In contrast to the bleak killing intent of the Mino, the approaching army was like a blazing sun of golden flames. Their three leaders, three men Dyon recognized very well, walked forward with an arrogant disdain for their opponents.
When Tau Aumen saw Dyon standing in the sky, his eyes flashed with anticipation. As for his little brother Ur Aumen, he was staring at someone very different: Sarid Jafari. Although he was more than ten years older than Sarid, he was frustrated and jealous by his talent. There was nothing more he wanted to do than defeat Sarid and take Stella from him. He apparently didn't care about how many times Sarid roared that he and Stella were just friends.
As for King Aumen, his eyes sharpened when he saw Dyon. He still remembered that humiliating day when a simple roar from this young man had made him, an esteemed celestial, retreat tens of miles. Seeing Dyon stare at him with those same unafraid eyes, anger he had buried for decades raged to the forefront.
At that moment, a dash of purple light flashed across the side to appear in front of Dyon, causing him to raise an eyebrow.
"Stella Belmont, I presume?" Dyon said with a chuckle. "It's best that you get behind me."
Stella frowned, looking at Dyon. Although her heart skipped a beat when she saw how handsome he was, she immediately regained the composure of Princess.
"It's the responsibility of the Belmont Family to protect this planet, if my father can't do it and my two brothers have disappeared, it's my job. How about you step back?"
Stella had never met Dyon before, but she didn't like his arrogant and casual appearance. And why was everyone letting him stand at the forefront of the army? The Belmonts were still the Royal God Clan of this planet, not whatever clan this young man came from.
Even worse, she had a bad impression of Dyon because it seemed like he was powerful, but he had never taken part in any of the battles before. Why? Was he waiting for when they were at their lowest so he could take the power of the Belmonts right from under their noses?
Dyon had to admit that this little girl was quite amusing, but she seemed confident in her own ability.
She looked very much like a purple clad Valkyrie, even wielding an Amazonian spear as her weapon of choice. Her purple hair whipped in the wind while her one red and one blue eye twinkled with a majesty and aura only a princess could match.
Sarid would have shouted to Stella from below, but she had kept their conversation private using her essence energy so as not to affect the morale of the army. If there was infighting now, it would only be a detriment.
Dyon chuckled and didn't say anything as Stella took the lead. He didn't blame her, anyone who didn't know him, he was a mere 12th stage essence gatherer. But… To those who did know him, they knew his energy cultivation was his weakest strength…
"Clans of Earth, with me!" The young teenage girl roared, cutting through the beating drums of the Mino and the arrogance of the Aumens. Not an ounce of fear on her delicate features as flames of red and blue blazed around her.
Dyon couldn't help but chuckle. He remembered when Stella was just a gurgling baby, he had even played with her as a toddler when he awoke from his coma. He might have asked for be her god father as well if it hadn't been for his grudge against the Belmont family. Plus, while he was good friends with Zabia, the same couldn't be said for King Belmont, so it was inappropriate.
Stella sensed an odd atmosphere after her roar, but that could only be expected. Dyon had just told them not to charge at all, but now Stella was telling them the exact opposite after rushing here from her training.
Of course, if they had to choose who to listen to, the answer was simple: Dyon. He was more powerful, older, and more battle tested. Although Stella was a great talent, she was still barely 16 years old.
However, Dyon had no intention of embarrassing Stella, so he quickly winked the army, nudging his head forward before pulling out a plain bow.
Those who were astute had a bit of an understanding about what happened, so they understood Dyon's intentions and followed up Stella's call with a roar of their own.
Hearing this reply, Stella finally calmed her nerves. She had never taken her eyes off the enemy because of how blatantly stupid that would be. It wasn't as though she had divine sense like Dyon. However, Dyon's plan of not bruising Stella's ego didn't last for long before the arrogant Tau Aumen ruined it all.
"Dyon! You finally crawled out of the hole you were hiding in?! Do you dare to fight me?!"
The battlefield became awashed with silence.
'Dyon? Who?' Stella's delicate neck snapped back to the handsome young man she had charged ahead of, a young man who happened to be rubbing his nose and avoiding her eye contact.
"Who are you?" Stella multi-colored eyes sharpened, looking at Dyon. "You can't be? Dyon Sacharro?"
Seeing that Dyon was still avoiding eye contact, Stella's sharp look softened considerably as she fair skin turned a furious shade of red. She looked down toward the lake below them, wondering how long it would take for a cultivator to drown. If there was no ground for her to hide in, water would have to do.
Dyon laughed at Stella's adorable reaction. However, this didn't make Stella feel any better. She had lost count of the number of times she had seen the replays of Dyon's fights. The problem was that he was just a teenage boy then, but now he had grown into a man. Not even mentioning the fact he had somehow become far more handsome, something Stella hadn't thought was possible.
Feeling a large, warm hand ruffle her hair, Stella's blush deepened causing the sound of hearts breaking to overwhelm the battlefield.
"Just relax." Dyon said with a bright smile. "How about you let your Uncle handle the rest? This war will end today."
Stella nodded slowly before obediently taking her position behind Dyon. However, her calming nerves flared up again when she remembered why Dyon would call himself her Uncle. The image of her 2-year-old self clinging to Dyon resurfaced as she adorably stomped in the air.
Dyon laughed to himself wildly, his voice booming over the battlefield with such vigor that those with keen senses immediately understood that he wasn't to be trifled with.
Tau Aumen launched himself into the air, appearing just five meters from Dyon blazing with a golden light.
"For years I've had to listen to how I wasn't the first of our generation. Did I not place first in the World Tournament? And yet you all dare disrespect me like this? Today is the day your legend comes crashing down!" Tau roared at Dyon, his anger boiling.
Dyon looked past Tau to see the Heads of the Geb and Horus God Clans, families under the Aumen Royal God Clan, fuming.
It was no surprise that they hated Dyon's guts. After all, he had been the reason their daughters died. Of course, the two of them would never mention how their daughters' cheating almost cost him two wives, but Dyon didn't expect them to. He just calmly added them to list of individuals who had to die.
Tau's rage reached the extreme as rings of golden flame wafted out from him. "After all these years, you're still a pitiful essence gatherer. I will show you the power of a saint!"
It was no surprise that he was enraged by Dyon ignoring him, and even less surprising that he charged forward like a raging bull.
At the end of the World Tournament, because he had to save Meiying, Dyon didn't qualify to fight in the top two, leaving the match to Tau and Lionel. However, instead of being crowned as the number one of their generation as he should have been after Lionel's bloodline was stripped from him, Tau only heard about Dyon.
Despite not having qualified for the top two, no one believed that there was a member of the younger generation who was superior to Dyon. This fact alone caused a flame of rage to burn within Tau. This day… This day was one he had been waiting for, for a long time.
His fist flew forward at blinding speeds, shattering the sound barrier as rings of flames extended along his arm.
"[Lion Sun God's Rage: 6th Roar]!"
A sinister light flashed in Tau's eyes as his fist landed squarely on Dyon's chest before erupting into cacophonic booms.
