Connery silently sneered to himself. He didn't think that Dyon was already a guild head, but he knew that with Dyon's soul strength, the matter of conquering a guild might not be too difficult at all. And as for becoming a master level expert, although in Connery's experience, a person's array or alchemy expertise lagged behind their actual soul strength, since he had sensed Dyon's soul break into the saint stage, it was likely to Connery that Dyon was already a master level expert – as crazy as that sounded to him.
But, he immediately put down contingencies.
The first was a stalling tactic. Because of the guild conference they were holding, no guilds would be available for Dyon to challenge in the near future because all of their guild heads were here. Although Dyon could technically just call them out now, even Dyon wouldn't know who was a head and who wasn't, thus making challenging and holding people to challenges difficult.
With this added time, Connery would slowly torture and kill the Viridi family to display them on the day of their competition. Regardless of how talented Dyon was, he was still a child. And, Connery had already made note of how easily he lost control over his emotions. If Connery showed Dyon such a scene before their competition, then Dyon wouldn't be able to properly focus.
The second plot was to make Dyon bet his life. Connery had no intention of killing Dyon, he was simply too powerful. But, if he took Dyon as a slave, then crippled his energy cultivation, then Dyon would never become strong enough to retaliate, all while being forced to use his soul talent for Connery's bidding. After all, everyone knew that soul strength hardly translated to combat strength, right?... At least to Connery, that is.
However, Connery made multiple mistakes that Dyon immediately caught onto, causing him to smirk.
For one, Dyon was already the head of a guild. In fact, he was the head of two.
Secondly, Dyon's soul talent and innate aurora were too overwhelming for his array alchemy to ever lag behind his soul strength. So, while Connery thought he was a mere master level expert, Dyon already understood enough to draw grandmaster level arrays right now. The only thing that had held him back was his soul power – something that was obviously no longer holding him back.
And lastly? Dyon had no intention of becoming a slave to anyone.
Noticing Dyon's smirk, Connery was a bit off put. Just what was so funny? But, his thoughts were immediately cut off as Dyon's ring flashed to reveal two new rings on his fingers… One denoting the Elvin Formation Guild… And the other? The Elvin Alchemy Guild.
The last thing Dyon took out was his master level badge. He had earned this the very same day he challenged their guilds. And now? It was coming in handy.
No one said a thing. Everyone's eyes were focused on the items in Dyon's hand.
With a last movement, Dyon waved his hand and created a concealment array. Then, he covertly flashed Eli out of his ring to stand beside him.
When Eli appeared, he was immediately confused an couldn't understand the situation.
In the last two years, he had grown taller. Although he was lanky and clearly malnourished, he was barely a half centimeter shorter than Dyon. In fact, he had been taller than Dyon just a few hours ago if you thought about it.
His hair was still it normal sandy blond, and his light brown eyes matched that of his sister, Venus.
Seeing this boy appear, Oliver, who was off in the distance and had come with Pertinacis and his step mom, immediately felt an ache in his heart. He recognized who this boy was, and could see the pain his had gone through.
Although Eli now wore clean and loose linens, his skin was still much too pale for what anyone would think would still be human.
Noticing everyone's eyes on him, Eli's hand shot to his face, trying to cover a scar he knew had to be there. This scar had been his shame for the past two years and although he had ignored it previously because he had been worried about Dyon's wellbeing, he couldn't help but feel self-conscious about it now.
Connery's brows creased at the appearance of this young man. It wasn't that he cared who Eli was, it was more so that he had no idea where he came from.
If Eli had always been there, then this was a problem. Why? Because Connery, despite his expertise, had no idea. He had even awakened his aurora to 48%, there was no reason why he shouldn't be able to see through Dyon's concealment array, or so he believed.
And, even if Eli had teleported here, and Dyon had for some reason chosen to conceal the array for some reason or another, that didn't change the fact Connery still couldn't see through the concealment.
'This boy…' A serious expression grew on Connery's features. If he had known that Dyon hadn't done this to show off, but rather to hide the special nature of his ring, then maybe Connery would be spitting up blood now.
"Dyon?" Eli looked downward shyly after giving Ri a small smile. He had some impression of Ri after they ran toward Dyon together. He was happy in his heart that his big brother had found such a beauty as a wife again. "What's going on?"
Dyon's heart ached when he saw how self-conscious Eli was about his scar. Still, Dyon didn't make a move to remove Eli's hand from his face, instead, he released Ri's hand and clasped both hands on Eli's shoulders.
He gazed toward Eli seriously, his heart heavy. It was difficult for him to put into words just how he was feeling right this moment, but he eventually felt that actions would speak louder than words.
"I've been a bad friend." Dyon said sadly. "Let me do something for you."
