Over a year ago, Madeleine had told Dyon about the ancient games. To many in the martial world, they were simply a form of entertainment. Three enigmatic games, with admittedly odd origins, but also seemingly harmless.
However, was that true? Were they truly harmless? And why didn’t they think more about the kind of power it took to lord over the rules of these games? The mere fact it was impossible to speak about the rules amongst each other should have been a cause to pause.
The worst part was that Dyon had yet to come into contact with these games without his life being on the line. In dead kings valley, if it wasn’t for the stone puppet, he would have never had enough time to learn the game’s rules. And now here, his most potent rival seemed to be taking advantage of the game’s mechanics to pin Earth into a corner.
“Truth be told.” Dyon continued. “This information is relatively useless to you all as it stands.”
Many eyes looked up from their thoughts and focused toward Dyon at this point. Everyone was thinking the same thing: ‘Why?’
But, before Dyon could answer, Airic stepped in. “The ancient games have always been dominated by elves because of the Eostre family. And now its being used to deal with us in the hands of an innate aurora wielder. The deduction is quite simple. We don’t have the insight necessary to compete.”
Agitation and competitive spirits blazed at these words. Who were they? They were among the best geniuses this entire universe had to offer. Three of them, namely Vidar, Caedlum and Thor, had faith seeds. And yet they were being told there was something they simply wouldn’t get?
“There’s a solution to that, of course.” Dyon interjected. “If you can awaken your auroras to larger percentages, you’ll have a chance. But, for now, I’ve only given you this information so as not to be a hypocrite. I, for one, hate it the most when people tell me there are things I can and can’t do based on the way I was born. So, I’m giving you a chance to do something.
Secondly, I’m not as selfish as the whole of you. Half of this planet belongs to my home. I was raised here too. I’m not a stranger or an alien to this place. Take this information. Learn from it. Prove that you’re the so-called geniuses you claim to be.”
Flames lit in the eyes of the campaign heads as they watched a hobbled Dyon be brought out under Ri’s strength. And yet, despite his seemingly weak state, his back was wider than any of them had realized.
**
Many kilometers away, three familiar figures were making their way through the Earthen Passage under the dark shadows of the mountain range.
Bas and Liska leaned against each other for support, clearly severely injured.
The sword wound in Liska’s shoulder was very much still there. She didn’t have medicines potent enough to deal with Dyon’s sword will, which was exceedingly odd to them. From every angle you analyzed it, it seemed as though Dyon hadn’t used anymore than a first level sword will… And yet, it was so potent?
Near by, but not bothering to do much to help the massive couple, was the young man with the oil-paper umbrella. He twirled was looked like a long silver sword in his hand, and if one looked closely, it was the very sword that had been in Liska’s shoulder. It was odd, but he seemed strangely infatuated with it.
Suddenly, the young man spoke, “Do you know why I decided to attack the Earth Tower as opposed to one of the closer towers?”
The couple looked to the young man before shaking their heads. After all, it didn’t make much sense. If the goal was to conquer a tower, choosing one that was not so easy to scout out would have made it easier to keep their action covert.
“Do you know my goal?” The young man extended the sword from himself point it forward.
“To replace our universe’s King God Clan.” The couple responded without hesitation.
“And how do I want to go about doing that?” A strange energy began dripping from the sword. It was heavy, yet free flowing – and it happened to be the very same energy Dyon was attacked with.
Bas and Liska thought about this for a moment, this was clearly not a question they were expecting nor knew the immediate answer to.
“By winning negotiation rights?” Bas asked probingly.
The young man sighed. “You’re too short sighted. Can’t you tell there’s something strange going on? Something different from any other time we’ve entered the gates? Why do you think I was able to execute the plan like I did?”
Bas and Liska were silent. The mood of the young man was something they themselves, despite having spent the most time with him, had no way of gauging. In times where he berated them, it was often best to keep quiet.
“Today, something that hasn’t happened to me in a long time happened.” The young man’s personality and focus seemed whimsical. He asked questions, then ignored them. Started on a path of explanation, before completely swerving away. Bas and Liska could only listen helplessly.
If you were to use Dyon as an example of what to expect from an innate aurora wielder, you may come out disappointed. Why? Because many of them acted exactly as this young man did.
Their minds work so quickly that they’re almost on an entirely different plane of understanding. To the young man, his vague questions and statements should have been enough for the snake couple to understand what he meant. He was completely oblivious to their emotions.
“Imagine that.” The young man chuckled to himself, casually swinging the sword. “I was wrong about something! How interesting.”
Bas and Liska lowered their heads in response, avoiding the gaze of the young man as he continued to speak to himself.
“He’s still too young to play with me though. And I unfortunately don’t have time to wait for him to grow. Whether it be intelligence or strength, he’s woefully lacking.”
BOOM!
The sword in the young man’s hands burst from the stress of the strange energy.
Bas and Liska grunted in pain as shards of stray metal embedded themselves into their skin. But, they didn’t dare make any more noise than that.
“Ha. The idiot probably thinks my goal is to attack the other three strong holds and that I was using the Earth Tower as a distraction. As if I could plan something so unoriginal and bland.”
The young man seemed very pleased with himself as he discarded the hilt of the sword, walking forward with a smile on his face.
“I, Alidor Gautama, don’t lose. Especially not to bratty kids who seem to think they can provoke me.
Let them put all their strength into defending their ‘strongholds’. By the time they look up, it’ll be too late. The Epistemic Tower and all its secrets will be mine.”
Dyon grunted as Ri gently lowered him to the bed. He would need a few more hours before he was in perfect shape. Although he had melded together grandmaster level pills, it seemed the energy the young man had used was quite special…
“You’re such an idiot.” Ri said for what must have been the millionth time. Her hands flashed with blue as she spun spatial transference arrays into existence to help Dyon take his clothes off in the least painful way.
Dyon smiled watching Ri act so flustered. “You think I could just let that happen to you?”
“YES!” Ri pouted. “Risking your life for me isn’t something I want.”
“Hmph.” Dyon tried to roll over in defiance, but the stinging pain in his torso made him change his mind. “What kind of man sneak attacks a woman. He’s as good as dead.”
Ri flicked Dyon’s forehead, “He’s too powerful for you, don’t be stupid. He didn’t put everything into his attack because it was only meant to divert our attention from him killing Commander Draven.”
“Yea, yea. He’s still dead.”
Ri giggled at Dyon’s antics. She fully understood he was only pretending to take this lightly. An event like today to someone like Dyon was very much etched into his psyche. Fairness, age, background… These were all irrelevant things to him. In Dyon’s mind, there shouldn’t be anything in this world able to catch him off-guard, and the fact something had was grating on his nerves.
Gently pulling Dyon’s clothes from him, Ri knelt on the bed and kissed Dyon’s forehead, “We’ll take him down together, okay? Who told him it was okay to hurt my man?”
Dyon sighed in relief as Ri’s ice will washed over his body, ‘This is better than any ice bath…’
Ri smiled, lost in her own world as she kneaded Dyon’s tight muscles, trying to ignore the pain in her heart from seeing the horrid bruises on his torso.
“Akash will probably want to head to Lotus Tower soon.”
Dyon nodded. Each God level Clan had a specific tower they usually gravitated toward protecting. The reason for this was because each tower usually had quirks and tendencies of their own, despite their overall unpredictability. As a result, many had towers they had gotten used to the oddities of, thus making them more comfortable under those conditions. For the elves, it just happened to be Lotus Tower.
In terms of the key towers themselves, there were a total of nine. Other than the Earth Tower and Gautama Tower, which were both at opposing ends of the gate, the Epistemic Tower was found directly in the middle of the two. The remaining six towers were left three to each side of that midline connecting the Earth, Gautama and Epistemic Towers.
In the end, it was an asymmetrical arrangement that resulted in four towers being closer to either side, with the Epistemic Tower being placed directly in the center of everything, oddly connecting it all.
“Things are about to get very dangerous, Ri.”
Ri paused her massage, before continuing. “Were there things you didn’t tell them?”
“I would love to be part of a world where I didn’t have to scheme and hide anything, but unfortunately, that’s just not possible.” Dyon always instinctively put up concealment arrays when he and Ri were alone, and this time was no different. “Especially when we consider the caliber of enemy we’re dealing with right now…”
Ri nodded, “His movements odd, but also oddly planned. The reasons behind them seem obvious, but it also seems that it was designed that way intentionally. I don’t have any idea what his motives are.”
“I can’t claim to know either. I only have some guesses.” Dyon winced a bit as Ri’s hands glided over a particularly sore spot. “What I can say is that the memories I took from the Vice Commanders and Liska had nothing to do with this gate being an Ancient Game.”
“It is not one?”
Dyon shook his head, “It is. I’m about 80% sure that it is. But, that’s only something I figured out learning about how they crossed the gate without losing their massive beasts.”
A pensive looked appeared on Ri’s face, “So… He wants us to think that his focus is to attack the other three towers by not fainting, by actually doing it. All while his goal is something else.”
Dyon smiled, Ri’s leap in logic went at least three steps ahead. She was clearly getting sharper because of her awakened aurora.
She was also exactly right.
This was clearly a test run. And it was a test run that served two purposes. The first was to pull all of their most powerful members back to the Earth Tower. This was executed perfectly because of how painfully easy it was to scout an attack directed toward Earth Tower. After all, there was only one entrance. By making it obvious that Earth Tower was about to be attacked by the very powerful Scaled Elephants, the campaign heads would have no choice but to pull back.
The second purpose was as an actual test run. How else would they know if their method of traversing the gates worked unless they tried it? But, it was very important that this test run be to Earth Tower, or else it would slow down the timing of everything else. Completing two steps in one was most efficient.
To any outside observer, that was it. The opposing universe wanted to attack the three gates while their best defenders were away. But, anyone who thought that would have missed one important fact: The fact the innate aurora wielder had come personally.
This wouldn’t have been a point worth bringing up if it had only been Bas and Liska, but, the very fact a young man who had spent so many years diligently hiding his identity would come out just for this even after watching the Phantus get decimated with no sign of stepping in? Something else was going on.
But, even that wouldn’t have been enough for them to assume this was a ploy. It would have only been enough to raise an eyebrow. However, what Ri was banking on was what Dyon had taken from the memories of the Vice Commanders and Liska. Memories he still had yet to say a truthful word about.
Dyon pulled Ri into his arms, ignoring the pain. The cool touch of her armor was actually quite soothing in and of itself.
“Imagine ignoring pain just to be a pervert.” Ri giggled teasingly.
Dyon grinned, “I can’t ignore the needs of my little feu glace just because of a little pain, can I? Or else that umbrella guy wins. I can’t let that happen.”
“Pft, at least let me take off my armor,” she said pushing herself up. “Tell me more.”
Dyon rolled in the bed trying to use the endless pillows to comfort himself in Ri’s absence. “From the memories, I could tell that there’s something very important he’s keeping them in the dark about. Actually, I don’t even think he’s trying to keep it all that secret, he just enjoys looking down on his subordinates.”
“You mean he’s given them all the tools to figure it out and he’s laughing about the fact they can’t?”
Dyon nodded, “What’s clear is that there’s something different about the gate around this time. In fact, it might not be solely this gate.
This may sound a bit convoluted and contrived but think this through with me a bit.”
Ri smiled, climbing into the bed beside Dyon.
“The key towers must all be connected somehow. After all, the main thing we know about them is the fact when all of them are controlled by a singular universe, you can change its fundamental laws.”
“Yes. Now that you mention it, they must have a way of communicating with each and unlocking something for that to be possible.”
“Mm.” Dyon continued. “At the same time, each key tower seems to have its own unique set of laws that it abides by.”
“Also true. Lotus Tower has odd patterns, but, we’ve gotten used to it over time from what I understand. When I asked Akash about why we stick to specific gates, she said the other towers were different and not worth the excessive danger necessary to learn about them.”
Dyon nodded, he had thought as much before as well. “From what I see, the Phantus’ pride was used against them to get them to voluntarily take such a dangerous mission. After Madeleine completely embarrassed them, they felt he need for revenge and redemption. But, I think there was also a second reason they were used. And it likely has to do with their earth will affinity.”
Ri’s eyes widened, “Are you saying that Earth Tower isn’t just named after our planet?”
“It’s likely that Earth Tower was named in reference to its laws, which then led to the name of our planet.”
“Why do you say that?”
“That was just an interesting connection I thought of. I have no idea if it’s true.” Dyon chuckled to himself. “However, what is true is the fact that Liska’s memories noted the idea that the guy she calls Alidor chose the Phantus for this attack because of their will specialties.”
A sudden realization hit Ri. “That… Someone who would have an innate aurora must be extremely intelligent. But, choosing the Phantus would look like a clear lapse in judgement to anyone. Afterall, the only reason we suspected something was going on behind the scenes was because of their massive scaled elephants. Had they attacked without those scaled beasts, there wouldn’t have been much to speculate about at all.”
“Exactly. The choice of using the Phantus was two-fold. One, the might of the scaled elephants forced everyone back here. And second, it was to learn more about the Tower. And the only reason they would feel a need to learn more about a tower with such a stable environment – “
“Would be if it was part of the Ancient Game…”
Dyon laughed, “I think he’s too used to no one being able to see through him honestly. It’s likely he thinks this went way over our heads.”
Ri smiled, snuggling into Dyon’s chest, “But what are we going to do about it?”
Dyon grinned, “We win the game of course.”
A serious look crossed Ri’s features before she spoke, “What exactly are these Ancient Games, Dyon?”
Dyon sighed, “I don’t know… All I’m sure of is the fact that they seem to protect something larger than we can fathom a lot of the time.
The tome from the Elvin Kingdom, the technique of its first page is something I still can’t grasp. And I’ve spent hours meditating on it.
Then there’s the second page, that now holds the dao of alchemy etchings. I can’t make heads or tails of that either.
That’s not to even mention the fact it had the ability to cleanse the demon generals and True Empaths.
And yet, they were both protected by an overly complex Ancient Game that we could only get through with what essentially amounted to an ex dao formation level puppet.”
The more Ri thought about what Dyon said, the more she realized how right he was. If it wasn’t for the puppet, they would have died. And, other than the puppet itself, even the True Empath was such an enigmatic existence that it, in and of itself, was already a cheat.
“So, you think this gate is protecting something of that level too? And that every gate is?”
“What I think is that someone – anyone, who has the ability to tunnel a hole between two universes, stabilize it, and have it still live on to this day, is an existence we can’t fathom. And I also think that those existences aren’t singular in nature.”
Ri thought for a bit, “There are 10,000 universes left if we take Elwing’s word at face value. Even if we assume every universe has only 5 gates like ours, you’re saying there are 50,000 legacies of such a ridiculous level?”
“Probably not. I just think that if we put together the clues about how many secrets this universe holds, maybe we lucked into those legacies. I’m not saying other universes won’t have legacies within theirs, but I doubt it’ll be of the level of ours.”
Ri’s brows furrowed, there wasn’t much she didn’t agree with Dyon on, but she couldn’t understand his words just now. “What do you mean?”
“Elwing’s legend isn’t the first we’ve heard of the oddities of this universe.
There’s the fact people don’t seem to like that I’m from the mortal realm. There’s the fact that, according to my master’s memories, the Earth expanded millions of time from its original size. And there’s the weirdness surrounding the destruction of the Celestial Deer Sect and their connection with the Daiyu clan.
Then compile that with the legend of the phoenixes, their wars, and Amethyst?… Something big happened in this universe. Something bigger than people are willing to talk about.”
“Are you saying the legacy here is Amethyst’s?”
“No. The gates were here long before her. This someone is much more powerful than even Amethyst.”
“Then what do you want to do?”
Dyon grinned, “Well first, I want to make love to my little feu glace.”
Ri rolled her eyes, “Be serious, pervert.”
Dyon winced as Ri poked his torso to remind his how much power she held over him right now. But much to her exasperation, Dyon didn’t back down. “And then, after I do that, I’ll go show that Alidor bastard that I know damn well his goal is the Epistemic Tower.”