Alauna grabbed the right claw, only for Dyon to grab the left. Their simultaneous pull caused the hard shell to split in half in perfect coordination, leaving glistening, buttery meat behind.
The two all but submarined in, devouring the delicacy before them as though they couldn't feel the surging qi it caused to course through their bodies.
"VICTORY!" Dyon laughed madly, standing on the marbled table with a triumphant grin.
"No way! I definitely won!" Little Alauna's lovely voice was in stark contrast to the piles of food she had just devoured.
Dyon continued to laugh as though he couldn't hear her words, happily belching and patting his stomach.
"You've really outdone yourself this time, Saru." Dyon said with a smile.
"Don't listen to his nonsense, Auntie Saru. Tell me, who won?"
Alauna kicked her father away, sending him flying. She rushed forward, grasping Saru's hands with keen anticipation. However, she was bitterly disappointed when she saw the same face she had already seen thousands of times before.
"Sorry…" Saru said with an appeasing tone.
Dyon flipped through the air, landing on the beautifully tiled palace grounds with his bare feet, his laughter ringing outward.
"What does that make the record? 11 365 to 0?"
Dyon asked as though he didn't know he was exactly right.
"Maybe next time."
"Momma Madeleine, he's purposely bullying me!" Alauna said, completely aggrieved.
Their battles had been 'close' ever since Dyon hit his first 100 wins. She thought she was getting closer, but after some time, she was too smart to realize that Dyon was toying with her. Like a carrot dangling from a stick, he would keep the battle close until the very end, only for him to pull away every time.
It was completely infuriating. Weren't fathers supposed to let their daughters win? What was this nonsense?
Dyon appeared by his daughter's side, rubbing her platinum reddish bronze hair. His expression was usually doting when he met her gaze, but it was anything but after their little competitions. He rubbed it in her face without remorse.
"Maybe one day, young one… Who are we kidding, you'll never beat me."
"You!"
Dyon flashed away, barely dodging his daughter's small but violent fist. His laughter and the booms of Alauna's attacks rang through the palace halls. One would think this was a war scene, but only Dyon's wives and his closest friends knew that this was just another normal day.
**
"I'll definitely beat you one day." Alauna said through gritted teeth, breathing hard.
She never understood it. By all rights, her talent should be far beyond her father's. But, she had never beaten him in anything. Even when she was a toddler, Dyon never let her have any advantages.
Over the years, Dyon had slowly helped his daughter build a resilient mind. As such, she slowly felt like she was getting closer and closer to him. But suddenly, today, she felt that that gap between them had widened by a margin she couldn't fathom. It left her with an incomprehensible mix of pride and unwillingness.
"You done chasing already, little girl?"
Dyon appeared with a smiling face, lifting his daughter up and letting her sit on one side of his shoulder.
Alauna was stunned for a moment. Dyon hadn't done this since she was a child, so she was surprised by his sudden action now.
She had been chasing him for a while now, they had even long since left the palace they built on the Ancient Battlefield. Currently, they were at a forest edge by the violent raging waters they had come to know during their stay in this prison.
Alauna couldn't help but smile. No matter how old she got, this was still her father. She didn't mind him treating her like a little girl.
"Dad's going to take you to another world." Dyon said lightly. "Hold on tight."
...
"Do you feel it?"
Alauna's face constricted, he jaw tightening and her brows furrowing.
Dyon had brought her to the trial grounds and allowed her to experience the world suppression on her own. His question was more so his way of expressing worry than anything else. It may have been easy for him to defeat his daughter in meaningless competitions, but he knew first hand how oppressive this world suppression was.
Still, maybe due to being the offspring of a Heaven's Child, Alauna's reaction was as severe as even Dyon's own. Though her cultivation was also suppressed, it was only to the lower Dao Realm while Dyon's had been suppressed all the way to the lower Celestial Realm.
That said, Alauna was a true Supreme while Dyon had yet to breakthrough and become a Higher Existence for fear of being repelled by the Heavens.
"This really is another world?"
"Yes. This place has a hard block on anyone above the Dao Formation Realm. But, I have some minor control over its suppression so it's enough to let you in."
Alauna's brows raised. "Doesn't that mean that a traitor to a world could easily backstab their people?"
Dyon smiled somewhat bitterly. "It seems you understand even without me telling you directly."
"Should… Should we be worried?"
Alauna knew of the kind of enemy her father had to face hidden within the inner shell of Earth. But, she could have never expected that even before stepping forward to defeat The Entity, another challenge would appear.
"With me here, there's never anything to worry about."
Dyon rubbed his daughter's head. In that moment, all the pain and suppression she felt entirely vanished. She felt endlessly comfortable.
"I didn't bring you here so that you could share this burden. It doesn't matter what enemy lies in wait, you can trust me to handle it. I brought you here only to broaden your horizons."
Alauna's eyes uncontrollably watered for a minute, unable to hold back the sweetness in her heart. But in the end, she managed to nod.
"I want to do something unprecedented, but I don't have enough knowledge to do it. This world may be a first step toward that." Dyon said slowly, removing his hand from his daughter's head.
