In the Sapientia hall, whispers and animated talks about Airic’s story spread along with rumors about just who this boy was to Madeleine. It wasn’t as though Madeleine hadn’t seen talented young men before, so they could hardly understand why she seemed to be so interested in this one in particular.

However, Ester, Madeleine’s master, found all of this decidedly less funny – even to the point where she found the first opportunity just as everyone mounted large golden eagles, to pull Madeleine off to the side.

“Is there a problem, master?” Madeleine already knew what this was about, but she was in too good of a mood to let it bother her now.

“You fully understand what the problem is. You’ve gone from saying you like this boy to loving him to calling him your fiancée and now your husband? Did you take my words seriously at all?” Ester didn’t seem happy. In fact, she rarely used her air of an expert to intimidate Madeleine, but right now, saint energy was imperceptibly dripping from her.

However, Madeleine only smiled and continued to elegantly step onto the large bird, “I seem to remember you saying that after spending a few months with the prince I would change my mind?”

Not wanting the conversation to go further, Madeleine found her way to the carriage strapped to the large feathered back and sat quietly – eagerly anticipating the coming days.

Hearing Madeleine’s words, Ester was at a loss for her own. It was true she had said those things, and a large part of her actually believed it. But, it was clear that she was wrong.

Ester had no idea about this demon sage that Airic had mentioned and she found it quite ridiculous that a child from the human world would ever be number one on their rankings. As such, she chose to focus on Airic’s mention of these things as rumors, dismissing them entirely.

Over the past few weeks, Ester’s heart had been in turmoil. Something was distracting her and it was heavily weighing on her mind even to the point where she hardly fulfilled her duties. She hadn’t even guided Madeleine’s cultivation in all this time. All of this made her feel as though she let her personal issues get in the way of properly disciplining her disciple, so, she stepped forward to do what she thought was right.

The reason why Ester had become Madeleine’s master in the first place was because she too loved the idea of music will. Although Ester herself wasn’t very proficient, in her hundreds of years of trying, she had finally managed to get her music will to the third level.

Because of her clear lack of talent for the will, Ester had focused her pursuits in other ways, trying to find any possible avenues for improving music will. During that time, she had stumbled on something… But, unfortunately, it had the direct opposite effect – instead, stifling one’s voice.

Taking out a small black pill, Ester entered the carriage she alone shared with Madeleine. “Swallow this.” She said sternly, not leaving any room for debate.

Madeleine, from her window seat, turned a calm gaze toward her supposed master’s palm. “And this is?”

“It’s a preventative measure.” Ester continued to maintain her righteous air. If she had to play the villain, then she would play the villain.

Ester couldn’t tell Madeleine what she knew unless she wanted to die. Any words spoken even remotely related to the subject resulted in years off of one’s life and that wasn’t something Ester was willing to do. She would rather Madeleine hate her as she forced her to listen than have Madeleine drive down a path that would without a doubt result in death.

“That doesn’t answer my question.” Madeleine’s brows furrowed. More and more off-put by this person she was supposed to be able to trust. Just what was she trying to do?

Ester didn’t answer, instead making a movement with her hand to lock Madeleine in place with saint energy. Because of the difference in their cultivation, as long as energy was properly focused, the ability of the weaker martial artist to control their own flow of energy is disrupted, thus causing a temporary paralysis.

Madeleine’s gaze burned into her master as soon as she lost her ability to move. Up until now, through all of the things her master had said about the love of her life, Madeleine had still forgiven it. It had seemed like Ester still wanted the best for Madeleine and that she was at the very least still going to give them a chance should Dyon prove himself enough.

This was the only person in this terrible family that had ever stuck up for Madeleine. When her talent was at its peak, and Connery wanted to use that to spread the influence of the Sapientia, it was Ester that had tried to protect her. When her talent was declining and she could no longer cultivate, it was Ester that tried to protect her. When she had been sent away, ostracized by a place that had once accepted her – a place that had once called her a genius – it was Ester that had protected her.

So, despite her love for Dyon, Madeleine had forgiven her master again and again. When Ester said Dyon was no good, she forgave. When Ester had said Dyon would never match up to their best young geniuses, she forgave. When Ester had sent her away to another planet to essentially be pimped out to a prince, she forgave. But, now? There was nothing but hatred in Madeleine’s eyes.

She could only watch as the small black pill was forced between her delicate lips. Her complexion, once rosy and the picture of perfection slightly paled, her pink lips discoloring ever so slightly. One could barely tell the difference, but Madeleine very much felt it.

And the worst part? When Madeleine finally felt the hold of saint energy release, she couldn’t speak. She couldn’t express how angry she was and she couldn’t tell this so-called master of hers that she would never see her as a master again. If it wasn’t for the fact that this trip might give her a chance to at least catch a glance at Dyon, she would have fought with her everything to not be in the same carriage as this horrible woman.

In the end, her eyes could only glisten with tears of rage and hatred. She suddenly realized she could no longer access her music will. The will she loved the most. The will that connected her with her love… It was gone.

Madeleine turned away, looking outside at what should have been a beautiful day to only see black and white. The Sapientia family would never be her family again.

Madeleine’s master looked down at her disciple even as the golden eagle took off into the air. But, in the end, she said nothing – choosing to sit and turn her attention elsewhere.

**

Away from the Sapientia city and toward the Belmont holy land, a gathering of princes and princesses was taking place.

King Belmont had many children and he treated them all well, not neglecting any one of them. Or, more accurately, maybe neglecting them all equally.

That said, as the royal family and the technical hosts of this tournament, it was their obligation to be presentable even though only two of their own were participating today – the only Belmont’s of this generation: Elwing and Lionel.

“Big Red! You shouldn’t be so angry, this is a grand event!” King Belmont happily chatted with Head Sicarius who seemed to be in a very bad mood.

He was nothing like a king right now. He had an adorable little baby girl dressed in a purple dress that matched her hair, hanging from he cheek and shoulder as he walked along with everyone else toward their flying ship – something that looked a lot like a solid metal blimp.

“Louis, I’ve never been so angry. When did I raise such a useless son!” Big Red’s voice boomed. He wasn’t a quiet man, but considering Arios, his elder brother Riley and Ava were following directly behind them, he didn’t need to yell so loudly for the person his anger was aimed toward to hear.

Arios could only bitterly smile. Weeks ago, Arios had already been allowed by Dyon to come back and spend time with his family. After seeing how powerful he had become, Head Sicarius became more excited about that than the fact his son was alive! But, when his father began eagerly asking him to take part in the world tournament and make the Sicarius name shine, Arios kept declining! And in the end, he finally told his father about Dyon and how he was sworn to serve under him for the rest of his life.

Hearing the name Dyon, Big Red hadn’t known how to feel. He had of course seen this child from afar before. At the time, he hadn’t liked the influence he had had on his daughter, although that feeling was quite hypocritical considering how many wives he had. It was something he was quite proud of too, considering. In the human world, red hair was a recessive gene, but Sicarius liked to think his seed was so dominant that it didn’t matter who his wife was, his child would always come out with flaming red hair.

But, not only had Arios come back with white hair, he had agreed to serve under someone! And even worse, he had reminded his own father, his own father! That he too served under someone – namely King Belmont.

“Ah, don’t be like that. Your son finally came back! And better yet, look at how he’s grown. He’s already far more powerful than you were at his age and you placed second at that world tournament, no? Maybe that means your son would place first!” King Belmont laughed happily as he took his first wife, Queen Belmont, both Elwing and Lionel’s mother, by the hand to lead her up the stairs of the ship.

Seeing this intimate action, Ava and Arios’ mother, Big Red’s first wife, glared at her loud husband before turning away and grabbing onto her returning son’s arm. “Come, little Arios. Let mommy spoil you. I don’t want you fighting in this stupid tournament.”

Arios could only chuckle. His mother had probably dealt with the most pain aside from Ava. He was happy to do her bidding even if his father was angry. In reality, this was the true reason he wasn’t participating. He knew that in the future, he would be going off to do more dangerous things, so he wanted to give his mother some comfort for now.

Seeing this, though, Ava pouted, “Why don’t you ever treat me so nicely, mom?”

“Ah, come here.” Mistress Sicarius was a loving lady, even bringing along Riley with the three of them and completely ignoring Big Red – much to his disgruntlement.

In the end, Big Red could only sigh and board the ship.

**

Off on the distant ice belt, cold winds viciously blew – but, they were far from the normal winds. After all, being on an asteroid in the middle of space, with only distance blackness and the faint round spheres of planets to look out to, there shouldn’t have been an atmosphere to produce winds. But, the ice belt had near limitless uniqueness.

The winds were produced from kernels of pure ice will. With every bit of biting cold that Delia suffered, the stronger she felt she became. In the end, her constitution was being awakened more and more.

The constitution awakening pill was but a catalyst. It was meant to be a blanket and artificial solution to awakening one’s constitution. However, as Dyon’s grand teacher had made clear, array alchemy was not always around and as such, neither were pill formulas.

In the time before Dyon’s grand teacher’s first disciple, and Dyon’s senior brother, had broken into his peak and created array alchemy, this was the way to awaken a constitution. It required time, patience, and grueling amount of pain in addition to nature’s favor. And, that was exactly what Delia had now.

She had spent the past two months, weathering the storm of ice wills and now, her constitution had shaken off its shackles.

Her hair was a striking and blinding white that seemed to glow with undertones of the lightest shades of blue. Her eyes were such a cold and solid blue that they seemed to pierce everything she look at as though she was looking through it as opposed to at it.

She experienced cultivation breakthrough after cultivation breakthrough. In the end, she was almost unrecognizable as her beauty reached new heights with every barrier her constitution released.

Seeing his daughter’s transformation complete, Patia-Neva could only sigh, covering her in a barrier and allowing her skin to return to its normal healthy olive. But, something had remained changed. Her hazel green eyes were decidedly colder and the improvement in her beauty was permanent.

“Remember,” Patia-Neva whispered as he prepared to send Delia back to Earth. “Our family’s namesake is something you should hold dear. The day you understand what it means, is the day you’ll have surpassed my understanding…

You’re a Patia-Neva… A leaf covered with snow…”

The stadium was no longer anything like it had been earlier that morning. The bustling of the fans, the loud shouts and laughter, the excited chattering, all permeated the air with a feeling of comradery and anticipation. This was a once in a century event, and even though many martial artists lived far longer than that, there was no question that this was still a long time for many.

Tens of millions of eager observers were in the stands. Only people from Earth were here, but the broadcast of the tournament was projected to every planet. After all, travel accommodations were already difficult. As such, this was the best solution.

However, this time was among the best for the observers in terms of the first few days. This was because much of the fights during the first few days would be among no names with no real chance of ranking highly. These were people from lowly clans that hoped to raise themselves up and earn more resources for their Royal God Clans, or lone cultivators who hoped to earn their place in clans that accepted outsiders like the Cavositas or the Sapientia. As a result, the first few days wouldn’t be nearly as entertaining as the last few days, so watching and observing the large clans and high ranked members walk in was the most fun.

Yet, to the surprise of many, there were no name announcements as there had been in the past. People were left to make assumptions about how powerful people and clans were depending on their seating arrangement. Although some found this odd, it wasn’t enough to complain about, especially since the powerful clans never paid attention to such things. In the end, only the commoners suffered.

The four planets had arrived long before the clans of Earth. This made sense since they were being hosted. So, they were arranged first in four different corners of the arena, completely separated. However, even clans from the same planet were so far apart that they couldn’t interact with each other. After all, their goal was to beat each other as well. The only reason they were arranged like this was for the benefit of the audience.

This didn’t change as clans of Earth began to arrive.

The Cavositas, The Ragnor, The Elvin Kingdom, The Sapientia, The Pakal, The Niveus and tens of miscellaneous clans arrived.

These miscellaneous clans included smaller branch families of the God Clans as well as academies as small or even larger than Focus Academy. They also housed sects like the big sect alliance.

While the God Clan level characters were housed in VIP areas in sky boxes, the miscellaneous sects and clans were only granted stand seats that were a bit closer to the action than observers.

That said, there was one more allocation, and that was for the ranked geniuses.

The floor of the coliseum was spread into groups of the youngest and brightest the planets had to offer. Ignoring the seating arrangement of their planets, the ranked geniuses were left to mingle amongst each other. However, that didn’t stop them from separating themselves into their clans and keeping amongst themselves.

Although the top ten would not fight today, the rest would. This was no time for making new friends, everyone was focused on the task ahead.

Ri, however, wasn’t in the best of moods despite how her best friend, Primrose, and her new found friends, Mithrandir, Celine and Opal tried to console her. Unfortunately, it wasn’t Dyon’s plight that caused her current ill feelings, although that likely made things worse.

Just a few hours before, she had helped welcome their Elvin seniors. As Dyon had noted, the peak essence gathering elves trained and campaigned on Planet Naiad because the Earth gate was never taken seriously by the Uidah universe. This allowed them the experience of fighting with opponents on their level without being completely outclassed.

Unfortunately, though, this meant that many of them only heard second and third hand accounts about what had happened to the Elvin Kingdom in their absence. As such, they didn’t know what to believe and thought much of it was exaggerated. But, aside from downplaying Dyon’s deeds, they still continued to hold their prejudice for the Acacia family and as such, still disrespected Ri despite her role as their princess.

Akash, Zaltarish, and many others adamantly defended Ri, even describing her selfless deeds during her first campaign, but many of their so-called seniors remained callused, even when reprimanded by the elders of their own families. Sometimes seeing was believing, and they had just not seen.

That said, there were only two who were strikingly opposed to Ri, and maybe much of their issue was that they both happened to be female… The male Elves had come around quite quickly, much to their ire. Ri didn’t care that her beauty was awarding her privileges she hadn’t had before, what she did care about was the fact that that’s what it took to bring the Elves together. It was pathetic.

Clarice Grimbold and Fiore Norville. Ri had added them to her list. She didn’t want revenge from them, but what she did want was their enlightenment. And maybe, just maybe, her fists would be what it took.

Ri’s thoughts were interrupted by a sudden booming voice. She hadn’t even noticed when they had all found their way to their seats, but it seemed that every genius had arrived. She scanned the crowd looking for her targets, her eyes cold.

“WELCOMING THE PROTECTORS OF OUR PLANET. THE GUARDS OF THE SHADOWS. THE FLAMES OF OUR PASSION. THE SENTINELS OF OUR ROYAL GOD CLAN: THE SICARIUS!” A senior with cultivation of at least the mid-saint level flashed into the air, projecting out his voice with saint energy so wide and far that his words seemed to pierce everyone’s soul.

A large metal blimp appeared in the air as tongues of flames appeared to its side, carrying a family of red-haired devils to the foremost sky box. Everyone noticed the young man with white hair, but no one had time to comment on it before the senior continued.

“NOW INTRODUCING THE ROYALS OF ALL ROYALS. THE BACKBONE OF OUR EARTH. THE HOLY LAND PROTECTORS OF OUR ANCESTORS. THE BELMONT CLAN OF LEGENDS!”

This time, there was nothing normal about the flames. The heat was so profound and permeating that those of weaker cultivation shied away, feeling as though they’d be burnt to a crisp.

Fire works of red and blue flames jetted out, curling in on each other and wrapping in the air before exploding in fires of violet as a deep seeded pressure coated the arena.

King Belmont’s childish appearance had completely disappeared. His face was stoic and calm. His purple hair waved wildly in the air as his every step seemed to trample the hearts of those watching.

In the air behind him, followed his queen closely, holding onto their royal baby and juxtaposed by the both of her sons.

Then, tens of Belmonts appeared. Striking purple threatened to change the color of the blue sky.

This was no longer a normal event, and this was most definitely not a normal family. This was the Belmont family. The Royal God Clan of Earth.

The crowd cheered loudly. The Belmonts and the Sicarius were in a lot of ways their heroes. The other clans had come here by negotiation and some were old enough to remember times where no one had ever heard of the Ragnor or the Pakal, or at the very least old enough to have elders who reminded them of this fact in their youth. But, the Belmonts and Sicarius were examples of clans that used to be weaker that rose themselves up to the great heights they were at today. They were the hope of everyone there and the people they were the most loyal to. In fact, many had been in these very seats when they watched the epic final battle between Big Red and King Belmont all those years ago.

That battle had lasted for days, and yet no one had left their seats. In the end, King Belmont won, pushing Big Red to second place. But, what made that battle so memorable wasn’t the length or the entertainment. It was rather the sportsmanship they showed at the end. They were close friends even to this day!

At that time, Big Red had been a no name from a backwater Sicarius clan near the edge of the continent and King Belmont had been the first prince of the already established Belmont. But, they had come together anyway. This was why King Belmont was loved so dearly. He was a king that truly placed what was important first. He didn’t care about Big Red’s background, he only cared about his character.

After waiting patiently for the Belmonts and Sicarius to situate themselves, the elder turned his attention to the crowd as the blimp floated away.

This elder was actually a true elder of a God Clan. He was known as Elder Er Cavositas, and one would be right to think he was at least a mid level saint. This was because, in reality, he was a peak level saint with faint hopes of becoming a celestial. But, that hope was exactly that. Faint.

“As you all know,” The elder began, “The world tournament isn’t just about making a powerful display. We’re also here to entertain – if we weren’t, you all wouldn’t be here!”

The elder lightly chuckled to himself as the crowd quietened down.

“The privilege of planning this grand event has been past onto us Cavositas. With our rich history of arena and fight clubs in Arena City, you can bet that we have great things planned for the following weeks!

Not only will we be providing food and side entertainment for all of you, we’ll also be organizing evening events that give you all more opportunities to see your favorite warriors from afar!”

Cheering filled the stadium again, the booming voices really made it sound as though the entire planet was shaking. The impact of tens of millions in just one space was too great.

“Please, please! If you all get so excited about just that, I fear the planet might tear in half before events are through!

This year we have grand competitors. The top ten are more lethal than they have ever been, and the five beauties are unmatched through generations! In fact, between you and me.” The elder leaned in as though he was speaking to someone privately, “I hear there’s the appearance of a sixth beauty to match them!”

The elder stopped himself from saying Ri’s name, remembering the demands of the person who had paid him handsomely.

“Better yet, there have been the rise of unprecedented young geniuses. It’s best to not solely focus your eyes on the top ten to win the essence gathering awards this year, or else you’ll miss out on all the young talents who simply haven’t had the time to participate in enough campaigns yet!

In fact, this year we’ll be adding a new rule to make sure you’re all paying attention! The competitors will no longer be known by their names, they will from now on be referred to by their numbers!”

The elder spread his arms out causing hundreds of thousands of array tracking plates to appear in the air before they set off to their designated person. In the end, every registered participant received a plate. There was only a single one left with the elder, but, having expected this, he twirled it in his finger, a sinister smile playing on his face.

“With this new rule change, there will be less forfeits and more action! Not just that, but lower tier clans have a higher chance of succeeding because more prepared clans won’t be able to prepare for them in advance! This makes the matches much more fair and will make the entertainment just that much more great!”

The crowd didn’t need much convincing, they erupted into cheers, nearly bringing the stadium down again before Elder Er continued.

“Unfortunately, though. As you all can see, there’s just one plate that hasn’t been accounted for.” The elder continued to twirl it in his fingers, allowing the monitors to focus in on his hands.

Ri froze at these words, ‘This was planned!’ Anger began rising in her heart as she felt Primrose’s hand slip into hers, trying to reassure her.

At that same moment, Madeleine sat in the VIP sky box. She was technically meant to be amongst the geniuses, but, if she went down without the ability to speak, ‘it would taint the image of the Sapientia’ as her former master put it. As such, she was forced to stay here. But, she knew the real reason… The real reason was so that she couldn’t see Dyon…

But, when she heard the words of the elder, a small pang of distress inconceivably hit her. ‘Could it be?’ Unfortunately, the more the elder continued to speak, the more and more sure Madeleine became that this missing person was in fact Dyon…

“Because we are aware that the first few days of the tournament are slow, we had allowed for a challenge to be dealt.

As you all may have realized, there’s a newcomer by the name of the demon sage that topped the list in just one campaign!” The elder paused, allowing for the cheers to erupt before he stopped them. “Ah, ah. Don’t be so quick to cheer.

We came to find out through the guild headquarters leader, the honorable Connery Sapientia, that this demon sage was actually a genius array alchemist! Because he had some small affinity for formations, he was lucky enough to stumble upon a way to manipulate the tracking devices and push himself past more deserving warriors to the number one spot!”

Shock reigned through the arena before boos began to fly. This was the ultimate form of shamelessness. The crowd was easily riled up by the words of the elder.

“Of course, this perpetrator categorically denies ever taking such actions, but who are we meant to believe? A person willing to cheat the hard work of those around him? Or a man like Connery Sapientia? A man who was once and still is an orphan. A man who was forced to name his own self. A man who this very day, stands before you all, as the head of the array alchemy and Sapientia God Clans of our universe!”

The crowd cheered, making their position clear. They chose with no hesitation.

The elder laughed. “Well, those who were present agree with you all too. So, in a last and desperate bid to cover his trail, this supposed demon sage challenged the honorable Connery Sapientia to a match. Claiming that should he lose, he would slave for the Sapientia for the rest of his life. And should he win, he would prove that he should be believed above the honorable Sapientia.”

Laughter rang through the crowd. Beat the head of the guild headquarters? What kind of ridiculous notion was that? They saw the demon sage’s act as pitiful.

Ri balled her fists, causing Primrose to wince in pain as she felt her small hand being crushed. ‘They completely ignored the Viridi! And how Dyon didn’t cheat! Dammit!’

“But,” The elder chuckled, “As you can see, he didn’t come. He cowered. Hiding himself away and running like the cheater he is.”

Copious boos rang out from the crowd. Not only had this demon sage lied and cheated, he was a coward. And, worst yet, without him here, the entertainment that had been planned was ruined! They would have loved to see this demon sage lose!

In the other planet section, Eboni was chuckling to herself along with Ode. Even still Ulu was chuckling as well. Although Dyon not being here didn’t bode well, it wasn’t as though he left the planet. If worst came to worst, she could just wait for their elders to finish the important mission they had, then use their soul expertise to track him down.

“That said, we did prepare at least a small punishment for him.” Pointing toward the VIP area kept exclusively for members of the top ten, the elder focused on the area reserved for number one: the demon sage.

The area was in complete shambles.

Where there were meant to be luxurious couches houses broken wooden benches. Where there was meant to be top of the line food housed moldy and cockroach infested breads and cheeses. And finally, where the sign that was meant to read ‘Demon Sage’ hung, it was spray painted over with the words ‘The Cowardly Demon.’

As a finishing touch, the Cavositas had hired an artist to paint Dyon’s likeness before blowing it up to be a large 15 by 15 meter poster. Then used it as the floor of a farm animal pen they housed in the very same area.

The projection of Dyon’s face was sent through the universe even as fresh cow and pig manure fell from unsightly places and onto it.

Dyon had wanted to have his name known throughout the universes… Well, he had gotten his wish…