Reaper of the Martial World

Book 7: Chapter 36: War God Tribulation (2)

The weapons slowly broke through the dark gold clouds as the ocean below roared. What was left of the Elvin Island had completely disappeared under the assault of tsunami walls several kilometers high. Had Dyon not been in the sky, he too would have been caught up in the destruction.

Nine pristine silhouettes, reaching the pinnacle of perfection appeared and hovered, vibrating with a blinding light.

The sword. The saber. The staff. The spear. The bow. The halberd. The glaive. The axe. And the knife.

Head Void trembled. “This tribulation… We’re doomed…”

It was only now that Head Void understood that Dyon’s tribulation wasn’t simply difficult because they were there. If that was the case, Dyon would have evoked a relatively benign tribulation like that Three-Nine-Lightning-Tribulation or maybe the Six-Nine-Lightning-Tribulation. Those two appeared the most frequently and were fitting for a normal saint tribulation.

The only difference this time would be the power of the lightning strikes. But, for a tribulation of this caliber to appear… It only meant a single thing: Dyon’s talent was overwhelming enough to force a tribulation that hadn’t appeared since ancient times to do so.

Head Void shakily turned toward Dyon. “Y-you’re an inheritor of the War God’s will and yet you still did this?! Do you have a death wish?!”

No matter how much Head Void yelled and berated Dyon, Dyon himself didn’t hear a single word. His body had entered a state of absolute tranquility. Completely oblivious of the plight of the kitsune and completely uncaring.

He realized one thing about this tribulation. The weapons themselves reached such a level of perfection that he couldn’t match. Normally, his weapon’s pagoda could replicate any weapon in existence, but no matter how hard he searched, he couldn’t find the perfect match for these weapons. Even the Dragon King seemed incapable of perfectly replicating them.

They carried an unmatched essence. All weapons were descended from these nine, and their Presence showed it.

In truth, Dyon was extremely lucky to receive this trial during his sainthood breakthrough. If he had received it during his attempt to enter the dao formation realm, his death would be all but certain. This is because these nine weapons would be allowed to enter the pinnacle of the mortal realm at that point…

Yet, this opportunity and blessing from the heavens was squandered by Dyon evoking the tribulation in the presence of a dao formation expert. What should have been a unique challenge, but otherworldly opportunity, had become a struggle of life and death.

However… Dyon remained calm.

‘It’s not that I can’t perfectly replicate the form of the weapons… It’s that their Presence is not allowing me to… If I meet any one of these weapons with a tangible weapon of my own, no matter what grade it is, it will bow down and shatter… I must forge the weapon I use for this trial with my own will…’

A deep rumbling erupted from Dyon’s chest as he retracted the Dragon King from its weapon form. Soon, four beautiful golden pairs of wings bloomed from his back before they were all instantly covered by a fearsome black armor. Head Void was so distracted by the coming danger that he didn’t even notice the familiarity of Dyon’s gold wings.

Dyon became covered head to toe in an intricately forged Dragon armor. Metallic feathers diligently coated every detail of his wings and his head became hidden in a dark, knight’s helmet with an opaque visor over his eyes.

The Dragon Scale grew explosively in size, hovering over Dyon’s left forearm like a magically connected shield.

His Presence was overwhelming, his momentum was unstoppable, and his confidence was unshakeable.

It was then that the ax, the weapon furthest to the right shook. Its double headed blade vibrated aggressively as the shadow of a man standing more than ten meters tall grasped its handle.

In the next moment, one man became nine before shooting forward as a speed only someone who had entered the dao formation realm could match.

The seven kitsune panicked, each pulling out a weapon of their own to meet the large man. It was only Head Void, the eighth kitsune, who didn’t bother. He knew the truth about this tribulation and any weapon would shatter on contact… His fellow clansmen were doomed..

“[Titan Emperor’s Will – Act One: Stage One].” Dyon’s voice boomed, his body increasing in height to perfectly match the on coming giant.

A pagoda of black and red manifested behind him, perfectly melding into the darkened sky as a blinding light followed the opening of its doors.

The aura of a peak transcendent grade ax flew into Dyon’s hand, its illusory and dark body shimmering with the fierce will to do battle.

Dyon’s divine sense bloomed to its peak. This Giant might be moving too fast for his body to react, but his soul picked up on its every movement.

What once was hundreds of meters suddenly became half of that, then a quarter. In an instant, the Giants were upon them.

Dyon’s soul clearly felt the battle ax arcing toward him with a strength of thousands of men. His mind became tranquil as the rhythmic shattering of the Dragon King’s seals rang in his ears.

His runic flames blazed, expanding the size of the dragon scale to several tens of meters toward the oncoming blade as he swung his own.

However… The beautiful counterattack he was imagining never occurred. The battle axe that had just been coming from the left suddenly disappeared and entered the Giants right hand… It was too late to dodge as the blade slashed into Dyon’s right side, shattering all of the bones on half of his body.

In that moment, nine were attacked and nine showers of blood rained downward as nine bodies slammed into the ocean below.

Not even a second later, the nine giants fused, becoming two…