Dyon stood silently across from Zabia. It wasn’t lost on him that this man had some sort of connection with Ulu, but Dyon wasn’t the type to transfer the sins of one to another. As far as he was concerned, Ulu had already paid dearly for her mistake and would be paying for the rest of her life. Whether the relationship between Ulu and Zabia was close or distant was irrelevant to him.
Zabia, however, wore an expression so dark that the atmosphere seemed to turn heavy in response.
Planet Nix was a planet that specialized in a host of rare wills and disciplines, each more troublesome and awe-inspiring than the next.
The Nuru God Clan was won born of darkness. Although failing to reach the pinnacle of a supreme law, the power of a wielder of darkness will could not be underestimated. The numerous paths birthed a versatile and dangerous will that left little weaknesses when mastered.
The Lebna God Clan was a clan of soul and spirit experts. Their seals were their trademark, capable of tying down even the most powerful of experts with a single thought. Their control over a battle field was near unmatched, and their manipulation was uncanny.
However, the clan that stood above them both was the Jafari Royal God Clan… Specialist in time will.
There was reason that time will wasn’t listed among the supreme laws. Not only was it a will just as difficult to learn as any supreme law, it also didn’t provide any of the benefits that should come with one. Legacies related to time will were too rare, and the use of time will was so constrained and limited by the laws of the universe that wielders of it would be seen as those wasting their time…
And yet, despite understanding this, the Jafari still continued to take pride in their speciality, still continued to pass down their wills… Still continued to hold on to this seemingly useless will.
Even Dyon only maintained his time will in order to make use of its fusion with his space will. It simply took too much stamina without enough pay off to wield time will… It wasn’t worth it…
However… Somehow, the Jafari continued to survive. An ancient and stubborn clan, yes. But, one that had lasted through the torrent of the ages nonetheless.
Few understood why and even fewer understood how. But what was clear was that underestimating a clan like this, would only lead to your downfall.
Nearly half a minute had passed since Dyon and Zabia stepped onto the arena floor, and yet neither one had moved.
The crowd didn’t dare to say a thing. If this was any other match, they would likely have begun to boo by now. But something seemed different about this match… There was a story they didn’t know about.
Ulu watched silently from the Planet Nix stronghold. Her expression was dead, and her eyes were hollow. A dense darkness filled the space as everyone’s mood seemed to sync in unison.
Her hand was placed lightly on her stomach as her chest beat slowly – almost too slowly – filled with endless regret. Why had she even done what she had done? Was it worth it in the end? Was the potential increase in power their clan might receive worth the life of her child?
Ulu couldn’t even delude herself into thinking that had she known she was pregnant, she wouldn’t… No, couldn’t have thought of doing those things to Ri.
She wanted to believe that maybe if she had had a little bit more motherly instinct… A little bit more sympathy and foresight… She would have been able to avoid all of this…
And yet now all she had was a baby in her belly that she had little understanding of… Was her child already dead?… Did it matter if their child was alive?… With her womb sealed, how would she ever give birth?…
Ulu was a part of the Lebna God Clan. By all rights, with her sensitivity toward sensory type techniques, she should have been the very first to realize that she was pregnant. But, it seemed that their elders were just that much more powerful. Until this morning, she hadn’t even known she was pregnant at all… And now she wished she never knew…
Maybe if it was just her womb that was sealed, Zabia might have been able to maintain enough rationality to put their plan first. But, how could he be expected to do so in this situation? Ulu hadn’t even attempted to calm her husband down. She hadn’t bothered to remind him that he was meant to seal and not Dyon. In fact, she hadn’t even been able to speak or think clearly for the entire day.
All she felt was regret… Endless regret.
Elder Den stood in the skies with a confused expression on his face. Now more than a minute had passed and yet neither warrior had made a move. He was quite clear on the fact that he had long ago said begin, but there was little he could do now.
Dyon continued to stand silently, his eyes trained on Zabia who had yet to look up from the ground this entire time. Judging by his demeanor, Dyon had long since come to understand that this man’s relationship with Ulu wasn’t so simple. In fact, it was so close that Dyon could see his soul blackening more with each passing second.
Zabia didn’t even seem to be using time will. The black fog wafting from him was without a doubt a darkness will.
Suddenly, the silence was broken.
“I don’t care what your reason were. I don’t care what you think my wife did or didn’t deserve. For the price of playing with the life of my child… Today is the day you die.”
Tens of dense black swords appeared in the air as an opaque domain of blackness surrounded Dyon and Zabia.
Dyon’s eyes flashed with a sudden realization. This technique was the same one used by Yazid against Vidar, and yet, it was on a completely other level. It even incorporated the darkness domain used against Thor!
The illusory and yet tangible sword blinked into and out of existence, but suddenly, as the domain thickened, they disappeared entirely.
Dyon had no time to think about what Zabia meant. And, quite frankly, he didn’t have the time to care. He immediately bloomed his humanoid manifestation into existence, boosting his soul to its full extent while awakening the Mathilde family technique.
His eyes sharpened, piercing through the darkness as the swords once again appeared within his field of view.
Dyon had been very much impressed by this technique. It combined the use of time will and space will in a unique way, making use of their ability to distort reality in the perfect way. The only issue he had seen with the technique was the stamina needed. To use time will as a simple illusory technique buffer was like the waste of all wastes.
However, that was only what Dyon had thought before he saw the final attack that hit Vidar before he was forced to activate his faith seed’s constitution.
At that time, Vidar had been standing completely still with his nerves prepared to react at any moment, and yet, in an instant, tens of swords wounds appeared on his body without any warning. There was no sword qi. There was no spatial fluctuation. In fact, the illusory and ethereal swords hadn’t been anywhere near him.
Dyon had thought of two possible explanations for this.
The first was the dimension and multi-plane path of spatial will.
Dyon dodged to side, swinging his sword in its usual calculated angle as the soft clanging of metal meeting metal reverberated through the dark domain.
This multi-plane path of spatial will was something that Dyon had only thought of in theory before he found notes on it within the celestial deer sect’s library. It was a path capable of hiding things in space. However, with enough mastery, it would become to separate the image of something from its effects on the laws in whatever space you wanted.
Essentially, you could hide the body of a sword within a different plane, effectively hiding it from sight and perception. But, you could keep its sharpness within this plane. Thus meaning that you could make you attacks nearly undetectable.
This was on a completely different level than simple invisibility because while invisibility hid you from only one sense, this path hid you from all of them!
Dyon’s ear twitched in agitation as his head dodged to the side. He hadn’t heard anything, but the uncomfortable feeling of blood dripping from his ears had alerted him to something even his eye technique had missed!
‘Dammit…’
Dyon could no longer see Zabia, and although he had the means to tear this darkness domain apart, he didn’t want to play all of his cards all at once. He wanted to see just what Zabia wanted to do first.
Dyon knew a thing or two about being as angry as Zabia was now. Just because he didn’t care for Zabia’s anger, didn’t mean he didn’t understand it.
A man who had delved so far into his emotions wouldn’t be content with killing his prey from afar. No. Zabia wanted to feel Dyon’s flesh crumble beneath his palms, he wanted to see Dyon cry out in agony from as close as possible, he wanted to tear Dyon’s soul out himself. This was nothing more than foreplay. Zabia was coming.
The crowd could only watch as the faint echoes of blades clashing against blades sounded. All they could see was a dense black fog, and yet the anticipation they felt hadn’t died down not one bit.
It wasn’t long before Ri, too, understood just what Zabia meant. Unlike Dyon, she didn’t have to focus on a battle. So, when she heard Zabia mention a child, it was suffice to say that she was conflicted. She didn’t know how to feel…
Yes, she absolutely hated Ulu down to her very core. Had Dyon not been strong enough to save her, wouldn’t they be slaves right now? Would Ulu feel bad about Ri no longer being able to have children? Would this Zabia character even give them a second look? And yet, she was supposed to feel pity?
Ri clenched her fists so tightly that blood began to soak her palms. But, that was when a soft hand clasped over hers and she looked over to find Madeleine smiling gently.
“What would you do?…” Ri asked softly.
Madeleine at Ri for a good long while before shifting her gaze to the dome of darkness in the distance… A dome where their husband was without a doubt fighting for his life.
“Let’s trust him with the answer.” She finally responded. “Because I think you’ve already made up your mind.” Madeleine smiled, gently circulating her celestial will to ease the pain in Ri’s palm.
A half laughing sob escaped Ri’s lips. She really had already made a decision. How could she allow a child to pay for the sins of their parents? It wasn’t fair. But, at the same time, what if her and Dyon had been with child at the time too?
In the end, Ri could really only leave the answer to Dyon… Because there just didn’t seem to be a right one…
Bloody wounds continued to accumulate across Dyon’s body. His mind was racing as he continued to calculate again and again to make his sword swings more precise.
He had come to the conclusion that this likely wasn’t the multi-plane path… Or, that it wasn’t it alone. The reason being was simple. Dyon’s space will was on a higher level than Zabia’s, having already reached the 9th will level. There shouldn’t have been anything Zabia could hide in space that Dyon couldn’t detect.
Regardless of whether Dyon used his spatial will to its peak level every time or not was irrelevant. The fact that his comprehension of space had reached that level meant that there was nothing Zabia should have been able to get past him. And yet, his wounds continued to grow.
They were shallow, and Dyon mostly dodged fatal wounds, but that still told him that there was more to this.
However… The second possibility that Dyon had thought of was much too frightening… If the Jafaris were really capable of such a thing, they were too heaven defying!
If such a thing was possible, all thoughts of time will not being a supreme law would be completely upturned.
He wasn’t willing to conclude such a thing so easily.
Unbeknownst to Dyon, Zabia was slowly edging toward him. He had long since understood that Dyon had senses that were far from the norm, or else he wouldn’t have been able to deal with the disparity in speed between him and Saru. In addition, his grandmother in law and matriarch of the Lebna God Clan had already warned him that Dyon’s soul level was ridiculously high.
Knowing this, he had decided to be cautious. Despite his anger reaching a fever pitch, Zabia had spent all day tempering it, even going as far as to lose battles that were well within his ability to win just for the sake of hiding his power.
This Dyon character had surpassed his limits time and time again. And, Zabia had little doubt that Dyon had yet to use his full power.
Maybe, if Zabia knew just how much Dyon had hidden himself, he would have been even more cautious.
Blades began to appear from nothingness before Dyon, slicing passed his defenses and digging into his once unblemished skin. He already brought his Demon Emperor’s Will to the peak of the first act, and yet he still found his reaction time to be too slow.
Suddenly, a palm slammed into Dyon’s back, causing his eyes to widen with shock. ‘How did he get so close!?’
Dyon tumbled forward, his back searing with pain. Suddenly, his Demon Emperor’s Will fell from the third stage to the second. And then from the second to the first. And then it stopped rotating entirely!
It felt as though Dyon’s body was as fragile as when he first stepped into martial world.
He could feel the seal trying to worm its way toward his soul cultivation, but it shattered entirely. However, his energy cultivation didn’t have the same luck – being sealed completely.
‘What…’ Dyon’s eyes flashed with seriousness. But, before he could do anything, he felt a sharp sword sliced into his left arm.
Dyon had tried to dodge with his usual minimal movement, but he suddenly realized that his speed was nowhere near where it had been. ‘Shit’.
Blood ran profusely down Dyon’s arm as it hung limply to his side. He immediately diverted his soul power from observation to healing, but that was the instant danger flashed through his senses again.
He leaped backwards, furiously creating amplification arrays at his feet to make up for his lost speed.
Dyon’s right arm flashed forward, swinging three times in quick succession.
The dings of metal on metal rang outwards even as even more cuts appeared on Dyon’s back, cutting much deeper with the loss of his body’s toughness.
It didn’t take long for Dyon to understand what had happened. ‘He cheated!’
How could someone Dyon’s age create a seal capable of hindering his energy and body cultivation? If his soul cultivation hadn’t been so domineering, wouldn’t he be completely helpless right now?!
There was no doubt in Dyon’s mind that this was an external aid brought in by Zabia. It’s no wonder he had used the darkness domain even knowing that it was useless against Dyon. It wasn’t for the sake of Dyon, but so that no one could see what was going on!
Anger built up in Dyon’s chest. He didn’t care if this Zabia wanted to get revenge for his wife, but what he did care about were those who used despicable means even when they were clearly in the wrong.
Suddenly, a laugh so arrogant and pompous it made even noble men shiver rang outwards from Dyon.
His soul power raged, breaking through from the middle 7th stage to the peak 7th stage in one step.
All the while, this Zabia was using his darkness will to hide his deeds from the crowd, while using another technique entirely to hide from Dyon. It wasn’t a space technique. No. It was a time technique. One that would have been enough to frighten anyone in existence if used by the proper expert. But right now, Dyon could hardly care.
The Tree of Life and Death ripped through space, tearing the darkness domain apart in with a single sweep.
Zabia’s figure was revealed in an instant, but seeing that Dyon only had an injured arm, he frowned. He had no idea how Dyon had dodged with all of his cultivation sealed… Unless…
‘His soul isn’t sealed!’
“I don’t feel like wasting my words on you.” Dyon said through a sneer so fierce that it was almost as though he treated Zabia as a shit stain beneath his feet. “You think you’ve known despair? I’ll show you true despair.”
A wild aura raged from Dyon, permeating such dense darkness that the smell of death and bloody roses filled the arena.
Dyon’s humanoid manifestation roared into the skies, causing the protector elders to once again have to take action, shielding the audience from the permeating music intent laced with Dyon’s new comprehension of the vibrational path.
Tattoos of grey and black danced across Dyon’s skin, greying his healthy caramel to a pale white.
The seal within Dyon eroded to nothing, being eaten away by death qi in an instant. It stood not a single chance.
Just as quickly, Dyon’s body and energy cultivation raged to their peak, breaking him through to the third stage of his Demon Emperor’s Will.
The crowd trembled as even the God and Royal God Clan heads stood to their feet and the hearts of the top ten rankers seized.
Dyon’s sword morphed in his right hand, growing steadily into a ten-foot-tall rod. In the next moment, a blade curved from its edge, glistening in an eerie darkness as it loomed over Dyon’s figure.
The weapon’s pagoda in the skies trembled in space, leaking a dense fog that touched down to the arena, quaking the stadium in its entirety.
A supreme law that hadn’t made an appearance in the martial world since the death of the phoenixes had finally made its way back.
Dyon’s scythe swept across his body, sending a tempest of winds raging through the air and shattering the ground beneath his feet.
“I’ll show you death.”