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Book 4: Chapter 68: Exchange

Watching his mother in law dangle from the sky, another layer snapped within Dyon. He didn’t have to rely on his emotional connection to his wife to feel something seeing this scene… In the short time he had known Kawa, she had treated him with nothing but love and respect. In many ways, she reminded Dyon of his own mother.

Ri, who had been trying to comfort Clara just moments earlier, suddenly felt her world crumbling apart. The tears had long since stopped, but a dense hatred started to fester in her heart. How long had she waited to see her mother again? To hear her voice? To finally be able to feel her embrace? She couldn’t fathom those feelings being taken away again so soon.

The torrent of emotions they had all gone through just seemed to never end.

‘Just an endless stream of bullshit.’ The flames of black within Dyon’s eyes only seemed to grow deeper with each passing moment.

In the skies, King Acacia’s jaw tightened. He wanted to move and do something, but he knew very well that his wife’s life hung in the balance. Kawa’s soul strength hadn’t reached the celestial stage yet, unlike his. If her body was killed… There was no chance…

He had thrown away the wellbeing of his kingdom, disappearing for ten years and traveling across dimensions to save his wife. Words could not describe the place she and Ri held in his heart. And yet that beautiful woman in his memories, that lively fire spark to his life, had hers hanging by a thread just before him.

“I’m glad I don’t need to explain the situation.” Patriarch Ragnor suddenly spoke, tearing across the rumbling thunder in the sky. “This was meant to be quite a leisurely exercise honestly.” He sighed as though he was really lamenting something he had lost. “A martial exchange between clans, if you will. Things weren’t meant to get bloody.”

A burning heat threatened to tear Dyon’s chest apart as he watched Patriarch Ragnor wave Kawa around by her neck as though she was nothing more than a prop.

“Ai.” He continued, shaking his head in mock sadness. “Alas. A good friend of mine has died! Our friendly competition has crumbled and now an entire sect, of women no less, mourns her loss. Does that sound fair to you?”

Patriarch Ragnor scanned the crowd before his gaze found the remnants of the Niveus God Sect. “So pitiful. A Clan is lost without their leader.

“Tell me, Evelyn is it? What would alleviate the anger in your heart? Technically, you are the leader of the Niveus God Sect now, right? So, you are my ally and as such, I should take your interests into account, don’t you think?”

Evelyn’s white eyes flashed at these words. Anyone intelligent enough could tell that this supposed devastated first in line genius hardly felt a thing from her master’s death. However, when she heard of an opportunity to exact revenge, a blaze lit in her eyes.

“An eye for an eye. A death for a death.” She spoke dark, narrowing her eyes at the woman in Patriarch Ragnor’s hand.

“Ai.” Patriarch Ragnor nodded. “That’s what I was thinking as well. It’s only fair, no?”

The hazel in Dyon’s eyes had completely disappeared. He hadn’t entered such a state since the destruction of the Elvin Orphanage. But… This time was different…

He had been trying to control himself all this time. Even when he saw his entire world destroyed, he tried to maintain his sanity. When he saw his mother in law dangling with her life barely a whisper, he tried to control his emotions. But, sitting here listening to this bullshit back and forth, listening to the play cat and mouse with his wife’s mother right in front of him, Dyon nearly lost his hold on everything.

In the Elvin world, he had entered this state on purpose so he could hide his true thoughts from Jade. However… There was nothing voluntary about this time.

This man stood in the air, talking about fairness and an eye for an eye like an entire population of people hadn’t just been eradicated. Did their lives mean nothing? Was their weakness enough for their deaths to be a footnote in history? Did the mortal world just not matter?

The place he had been raised in. The place he grew up and became his own man. The place where his two uncles had lived as the few supporting systems he had left. It was all gone now, and yet these people pretended as though that meant nothing?

Patriarch Ragnor sighed. “I do feel a bit hypocritical though. The reason we had sent Matriarch Niveus down from the battle was so that we could give one of you the opportunity to sacrifice their life for the greater good.

“I was worried before about how we would justify things to maintain absolute fairness. Originally, I was going to make this elaborate pitch. Tell you all about how this universe would once again reach its former glory, and how the expert you were aiding with your life was one that would repay his debts, but now that seems unnecessary.

“Since things have gone so far into the realm of misunderstandings, I think this volunteer of ours would be more than willing now, hm?”

The rumbling of the skies was the only thing that that broke the pregnant silence. No one had any idea what Patriarch Ragnor was talking about…

That said… Dyon had a pretty good idea…

The eyes of the man in the sky pierced downward, finding Dyon’s gaze of dense darkness. And yet, he seemed completely unaffected by Dyon’s anger. In fact, he found it quite amusing.

“What do you say, volunteer?” Patriarch Ragnor waved Kawa around by her neck. “I’ll give her back, you just have to take her place. Easy, right?”

The entire plan had gone up in smoke because of Meiying’s interference.

Originally, the world tournament was supposed to play out to its end, wherein the top ten spots would be mostly occupied by their allied members. This was why the Planet Deimos members like Tau and the deceased Femi had gone so far in breaking the rules. And, considering the Cavositas were allied with them all along, it was obvious why Elder Den had turned a blind eye to their cheating – he was in on their plans from the beginning!

King Belmont, despite his intelligence, had made mistake after mistake. He spent years in seclusion, improving his power while staying out of the limelight, all so that he could maintain an air of nonchalance in the face of the Ragnors. The entire point was that if he did this, the Ragnors wouldn’t see him as a threat and therefore ignore the possibility of him ruining their plans.

All this time, King Belmont had thought that Ragnors were here in search of the Epistemic Tower. This was what he and his allies revolved their everything around. Never did they think that the entity that they were so wary of, had deeper connections to the Ragnors than even the Daiyu did!

Because of this miscalculation, King Belmont never thought the Ragnors plan would ever involve him directly. In his eyes, if he bided his time, he’d be able to deal the Ragnors a devastating blow while their backs were turned. This was why King Belmont hardly interfered during the tournament. This was why Kawa and King Acacia tried to remain hidden. This was why the Cavositas had been allowed to organize the tournament. All because of a mistake!

Had King Belmont known that the target of the Ragnors was never the Epistemic Tower, but rather the secrets that lay within the Belmont Holy Lands, he would have never taken this approach! Because he would have known from the very beginning that the Ragnors would always take him as a threat because their goal was something he was duty bound to protect with his life!

The Belmont Holy Lands was just a name to throw people off of the true purpose of the Belmont’s strong hold. The truth was that since the beginning, the Belmonts, having been within this universe for the longest period of time aside from Dyon’s mortal world, were aware that the origin of the expansion of the Earth laid within those lands.

Tunnels spanning millions of kilometers dug into the surface of the Earth, carving out intricate paths that none could find their way in, unless…. You had use of a True Empath or Meiying’s Feng Shui Compass will!

It was true that the tombs of the Belmonts were located within those lands. However, over the years, it had accumulated much more.

Much like Focus Academy and the Big Sects, God level clans had the ability to open legacy worlds as well, and the catacombs of the Belmont Holy Land happened to be a hotbed for them. The reason for this was relatively unknown, however, this was the reason why the God Clan young masters who attacked Dyon on that fateful day had had an air of nonchalance about a legacy world the big sects had the capability of opening. After all, how could it ever match up to what they themselves had already witnessed?

The problem was that those tunnels were solely controlled by the Belmont Royal God Clan. The surrounding God Clans who took up positions around the Belmont Holy Lands’ natural moat were barred to the residual effects these catacombs had. The only time they would become available to the public is as a prize for the world tournament hosted by Earth, and the enemies of the Belmonts planned to take full advantage…

By taking advantage of the fact their youths made it into the top ten, God and Royal God Clans would be able to send in their best experts with them. And this was something the Belmonts had no choice but to allow.

Think about it. The World Tournaments were used as a gauge of the younger generation. As previously expressed, if a clan’s younger generation was overwhelming enough, it could often times decide future Royal and even King God Clans without a single drop of spilt blood! Why would any clan allow their best youths to enter an unknown land under the purview of a clan that could very well be their enemies in the future? What if King Belmont decided to wipe out the most promising youths on a whim and blame the dangers of the legacy world? If no one of his power was there, how could they prove he was guilty?

Using this logic, the Ragnors and their allies were going to use the world tournament as a peaceful means to enter the Belmont Holy Lands without resistance. By making sure that they occupied as many of the top ten spots as possible, they’d remove any unwanted variable. But! That was exactly what Dyon was! And unwanted variable.

How could anyone assume that such a child would catapult to the first ranking spot? Even when they tried to force him out through scandal and sabotage, he burst through their barriers again and again and made a joke of the tournament entirely! In the end, he had even managed to prove that he was unmatched. Only a fool would the Lionel or Tau stood a chance against Dyon’s death will form after seeing how easily he took care of Zabia.

That said, Dyon could still be dealt with, if he was the only problem that arose. But… Then came the problem of Meiying…

The Daiyu were meant to sneak into the Belmont Holy Lands ahead of time and ‘fail’ in their attempt. But, in reality, they would have long since snuck into the catacombs, utilizing the keys that Meiying had thought she had taken from them. This was the final way in eliminating all worrying variables. They knew fully well that there was no way they could have absolute control of the top ten, so the Daiyu were meant to sneak in an army ahead of time.

This ‘fail’ of the Daiyu would work in two-folds. The Belmont would never think that two attacks would happen so closely together because without the full scope of everything, the actions of the Daiyu would seem completely unrelated to anything happening in the tournament. In addition, the Belmonts would never think that anyone could enter their holy land without them.

Why?… Because of the key… Something only a Belmont would have access to. The blood line of the ice and fire phoenixes.

In truth, Elwing had once offered this to Ri. However, context is very important.

Firstly, Elwing had offered it as a betrothal gift. If Ri became a member of the Belmonts, it obviously wouldn’t matter if she was given a portion of their bloodline. Secondly, think of how close the Belmonts are with the Acacias. Such a betrothal was something even King Acacia had wanted.

In the end though, all of their plans of a sneak attack were thrown out of the window completely by Meiying. Had Meiying not taken the box, it might have still worked, because the Daiyu could still pretend to fail since Meiying had no idea about the connection between the Ragnors and Daiyu. However, because she knew the feathers existed, the entire plan was ruined!

This forced Patriarch Ragnor to attack early, getting the leg up on the Belmonts before they were ready.

However, there was yet another thing that had changed their plans. Something that had happened even before Meiying escaped. And that was Dyon’s trip to the mortal world.

Sixteen years ago, a ground-breaking phenomenon shook the martial world as a baby was born. Because of the seal placed on the human world, the phenomenon hadn’t manifested there. However, it shook the martial world to such an extent that their forgotten universe had become a beacon to others. All of a sudden, because of this birth, people began to remember just how amazing this universe had been.

But… Not everyone was excited about this birth. In fact, for the Ragnors and Daiyu, it was nothing short of a nightmare. Because the soul kernel had disappeared that very day!

They had spent thousands of years accumulating that talent. And yet, it had disappeared just sixteen years before their plans would be complete.

Because of the lack of energy within the mortal realm, it was impossible to find where the soul kernel had gone. As such, the Daiyu could only enlist the help of the agent they had placed within the mortal realm long ago as an insurance policy: General Mace.

However, there were many intelligent people within the mortal realm – intelligent people that the Daiyu underestimated… Namely, Dyon’s parents.

With the accumulated data and research, Dyon’s parents found little reason for why mortals couldn’t cultivate. And, found it even more troubling that the composition of the mortal realm and martial realm were fundamentally different. How could they not realize at that point that someone had designed it to be this way on purpose? And what other purpose could they have other than to use them?

After reaching this conclusion, Dyon’s parents underwent a dangerous journey, digging up everything they could find on the mortal realm’s connections to the martial world. And, in the end, everything pointed to one man. One man who had lived much too long… General Mace.

In exchange for helping the Daiyu make key changes to mortal history, General Mace was granted a life extended far beyond normal human capabilities. However, because of this, it was impossible for him to fully erase the imprint he had made on history.

In order for the seal on the mortal world to continue to function, the mortal world needed to be continually divided. This, of course, was only an extra measure, but it was one the Daiyu decided to take anyway. By constantly causing wars through the history of human kind, destroying successful empires before they could truly bloom, and piecing the world into boxes like ‘race’ and ‘culture’ and ‘religion’, General Mace ensured that mortals never truly came together… And thus, the seal remained as powerful as ever…

The importance of will could never be underestimated in the martial world. So, there was little to be said about the effect dividing a people could have on weakening a world’s will.

That aside, General Mace was of course just one among a long line of succeeding General Mace’s. He just happened to be the most recent, and the one the Dyon’s parents caught on to.

Because of that, Mr. and Mrs. Sacharro were able to confirm that there was indeed foul play, and they began looking for a solution. Little did they know that that solution… Was their very own son…

By the time they realized this and basked in the irony, General Mace had figured out that they were on his trail. Catching them off guard, he killed Dyon’s mother while his father was away… Although Dyon’s father never truly knew who was responsible, one could say he was 99% certain…

Even for General Mace, killing General Sacharro was a much tougher task. With his prestige as a general, he was protected much more than Dyon’s mother and he had the ability to protect his own self even when he wasn’t. But… The end of that tale was just as tragic…

Just like that, two heroes of the mortal realm were gone, leaving the rest on the shoulders of their ten-year-old son… All Dyon had left of his parents were the necklaces he gave his wives, his father’s watch and uniform, and a letter that told him to go to the martial world…

Dyon’s parents had hoped that with the talent he had been birthed into, he would be able to soar to great heights in the martial world, and eventually break the curse placed upon them. They knew with their son’s intelligence, it would only be a matter of time before Dyon figured out what they had, and then General Mace would kill him too… They couldn’t stand for such a thing.

They wouldn’t resign themselves to the fact that the life of their son would inevitably end in the same miserable way theirs did. They refused. They knew what Dyon needed was power, power that only he as a mortal could have… Power that could only be found in the martial world.

They wanted Dyon to fight. Fight for a better life than theirs. Fight as a Sacharro…

Sacharro’s don’t lose…

However, despite their hopes. They knew it was a slim chance. What were the odds of a mortal boy magically showing up with talent and also not being connected to the missing soul kernel? How could the Sacharro’s not understand this? They just wanted to give Dyon a chance to fight. To give him a chance at life…

And now it had all come full circle. Elder Daiyu’s message to Patriarch Ragnor just hours earlier wasn’t just about the failure of their plan and Meiying… No. It was also about Dyon. It was about how Dyon held the last piece they were looking for all this time…

Standing in the skies, Patriarch Ragnor smiled. “It’s time for you to return a power that was never yours to begin with.”