Book 4: Chapter 15: Warning

Silence.The Ragnor and Cavositas brothers had no idea what to do. Should they call more to attack? But, that would require involving God Clan Elders… How embarrassing would it be to personally call out elders to deal with a teenage boy? Who were these people and why were they so powerful?“River dearest! I did good, right?” Thadius’ domineering demeanor completely disappeared, instead being replaced what looked like an obedient stay-at-home husband.River couldn’t help but snort, “Only you would take credit for defeating such weak saints. I suppose you are shameless enough, though.”Thadius pouted but couldn’t say much.He had already stopped pouring his demonic intent into the saints, but they seemed to still be incapacitated. He didn’t deem them worthy of anymore of his effort, so he dropped back down to the roof, taking his place as Dyon’s protector as the clouds in the sky continued to roll.Not many had a real concept of what had just happened. It had been so quick that aside from the words Thadius spoke, few sensed anything else. But… There were two celestial experts in the crowd. One being Connery Sapientia, and the other was the Matriarch of the Niveus Sect. And the both of them were stunned about the same exact thing…‘One with soul!’This level of intent mastery was unprecedented for a saint in this universe. Even many of the celestial experts were capped at the second level of an intent, one with heart, let alone the fourth level of one with soul.The difficulty in progressing in intents reached all new levels when compared to wills. It was true that to sense saint energy, mastering an intent was necessary, but not many ever went past this level in this universe – it was just too hard. Why? If Dyon had a guess, it would likely be because of lack of natural resources that allowed in-depth analysis of wills and intents such as abyssal cores, something this universe seemed to be severely lacking in. Couple that with their overall weak soul cultivation and meditating on wills and intents had that added level of difficulty.The only exceptions were those born with affinities provided by God constitutions and faith seeds, and even heaven and earth constitutions to a smaller degree. However, lower ranking constitutions only allowed advantages in lesser wills, and was usually limited to just one or two. Luckier experts, like Madeleine, gained affinity in a general path.For example, Madeleine was very good at any and everything related to purity and yin energy. As such, her level of progression in celestial will rivaled Dyon even after he utilized the Florence family technique to form a celestial deer humanoid manifestation.Delia was another example of a path generalization. Because of her Infinite Ice Hell constitution, she gained access to the absolute path. Such powerful and rare path affinities were what warranted the ranking of Delia and Madeleine’s constitutions.In addition to this, there were constitutions that only allowed affinity in single wills, but these wills were so domineering and wide ranging, in terms of their abilities, that it made the narrowed scope negligible. Ri was an example of this with her Void affinity.Void will was a supreme law and it was likely that Ri could dominate nearly anyone at the same level simply by virtue of that.But, that wasn’t all. Because of a supreme law’s versatility, Ri even had the ability to use it in her energy cultivation to reach levels of power a normal expert would normally never be able to. It would be impossible for Dyon to use the Void Kitsune’s energy cultivation techniques because he simply didn’t have the affinity necessary.However, in cases where experts didn’t have these affinities, or in cases where those affinities had reached their max capacity – meaning they could no longer help progression without supplementary materials – those experts had no choice but to stall at those lower levels. Even Celestial experts were stranded at low level intents…Celestial energy didn’t have an intent level requirement, instead, it required mastery of a rudimentary domain, or an aura. The problem was that these auras couldn’t be said to be more powerful than upper levels of intents. Instead, they were quite comparable… Which meant that an aura might not give a celestial expert an advantage over a high level intent, depending on the level of the aura, of course.But, this was a scary proposition, especially for the Matriarch who had just been on her high horse. She wasn’t afraid of fighting the demon generals, because while her aura wouldn’t give her advantage, celestial energy definitely would – however, what if she had to fight all ten of them? What if this Dyon had more saints of this level? Was that even possible? How could a boy have such powerful subordinates?Even Dyon had underestimated the demon generals. Or, more accurately, he had overestimated the level this universe. He hadn’t put into proper perspective just how important cultivation grades were and just how domineering even single level differences between intents were… This was no longer the world or wills… It was very likely that out there, somewhere in a universe much more powerful than this one, there existed a lower level saint that could toy with these so-called celestial experts. And judging by how Thadius was itching for the Matriarch to attack, having sensed her animosity, it was likely he too wanted to try his luck.Even in his meditation, Dyon couldn’t help but laugh – although it sounded pained and strained.It seemed as though he was laughing at the Cavositas, which only made the observers angrier, but in reality, he was laughing at his own inadequate view of things.He overestimated when he shouldn’t. He underestimated when he shouldn’t. Maybe the only thing he got right was his morality. But even then, that led to its own set of problems.He had once thought that his demon generals would lose out to the sheer number of saints the God Clans had. What he failed to realize was that one demon general was already worth ten thousand regular saints.11%BOOM!Veins filled with gold coursed through Dyon’s body, pumping him with a vitality that seemed to be able to wake even the dead.For the first time in what seemed like forever, Dyon opened his eyes…‘It’s time.’Dyon’s skin began to glow so brightly that many averted their eyes. The gold that coursed through his veins had reached an unprecedented level. In fact, the improvement in his body was so domineering that his skin was sheering apart and yet healing instantly to the visible eye.Suddenly, silence permeated everything. The thunder stopped rumbling the skies, the earthquakes stopped cracking the roads, and the rolling tides had calmed.However, Dyon’s skin continued to glow brightly – and, if you looked closely at the Tree of Life and Death that still hung in the air, crystal veins were cracking their way through its originally obsidian body, contrasting the shined black with a holy clarity.Against his will, Dyon’s humanoid manifestation appeared in the air. Its bare torso flexed, looking down at everything with disdain.Dyon’s wings tore out from his back, sending vicious hurricane force winds out from them as they arched menacingly in their pure white and deathly black.And then, Dyon’s weapon’s pagoda appeared. It had become a structure that dwarfed even Arena City’s Chaos Arena. Dripping in a red tinted black, it gave off a demonic presence that caused those around to shiver inadvertently.The surrounding experts stood in silence. They knew exactly what these structures were, and yet they couldn’t bring themselves to believe it. Could any one person sustain so many manifestations? And why were they all so powerful? Just what was going on?And yet, they could only watch in awe as more manifestations appeared.The Florence family technique bloomed into action causing a pure white lily to appear at the feet of Dyon’s humanoid manifestation. Tattoos of gold, representing Dyon’s celestial deer humanoid, tore through its skin, radiating out a purity that few could match. But then, Tattoos of black etched in red intermingled with this gold, creating a staunch dichotomy of light and darkness… Only for that balance to be completely overtaken by overbearing greys and blacks. Dyon’s death humanoid manifestation seemed to overpower the golds and reds, leaving anyone watching with only thoughts of an inevitable end.‘He needs to die…’ It wasn’t clear who thought this first, but the answer was too many. With today’s events, Dyon only garnered more enemies…But, his soul didn’t care. It seemed to be venting for having been suppressed for so long and finally pushed even the Mathilde family technique into existence.The peak-most flaming circle of Dyon’s manifestation’s six, glowed faintly as the eye slowly changed… Flecks of red and purple colored it as it looked to see through everything.And then… It all changed.A blinding and unceasing light rocketed from Dyon’s body.His wings expanded from their three-meter length to five meters, tearing away the roof of the hotel he sat on.The Tree of Life and Death shone viciously, its crystal veins solidifying and cracking through the obsidian, creating a tree that seemed like it was on the brink of another break through.Dyon’s weapon’s pagoda and humanoid manifestation tore through the skies, increasing to heights that Dyon had never fathomed them being before.And yet, maybe the most important thing was that a change had occurred in the six gold-black flaming rings…The peak-most ring housed Dyon’s eye techniques… His aurora and his Mathilde family technique.The right, just above his shining white wing, housed the figure of his black flames. A domineering fire that even Dyon had yet to fully understand.But, the left, just above his black wing, a new image had appeared. A pure white flame flickered, cascading a crystalline light over Dyon’s usually pitch-black wing.                                                        Now, only three circles remained untouched.Minutes passed as Dyon continued to be baptized in saint energy. It seemed as though his soul could absorb a seemingly endless supply, but no matter how much people wanted to attack him now, they were weary of his demon generals. The only people who could say that they stood a 100% chance of beating them would be the grand elders and heads of the Royal God Clans. And yet, what Royal God Clan would lower themselves to interrupt the cultivation of a child?Slowly, the blinding pillar of light began to fade. But, what was left was probably more shocking than anything that had been there before.Dyon’s body seemed to be carved out of the finest diamond in existence.His skin glowed and his muscles rippled in such perfect proportion that had Ri not been in the same daze as everyone else, she would have definitely rushed over to cover him up.His wings as doubled from their previous two, giving him two pairs and multiplying the tattoo etchings on his back. Even their slight movement threatened to send everything flying into the distance.Even Dyon himself was surprised as he looked down at his hands as though they weren’t his. He was wondering just how powerful he had become. He had never been able to make full use of his soul strength. Even when his soul had been at the peak of the essence gathering stage, he hadn’t been able to output power comparable to someone with peak essence gathering energy cultivation. He could never tell why, but this had to be a problem with the techniques available to the soul. And it was up to Dyon to figure out a way to make true use of his saint soul.“You idiot, put on some clothes.” Ri rushed over, barring Dyon from view. Not embarrassed in the slightest by how obvious her jealousy was.It didn’t escape her notice how much larger a certain member had become, likely due to Dyon’s integration of the demon sage essence, so she couldn’t help but mutter to herself for Dyon’s ears only. “If that thing becomes any bigger, you can forget getting it anywhere near me.”Dyon grinned, his eyes flashing a purple gold as sweatpants materialized for him. Gripping onto Ri’s hand, Dyon turned to his demon generals and smiled. “Thank you.”Thadius waved his hand and clasped Dyon’s shoulder, “Thanks is unnecessary successor. Look at that, you’re almost as tall as me.” Thadius’ robust laughter filled the quiet atmosphere as the clouds dispersed.It was true, Dyon had grown again from his 1.9-meter height to just over 2 meters. In fact, had he not supressed the growth in his height, he would have likely shot to at least 2.5 meters tall. But, he didn’t like the idea of reaching the height of those giants.“Alright. Let’s go.” Dyon didn’t bother addressing the crowd. What would he do such a thing for? He only planned to compensate the hotel’s owner and treat the injured before finding a new place to get used to his power.But, unfortunately, it didn’t seem like things would go so easily.“Wait right there.”Turning back, Dyon found a figure he had no impression of.He would soon come to know this man as Connery Sapientia.The first thing Dyon noticed about this man was his golden eyes and crystal framed glasses. In fact, those crystal frames were tinted in a shade of green, much like Madeleine’s had been tinted in purple before they were destroyed.“Yes?” Dyon turned back to fully face the man that landed just a few meters from him with a host of elders that seemed to also be from the Sapientia family. It didn’t escape his notice that this man seemed quite interested in the fact he was also holding Ri’s hand.“Should I call you Dyon Sacharro or should I call you demon sage?” A sly and clever smile spread across Connery’s features. He had decided to test this boy’s limits. It seemed as though he was trying to keep his demon sage identity a secret. And yet, Dyon’s response through him completely off-guard.“Sure, you can call me demon sage if you’d like. But, more importantly, has my wife come back yet?”“Wife?” Connery turned his head toward Pertinacis’ mother. Had this Dyon and Madeleine already consummated a marriage he wasn’t aware of? If that was the case, this was a problem.That said, it was still salvageable. As long as Dyon stopped referring to Madeleine as he did.However, even as Dyon and Connery were speaking, those who heard Dyon refer to himself as the demon sage were completely shaken.The demon sage? Number one on earth’s rankings? Number one of the cumulative rankings? Just what was going on?Even the guild headquarters had no idea how Dyon had done it.The reason why Dyon couldn’t hack in and directly change scoring was because the arrays provided for tracking were past his level of understanding. In fact, they were still past his level of understanding and there was a very simple reason for this. The relay arrays used for the rankings weren’t put in place by this current universe system… They had been in place long ago and created by the Celestial Deer Sect of old. Much like the teleportation arrays between planets had been as well. Unless Dyon surpassed those olden masters, something even he was far from doing, he would never be able to manipulate the rankings.But, that didn’t stop those with little understanding of true array alchemy to think otherwise. So, when Ulu snorted and said, “Must be nice to be an array alchemist and manipulate the rankings at will.” Everyone immediately agreed. To them, it was much simpler to accept this than to accept that a fifteen-year-old boy really was their better. People took to what they could understand… It seemed they had completely forgotten about the display of domineering power Dyon had just presented them…Hearing the murmuring accusations, Ri shook in anger. She knew very well what Dyon had done to earn his ranking. In fact, the elves and the Niveus sect had witnessed no small portion of it. And yet, they still slandered him for it.“Considering how easily his wife lost to us, he probably manipulated her ranking too,” Eboni sneered, relishing in the opportunity to take jabs at Dyon and Ri whenever she could.And yet, through all of this, Dyon couldn’t be bothered. Anyone with half a brain, even if they believe he manipulated his ranking, wouldn’t use that as an excuse to look down on him. Because they’d know that thought of disdain might very well be the last thought Dyon allowed them to have.So, he let it happen – instead focusing his attention on Connery.“Yes. Wife. Madeleine Sacharro.” Dyon’s face remained neutral. He wasn’t trying to antagonize anyone, he was simply asking a question that required a yes or no answer.Pertinacis’ mother scrunched her brows. “When did my step daughter become your wife?! I don’t remember attending any ceremony of the sort or accepting such a union.”“Step-daughter? You must be Pertinacis’ mother, then. Nice to meet you.” Dyon smiled faintly before turning his attention back to Connery who seemed to be studying him.It seemed that both Connery and Dyon were probing each other. But, those who were witnessing this couldn’t understand why the Head of the Sapientia family main branch was accepting this. This wasn’t another head probing him, it was a child!Pertinacis’ mother shook in anger at Dyon’s dismissal of her. His supposed ‘nice to meet you’ could barely count as a proper greeting.“How did you and Madeleine meet?” Connery asked a seemingly useless question. But, Dyon answered anyway.“We met after your main branch tossed her away.”Dyon’s response was quick and showed no hesitation. And yet, his words were sharp and to the point. It made it clear that he didn’t like the Sapientia family and it wasn’t up to him to convince them that he was worthy, but rather up to them to convince him that they were worthy.Connery was intelligent and immediately picked up on this. Despite the outrage of his elders at Dyon’s disrespect, Connery was completely neutral. Antagonistic words weren’t something he would easily fall for. He was just quite interested in the fact that although he was half a meter taller than Dyon, it somehow felt that they were eye level with one another…“Then what do you intend to do about that?” Connery asked, a light smile playing on his features.“It would be advisable for you to be clear on the fact that it isn’t me who has to do anything. Your response dictates my actions.” Dyon responded firmly, unperturbed by Connery treating him as though he was a child. If this Connery character wanted to underestimate him, it would only lead to his death.Dyon had the power to wipe the entire Sapientia family from existence in this universe, should he choose to do so. In fact, even without using his puppets, if he used the Epistemic Tower key, he could take anyone he wished far away without the say so of any of these so-called experts. So, he meant what he said.Connery was becoming decidedly less amused the more he interacted with Dyon. He was still an expert who had worked his way up from practically nothing, who was this child to threaten him about anything?The elders of the Sapientia family looked down on Dyon with disdain, “Nothing but a foul-mouthed boy, Head Sapientia. Is there really a need to make a choice anymore?”However, Dyon had already begun to walk away. He had seen everything that needed to be seen and had said everything that needed to be said.“For the Sapientia family, choose your actions wisely. The outcome will be the same whether you support my and Madeleine’s relationship or not, the only difference will be whether your family survives the end or not.” Dyon said faintly.“And as for those who seem to think my ranking is fake. I guess you’ll find out in a few weeks, now won’t you?”