friends.

For entertainment purposes, special arrays were always set in place to allow the crowd to hear the voices of those on the competition floor. So, Ri’s words only made them more confused.

Madeleine backed away, wiping the tears from her eyes. Her eyes once again focused on Ri’s collarbone as she stretched her small hand toward it to gently hold a simple silver necklace.

Trying her best to hold back her tears and knowing she didn’t have a lot of time before her master came to get her to bring her back, Madeleine pointed toward her throat, trying to get her meaning through to Ri.

In the shadows, red crystals exploded again and again, frustration coloring their face. They were so close! ‘I’m sorry little sister… I’ll find another way…’

“Big Sister Madeleine, what’s wrong? You can’t speak?”

Madeleine nodded vehemently. But, this news sent the crowd into an upheaval. What was going on? Why couldn’t she speak?

“Who did that to you?!” Ri’s anger built up again. Madeleine was a sister to her now, who dared hurt her in such a way?

“Madeleine.” A stern voice sounded as Ester appeared from seemingly thin air.

Hearing this voice, Ri immediately stepped in front of Madeleine protectively. But, this only caused a sneer to appear on Ester’s features as she crushed an array plate. Immediately, a concealment array was raised, hiding them from the crowd even as boos rained down.

Madeleine pulled Ri back, stepping forward with every intention of going with her master, but Ri didn’t budge. “No. Anything we do from now on, we do together.”

Ri’s words caused tears to stream down Madeleine’s face. In the back of her mind, Madeleine had been worried about whether Ri would accept her or not, because that was just the type of person Madeleine was. But, this told her all she needed to know.

Ester seemed to have lost her patience. Everything that was occurring was only making the Sapientia look worse and worse. She couldn’t stay here for any longer. If she hurt Ri, it could be passed off as an injury that happened during the match. She needed to go.

“Little girl. Move.” Ester raised her hand, intent on slapping but that was when the worst thing Ester could have imagined happened.

The array shattered and a large hand gripped onto Ester’s outstretched hand. The optics were terrible.

There stood a crying Madeleine, a frowning Ri, and an Ester that was clearly about to hit one or both of them.

“Who?!” Ester had never felt so powerless. A massive hulk of a man had grabbed her small wrist and dangled her in the air.

“You have a lot of guts to be hitting the successor’s wives. Who do you think you are?”

The words of the man sent the crowd into an uproar. Wives? Who was the successor?! And more importantly, why was Ester Sapientia hitting her own first in line genius and the genius of another clan? What was going on?!

Ri and Madeleine, however, were focused on something completely different.

A handsome young man with a warm smile had stepped out from behind the hulking figure. His hair was an arrangement of reds, golds and browns – but his eyes, a deep hazel-green, were so warm and inviting that one could only feel endless comfort and confidence in them.

Madeleine’s lips trembled, ‘Two years… Two years…’

In an instant, Dyon stood before his two wives, both of his hand placed on either one of their cheeks. He could care less about the reaction of the crowd, all he saw were the loves of his life.

But then, Dyon’s eyes burned with rage, his aurora blazing as he positioned his hand on Madeleine’s belly, causing her to blush profusely.

Boos began to rain down until Dyon’s hand pulled back and Madeleine began coughing up a dense black fog.

Ester could only watch in horror as the events unfolded. She had no idea how Dyon had gotten rid of the pill so easily. Was his array alchemy really at that level?

“Madeleine,” Dyon smiled, “Ri,” He tightly embraced them both. “I made you wait too long…”

“What is it that you think you’re doing exactly?” Elder Er appeared in the air, looking down on the events. It was clear he couldn’t allow this to go on.

Madeleine trembled under Dyon’s embrace as Ri too buried herself in his scent. “D-Dyon…. Delia… S-she…”

Dyon pulled back and kissed Madeleine’s forehead, “Look,” Dyon waved his hand, revealing Delia floating on an array, “She’s just fine.”

“Did you not hear what I said?” Elder Er’s anger was building until he suddenly realized just who he was looking at, “It’s you?” A robust laughter escaped Er’s lips, “It seems the coward has come!”

“Coward?” Dyon’s brows furrowed as he looked back toward Arios. Was this the problem he had to make them pay for? But, all he got was a nod toward a monitor.

Seeing an image of himself being shit on by farm animals, Dyon snorted in laughter before pulling Ri and Madeleine both to his sides, “Look at that! Don’t you think that gives me just the right amount of handsomeness? If I go around looking this good all the time, won’t everyone die of shame or jealousy?”

Ri rolled her eyes, flicking Dyon’s forehead as Madeleine giggled lightly.

The crowd didn’t know how to feel about Dyon’s reaction, was this how someone would usually react to such slander?

But, even worse, Dyon then proceeded to completely ignore the elder and the pictures entirely, instead grabbing Ri and Madeleine each by the hand and spinning them around. “Look at you two! Perfection!” Dyon grinned wildly, grabbing the waists of his wives and bringing them into another tight embrace.

King Belmont started laughing uproariously. No one could hear him because of the way their sky box was set up, unless he wanted them to that is, so he really unleashed. “How can I hate this kid? Look at him!”

Ri and Madeleine blushed. It wasn’t that they minded being hugged by Dyon. But, in front of so many people was a little much.

Finally, Dyon set them down, a serious look coloring his features as he looked toward the dangling Ester and then toward the Sapientia sky box.

“Is she still a master to you, Madeleine?”

Without a shred of hesitation, Madeleine shook her head. “No.”

Ester could only look downward, still being dangled up by her wrist.

“I don’t believe I was done with you, coward.” Elder Er sneered.

Dyon turned a gaze to the skies. “Do you think before you speak?”

“How dare you?!”

“I’m just asking a simple question. Did you have fun while I was away? Well, let me tell you a few things.

The battle between Connery shithead and me was scheduled for the end of today’s festivities, not the beginning. Am I not here now?”

“I – “

Dyon cut the elder off again, not allowing the crowd to react to him calling the head of the Sapientia a shithead. King Belmont though, found this hilarious, “Didn’t I tell you, Lionel? Connery is an idiot, Haha!”

Big Red spit out his drink at Dyon’s words, “This kid is bolder than me…”

“Secondly, even if I didn’t show up, so what? You and Connery likely have twenty thousand years of life between the two of you, if not more. I just turned sixteen. You’re calling a kid who ran away from a Celestial expert a coward? That makes sense to you?”

The crowd was at a loss for words. He was right… He was a sixteen year old kid…

“Don’t try and spin this. You cheated. You deserve whatever title we give you.”

“Oh, I cheated did I? I guess we’ll see. Right now, I don’t have the time to deal with you. The second to final round just concluded, no? There’s a break right now, you don’t need to be here.”

Dyon turned to Ester. “Did I not warn you two years ago about what would happen if you didn’t allow me to see Madeleine when I wanted to?”

Ester grit her teeth, “You can’t be with her! You don’t deserve her!”

“Tell me more about who is deserving of what. As we stand here, you’ve already lost her respect as a master. She doesn’t even look at you with a shred of admiration anymore. Who are you to tell us what we can do?”

“I – “ Ester was at a loss for words. Dyon hadn’t said anything wrong. How could she refute?

“It’s clear you need to be taught a lesson.” Elder Er stood in the air, rage building in his heart. When had he ever been so disrespected in his life? “You bring a weak saint here and think you can speak however you’d like? I’ll show you the difference between heaven and earth.”

Elder Er flashed forward, appearing mere feet away from Dyon who was still facing Ester’s dangling figure.

“Die.”

Dyon snorted. Although his body and energy cultivation couldn’t keep up, his soul was so powerful that even the movements of saints were slow to him. Seeing Elder Er’s movements, even though he was a peak saint, was child’s play.

So, knowing he couldn’t move to react in time, Dyon acted differently. In reality, Thadius was strong enough to clash with this elder. But, that wasn’t enough. Dyon wanted to make a statement. He wanted to make it clear to everyone here that he could really do the things he said.

Dyon’s ring flashed.

A massive sentinel appeared. Its armor had changed drastically. Blinding silvers edged with shining blacks made its armor. Its size was even more massive, stretching 20 meters into the air. It even had a sword by its side that had cracked out of its previous stone covering.

Elder Er stood not a single chance.

A massive hand slapped him into the ground, sending shock waves through the arena.

It seemed as though hours passed before sound settled and silence reigned in the stadium.

Dyon shrugged. “I just thought I should make it clear. There’s not a single person here that can make me do anything I don’t want to.”