Dyon's rage had reached the pinnacle, even the space around him trembled in anger.
The moment Dyon realized that the tribulation had somehow ended ahead of time, he realized that he now had an opportunity to deal a blow to Head Void. Of all the reasons he could think of, there were only two possibilities: either his soul was involved, or his mask's life saving ability had been triggered.
In the end, the answer became obvious when he saw the depleted state his mask was in… It was no longer anything but a normal piece of metal-wood… Valuable, yes. But, currently useless until Dyon managed to find for dao level tribulation lightning.
Having come to that conclusion, Dyon lay in wait, knowing that if he survived, Head Void had also survived. Isla quickly reaffirmed the connection between his brain and his spinal cord before Dyon finished the rest of the healing himself the moment he regained control of his body.
If it was up to Dyon, he would have used the aurora steps to suppress Head Void long ago, however, he knew that he couldn't…
As a treasure of the 33 heavens, the aurora steps had both a passive and active ability. Its passive ability called upon the universe to awaken one's aurora, while its active ability allowed direct suppression of another's soul scaling to its owner's soul strength.
With an opponent like Head Void who already had a far weaker soul than Dyon to begin with, on the surface, it seems questionable that Dyon would rather put his life on the line than use this treasure of his, but he of course had his reasons.
For one, the aurora steps only suppressed movement. Unfortunately, it didn't actually attack one's soul, but rather applied pressure depending on its owner's abilities.
When Dyon used this ability against Elder Daiyu, the first problem he ran into was the fact that even while immobile, he had no means to kill Elder Daiyu. He couldn't apply enough power into his strikes to deal a blow to him even when he couldn't raise a hand to defend himself.
In order to behead Elder Daiyu, Dyon had to burn his soul, raise it to the level of the 12th stage or peak dao formation realm, break into the Weapon's Master realm, and then pour all of that power into a single swing…. Yet, Elder Daiyu wasn't even a true dao formation expert! He had fallen into the celestial realm!
Secondly, Dyon was aware that when using a soul path treasure of the 33 heavens, it was impossible for him to split the tasks of his soul. Meaning, he couldn't use the aurora steps and devour at the same time, at best he could only switch between them…
He was too weak to use these treasures for more than a few seconds at a time to begin with. One had to remember that Dyon had to burn his soul to even have enough strength to use his manifestations and the aurora steps at the same time during his fight with Elder Daiyu and Loki.
Simply put, if Dyon used the aurora steps, he and Head Void would enter a stalemate where neither could do anything. In the end, Dyon would run out of stamina and pay severely.
That said, Dyon saw through this issue before hand, and devised a different plan entirely.
His first step: do as much damage to Head Void's soul as he could.
His second step: deplete his energy to the lowest levels possible.
And his third step: …
Dyon's hand clasped over Head Void's head. He didn't bother wasting his time squeezing. However, his actions alone filled Head Void with a sense of undying humiliation.
There was nothing Head Void could do. His energy remained dormant, his wills were even further away due to this soul suppression, and even his lips could only quiver with great difficulty.
Dyon's fierce eyes warmed when his gaze shifted to Clara. His original plan involved him being injured severely by a dao formation level attack, however, with Clara here now, there was no longer a need to do so.
However, he hesitated. Clara had never killed in before, even until now she hadn't… Although Ri and Madeleine had long since been baptized in blood, Clara had spent her days in a forging room before a furnace…
Seeing Dyon's complex expression, Clara's heart seized. She was too clever to not understand what Dyon thought of asking her to do.
"Back away." Dyon said in a gruff voice. "I'll be fine. At worst, I'll lay in bed for a few weeks. I promise. If you're too close for the next step, you'll get hurt."
Clara's eyes glistened as she looked into Dyon's. To everyone else, Dyon's current appearance was too much to handle… Their hearts couldn't help but tremble at the sight of him.
His body stood over ten meters tall, the armor that coated his body and the wings that spread from his back made him look like a God descended from the skies, but the blood that caked the outside of this once pristine black, dragon armor struck fear into all those who stood before him…
Yet, to Clara, she could only see the same kind eyes of the little boy she had grown up with.
She knew that Dyon's stamina would run out in just another second or two, so that was when she made the decision to finally step over the line. From this day forth, no longer would she think about what her life would have been like as a person of the mortal realm… Today, she stepped into the martial world in full force.
With a determined step forward, Clara glided through the skies, pressing her delicate hand to Head Void's forehead.
"Devour."
The moment Clara's hand touched his forehead, Head Void fell into a state of panic. This panic only increased when he realized that his soul was being eaten away at. What did an essence gathering level soul have in front of a celestial soul? Not a damn thing.
"No! Please! I –"
In a mere fraction of a second, Head Void's eyes lost their color as his body became nothing more than an empty husk.
Dyon tossed his body into the seal and leaped forward to catch Clara's paling body. By all rights, using devour on someone who couldn't fight back should have made you stronger, but Clara seemed completely devoid of strength.
Dyon's armor disappeared along with the aurora steps as his body shrunk down. He held onto Clara's trembling body… Even though they had won, somehow he felt that it was the opposite.
Clara's body was as light as a feather. This wasn't just due to Dyon's overwhelming strength, but a direct result of her Wind Spirit Body.
Usually, the Wind Spirit Body was only categorized as a heaven grade constitution because when it manifested in a human, it would have many drawbacks. This is because like Dyon's Titan constitution and Ri's Elvin constitution, it too was meant for its race. This was none other than the race that dominated the Modern Era: The Sprites.
This in combination with the fact that wind is a relatively weak elemental will is the reason why the Wind Spirit Constitution wasn't deemed good enough to be a God Grade constitution… However, Clara had something other wielders of this body didn't have.
The third constitution Clara chose was the very same one Dyon chose: Eternity's Balance. Because of this, this God Grade constitution was able to perfectly balance the sprite race characteristics with Clara and allow her to tap into more of its abilities. One result of that was this drastic change in Clara's weight.
For a girl who stood around 5'7 like Clara and Ri, a weight of about 120 pounds was normal. However, Clara weighed half of that! In fact, Clara could become even more weightless if she so chose… This ability in combination with affinity for wind was responsible for the Wind Spirit Body's blazing speed.
Having her in your arms was akin to holding a fragile work of art, Dyon almost didn't dare to squeeze too hard.
Clara's arms involuntarily wrapped around Dyon's large back, sinking into the warmth of his skin. Although he was sweaty and bloody, he somehow smelt like the best thing in the world… A combination of pine needles and cinnamon that made Clara's legs feel even weaker.
Dyon grit his teeth. His anger should have dissipated, but it was still there. He, Dyon Sacharro, was put into such a pathetic state that he had to put his wife in danger in order to escape. What kind of man was he?
If he stood above the universe itself, would anyone dare to make his wives do something they didn't want to? Would anyone dare to even have a bad thought about him?
He held Clara's head to chest gently. "Never again."
