The world seemed to split down the middle of Dyon's blade. Even the tribulation clouds above almost couldn't withstand the force, causing them to tremble and rumble with anger. To dare attack tribulation clouds?! Was your initial punishment not enough?!
The saber avatar didn't even raise his weapon. In the end, he simply disappeared to the tune of the knife vibrating behind him.
Dyon didn't wait. His anger was raised to such a height that he shot forward without thought, coming upon the dark hooded knife avatar with a single flap of his massive wings.
The truth was that the longer Dyon fought, the more he understood the deficiencies in his technique. Those who were lucky enough to have winged abilities in the martial world were without a doubt the fastest in existence. This was why Dyon was so shocked when those iced wings developed from Ri's delicate back…
Yet, unlike Ri's ice wings, Dyon didn't have any matching techniques to make use of his own. In fact, his efficiency in using his wings was so poor that he barely experienced a boost in speed with each increasing set.
By simple logic, the more wings he had, if he used each set to their maximum, he should have experienced manifold increases in speed. Yet, he hadn't. It was yet another thing that frustrated him to no end.
Almost as to confirm Dyon's thoughts about being too slow, the trembling knife disappeared before he could even reach it, right along with hooded avatar. Before he could even begin to process just what happened, a deadly blow hit the back of his head, turning the entire base of his brain and spinal cord into minced meat.
Dyon's eyes dulled as he fell almost too slowly to the roaring waves below.
The ocean, still separated from his final saber attack, began to collapse around him mere moment later.
From beginning to end, Dyon didn't understand just what happened. Not only his eyes, but his divine sense completely lost track of the hooded avatar.
For all intents and purposes, Dyon's head was detached from his body. If it wasn't for the Dragon Armor wrapped around him, they would have long since separated.
Isla panicked. Although Dyon's life force was still flickering weakly due to his comprehension of death will, his control of his body had dropped to near zero. Even for martial artists, the base of the brain held all of the most basic functions of the human body. For Dyon's to be destroyed so wholly, even if his soul was awake and aware of what was happening, it would have trouble taking control of the body.
The hooded avatar shot after Dyon, blazing forward at a much faster speed than Dyon's natural falling pace could match. It knew its prey wasn't dead yet, so it wanted to make certain to finish its job.
Its body inexplicably vanished once more, disappearing into the dark sky like fleeting smoke.
Head Void wasn't fast enough to do anything. And, even if he was, he couldn't sense the hooded avatar at all. 'This is really how I die? Curse you Snow Clan heiress! Curse you masked bastard! I haven't laid eyes on any one of you, yet my life is forfeit! The heavens truly wish good luck upon you!'
The next moment the hooded avatar appeared it had already reached a space below Dyon's falling body.
Time seemed to slow. Millions of tons of water collapsed around them as a flash of two red lights beamed out from under the avatar's hood.
Isla was panicking. She could feel Ri sending her all of the energy she had, but it simply wasn't quick enough. Even if it was, what would Dyon do about the knife careening toward his head? If his entire brain collapsed, there would be no saving his mortal body and his soul would be all that remained.
In the distance, silence fell over the spectators. They were completely powerless to do anything but watch a young hero seemingly at the end of his life.
Within Dyon's mind's eye, he was roaring in anger. 'You damned toddler, aren't you me?! You can open your eyes and obliterate everything for tens of miles casually, but when my life is on the line you remain silent?!'
This wasn't the first time Dyon had implored the meditating toddler to do something. Yet it never seemed to listen. Dyon simply couldn't understand how it worked.
When he awakened the seed of his Sovereign Dao Heart, one of the nine highest grade hearts there were, what he was certain was a soul attack obliterated the space around him. The attack was so fierce that it went all the way through Earth, a planet millions of miles in circumference!
The second time this almost happened was when he was trying to fuse his Titan Diamond Body constitution. With just a flutter of its eyelashes, the toddler made two constitutions that should have never been able to fuse together bow their heads in submission.
Dyon had thought this was great. Whatever this ability was, it allowed him to attack with the full power of his soul. And although his soul was only at the peak celestial realm, in practice, it was far stronger than even most dao formation souls. If Dyon could attack with the power of a dao formation expert now, wouldn't he be practically invincible?
But… Life was cruel… No matter how much he begged or pleaded, the toddler refused to listen. It was as though Dyon's life and death had nothing to do with it. Whether it be in his confrontation with the bull-bird, or now, he was completely ignored.
Dyon's last desperate plea was ignored by it once again as the knife violently collided with the helm of his Dragon Armor.
Isla tried to restore Dyon's hind brain as quickly as she could. But, despite her best attempts, it simply wasn't fast enough.
Just when Dyon believed he'd probably die here and those in the distance turned away, unwilling to see the death of a genius, a treasure hidden deep within Dyon made its presence known.
The faint vision of a conversation Dyon had with his grand teacher resurfaced in his mind.
~
"Old man, what's this mask? Is it special? Why am I so drawn to it?"
'Your eye is actually quite good,' The old man snorted. 'Although the aura of this mask is only of the 4th supreme grade, that's because it has some internal damage despite its outward appearance being so pristine.
'It was once of the 10th supreme grade, its name is actually quite pretentious and long winded, but given its abilities, it's quite deserving of it.
'It's called: [Swallowing Lightning Willow's Dance].'
…
'The reason it's still here is because just like you, others saw it as a mere 4th grade supreme treasure. But, unlike you, they didn't see how special it was. Your sensitivity to weapons has truly helped you out here.'
"I see…" Dyon's brow furrowed. "How do I fix it?"
'There's nothing to fix, per se. The mask is just running low on quality lightning. In addition, the lightning it needs to raise its grade must be of the tribulation grade, and it also needs to be a dao tribulation. Until then, it will remain of the 4th supreme grade.'
…
'There's about a 10% boost to speed… It contains a lightning legacy… It makes me immune to normal lightning-based attacks and resistant to tribulation lightning… There's a lightning shield that can act as a life saving measure… It has enough lightning remaining to block a single dao formation level attack…'
~
Sensing danger to its master's life, [Swallowing Lightning Willow's Dance] manifested out of Dyon's will.
The clouds above trembled as they faint outline of a bird coated in lightning swooped from the skies.
The speed was so quick that time seemed to stop as it leisurely looked around. After noticing what it had been summoned to do, it flapped its wings gently, carrying its delicate body through the skies with the majesty of an Emperor.
The bird was truly beautiful. Its wing shone with a pristine light only matched by platinum. Each of its individual feathers were perfectly crafted, lined with immaculate patterns that seemed both illusory at times and crystalline at others.
Its head was as proud as a falcons, and its long feathered tails would put even a peacock to shame. Yet, its most shocking feature were the beautiful arcs of lightning that coated its body. Gorgeous blues, healthy greens, shining golds and even overbearing reds… Such a bird didn't seem made for the mortal world, but its curse was just as devastating as its beauty.
