Eli shook his head furiously, “This wasn’t your fault. Don’t think that way. You did the right thing… Those students shouldn’t have had to die without anyone knowing who was responsible.”

Dyon sighed. No matter what Eli said, he just didn’t feel right about it. If he had waited until he was powerful enough, then called the big sect’s out on their horrible deeds, wouldn’t the result have been better. In fact, didn’t he have the power to wipe the Big Sects out alone right now? He didn’t need his puppets or his demon generals. Those low level 6th grade essence gathering experts were nothing but fodder to Dyon right now.

“This wouldn’t be the Elvin Kingdom declaring war on the Ragnor God Clan, now would it?” Vidar Ragnor immediately recognized Eli for his scar.

Ri snorted. “If you think your Ragnor Clan can match up to us, have at it.”

Vidar’s brow furrowed. “It seems like the Elvin Princess doesn’t know her history. Maybe I should enlighten you and your husband.”

Ri smiled. “There’s no need. It was your main clan that helped up. You’re nothing but the fodder they sent to this universe. Would you still like to take credit for that?”

Vidar and Elof’s lips twitched at Ri’s provocation. They had thought she was simply a side character, but who would have known that he tongue would be so sharp.

“We would, of course, never start a war over a single slave. If you’d like him, take him as a sign of good will. In fact, we’ve already done our due diligence in marking him for you. If you’d like, we can give him a second scarring too.” Vidar sneered, unwilling to lose this war of words. 𝘪𝘳.𝒸𝘰𝑚

“Scar?” Dyon said faintly. “You think such a weak family would be able to scar a brother of mine?”

Vidar’s brows furrowed, “What nonsense are you talking about? There’s nothing capable of removing those – “

Dyon’s hand moved, ignoring Vidar’s response to cover Eli’s hand that was still on his face. “You never need to worry about something like.” Dyon lightly gripped Eli’s hand, nodding his head and asking Eli to trust him.

Ri smiled. She had seen Eli in full view just hours before. How could she not be aware that Dyon had long since removed any ridiculous semblance of a scar. With a wave of her hand, a dense and circular piece of ice appeared as she circulated her ice will.

“Take a look, Eli.”

After reluctantly allowing Dyon to remove his hand from his face, Eli shyly looked up only to find a scene he could hardly believe.

He rushed up, nearly losing his footing on the ruined rooftop, but still gripping the sides of the ice and ignoring the cold the threatened to freeze his fingers off.

Ri giggled. “Be careful. Watch your hands!”

When Vidar saw this scene, his face couldn’t help but twist in disgust. Although others might not know, he knew fully well how difficult it was to remove those scars.

Much like Ri had when she fought Jade, the Ragnor poured copious amounts of will into the slave brands. The more power that was used to damage something, the more power it took to heal it. And, that case was especially true when it came to purging a body part of wills. Something that Jade had learned to hard way.

Tears threatened to spill over from Eli’s eyes. “Thank you… Thank you Dyon.”

Dyon lightly smiled. “Don’t be ridiculous. Take this as only step one of my apology. There are many other things to come.”

Eli immediately composed himself, remembering that they had been in an odd situation before and suddenly realizing that a very tall and greying man was slowly losing his patience.

“Tell me Eli,” Dyon continued, ignoring the angered Connery Sapientia. “How many members of the Viridi family are there?”

“34… Not including me, 33.” Eli didn’t understand why Dyon had asked, but he answered truthfully anyway.

Turning his attention to Connery Sapientia, Dyon continued. “As you can see, your excuses and feigned attempts at buying time are useless.” Dyon didn’t hold back in his words at all, letting Connery know that he had seen through them.

“I am the leader of not one, but two guilds. I am already a master level practitioner. And since you want to make this a wager, let’s make it a wager then.”

Dyon smiled lightly as Connery was slowly losing control of his ability to keep his emotions in check.

“There are 33 Viridi family members. They’re still alive, regardless of the condition that they’re in.

Give me their slave plates right now, and I’ll agree to wager my freedom. In fact, I’ll even allow you to put a slave seal in me.”

Connery’s eyes flashed at this. If Dyon allowed a slave seal to be put in him, that was much different than it being forced. When there were two consenting parties to a seal, only death of one person would undo its effects. Dyon was essentially wagering the rest of his life.

“Why should I give you the plates first? What kind of ridiculous deal works that way?”

“It’s simple, really. My only real obligation is to provide you with a grandmaster level weapon. It was you who brought up wagering my life, that was completely out of bounds. So, since you want to be so shameless, I thought I’d give you a handicap. After all, maybe if I’m worried about losing my life to you, I’ll mess up and give you a chance to win.” Dyon smiled lightly.

Silence.

This level of arrogance was ridiculous. This was a eighteen-year-old boy challenging a grandmaster formation expert as though he himself were already leagues beyond him.

“In fact, I’ll give you an even greater handicap. You get to choose the events. In fact, choose three. If I lose even one, you win.”

Suddenly, Connery began laughing as he flicked the ring that held the Viridi family slave plates to Dyon.

“This should be a grand event.” Connery laughed, “We’ll do it as a close to the first day of the world tournament. That way, even my Little Madeleine can watch you become a slave for the rest of her days. Then you can watch as she marries off to someone worthy.”

Dyon didn’t say anything, instead choosing to leave under a chorus of laughter and sneers.

Whether it be Eboni and Ode, or the Niveus Matriarch, or the young geniuses of Earth and the other planets, there wasn’t a soul that believed Dyon hadn’t just agreed to sign his life away.

Only Eli, Ri and the demon generals clearly understood why Dyon had chosen this path. And maybe only they believed he could do it.

.𝒎