293 Proud
There was the possibility that the range of those clans had surpassed that of an Emperor God Clan. It was much like the scope of information Earth had… If you don’t have enough power, how could you afford to know such information? In fact, would knowing the information even matter to you?
Kaeghan immediately erased all thoughts of stealing their faith seeds. But, preventing them from reaching their main branches by boxing them off in this universe? Even kill them? Was no issue at all.
“Make a note, fifth son. In the future we’ll be focusing on this universe a bit more. Not enough to alert anyone, but there’s definitely a reason so many powerhouses are concentrated here. The Ragnor and Pakal clan didn’t even bother to plant branch families in our universe, so why would they care about this one so much? There’s something going on…”
Fifth son nodded. “If we can grasp this secret, elder brother, we can assure our places as sons for the rest of our lives.”
Kaeghan nodded. Competition amongst sons never ended. Although he could be comfortable around fifth son because he was ranked so far below him, he still needed to be wary of third son and second daughter. Ranking directly correlated to resources, he had to ensure that he became the fifth son of the essence gathering level, and for that, he needed momentum, legacies, and power.
And with that last thought, Kaeghan and his entourage reached the edge of the deep pit that held the Epistemic Tower.
Kaeghan’s blood boiled looking at the sleek black surface of the tower. “All signs point toward this place as what you’re aiming for, right? Let’s find out what you led me here for…”
**
Up until now, it had been half a day of Dyon relying on the celestial puppet to watch Madeleine and Ri battle. He had almost floated away from the portals many times, but he always forcefully stabilized himself. He felt the need to burn these images into his mind.
He had watched as Ri fought for hours at a time, not caring for her own wellbeing. In fact, there had been a few times that if it wasn’t for the demon generals forcibly teleporting her away, she would have collapsed.
Then there was Madeleine. The temple had finally opened, but the battle raging for those who had the right to enter was just as fierce, leaving the Sapientia clan in an even tighter corner.
Dyon’s heart wrenched with every cut and bruise his fiancées sustained, with every twist of pain that appeared on their beautiful faces… with every near-death experience they dodged…
At this point, patches of blood had dried over them both. Ri’s blue-silver tails and armor were completely ruined. It wasn’t even clear how often she had forcibly healed their breaks… Madeleine was fairing much better injury wise, but her fatigue had clearly reached its breaking point many times. If it wasn’t for many of the Sapientia family using themselves as shields, it was likely her injuries would be even worse than Ri’s
And yet, Dyon sat there and thought… it was even to the point where he questioned whether he should have even opened his heart up as much as he had. If he had closed it off and conformed to human world ideals, would this decision be so difficult?
But then he thought, even if he closed himself off to feelings fostering for Ri, would they really not appear? If Ri was just his friend instead of his fiancée, would the decision really be any easier?
Dyon had just spent the last more than half year of his life with Ri. They shared tears, pain, and victories. When he was in a coma, she took care of him everyday for months on end. Although she never brought it up, Dyon’s heart broke thinking of all endless nights she must have spent wondering if he would ever wake up.
And then there was Madeleine, his first love. He had been attracted to her strength and beauty almost immediately. Imagine the level of will power someone had to have to believe their death was inevitable, and still remain kind and caring? And then the strength she displayed in choosing to live, in a martial world that told her there was honor in death, just so she could repay Dyon for his sacrifice.
These thoughts ran through Dyon’s head again and again before he finally settled on a choice.
The first thing Dyon did was take off his last wrist band, diligently crafting it to a necklace identical to Ri’s before carefully placing it into a spatial ring.
Then, sitting on the shoulder of the puppet, he spread out thousands of profound stones before himself. Using the ability of the Tree of Life and Death, he proceeded to refine the stones into an easily usable form, perfect for replenishing stamina. Fruits of energy began forming on the branches of the obsidian tree, glowing in a dim gold before breaking off.
Dyon repeated this again and again until he had completely filled two common level spatial rings with hundreds of these fruits.
Then, the last thing he did was create two communication arrays. He poured his thoughts and feelings into both. In the end, he held both rings silently, knowing that this was the right thing to do.
Dyon’s hands flashed as he coated both rings with celestial will. Circulating the Florence family technique, his winged humanoid figure appeared. Golden tattoos spread across his shirtless torso, boosting Dyon’s celestial will to its peak.
Then… Dyon threw the rings away from himself. One tore through the void toward Madeleine. And the other? Tore toward Ri.
Dyon nodded to himself, his main spatial ring flashing as an adorable little girl appeared in his arms. ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀꪶ
“Big brother?” Little Lyla blinked, looking around confused. The dark space was something she had never experienced before. Suddenly, Little Lyla felt something was off, causing her to frown before a look of realization crossed her features.
Lyla patted Dyon’s cheeks happily. “You did the right thing Big Brother.”
Dyon smiled bitterly. ‘I really can’t hide anything from this little girl…’
Sighing, Dyon spoke, rubbing Little Lyla’s head. “Big Brother is useless, can you help me?”
Lyla giggled. “Okay Big Brother, I’ll help.” Pointing out her small hand toward a seemingly random direction, Lyla spoke again. “That way.”
**
On the battle field, Ri winced as she felt another blade slice at her tail. She was losing her stamina faster and faster with every rest session she took. What had surprised her though, was the fact none of the demon generals had even felt a need to rest. Maybe it was because they were more experienced with long, drawn out battles, or maybe their demon will made their bodies more robust in combination with their cultivation. Regardless, it was truly impressive.
Ri sighed, ‘Will I really never see you again?…’ Her heart ached for what seemed like the millionth time as the same thought resurfaced in her head.
“Commander!” Arios’ voice boomed, snapping Ri out of her stupor to find a blade headed for her head.
‘Shit.’ Ri dodged to the side, leaping forward to stab a snakeman through the ribcage before dodging a mace that swung in her direction.
Suddenly, a blinding flash of light swept through the sky, appearing before Ri and not giving her a choice but to accept it slipping onto her finger.
Everyone looked stunned. Even the beast army leaped backward from Ri. The gates were too unpredictable to just ignore a random flash of light like that.
Ri shook violently, ‘Wha – ‘
Ri froze as a message entered her ears, tears spilling over as she listened.
Watching such a she-devil cry in the middle of such a situation only caused everyone to pause all the more so. Even the demon generals had to surge forward to surround Ri and ensure she wouldn’t be attacked in this state.
Away from that battle field, a similar scene was occurring in the midst of the Sapientia family. Tears streaked down Madeleine’s cheeks as her hand lightly traced an elegant necklace that now graced her neck.
Both women had listened to the same simple message… and that told them everything they needed to know.
Dyon’s voice was strong and unwavering, leaving no room for debate.
Ri and Madeleine nodded heavily from begin to end…
Following the directions of the little girl in his arms, Dyon absentmindedly mumbled to himself. “The Sacharro family doesn’t lose. Take them for everything they have.”
**
Ri stepped forward, a bright smile spreading across her face. “My name is Alexandria Sacharro.”
In much the same way, Madeleine’s hand flashed as an energy fruit appeared in her hand. “My name is Madeleine Sacharro.”
‘We’ll do you proud.’