With the disappearance of the Daiyu family and Jade, the square now held an eerie quiet. It seemed the only sounds that could be heard were Dyon’s wheezing breaths and ragged coughing.
Ri sat on her knees, propping Dyon up as they sat on a floating blue array. There was a tinge of worry in her eyes as she felt Dyon erratic heart beat. It looked as though he had lost half his body weight, a mere shell of his former self.
Ri sighed, “You overdrew on your soul… without energy cultivation to help rejuvenate you, it’s hard to sustain yourself after drawn out battles… you’re such an idiot,” she muttered.
Yet, despite her words, she lay Dyon’s head against her chest, slowly circulating an ice purity will to help alleviate his pain.
What Ri had said was true. Unlike with energy cultivating, the soul and the body couldn’t easily draw on outside sources to replenish themselves. If you depleted your essence energy, you could simply take out an energy stone to replenish yourself. However, when your soul or body was fatigued… only time would help unless you had very special medicines. In fact, even if you had those medicines, time would be your best option. This was exactly why there were three martial paths… each supplemented the next.
Dyon chuckled bitterly, his voice hoarse, “Maybe you’re right… I need some sleep. But, not yet.”
The members of the Eostre family trembled. Everyone knew the truth. How could a family who knew the secrets of everyone else, keep secrets amongst themselves? When Dyon said he’d find out who was involved, that was already lenient in and of itself.
But, just as they were shaking in despair, Dyon said something that made many look at him as something other than an impulsive genius boy.
“Grand Elder Deryth… Sigebryht family head Sinaht… The members of the Eostre family should be punished. Those that need to be killed, must be killed. However, I’m sure you can tell how a family that has an inability to keep secrets from each other would find it troublesome to rebel…”
The elders nodded in agreement. Even if someone of the Eostre family wanted to defect, once they had true intentions of doing so, wouldn’t all those around them immediately know?
Dyon sighed… this was where things got complicated. This was because the Eostre weren’t perfect empaths. That means that the degree to which they could see through things depended on how powerful their singularity had manifested within them.
This was exactly why Jade’s genius was a curse… a moon that wanted to reflect too much of the sunlight… she was so close to what a True Empath would be without being naturally so, that she not only deluded herself into believing she actually was, but her mind slipped as though she was one.
The reason for this was simple… a True Empath occurred naturally in nature. Because of that, they had failsafes of their own to combat the loss of their minds. Although this mental degradation was still inevitable along the stream of time without help from outside resources like celestial will or the stone tome, it was still better guarded against… it was much like how an animal could age normally while clones had drastically shorter lifespans.
Jade was exactly that… a false representation, a fake. And as such, she degraded much quicker.
That being said, the main point was that because the Eostre family had varying degrees of insight, many of the weaker ones could hardly be judged for being wary of the stronger ones… especially when the stronger one had a daughter who was the closest thing to a True Empath since King Acacia… before the existence of Little Lyla was known that is…
As such, the course of action became clear. Wyn Eostre was put to death, forced to kneel before the tomb of Ms. Everdeen for the rest of his days.
Along with him went many high ranked elders.
Any given major family had thousands upon thousands of members. Even though the Elvin population was small in comparison to the humans of the martial world, that didn’t stop their population from being within the hundreds of thousands.
And then, there was the problem of the Sigebryht family. In regards to them, it was best to choose to forgive.
Not only was Sinaht the most talented among the older generation with the king gone, he had only been forced in a corner to act as he did because of the Eostre family. Without the king disappearing, the Elvin Kingdom would have never been in turmoil, and Sinaht would have continued to be a pillar.
In addition, they really did nothing wrong in the end… They weren’t responsible for any deaths and they hadn’t made any attempts to be responsible for any such things.
The only real problem left was the Norville family and their act of stealing orphans. However, when Dyon looked into this, although he was thoroughly disturbed, he couldn’t argue with their logic.
He still shivered at the look in Mithrandir’s mother’s eyes when she told him she hadn’t tasted human in a while. Maybe if it wasn’t for Ri’s glare, his demon essence would have gotten the better of him.
It turned out that the Norville family took in orphans to raise them for the desire path. However, aside from teaching them the techniques, the real choice was left up to the children when they became of age. After all, Mithrandir was a prime example of how you could become stronger in such a path yet remain a virgin.
Although Dyon didn’t like the idea of essentially grooming kids to become prey to their own desires, from the perspective of the Norville family, they were sharing something wonderful with the world. Also, weren’t they simply taking orphans off of the streets at the end of the day?
It was both disturbing and somehow also refreshing that the Norville family had such a simple wish. It was almost as though all they wanted was for people to release their inhibitions. But, to Dyon, they just looked like a swinger couple… a really attractive swinger couple… but a swinger couple nonetheless.
In the end, Dyon stood in front of Ms. Everdeen’s crystalline coffin with Ri holding him up. He felt as though he was fading, but he wanted to see this last sight before he rested…
They were in the Eostre family holy land. Dyon silently wondered if this was what Ms. Everdeen would have wanted…
To her, the major families were a next tier of existence she could never reach. And yet, here she was heading the tombs of one of them.
Taking a look at the dead Eostre family traitors that lay before her, Dyon nodded in satisfaction.
“There’s only one person left…” he said softly, “I’ll have her kneel before you just like all the rest. Rest in peace Ms. Everdeen and have a good chat with my mother, I’m sure she’d love you.”
Ri watched silently as Dyon’s eyes reddened. He was struggling to keep them open, but it was clear his strength was almost completely gone.
Finally, he completely collapsed into Ri.
Spinning an array to life, Ri rested Dyon’s head on her lap. Her beautiful eyes glimmered with a faint sadness but unconcealed happiness. It felt like, for the first time in a long time, she had someone to truly rely on. And yet, that was a bitter sweet feeling.
Stroking Dyon’s hair, Ri planted a gentle kiss onto Dyon’s forehead, “rest well…”
The room was large and extravagant, bathed in dark reds and greys.
A large bed five-meter-wide bed was situated right in the middle, covered in endless amounts of soft pillows as a handsome young man slept soundly, turning every so often and muttering odd things in his sleep. He was completely oblivious to the fact that three people who loved him were in the very same room.
One was a girl with beauty beyond words. Her silver-blue hair and eyes shone even in the dimly lit space, and yet, she oddly wore what looked like a sports bra and sweat pants… not living up to the rest of her pure appearance at all.
This girl smiled faintly as she watched two small children play on the end of the bed, ‘I’m glad you gave me partial ownership of the ring,’ she thought quietly.
The children, though, seemed to have no worries in the world. One was an adorable little girl around five years old. Her long pink hair nearly touched the ground as she gleefully giggled.
The other child was a boy with jet black hair and eyes. He had the faint marking of a white scale on his forehead, but other than that, he was about seven or eight years old.
“shh,” berated the beautiful blue haired girl, “you’ll wake your elder brother.”
“big sister Ri,” pouted the little girl, “you shouldn’t miss your birthday party. Big brother Dyon wouldn’t want that.”
The beautiful blue-silver haired girl was of course Alexandria Acacia, the little girl was Little Lyla and the boy was… Little Black!
Ri bent towards Little Lyla and patted her head, “birthdays are meant to be celebrated with those you love. How could I enjoy it with him not there?”
Plus… some annoying guests were here to ask why the elves hadn’t appeared on the battle field for this campaign…
Little Lyla clapped happily, giggling, “big brother will wake up soon. Really!”
If it was a normal little girl who said this, Ri would have brushed it off. But, the fact it was Little Lyla caused Ri to glance expectedly at Dyon’s handsome continence.
It had been four months since the day Dyon essentially single handedly saved the Elvin Kingdom from ruin, and yet he still hadn’t awoken. It was clear he had overdrafted his soul… yet, all Ri could do was occasionally circulate her ice purity path and water healing path within Dyon. The rest was up to him and time.
“Big sister?”
Ri turned her head to Little Black who was looking at her expectantly, “hmm? What is it?”
“Can we go and eat? I’m really hungry?”
Ri covered her mouth, giggling lightly. Little Black was probably the only one who could match Dyon’s appetite.
Originally, she had been confused when she first saw this Little Boy. But, when she figured out the reason why he had come out of his beast form, a warm feeling blossomed in her heart.
“Okay Little Black, you can take your little sister to the banquet hall. I’m sure they’re setting up for my birthday by now. There’s definitely plenty of food.”
Ri laughed as Little Black’s eyes sparkled. He grabbed Little Lyla’s small hand in his and practically dragged her out of the room.
A smile was all that was left on Ri’s face after they gave her a final wave goodbye, closing the door.
Suddenly, the room was silent. With the children gone, it was just Ri and Dyon’s breathing.
Ri slowly got up and walked to the door, locking it. She knew people would come and disturb her, but she really had no intention of going to this banquet.
She had been thrusted back into the palace life style with Sinaht acting as interim king in the absence of her father and while Little Lyla grew up. Regardless of how confident they were in the fact that Dyon was most likely who the prophecy spoke about, changing long standing traditions is what almost brought the Elvin Kingdom to ruin in the first place. As such, Ri was back in her old room and Little Lyla was slated as the next ruler of the Elvin Kingdom.
Walking to the side of the bed, Ri smiled as she got on, loving how perfectly she fit to Dyon’s side.
Dyon shifted in his sleep, wrapping his arms around Ri, “you smell good,” he muttered.
Ri blushed, taking in Dyon’s scent as well. His shirtless torso had gained the weight he lost back. The chiseled yet soft feel made it impossible for Ri not to run her hands along it again and again.
Smiling, Ri giggled, “you say weird things in your sleep…”
Ri closed her eyes, content to take a nap in Dyon’s arms when suddenly she heard something unexpected.
“How could I still be asleep with such a beauty in my arms? Wouldn’t someone be looking down on me for wasting such a thing?”
Ri wiggled her head out of Dyon’s chest to find two pure hazel-green eyes looking down at her.
Dyon smiled gently, caressing Ri’s cheek, “how angry do you think the kingdom would be if I stole their Princess’ first ki – “
Ri didn’t think. She was just so happy to see Dyon open his eyes again that she only leaned upwards, pressing her lips to his.
Dyon’s senses were invaded with a cool feeling. Ri’s lips tasted like water melted from the highest peaks and were as fragrant as lavender.
Her touch was as soft as the petals on a rose… a kiss so gentle Dyon felt as though he was sinking into a cloud.
Suddenly, Ri pulled away, looking into Dyon’s eyes with a slight blush on her face.
Dyon smiled when he noticed she had inadvertently gone into her Kitsune form. Her adorable canines had become more prominent and the bed was decidedly softer with ten beautiful silver-blue tails lying about.
When Ri noticed what had happened, her blush deepened as she retracted them, causing Dyon to chuckle, “the next time I make you sweat pants,” he said with an evil grin on his face, looking toward Ri’s backside, “I’ll put a spatial transference array in the back so I’m the only one who can ever see this sight.”
Ri’s brows furrowed, “what do you m – “ Ri’s eyes widened as she suddenly felt a draft from her back. Her tails had pushed down her sweats!
Ri buried her head into Dyon’s chest, hitting his arm in embarrassment, “stop teasing me!”
Dyon smiled, pulling a duvet over to cover the both of them, “okay, see now? I can’t see anymore.”
Suddenly, Ri kicked off her sweats, speaking in a soft voice made Dyon shiver from head to toe, “no one said you couldn’t look… pervert.”
Ri trembled as she felt Dyon’s hand on her shoulder. But, all he did was wrap his arm around her, chuckling.
“Do you want to know how far Madeleine and I have gone?” Dyon asked questioningly.
Ri paused for a moment, but still nodded.
“I’m a virgin,” Dyon said laughing, “There’s no need to force yourself to do anything.”
Ri suddenly felt like biting Dyon in exasperation, but, she settled for wiggling her arm out of his embrace to flick his forehead.
Dyon pouted, “ow… what was that for?”
“I wanted to know about you and Madeleine only to know more, that was all. Do you think I feel the need to sell my body to you as compensation? Hmph,” Ri looked up at Dyon, clearly annoyed.
Dyon smiled, “What have I missed?”
Ri thought for a moment, settling back into Dyon chest, “Well, the next round of campaigns have already begun.”
“Oh? How are the elves doing?”
Ri shook her head, “No one thought it was right to leave without you. So, the elves are the only ones who haven’t gone this time…”
An odd feeling blossomed in Dyon’s heart as a thoughtful look surfaced on his features, “That’s no good… is there anything important happening with the key towers right now?”
“From what we know, of the nine key towers, only one hasn’t settled into the control of one of the universes… each of us have control of four. We’ve been at this stalemate for quite a while, nothing much has changed in a long time.”
Dyon stroked Ri’s hair as he thought, “It must be the Epistemic Tower that’s uncontrolled, no?”
“How’d you guess?” Ri had some pretty good ideas of her own, but she wanted to hear Dyon’s thoughts.
“That tower is the only one without any obvious military strategies to use in conquering it… The terrain is bland and uninteresting in terms of what you can see that is, and the spatial fluctuations are among the highest in that area. It makes it not only hard to capture, but also hard to defend… How do you defend an area that attacks you and your opponent?”
Ri nodded, “In the past, this was always a critical tower. Most decide to conquer the other eight towers before tackling the Epistemic Tower. The problem with that strategy is obvious though…”
“Right… the Epistemic Tower is at the center of everything. Supply routes would essentially be cut off if you choose to cross over to reach the four towers furthest from your gate entrance. It’s obvious how ground breaking it would be for someone to conquer that tower… it would probably shift the tides…”
“Exactly. The Epistemic Tower is named as such for a reason. It holds a formula for how the laws of that gate work… holding that key tower means having an ever-changing map of the gate… It’s also possible that having that map might give you clues on how to approach conquering other gates as well…”
Dyon grinned.
Ri giggled, “you’re thinking of doing something crazy, aren’t you?”
Dyon laughed, “when have I ever not done something crazy?”
Ri pouted, “Maybe when you covered me up even when I said you could look?”
Dyon smiled deviously, tilting Ri’s head up, “is my little feu glace in heat?”
Ri’s eyes sparkled as she looked into Dyon’s, “Do you know what’s hard about being a beast with a fiancé who does nothing but roll around shirtless in her bed?”
Dyon flipped Ri beneath him, feeling as though she was lighting his insides on fire with her words.
Ri placed both hands on Dyon’s chest, slightly digging her nails in as her voice grew hoarse, “Do you know what’s even harder about remembering how he touched another woman in front of her?”
Dyon’s eyes reddened, demonic will dripping from him as he felt Ri grind her knee into his groin.
Ri wrapped her arms around Dyon’s neck, pulling him in tightly. Her hands ran through his hair as she moaned to the kisses he trailed along her neck.
Ri gasped, feeling Dyon rip her sports bra off to leave faint red marks where it used to be. She pressed her chest his, biting into his shoulder.
“I want it, Dyon…” Ri said softly.
Dyon pulled up to look at a flushed Ri, gently stroking her cheek with his thumb as he kissed her passionately. His hands lowered, slowly circulating his celestial will and aurora while cupping her supple breasts.
“yes…” Ri gasped for air, biting Dyon’s lip until it almost bled.
Ri’s breasts were nothing short of perfection – a springy mound of flesh that sent Dyon to full mast without reservation.
Reaching for the bands of Dyon’s sweats, Ri pulled them down, exposing his everything. Her heart quickened its pace, her face flushing an ever-deepening shade of red as she watched a heavy mass slap against her belly.
Ri was starting to get restless, every layer of clothing was nothing more than an annoyance. She wanted to reach down to take off her last layer, but she suddenly heard Dyon growl.
A feral air stifled all breathing as Dyon ripped Ri’s hands out of her control, pinning them together above her head.
Something snapped within Ri. The domination… the submissiveness… something in her blood was boiling as she stared down at Dyon’s throbbing cock as though it was the only thing she would ever wish for.
Ri’s aurora blazed, hers intertwining with Dyon’s and following its lead.
Dyon kissed Ri’s neck, gently biting as he moved down.
Every touch glowed, infusing Ri with almost more pleasure than she could handle. She felt like she was already on the edge of something… yet Dyon had not gone anywhere near her treasured place.
The frustration. The lack of control. The pleasure. All of it was bring Ri closer to losing herself. Her moans were no longer decipherable from growls of anger and agitation.
Suddenly, she felt Dyon’s hot breath on her thigh, but when she tried to move her hands, she found them bound tightly to her bed’s head.
“Dyon…” Ri’s voice almost sounded like she was pleading.
Dyon reached his hand up from his position between Ri’s legs, taking in her scent while lightly toying with her pink nipples.
He sucked on her sensitive groin, moving to the other side to do the same.
“Please…” Ri’s hips wiggled in agitation, but Dyon’s hand was firmly gripping the side of her hip… until suddenly… Ri felt the lightest of kisses right on the fabric of her panties.
“fuck…”
Ri’s back arched, her legs shaking with pleasure as she pressed Dyon’s head between her thighs.
Suddenly, she felt her last layer finally disappear.
Dyon trembled in agitation looking at this scene.
Ri’s treasured area glistened, a small patch of triangular hair gracing it. It was the picture of perfection – its light pink folds were subtle and well kept, the faint string of purity between it and the fabric Dyon held in his hands sparkled in the air and its fragrance was so intoxicating that Dyon almost lost all control.
Ri’s breathing was heavy, but it seemed she wasn’t satisfied.
“Take my everything…” Ri’s voice was ragged but resolute.
Dyon climbed up to find Ri had forcefully broken her bindings. He groaned feeling a hand grip his member, slowly stroking it.
Ri gently rubbed Dyon’s tip against hers, inadvertently causing herself to tremble as she clumsily tried to find her entrance.
Dyon could hardly hold himself together… so… as soon as he felt an opening… he thrusted forward, bearing down on Ri with a domineering kiss.
Ri grunted as she felt as though she was pierced all the way through. She wrapped her arms beneath Dyon, grabbing onto his shoulders and biting into them. Her nails digging trails along his back.
Suddenly, she was flooded by an endless amount of Celestial Will. Her moans became wild, filling the room with feral growls of pleasure.
Dyon had never once used dual cultivation techniques as they were meant to be used. But today… he reached the epitome of what it meant to dual cultivate.
Ri’s entrance felt like tornado of swirling juices and soft skin. The moving walls and flexing muscles made every part of Dyon feel as though he was lost in the greatest feeling in the world.
And suddenly, he kissed her. He kissed her with his everything. Feeling as though if he ever stopped, she would disappear.
What they didn’t know and couldn’t bother to care about, was that each of them were sharing a part of themselves with each other… Dyon’s soul brought Ri to a next level of understanding; from that day forth, the melding of their auroras would never be the same…
Ri’s fate seed and god level constitution stimulated Dyon’s beast essence blood, stabilizing it to an all new level. His blood essence integration shot up to 30% for both his celestial deer and demon qilin essences! And his Demon Sage essence suddenly shot to 5%! In one night of endless pleasure, Dyon’s body had undergone a qualitative change… few within the manifestation stage could match his body’s prowess now…
Ri suddenly felt Dyon twitching endlessly within her. Her walls convulsed again and again under his onslaught.
Dyon’s tongue invaded Ri’s mouth, playing with hers without reservation.
Ri gasped, digging her nails even further into Dyon’s back, “don’t you dare stop,” she said out of breath.
Ri wrapped her legs tightly around Dyon’s waist, her back arching in a final climax as Dyon pressed her down.
Dyon groaned, wrapping his arm around Ri’s waist to lift her up. She shivered as she felt him even deeper than before.
…
They stayed like that for a long while. Dyon kneeling and Ri locking her legs around him, laying her head on his shoulder.
Dyon raised his free hand to stroke Ri’s hair, finally allowing Ri to relax as he stopped circulating his techniques.
She took deep breaths, enjoying the feeling of still having Dyon inside of her.
Ri suddenly giggled lightly between gasps, “your master left you some good memories,” she said faintly.
Dyon chuckled hoarsely, “Happy birthday, my little feu glace.”
RI smiled, “is this your present to me?”
Dyon shook his head, “this is only part one.”
Ri’s eyes widened as she felt Dyon’s member suddenly grow to another size inside of her.
Ri pulled up from Dyon’s shoulder, her beautifully shaped breasts in full view as a sheen of sweat layered her flawlessly glowing skin.
She smiled, revealing her adorable canines, “Take me again, then…”