Blinding light washed over the stadium, layered with a pressure that caused the Ragnors and their allies to freeze.
It was impossible for those of lower cultivation to measure the power of those above them, but that didn’t mean those people could tell the obvious differences… And something was telling them that this person was much stronger than the Loki they so feared.
In an instant, the rampaging red crystals began to shriek in agony. It was only at that point that a horrible realizing hit many who witnessed this… The essence of the red crystals trapped their families and friends within!
Tears of rage poured, filling the battlefield with a wretched atmosphere that was only made worse by the booming thunder clouds and heavily falling rain. Even to now, the effects of King Acacia cooling the atmosphere had not rescinded…
Although Nora was hit with a wave of guilt, there was nothing she could do. Stopping now would give the red crystals time to adjust and adapt, and, even if she did stop, there was no guarantee that their family and friends could be saved. Even with all of her and her husband’s knowledge, they had no ways among themselves to solve this situation in any other way.
By this point, Patia-Neva had calmed, sighing a breath of relief that he wouldn’t have to fight this battle alone. However, when he saw the little white fox that lay on Nora’s shoulder, a wave of pain couldn’t help but overwhelm him.
How could he not recognize Kawa? For her to be in her beast form, and only have a single tail at that, Patia-Neva could only imagine the hardships she had suffered. Deep inside, he still loved Kawa and although he would never again act on those feelings, he couldn’t help but hurt seeing her in this state.
Patia-Neva sighed before sending a look of appreciation toward Nora and morphing his wall of ice into a zone of quarantine.
The massive wall curved in on itself, pushing the weakening red crystals toward the Ragnors before curling.
The Ragnors panicked, unwilling to be trapped with their own creations. They ran and stumbled, doing everything in their power to escape Patia-Neva’s reaches.
In the end, the only escaped because Patia-Neva allowed it. After all, as a celestial, how could he not deal with a few thousand essence gatherers and saints?
With their source of power being cut off, the red crystals had indeed forgotten who their masters were, springing toward the fleeing Ragnors to try and survive, shrieking in pain all the while. However, that was when Patia-Neva’s actions showed their true benefit.
The ends of the wall completed a circle, slamming into each other’s ends and crushing the red crystal zombie-like creatures that tried to escape.
Because of their weakened state, even slightly touching the purity path ice that Patia-Neva formed made them shrink back in anger, unwilling to deal with the searing pain.
The walls continued to shrink, closing in, closer and closer, until a radius of a kilometer became 500 meters… then 400… then 300…
Cries and pleas of mercy almost seemed human, losing their blood thirsty edge, but Nora and Patia-Neva could only continue, burying their feelings of pity deep within.
King Belmont stood silently, watching all of this unfold. Maybe saying that he had the most emotional investment in the situation would be going too far, but this was his kingdom. He felt a level of culpability for everything that had happened… In fact, he blamed himself for everything.
He was incompetent, and overly confident. And in the end, he had allowed the enemy who made likely made the worst and the worst possible, come from his very self.
How long had he known the nature of his own son? And yet, he ignored it, seeing his talent as something irreplaceable and naively believing that as his father, he could change everything.
But now, it was likely that a true genius was dead. He couldn’t even bring himself to mention Dyon to his master and martial father… The guilt he felt was weighing much too heavily.
All this time, King Belmont wanted to believe that everyone’s attentions were focused on finding the lost Epistemic Tower, but, it turned out that their goal all along was the Belmont Holy Land, to unleash a secret that the Belmonts were meant to have held onto with their very lives.
How could King Belmont not know by now that Elder Daiyu and Patriarch Ragnor had taken Dyon to the depth of the Belmont Holy Land? How could he not know that the only way to open those lands were with the fire and ice flames that were exclusive to his family? How could he not know that without his son’s involvement, none of this would have happened so easily for the enemy?!
And now he had to watch the people he was supposedly meant to protect wither away and cry out in agony…
Everyone in their alliance had sacrificed so much. His master and her husband had not seen their child since their birth. Patia-Neva lost his entire clan seeking the power to help. Kawa and Edrym hadn’t hesitated to go on mission after mission, even after Kawa was saved, knowing fully well with every mission they accepted, it would be another length of time away from their daughter…
All he had to do was protect this planet! That was it! He didn’t make any sacrifices. He got to see his family whenever he wanted. He got to raise his children and he was treated like a king every day. Even Big Red had lost people precious to him. And what had King Belmont done?
Absolutely nothing.
And in the end, it wasn’t even him who fixed it all either…
In the aftermath, the Ragnors and Cavositas God Clans, and their affiliates, were tied down for the time being. It would be up to King Belmont to decide what should be done with them, but at this point, everyone understood that this affair was far from over.
The true culprits of this war were currently in the Belmont Holy Land, which was also shrouded by a top tier formation. Although Lionel had used a secret passage way to enter, that was nothing but an act put on by him to fool Ri, or attempt to fool Ri, not knowing that she had already seen through his act.
As a member of the traitor’s alliance, Lionel had long been given means to breach the formation, however, those who wanted to enter now weren’t so lucky.
Amell glanced at his wife as they stood in the air. He couldn’t help but frown when he saw her serious expression. For a formation to make someone as outstanding as his wife react like this, it was definitely no joke.
After the grandmaster level, array alchemy itself experiences a watershed wherein one becomes a true expert. Of course, the grandmaster level requires a saint level soul, and although it is a difficult level to reach, it isn’t looked to with as much respect as upper levels. This is of course because the soul itself also reaches a watershed after surpassing sainthood.
When one crosses into the threshold of a celestial soul, the soul itself become capable of existing without the body. This isn’t only due to the power now available to the soul, but because of the connection it now receives from the universe. The soul becomes blessed, thus being capable of relying on the universe itself to survive without utilizing the body as a proxy. This also acts as a first step toward truly becoming a transcendent being. This is also why the best universes and quadrants often see anyone under the celestial level as juniors, whereas true cultivation begins after stepping onto that path.
This is analogous with array alchemy as well. After the grandmaster level, one becomes truly acknowledge by the Guild Headquarters, and although they have long since stopped recognizing array alchemy as a single discipline, it warmly welcomes those who excel in formation or alchemy or weapon smithing, in addition to a whole host of array alchemy related professions.
After first stepping past the grandmaster level, one steps into the Comet ranks of array alchemy. This is split into 6 levels and corresponds with the first half of celestial cultivation, stages 1 through 6. Although the soul will continue to simply be stage 9 and stage 10, depending on the progression within those stages, they can correspond with energy cultivation rankings between celestial stage 1 and 6.
The next step is the Moon ranks. This is also split into 6 levels and corresponds with the second half of celestial cultivation, stages 7 through 12.
This means that one must have a stage 9 soul to draw comet rank arrays and have a stage 10 soul to draw moon rank arrays. The same is true of creating weapons. Transcendent weapons are named as such because they are named after transcendent celestial bodies. A transcendent weapon can be either of comet rank 1 through 6, or moon rank 1 through 6, depending on its quality.
The third step after, corresponding with a rank 11 soul, is the planet ranks. The fourth step after that would be the star ranks corresponding with a rank 12 soul.
The number of planet rank specialists number in the few thousands, despite the trillions of living beings there are. As for star rank specialists? Maybe only a handful exist in this plane, because to have a soul that powerful likely means you’ve already transcended!
All of this said, Nora’s current problem wasn’t her soul strength. As a dao formation expert who specialized in soul techniques, her soul had long since caught up with her cultivation, steadying itself at the lower 11th stage. The problem was that, unlike Dyon, array alchemy expertise usually lagged far behind soul strength…
The fact that Dyon could almost instantly climb to an array alchemy understanding that matched his new soul strength was a feat that would cause billions of array alchemy fanatics to go crazy with jealously. It simply wasn’t normal.
At the moment, despite her innate aurora and a stage 11 soul, Nora could only don the robes of a rank 5 Comet formation expert. Her alchemy was slightly better, being at the rank 2 moon alchemy expert level, but that wasn’t helpful here… Not when the formation before her was a rank 6 comet formation.
Even if it was a rank 5 comet formation, it would have already taken Nora some time to break. But, now that it was above her station, the time increased exponentially.
“Do you think it would be more efficient to break it forcefully?” Amell asked. Since it was a barrier formation, brute strength might work better.
Nora shook her head as her eyes shone gold. If one paid attention, you could see the faint darkness of a vast universe behind her pupils as 5 comets danced around in beautiful patterns.
“With this type of illusory formation, unless you have the ability to obliterate it with a single strike, it would divert your power to strengthen itself.” Nora explained.
Although this formation was a mere rank 6 comet formation, capable of being built by a celestial level soul, the reality wasn’t so simple. Just because a formation was created by a certain level soul, didn’t mean that level of energy cultivation could obliterate it. There were many other involved variables. For example, the length of time taken to create the formation, the number of layers it had, and also what power sources it utilized to sustain itself.
Although Amell and Nora were dao formation experts, this formation had far too many layers and time invested to be taken out so simply. As such, Amell could only sigh, in wait. In his mind, images of a child left behind ravaged his memories.
King Belmont and Big Red could only stand by and wait. Although King Belmont had tried to get Big Red to go and rest, as he was heavily injured, he insisted that it was his job as the king’s guardian to stay by his side. But, this only made King Belmont feel even more guilt.
However, this group of elders were right to hurry. Although the situation within had reached a stalemate with the demon generals steadily gaining an advantage despite the numbers difference, no one knew how long they could last in such conditions…
Within the barrier, oblivious to the help that was trying to reach them, Madeleine and Ri sweated profusely as they held their delicate hands in each other’s palms.
With Ri’s focused creation of weapon’s hell arrays, and Madeleine’s supplying of soul cultivation, they were soon reaching their limits.
“It’s okay to rest,” A shy and gentle voice came from behind the two of them, clearly coming from Kaeda, “River and Ronica can handle the front line for a while. Plus, there are a few of us here that haven’t switched in with them yet, we have plenty of fresh legs. Including Thatch now that they’re gone.” Kaeda smiled sweetly, diverting her soul strength into new master’s wives.
Under the protection of numerous Daiyu, Chenglei’s brow furrowed as he scanned the situation. The Daiyu after existing for so long of course had trump cards of their own, but to use it now? And only against 3000 experts? Wasn’t that too much of a joke?
The mighty Daiyu being reduced to this state by an army led by two teenage girls…
**
Dyon almost comedically walked out of the Belmont Holy Land – that had been reduced to rubble – with a square metal sheet being held up by his hand.
‘If only I didn’t leave my battle changpao in the supreme level ring…’ Dyon sighed. But, it wasn’t as though he was a woman, he didn’t care about walking around naked at all.
These were only the trivial things on Dyon’s mind, more than anything else, he was worried. Although he told his wives not to do anything reckless, how could he not know that Ri never had any intention of listening to him? That aside, he knew very well that Clara was likely feeling alone right now, and he wasn’t there in her time of need.. again… He couldn’t help but feel another pang of guilt.
‘I can’t replace your dad, but I can try my best to make sure you never suffer again…’
Dyon crossed the boundary, stepping into the caved catacombs. Because his senses were significantly dulled, he couldn’t feel the same spatial fluctuations he had when he walked here, but he knew they were there. Now more than ever, he was highly susceptible to being lost.
The Belmont catacombs ran underground through the whole Earth, the only exception being beneath the mortal realm. That portion of the earth had no energy, so there was no need for these tunnels.
Because of the accumulated and still growing gama energy, many legacy worlds had accumulated here. This was meant to be the prize to the top ten, but the world tournament was the furthest things from everyone’s mind right now.
“Can you help me with this?” Dyon asked, hoping the Dragon King would be able to lead the way.
Without a word, the Dragon King began to guide Dyon through to the exits.
**
Within the catacombs, another group of people were making their way deeper. One was an elder, while the other two were two much younger and still tightly bound.
“Tell me the whole story.” The summons ancestor looked down at Lionel, unwilling to release him without fully understanding what he had just done.
Lionel, having long since prepared for this, started to explain various things. They didn’t need to be true, nor did they have to be unfalsifiable, they just needed to be believable for this moment, until the ancestor disappeared.
Every ancestor had a limit, but that limit was usually decided by how much energy they spent. Because of their heaven defying means, ancestors who were awakened could not replenish themselves and needed months of waiting time between summons if they were lucky enough to have more than a single summon.
It was impossible for the energy requirement to be avoided because every moment an ancestor spent in a plane they didn’t belong required massive amounts of energy in and of itself. If Lionel’s calculations were correct, this ancestor would last half an hour more at the most. This was why Lionel had purposefully asked to be teleported back into the catacombs instead of out of it.
Not only were the catacombs the safest place because of their spatial fluctuations, it also placed strain on an ancestor remaining in this plane, increasing the energy requirements.
The ancestor nodded as Lionel continued to explain, “So it’s the world tournament… I was always against using our Belmont Holy Lands as a reward for such a thing. The rewards of the other planet couldn’t hope to match us back then, and likely can’t now either. We’re giving up far more when we’ve sacrificed more than enough.
“But, those old fogies thought that it was be a great show of power that we were so confident and magnanimous enough to share such treasures.”
The ancestor shook his head, lamenting over the old times. He had always disliked when martial artists placed appearances over what was truly important. And now it had come to bite them back, leaving him to, ironically, be the one to have to clean up the mess.
Suddenly, the ancestor’s senses sharpened as his expression grew serious. He felt a dangerous aura approaching, one filled with dense hatred and killing intent.
A cold sweat permeated through his back. He was fully aware that there was only one path, despite the complex tunnel system, from the entrance to the heart of the Belmont Holy Land… And the aura he felt now, was definitely coming from that direction. When the ancestor thought of just how fear inspiring the entity who was chained there was, his mind couldn’t help but jump to the worst conclusion.
However, in the next instant, he was given the surprise of a lifetime.
Out from the depths of darkness, walked a boy rippling with endless vitality as lean muscles flexed taut. His eyes raged with an anger so deep that the ancestor had no doubt that this was the aura he had felt… But he was washed over with endless shame in the next instant… This boy… He had no cultivation!
In the next moment, Evelyn and Lionel eyes landed on Dyon, following the ancestors. At first, there was surprise. How was he here? Shouldn’t he be dead?…
But then, there was a sinister glare in their eyes.
“Ancestor, he’s one of the invaders of our land. As you can clearly tell, he’s not a Belmont, but you see the direction he came from. It’s best we kill him without mercy.” Lionel said calmly, as though he was doing nothing else but ordering a meal.
In any other situation, the ancestor would be apprehensive. A boy? Coming from that direction? Something wasn’t adding up. But, when the shame he felt as an expert sprung through, overshadowing his reasoning, he couldn’t help but take a mighty step forward, the flames of his anger flickering.
He would wash this shame away with the blood of this boy.