Clara trembled, but didn't say anything. She only shook her head… Her meaning was clear. Even if she had to do in a thousand more times, she would.
Pulling back, Clara looked up at Dyon with reddened eyes. "You look much better like this," She teased, "My husband is prettier than me, how embarrassing."
Dyon grinned. "Never that."
Just as he was about to continue teasing Clara, a streak of blue light crossed the dark ocean's surface to fly into his arms as well. Who else could it be if not Ri?
"Stupid. Stupid! STUPID!! STUPID!!!" Ri coated her fists in void will and pounded away at Dyon's chest.
Dyon grimaced. This was definitely not a pain he could ignore.
"Okay! Okay! I'm sorry!" Holding two beauties in his arms, Dyon felt more relaxed than he had in months. Those in the distance could only sigh. Maybe if they were willing to put their lives on the line, they two would have such beauties by their side.
Sarid's clenched fists finally loosened as he laughed uproariously into the sky. For a 15yo boy, his demeanor was far too imposing for those close by to take.
As for Princess Stella, she snorted in jealousy, looking away from Dyon and his two wives. "Men." She said with rolled eyes.
That aside, the sound of Kedar's broken heart resounded through hundreds of miles. Seeing his cold Beautiful Sister in the arms of another man who didn't even devote his heart entirely to her alone was too much for the young man to take.
"Let go of me! I'll fight him to the death!"
Two young men that came from his same tribe tried their best to hold him back.
"Calm down big brother! Look at his strength, we're no match for him right now!"
"Plus, if you step off this carriage pulled by Little Wind, you'll die! You can't fly!" The other chimed in.
"I don't care! I'll swim to them if I have to! Let me at him!"
The Mortal Clan geniuses laughed lightly. It seemed that months of oppression had finally been lifted.
...
Not long after, Dyon had made his way to the 36 youngsters of the Mortal Clan. It didn't take much for him to notice Kedar's gritting teeth and the rest of their amused expressions.
However, watching Dyon from a distance and seeing him so close to them now were too completely different concepts. Even while being bare chested and wearing ragged sweatpants, Dyon's demeanor was no less than that of an Emperor of a thousand nations.
Allura's shy eyes shined as she couldn't seem to take her eyes off of him while Sibyl displayed an odd combination of battle intent and thigh squeezes. As members of the mortal realm, never had these two young girls seen a man so handsome. Still, it was clear to even them that he had no interest. The caring look in his eye was more akin to a big brother than a potential lover.
Suddenly, Dyon looked up to see groups of people preparing to leave.
"Wait," His voice travelled across tens of miles with little to no effort. "The events of today aren't as clean cut and concluded as you all believe. If you'd like to survive to see the end of the year… It's best you listen to what I have to say."
These words of Dyon immediately caught their attention. Who wouldn't be concerned with their own mortality?
As Dyon's eyes scanned through the few thousand of them that had appeared, he suddenly noticed an odd pair. It looked like a young woman grabbing the hand of a middle-aged man to stop him from running away.
"Meiying? Head Bai?"
Hearing his name called, Qiangda froze before reddening from head to toe.
With a happy grin on her face, Meiying skipped through the skies like a little girl, knowing her father couldn't escape now even if he wanted to. But, what Dyon couldn't help but stare at were the small but profound blooms of violet that followed her delicate feet with every step.
As though she was a little sister seeing her elder brother for the first time in a long time, Meiying dove into Dyon's arms before sticking her tongue out to provoke Allura and Sibyl.
"Where have you been hiding? Do you know the kind of state King Belmont is in because of your Holy Land?" Dyon bitterly chuckled, seeing that Meiying was still as childish as ever. Well… She was childish until she felt the need to cuss someone out.
"Ri! Clara!" Ignoring Dyon's questioning, Meiying dove into their arms as well, leaving her distraught father to deal with the gritty details she was too uppity to care for.
"Well?" Dyon raised an eyebrow, looking at Head Bai's sulking appearance.
Qiangda glared at Dyon. "Who are you to question me, boy?! I remember a time when you hadn't even stepped into the first foundation stage yet."
Dyon's head tilted to the side. "If I remember correctly, I still managed to make you quite mad back then. I wonder if you dared to do anything in retaliation?"
Seeing the sinister grin on Dyon's face, Head Bai immediately realized he would never win a war of words with this boy.
"Forget that for now… There are more important things to deal with." Dyon sighed as he scanned over familiar faces, even giving Madeleine's foster family a light smile.
Oliver couldn't bring himself to meet Dyon's eyes, but Pertinacis, at the very least, greeted him back graciously.
"I'm sure you all saw the nine-tailed man just now… What you know is that he was powerful, what you don't know is how powerful he was. That man, was a dao formation expert."
Murmurs spread over the crowd. How could they be expected to believe that?
First of all, if he was a dao formation expert, that meant Dyon who wasn't even 40 years old yet had defeated a dao formation level tribulation?
And, secondly, didn't that also mean that he immobilized and killed a dao formation expert as well? What kind of joke was this?
Dyon couldn't exactly blame them. Not everyone had his level of senses… To someone of a lower realm, often times those far above your own understanding looked no different than mortals. They had no way of accurately gauging that elder's strength.
"Whether you believe me or not, this is the truth. Simply put, it doesn't matter whether or not you do. You only need to ask yourselves one question: Could you survive what he and I survived?"
Dyon's words cornered the crowd in the simplest fashion possible. They had all seen the strength of the tribulation… They had all seen how quick the movements of the avatars were… Could they themselves even fight a battle that shook the entire planet? Especially one so large as Earth?
The answer to all of these questions was a resounding no. The realm of the opponent after that point was just semantics…
"I'll keep this short. If you want to survive to the end of the year, go home, pack your things, and be ready to leave within half a year. If you want to die, feel free to stay.
"If you want to make a life for yourselves outside of this universe, prepare your hearts to swear loyalty to me. If you want to die in the outside world, feel free to go along your own separate path.
"If you want to grow to be powerful, to the point where you can face the tribulation I faced and still keep your head held high, then come with me…
"If you want to live of life of mediocrity… Well, that's up to you."
Dyon's Presence laced each and every one of his words. He had no doubt that any thoughts of not following him were squashed under the prowess of his Emperor's Aura. They simply stood no chance.
That said… He had no intention of taking any Sapientia with him. As for them… He had other plans.
