Reaper of the Martial World

Book 9: Chapter 43: Confidence (1)

Battles in the depths of space had a level of planning and forethought necessary that battles on land couldn’t compare to. One might think that the atmosphere itself would lend to more disorganized and chaotic battles, but while that might be true, that didn’t also lend to the idea that scheming and tactics didn’t matter.

The reason was simple. In the depths of space, there was no energy to pull from.

Dyon knew from the very beginning that he was at a severe disadvantage. Though saints reached the minimum threshold necessary to survive without an atmosphere to sustain them, it was exactly that, a minimum threshold.

However, this disadvantage also gave Dyon an advantage: he knew that the moment his enemies realized he was using their own people against them, they would definitely choose to come out and meet him precisely because of this disadvantage.

The Raven Clan believed that they were getting out in front of the problem and stifling Dyon, when the reality was that they were doing exactly what Dyon wanted.

How could Dyon, after so many months of compiling information, not know the importance Pjisel held to the southern cluster? How then would he allow a mere celestial to escape under his nose?

Not only did Dyon know of Pjisel’s existence, his depth of information went so far as detailing the strain between him and his father.

Dyon knew that if he allowed Pjisel to escape, he would go to warn those of Raven City. Obviously, when Pjisel did so, he would mention the kind of enemy they were dealing with. By doing so, the Raven Clan, who had already been primed after Dyon conquered their Supreme Universe to believe there was a traitor amongst them, fell head long into Dyon’s trap.

Believing that they had an understanding of the enemy, the Raven Clan would know that the vast majority of Dyon’s army were saints. And because they saw that Pjisel escaped, they would think that Dyon didn’t have the ability to circumvent the protections on their teleportation formations, although he obviously did.

As a result, they would think that Dyon would have no choice but to cross their universe by foot and suffer the disadvantage of having several weak Saints under his wings, all the while, being completely in the dark about the fact Dyon wanted them to think this way.

They had not a single clue that they were walking into a battlefield Dyon had personally prepared. Their arrogance and overly confident self belief led them to giving up the greatest advantage they had: an at home playing field.

**

It wasn’t long before had streaked across the universe. Though they could have teleported to the southern cluster through various other means, moving billions of warriors like this was far too expensive. It had to be said that Dyon was spoiled by having planet grade arrays powered by origin crystals.

They didn’t believe they needed to rush. With a depth of 2 billion warriors strong, they took their time, not allowing their fighters to wear themselves thin.

By the time they made it to the edge of the southern cluster, having cross through the center cluster, they found that Pjisel hadn’t lied. There were endless seas of beasts they recognized all too well. All of these various races of middling earth grade beasts.

Patriarch Raven, though, couldn’t help but frown. He had expected to see the shameless smirks of the other Clan Patriarchs, but no matter whether he swept forward with his eyes or his divine sense, he couldn’t find any of them.

“Will you shameless bastards continue to hide?!”

Patriarch Raven’s voice boomed. Grand Elder Raven had seemingly disappeared, allowing his son to take charge. Maybe he felt that his action was necessary, or maybe he was adjusting his state, believing that he would soon have to fight the other four Grand Elders alone.

Though the void of space didn’t allow sounds to travel under normal circumstances, cultivators were anything but normal. With the use of their qi, projecting their voices was an easy task.

When Patriarch Raven swept his gaze once more, his confusion only deepened. Not only did he not sense a single realm about the Pseudo-Dao Realm, the opposing army didn’t seem relaxed at all, in fact, they seemed incredibly nervous and fidgety. Though there were some among them who held a dignified air, the vast majority were sorry excuses for warriors.

Suddenly, a shocking thought crossed the Patriarch’s mind. Could it be that they were here against their will? If that was the case, it would be impossible to say that it was the other four Clans betrayed them, no?

A bad premonition overwhelmed the Patriarch. If this wasn’t due to betrayal, how could this have happened? Just what occurred after Supreme Universe was taken?!

Because he believed with all his heart that he was betrayed, Patriarch Raven hadn’t sent a message to the other four Clans for support. In addition, he didn’t inform the Ragnors either, worried that they might take advantage of the situation to claim more universes for themselves. But could that inaction have been a mistake?

‘No… No.’ The hook-nosed Patriarch shook his head. ‘Even if I was wrong about this conspiracy, the lineup here is too weak. We have 2 billion warriors to their 1.5 billion. We have over 500 million celestials to their mere 150 million. We have over 10 000 Pseudo Dao experts while they have … 1? What kind of joke is this?’

The Patriarch found each passing thought more ridiculous than the last. He hadn’t even gotten to the fact that they had 5 Dao Experts while the enemies had zero. He couldn’t help but clutch his stomach in laughter.

“Charge! Put these sorry creatures out of their own misery!”