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nThere was little time to react. Or, more accurately, the only expert within range to react was Elder Den, and he had no intention of doing so.

nCelestial level experts could make cover the distance in but an instant as well, especially someone as formidable as Kawa, but Dyon had said he would handle. So, Kawa trusted him.

nBlinding pillars of saint energy cracked the arena beneath the feet of the two girls as they began to power their techniques. In all of this, how could the crowd not tell what was happening? Even though many of them didn’t have talent comparable to the participants, that didn’t mean they didn’t understand cultivation and the martial world. Being able to manipulate saint energy was difficult but being able to recognize it when it was placed so blatantly before you was a simple task.

nThe “technique” Ode and Eboni were making use of could hardly be called that. After all, they were mere essence gathering experts, how could they possibly manipulate saint energy?

nNo. What was happening was something entirely different.

nThe Geb God Clan specialized in all sort of paths related to earth. Some were more useful than others, but there was no doubt that all of its resources stemmed from this single will.

nDyon was already familiar with three. The first was one he himself used in the amplification path. The second was one that Eboni had tried but miserably failed at using in the hardening path. The third was the leeching path Iris used, which was in many ways a variation of the path being used now. But this was still a different path. It was known as the absorption path.

nThis was a path that had many applications. It was very useful for defense and could also be used in very low-level storage rings. But, as it was being used now, was as a power source for the weak.

nAs a life protection treasure, the Geb were capable of providing their geniuses with an absorption path crystal capable of powering their techniques in a tight situation. This was nothing like energy crystals.

nEnergy crystals contained essence, saint, celestial, or higher forms of energy in their raw and unrefined forms. However, absorption path crystals provided already processed energy to fuel attacks. All one needed to do was cast their technique within the energy pillar provided by the absorption crystal. This would result in the crystals absorbing said technique, melding it with the higher level of energy, before blasting it outwards in a direction dictated by the user.

nIt went without saying how difficult it was to refine these crystals and how rare those who mastered this path were. After all, in battle applications, absorption path experts could absorb the attacks of opponents and reflect them at a higher power!

nThis difficulty was exactly why saint energy was usually the cap of these life saving treasures. To find an expert with masterful enough absorption will, capable of absorbing celestial or an even higher energy, was simply too difficult.

nBut. For now. Ode and Eboni both had the power of a lower saint.

nSerious expressions colored Ri and Madeleine’s features. They needed an instant to realize what it was they were dealing with. Anger boiled over in their hearts.

nIt wasn’t enough to try and abuse the tournament system to tire them, but now they wanted to cheat?

nCheating wouldn’t have even been so bad had they clearly not had every intention of killing them. What were they thinking?!

nThe truth was that Planet Deimos had already thought this through. Everyone could see that Madeleine’s relationship with the Sapientia had been severed regardless of whatever flowery words Connery used. And, everyone had just witnessed the power display of King Acacia.

nTo the crowd, he was an untouchable expert. But, to the God and Royal God Clan heads? He was a mere first level celestial expert. They didn’t put him in their eyes at all.

nFemi Geb knew all of this well. Or, more accurately, Tau Aumen had calculated all of this. So, they went forward with their plan. A place in the top ten was simply too important for reasons even Dyon didn’t know just yet. Because of this, they couldn’t afford Dyon taking up a spot. They needed to find a way to throw him off his game.

nFemi, of course, didn’t see it this way. To him, he was only ensuring that Dyon challenged him. But, Tau was working on a much deeper level.

nRi and Madeleine erupted.

nA blazing violet phoenix blocked out the skies as Madeleine’s purple hair fluttered in the wind. Her transcendent level dress blossomed, radiating out and amplifying her aura as her arms spread from herself.

nRi’s manifestations descended. A dark fox crowned itself with a blinding crown. Vicious growls filled the arena as her ten tails whipped around violently.

nThe tempest of winds crashed into the iced warriors, shattering them where they stood.

nMadeleine’s lyre raised into the air, a melody continuously building as her sharp purple eyes bore into the Ode the stood before her.

nRi’s ice will boosted itself powered by her manifestations, tearing through the intent barrier as she did something she warned Dyon never to do. She stepped into the level of an intent without being an essence gathering expert!

n“Ice Petal’s Dance. Third Petal.” Ri’s delicate skin reddened as dark golden hues raged around her even as a massive lily appeared above her fox manifestation.

nEboni and Ode sneered at Ri and Madeleine’s attempts. In their eyes, how could they ever match up to an attack powered by saint energy. It was futile. They would die where they stood!

n“Geb’s Might, Third Pillar!” Eboni’s voice screeched as she pushed her technique to the limit. Never before had she had enough power to see this set of techniques through to the third pillar. But, with the help of the absorption crystals, she felt invincible!

nThree pillars tens of meters thick descended from the skies. They were almost works of art, shining through in a crystalline light even as fires of the atmosphere burned around their fast approach.

n“Horus’ Sky, Fourth Compression. Heaven’s Eruption!” Ode didn’t lag behind. The skies violently shook as a violent tempest of wind condensed again and again, spinning viciously around itself.

nBarely a fraction of a second had passed. But now, there was a pillar of untold might bearing down on Ri and a sphere of condensed air ready to detonate at any moment.

nIn their way stood two beautiful women with auras of unmatched elegance. Not a drop of fear on either one of their faces.

nRi’s eyes sharpened as she strained to control her Ice Petal Dance’s third stance.

nThe massive ice lily flipped in the skies, orienting itself as a shield facing the massive pillars of diamond attempting to crush Ri to death.

n‘Not enough…’ Ri had boosted her ice will to the first intent level, but she felt that this was still lacking.

nThis Ice Petal’s Dance was her mother’s technique. And, the reality of the matter was that she never had very much affinity for it at all.

nIf others were to hear this, they’d find it ridiculous. After all, this was a heaven level technique, and Ri had already learned the third stance of nine at just 15 years old, and yet she lamented her slow pace!

nBut, Ri could feel it. And, it had become even more clear when she awakened her faith seed properly. Ice wasn’t her path to take. However, what could she do? She hadn’t had enough time to practice the void kitsune legacy techniques.

nBecause she had erased her cultivation, she had spent her entire eight-week training time energy cultivating. In the end, she had raised her cultivation to the near peak of the 12th meridian formation level! She only had three more meridians to open to reach the absolute peak. But, that had come at the expense of techniques.

nThat said, Ri wasn’t one to give up so easily.

nShe had already lost once, and she was still holding onto that anger. It was this woman that had nearly caused her to never be able to birth her love’s child. What if Dyon wasn’t a soul expert? What if he hadn’t been able to cure her?

nEboni had acted with every intention of Ri being caused permanent damage. And she was doing so again! Ri couldn’t forgive that! She wouldn’t.

nHer dark gold aura raged more and more violently. The once bright blue ice lily began to darken, blackening without reserve as the temperature continued to fall further and further.

nThe dichotomy set by Madeleine and Ri shouldn’t be underestimated.

nRi’s abyssal ice and Madeleine’s blazing flames threatened to clash and erupt into a tempest of endless destruction.

nMadeleine’s lyre had raised into the air, continuously playing its melody as the cries of a phoenix oscillated an unrelenting heat through the arena.

nAs mad as Ri was, how could Madeleine not also be angered? The martial world had never ceased in disgusting her. From her birth and her every interaction with Connery Sapientia, she had been taught again and again how much emphasis these sick people placed on their own benefits. And now they were willing to kill her and her sister simply out of spite?!

n“Phoenix’s Cry.” Madeleine’s voice cut through everything as her intent level music will laced with her voice. “Violet Hell.”

nOde’s attack careened forward. From the beginning to now, her and Madeleine had been warring for dominion over the air. Back then, she had thought that she was winning, but it was clear in the end that Madeleine had only been toying with her.

nNow though, Ode was making use of a legacy technique of her clan.

nAir molecules were volatile, especially at high pressures. If they were compressed enough, they could erupt with power few things could match. Even worse, Ode was utilizing this technique’s fourth compression!

nShe had calculated that with the boost provided to her by the absorption crystals, handling that level of compression would be just fine.

nBut, Madeleine was a Sapientia. How many could claim to understand the laws of the world more than she? Especially if they were around her age.

nMadeleine’s flames heated the air, agitating Ode’s technique. In an instant, the challenge of maintaining the fourth compression as it descended increased to that of the fifth compression. And then the sixth!

nOn the other platform, Eboni’s laugh filled the stadium as her pillars smashed into Ri’s black ice lily. The sound was nearly unbearable, and the shattering of Ri’s defenses happened near instantaneously.

n“DIE!” Eboni’s snicker was as though she was proud of her accomplishment. As though it was her and her alone that had earned this victory. She was truly disgusting. Her beauty meant next to nothing.

nBlood dripped from Ri’s lips as she struggled to stave off the attack. But, her eyes were filled with determination.

nThe pillars began to freeze over, cracking under the pressure of an absolute level of ice.

nRi had acknowledged that Ice Petal’s Dance wasn’t matched well with her affinities. But, she moved forward anyway! If it wasn’t suited for her, she would just have to make it so!

nRi’s void will tore into the level of intent, increasing the strain on her body even further. She cared little for the consequences and only saw victory.

n“I won’t lose to the likes of you.” Ri and Madeleine seemed to speak in unison.

nOde and Eboni’s sneers froze.

nA wild condensed sphere of air was shaking violently in the air even as Ode tried to force it forward.

nA pillar of diamond was meant to crash forward, but suddenly its momentum had stopped.

nOne beauty with long flowing jet black hair and the eyes of a beast stood tall even as her eyes bore into a pillar that had stopped mere inches from her delicate features.

nAnother beauty with flaming violet hair stood as a Goddess among women, her phoenix’s cry beginning to reach its peak.

n“Little Sister Ri, prepare yourself.” Madeleine spoke faintly. “I trust that this will be over in but a moment…”

nOde watched in shock as cracks filled her sphere of condensed air. “No. No.”

nIt hadn’t moved forward far enough! If it exploded here, especially with the increase in pressure, they would all suffer!

nRi smiled even as her sword pierced forward, shattering the three pillars that had stalled before her in a single swing.

nAnd then there was nothing. There was no sight. There was no hearing. There was no feeling. There was only an eruption of untold magnitude. And with it stood two women with backs straight and proud.

nOde’s technique erupted. Air particles rushed outward so quickly that anything in its way was violently bombarded with heat that could melt the bones of even essence gathering level experts.

nMadeleine and Ri’s ice and fire rose into the air, fueling the explosion even further as the sharp cool and hot air burst into a tornado of ice and fire.

nThe ground shattered as clouds of dust burst from the ground. The tiles ripped upwards, leaving an ever deepening crater in its wake.

nIt was as though a meteor had crashed down from the skies. The heat threatened to burn everything in its wake and the patches of cold threatened to freeze you down to your core. The blast was unforgiving and relentless, spreading outwards hundreds of meters.

nThe crowd didn’t know how to feel. One moment, they were enjoying a battle of beauties, and the very next, an explosion of unprecedented magnitude had blurred their vision to what was going on.

nBut, what was clear was that there were casualties. And many at that.

nMany of the warriors who had stood near the arena and hadn’t been caught in Ri’s initial ice blast screamed in agony as their skin singed and blistered.

nMany lost limbs and maybe even more died. The blast was unforgiving and didn’t discriminate. Those that died were already among the weakest to begin with. These were the warriors given a second chance, and as such, they were many of the warriors not powerful enough to be worthy of the top 100 ranks. How could they possibly survive such a blast?

nFrom beginning to end, less than a second had passed. And yet, the damage caused was irreparable.

nElder Den stood in the skies completely unfazed. A thick shield of saint energy covered him, leaving him completely untouched. After all, how could a blast caused by lower saint level energy ever effect him as a peak saint?

nThat said, he still chuckled to himself silently. ‘Maybe if I’m lucky that Dyon eyesore will die in this explosion too. After all, he was fairly close to the arena to being with.’

nThe dust began to settle, and only then did Elder Den begin to compose himself, trying to adjust his features into the proper level of condolence. He at least had to pretend as though he cared about these deaths, anyway.

nAside from Ri, Madeleine, Ode and Eboni, there had been six other nearby participants that made up the rest of the top 20. However, from beginning to end, none of them had fought a single battle. Unlike the weaker warriors though, they had immediately sensed the danger and left the radius of the blast as soon as they had sensed saint energy. To them, those four were without a doubt dead!

nOde had never expected her attack to back fire upon herself, but she had underestimated Madeleine far too much. Madeleine was far too intelligent.

nThe Horus clan’s air condensation technique made used of compressed air to reach atomic bomb level of blasts to even beyond that. However, that relied on the air’s innate want to be separated and free – a property that would become even more violent as the air heated. This was why water became a gas. The hotter an area was, the more agitated particles became, and the more volatile they acted.

nHowever, Madeleine hadn’t stopped there. She then went to further use her Phoenix cry ability to even further agitate the technique.

nWhile the heat pushed it to the sixth level of condensation, something that should have only been possible after Ode truly stepped into the saint realm, the music will vibrated the air even more violently to push it to the eighth level of condensation!

nThe technique became too much of Ode to even think of controlling, causing it to crack and burst in on itself before it could even reach Madeleine!

nThe original form of the technique was meant to combine the blast with a sheet of protection so that only the target would suffer. The higher level of condensation, the stronger this layer had to be. But, Madeleine had completely destroyed this layer of protection, causing the blast radius to expand violently.

nIn the end, the time it took for the dust to settle took longer than even the end of the battles itself. The crowd could only look down at a massive crater spanning hundreds of meters. But, the truly awe inspiring part was that it was just as deep as it was wide…

nElder Den took a deep breath, shaking his head in practiced sympathy, “It is a shame that the final preliminary rounds had to come to a conclusion in such a way.”

nFemi Geb, who was off in the Planet Deimos section trembled in anger. That was his little sister! She wasn’t supposed to die! ‘Dyon!’

nAn irrational anger came over him. As though it was all Dyon’s fault that this had happened to begin with.

n‘If he hadn’t cheated, I would have never had to do this! I’ll kill you with my own hands!’

n“However, this is the way of the martial world,” Elder Den continued. “Those who aren’t fated must make way for those who are… It is only a shame that they were so talented and beautiful and yet died so young…”

nSuddenly, a flash of gold caused Elder Den to freeze.

n“You…” The words stammered out of his mouth even as everyone in attendance trained their gaze into the air just above the crater.

nThere stood Dyon leisurely, a small smile playing his features. Ri stood to his left, her face a bit pale at the strain of pushing herself so far, but very much still alive. To his right stood Madeleine, her face the picture of serenity despite the thin layer of sweat that covered her delicate features.

nIt was clear that they had both exerted themselves to the extreme. But, they were still perfectly healthy.

nThat said, what shocked people the most wasn’t just the presence of those three. It was the appearance of two more girls. Ode and Eboni…

nThey dropped down to the round, confusion coloring their features as they looked around. A mere moments ago they could have sworn that they were dead!

nA faint happiness caused them to look at each other and laugh. They were alive!

nFemi breathed a sigh of relief, his anger dissipating somewhat, but his resolve to kill Dyon still very strong. He didn’t seem to realize that it was because of Dyon that his sister was alive at all. Or, more accurately, he didn’t care.

n‘Saving her isn’t going to save you. The fact you even did so shows that you’re scared of me. Do you think you’re doing me a favor? I’m going to stomp your head down beneath my feat!’ Femi sneered as he looked at Dyon in the skies.

n“Thadius!” Dyon’s voice boomed. In an instant, a robust man appeared by Dyon’s side, a serene expression on his face as he waited for his orders.

nDyon looked down at Ode and Eboni who were still smiling to themselves.

n“Do you know why I saved you two?” Dyon asked, his voice being projected to the whole arena.

nEboni’s smile twisted into a frown as she looked up at Dyon. “Why are you asking the obvious? It’s clearly because you’re afraid of my elder brother’s retaliation. You’re nothing but a fake ranker and you’re willing to do anything to maintain that façade for as long as possible. Heck, Iris is from your planet, you probably gave her some benefits to lose on purpose.”

nOde sneered to the side, clearly agreeing with her enemy’s sentiments. Why else would Dyon save them? He was scared of the retaliation of their planet’s geniuses, obviously. Ode’s elder sibling wasn’t in the real top ten like Eboni’s, but they were still ranked high in the top 20. It’s clear Dyon didn’t want to face him.

n“Wrong.” Dyon’s smile didn’t fade. “I saved you two because I didn’t want any misunderstandings.”

n“Obviously.” Ode sneered, “That’s what we said. You want to save yourself.”

nDyon shook his head, “I just didn’t want anyone thinking that you died because I had an inability to save you from the blast.”

nConfusion colored Ode and Eboni’s features. What was he talking about?

n“It’s simple really,” Dyon continued, “Had you died in the explosion, and I only saved my wives, people might think it was because I had an inability to save more than two people. If people thought that, then they wouldn’t know that I had deliberately let you die.”

n“What?…” Ode and Eboni spoke at once.

n“Still don’t get it?” Dyon’s eyes sharpened. “I want everyone here to know that your lives were in my hands, and I chose to end them.

nThadius.”

n“Yes, successor?”

n“Kill them both.”

nOde and Eboni only had time for despair and unwillingness to flash in their eyes. Femi didn’t even have the time to move an inch. He couldn’t rage like he usually did. And he certainly couldn’t stop what was happening.

nSaint energy slowly descended from the skies, crushing the two at a leisurely enough pace for them to hear Dyon’s final words to them before their eyes dimmed for the final time as their bodies were grinded into paste.

n“I thought I had made it very clear that your ranks mean nothing to me?”

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