Reaper of the Martial World

Book 8: Chapter 195: Upper (3)

Dyon looked down from Queen’s back toward the eleven kneeling elders. As for the chief, he was gasping for breath, pinned down by two spears that impaled his body.

The cobras guarded him silently, their tusks dripping with violet venom. Even without this, their auras were so imposing that even the chief didn’t dare to move, let alone the elder.

‘Just what are these beasts…’

“Who are you?” The chieftain growled.

Though it was quite commendable that he could put up such a front while being pinned to the ground in such a way, Dyon didn’t have much patience for it.

“Speak out of turn again and you’ll find your head separated from your neck.” Dyon said plainly.

“Who –?!”

His words never got the chance to finish.

Queen’s claw shot forward, sending a crescent moon of light type qi sizzling through the air. In an instant, the mighty chief’s head was cut from his neck

Many things had changed during the passing weeks, one of the most important being that Ace was no longer the strongest of the bronzed. Instead, that role had been firmly snatched by his sister, Queen.

After Dyon began feeding the bronzed light type qi and the cobras bold type qi, drastic changes began occurring. Namely, he noticed that there was a large difference between the two genders in qi control and manipulation.

Dyon observed long ago that female beasts within the Ancient Battlefield had more complex blood vessel pathways. He concluded that these additional pathways were what these females used during pregnancy to compress and create ‘nurturing piles.’ However, what Dyon didn’t expect was that these additional pathways had the secondary benefit of increasing the qi control of female beasts.

Both the female bronzed and cobra of Dyon’s small squad of ten beasts had shot past their male counterparts. Though the males had increased their strength as well, only the females had the ability to manipulate their newfound qi freely.

In a Region like this which didn’t have any experts capable of using qi, Dyon’s two female beasts were undefeatable existences. He suddenly realized why it was that female beasts were rarer… They were simply a level above their male counterparts and thus worth more.

As for the death of the chieftain, Dyon didn’t grieve very much over it. Though he was powerful, it wasn’t by an obscene amount. He didn’t have the ability to fight his beasts one on one, for example. His life was worth much more as a warning.

With an army this large, Dyon couldn’t hope to seal every single one of them. The strain on his soul was already too much to begin with. In fact, soul contracts were invented to avoid this heavy taxation of the soul.  

Though he would still control the key and important figured personally, the rest he had to rule by fear.

Over time, they would come to understand that Dyon wasn’t a murder crazed ruler. They’d realize that he only killed those who broke past his bottom line. But, for now, it worked just fine if they believed he was tyrannical.

Still, Dyon took precautions. He had begun to hide his face in preparation for the future.

“This Inferior Upper Tribe will now be under my command. There’s no need to guess, I’ve already conquered your subordinate Clans…”

Dyon quickly organized the upper tribe as he saw fit, building his seventh fortress.

He divided their population into his army, not allowing them to gather together in one place. Finally, he began to gather more precise information. As Dyon expected, only by learning from an upper tribe would he truly gain an understanding of the structure of the Ancient Battlefield.

The Ancient Battlefield was incredibly large, at least many times larger than any one of the celestial floors. This could only be expected if it was meant to hold all qualified failed Clans from history.

According to Dyon’s new understanding, the smallest denomination of land within the Ancient Battlefield was known as a Region. They were usually divided by natural borders humans wouldn’t cross easily. These borders could be anything from strong beast territories, to tall mountains, and even the dangerous water sources.

Depending on a Regions size, it could be ruled by any number of Upper Tribes. This one in particular was overseen by six Inferior Upper Tribes, two Medial Upper Tribes, and one Superior Upper Tribe.

From the information the elders gave Dyon, it was rare for their Region to be attacked due to their trees. It was simply too difficult to raise large scale armies in such a place. One would fall to guerilla warfare far too easily in this sort of space. Had they been prepared for Dyon’s attack, things wouldn’t have gone so smoothly even if he had the superior numbers and equipment.

However, Dyon didn’t need them to tell him this.

“You’ll continue to act as normal. Send your tributes on time and act normally. Within a month, we will move again, so be prepared.”

With those words, Dyon left with his squadron of beasts, leaving six empty fortresses and a seventh filled to capacity.

‘I should conquer this Region within 2 years. I can’t waste anymore time here, or else Eli’s life…’ Dyon’s gaze sharpened. That unknown event Jade warned him about that would shake the Sprite Alliance was rapidly approaching. Dyon couldn’t ignore it, especially if his future self speculated that it was related to the reason why he never found Eli.

But first, he had to strengthen his squad of beasts, or else laying claim to this Region would become too difficult.