Reaper of the Martial World

Book 7: Chapter 45: Lightning Willow (3)

Isla tried to restore Dyon’s hind brain as quickly as she could. But, despite her best attempts, it simply wasn’t fast enough.

Just when Dyon believed he’d probably die here and those in the distance turned away, unwilling to see the death of a genius, a treasure hidden deep within Dyon made its presence known.

The faint vision of a conversation Dyon had with his grand teacher resurfaced in his mind.

~

“Old man, what’s this mask? Is it special? Why am I so drawn to it?”

‘Your eye is actually quite good,’ The old man snorted. ‘Although the aura of this mask is only of the 4<super>th</super> supreme grade, that’s because it has some internal damage despite its outward appearance being so pristine.

‘It was once of the 10<super>th</super> supreme grade, its name is actually quite pretentious and long winded, but given its abilities, it’s quite deserving of it.

‘It’s called: [Swallowing Lightning Willow’s Dance].’

…

‘The reason it’s still here is because just like you, others saw it as a mere 4<super>th</super> grade supreme treasure. But, unlike you, they didn’t see how special it was. Your sensitivity to weapons has truly helped you out here.’

“I see…” Dyon’s brow furrowed. “How do I fix it?”

‘There’s nothing to fix, per se. The mask is just running low on quality lightning. In addition, the lightning it needs to raise its grade must be of the tribulation grade, and it also needs to be a dao tribulation. Until then, it will remain of the 4<super>th</super> supreme grade.’

…

‘There’s about a 10% boost to speed… It contains a lightning legacy… It makes me immune to normal lightning-based attacks and resistant to tribulation lightning… There’s a lightning shield that can act as a life saving measure… It has enough lightning remaining to block a single dao formation level attack…’

~

Sensing danger to its master’s life, [Swallowing Lightning Willow’s Dance] manifested out of Dyon’s will.

The clouds above trembled as they faint outline of a bird coated in lightning swooped from the skies.

The speed was so quick that time seemed to stop as it leisurely looked around. After noticing what it had been summoned to do, it flapped its wings gently, carrying its delicate body through the skies with the majesty of an Emperor.

The bird was truly beautiful. Its wing shone with a pristine light only matched by platinum. Each of its individual feathers were perfectly crafted, lined with immaculate patterns that seemed both illusory at times and crystalline at others.

Its head was as proud as a falcons, and its long feathered tails would put even a peacock to shame. Yet, its most shocking feature were the beautiful arcs of lightning that coated its body. Gorgeous blues, healthy greens, shining golds and even overbearing reds… Such a bird didn’t seem made for the mortal world, but its curse was just as devastating as its beauty.

Heaven’s Sparrow was a creature never spoken about in even the most ancient of texts. Despite being among the most beautiful beasts in existence along with the Crystal Dragons and Celestial Beasts, it was cursed with a speed so quick that no one could appreciate it.

Its body dwarfed even the skies themselves, yet all those who watched could perceive was a flash lightning.

The bird sighed to itself as it swooped down gently.

As it was about to save Dyon, it paused, a surprised look crossing its once aloof features.

Dyon looked quite majestic, even falling from the skies. He was covered in an unblemished black armor, further coated by beautiful white flames and the royal blue illusory patterns of his War God’s armor.

His wings spread from his back more than twenty meters, matching his ten-meter-tall body, all while he tightly gripped onto a knife more than meter in length.

However, this wasn’t what caught the Heaven Sparrow’s attention, after all, let alone twenty meters, even if Dyon’s wings spanned two hundred meters it would still dwarf them. No, what caught its attention were the six halos of black-gold hovering in a precise hexagonal pattern to his back. In particular, the faint streak of golden lightning grasped its attention firmly.

There was a reason those who chose to master lightning will were rare. It was incredibly difficult to pass tribulations after choosing such a path, and it, more often than not, resulted in death. The Heaven Sparrow was the only creature to embody the lightning element and not face severe repercussions, yet even it was cursed with terrifying speed.

To see a human apparently have a manifestation related to lightning, how could it not be surprised?

This Heaven Sparrow was special in many ways. The only friend it had ever had in light was the Swallowing Lightning Willow used to forge Dyon’s mask. One of them was cursed to be struck by lightning while the other was cursed to never be capable of interacting with anyone else.

After the Swallowing Lightning Willow reached the end of its ninth ten-million-year cycle, the Heaven Sparrow couldn’t bring itself to leave its friend, so it tethered its will to it, hoping to die peacefully and finally be put to rest. In fact, the legacy within the mask was related to this will it left behind.

It had thought the Weapon’s Master who forged this mask cruel… To expunge the will of its only friend to leave behind on its will? And to not allow its one wish of death as well?

Fate… It was an odd word and an even odder concept.

The Heaven’s Sparrow reached out its claw and shattered the existence of the hooded avatar.

All its life, the heavens had cursed it to live in misery. Since this was so, it would use the last of its strength and pay it back some before it fell into a deep sleep.

The sword in the sky shattered under the Heaven’s Sparrow’s gaze.

With a final look toward Dyon and his lightning halo, the Heaven’s Sparrow opened its majestic beak, causing the remaining motes of light from the sword and knife to surge toward it.

In the next moment, a streak of golden lightning hit Dyon’s chest as the sparrow sent a bright bird’s call into the skies, shattering the tribulation clouds above.

The Heaven Sparrow’s body dimmed considerably, its body shrinking from a span of several tens of kilometers to a mere foot in an instant before disappearing into Dyon.

Dyon’s mask dimmed, turning from a beautiful silver-gold to a solid black.

The dispersing dark gold clouds above rumbled with rage. But, the deed was done. How could saint tribulation clouds withstand the strike of dao tribulation lightning?…  

That said… Everyone who understood tribulations understood what the result of forcibly ending them was… Even as saint energy surged into Dyon’s body, danger was waiting on the horizon.

Whether Dyon would survive celestial tribulation remained to be seen… The rage of the heavens was bottled for now, but its explosion was coming…