Slowly, the sound of gears began to ramp up again. Even as the sound of one door slamming shut almost sent Dyon flying once more, the sound of another opening followed suit.
The clopping of horse hooves filled Dyon's ears once more. By now, Dyon was convinced that there had just been something weird about Famine. After thinking a moment, he understood…
Famine's steed's steps had sounded like feet because of its demeanor… It was slow and steadfast, meandering and patient. War's steed had sounded like hooves because of a combination of its heavy armor and sharp horseshoes.
However, the clopping of this horseman wasn't due to either of these reasons. This horse moved as with exaggerated movements, its head was held high while its legs arched elegantly into the skies, stomping down with authority that reverberated through the battleground.
Understanding this, Dyon wasn't surprised to find the appearance of a white horse entering his gaze.
Its appearance was truly beautiful. A gorgeous white, blemishless coat. Golden chainmail falling down its body like sparkling rain. A helm with fierce golden plates that revealed its prideful, disdainful eyes…
One would think that this was a person and not a horse. How could an unintelligent beast have so much personality in its eyes? Dyon had not a single clue.
However, looking at the only person this horse allowed to ride on its back, Dyon seemed to understand this was a like-owner, like-horse kind of situation.
Conquest was adorned in white armor that was patterned with the scales of a dragon. A proud body was strapped across his chest, its heads formed into two roaring celestial lions with ruby embroidered eyes. However, his helm was maybe the most awe inspiring part about him.
The helmet of a warrior had a history of wild, boastful decorations. This much Dyon knew, especially thanks to Clara who seemed to love talking his ear off about history. But even then, Dyon had never seen a helmet formed into the shape of a crown.
Conquest's helm hid his face much like it had for the other horseman, however, in his case, a large, jewel embroidered structure extended from its top, sitting on his head to radiate outward with blinding lights.
Conquest and his steed slowed to stand just three meters from Dyon, looking down on him from above.
Unlike the other horseman, they made no attempt to attack. It was as though they wanted to make certain first that Dyon understood their superiority.
A faint white light emitted from their combined bodies. Or, rather, it started faint, only to grow brighter and brighter with each passing second.
They seemed proud of themselves. Most of their bodies were covered, so Dyon could only see their eyes. But this was enough to display the disdain they held.
"Are you done?"
Dyon's abrupt ask seemed to have startled the horseman duo. Maybe they believed Dyon hadn't been speaking before because he was oppressed by their aura. Unfortunately… This couldn't have been further from the case.
"Fuck off!"
Dyon suddenly roared. The sound of a sovereign shook the very foundations of the rounded battle room.
Conquest and his steed burst into a shower of flesh and blood, their bodies ballooning outward and exploding as though they were grenades.
Dyon was too disdainful to devour anything from them. What could he possibly need to learn about conquest and sovereignty? Their dao heart hadn't even been strong enough to withstand a single shout from him.
Trying to display a dao built on arrogance and majesty before Dyon was no different than asking to die.
Unfortunately, despite the ease of the battle, Dyon felt completely drained from the previous two. He felt as though his body might give out on him at any moment. It was truly something he hadn't felt in a long time.
As Conquest's corpse slowly disappeared, the sound of gears turned.
'Will it be Death this time…?' Dyon leaned on his sword, trying to catch his breath.
However, it was then he realized something was wrong… To now, each of the horsemen had come froma different door, so Dyon had subconsciously turned to the only of the massive golden double doors to not have opened yet.
But… Even though the sound of an opening and shutting door was resounding through his ears once more… The door he was facing wasn't opening…
Feeling a bad premonition coming along, Dyon turned slowly to a door that had already opened before… In fact, it was the very first door that opened when this trial began…
A familiar figure followed by the sound of what seemed like human footsteps appeared…
"…" Dyon stared blankly. "… Famine?"
Not only was it Famine… But it was a Famine that was now a Middle Celestial instead of a lower…Unfortunately, Dyon's own strength hadn't moved forward at all…
'Could it be that this is why Death has appeared this entire time?'
Dyon hadn't actually spared much thought to the voices at all. Their weird mannerisms, words and finally, their odd silence only served to distract him from his initial goals.
Of course, he wouldn't have minded teaching them a lesson if he got the chance and even thought of slipping through the opened doors from time to time to see what was lurking behind, but his better judgement corrected his course away from such an idea.
At least within this space, Dyon was certain that he was within the confines of a trial controlled by the Heavens. However, if he attempted to leave, he couldn't be certain anymore. Until he gained enough strength to battle in this world without worry, it was inadvisable to leave such a good training ground.
If anyone else was witnessing this scene, they would find it truly odd.
On one side, there was a half-dead man leaning heavily on his sword. He had just one eye and there wasn't a single inch of his skin that was covered by blood, a ghastly wound, or sheared open to the point where it could no longer be classified as skin at all.
This half-dead man's breath was so heated that despite the normal temperatures of the battle room, a white fog still left his lips. One could practically imagine the sight of his body boiling from the inside out.
Unfortunately, this scalding breath was only in part due to Dyon's over drafting of his body. The other part of the reason was due to his crude control of war qi.
