[Bonus chapter for 900 golden tickets :)]
Hearing the words of the elder, Arios stood violently. If his mother hadn't been a martial expert in her own right, it would have been likely that she would have been hurt.
A demonic aura imperceptibly dripped from Arios – he was pissed.
This wasn't just about destroying Dyon's legacy, the Demon Sage's name was being dragged through the mud. Not only had Dyon saved Arios' life, but even before that, the demon sage had become like a father to Arios. To see what was transpiring now made Arios' vision go red.
If the other Demon Generals had been present, there would no doubt be hell to pay.
But, before Arios could move, he felt a firm grip on his shoulder causing him to turn around and find his father beside him.
Off to the side, Lionel took note of this reaction and King Belmont watched silently. Although he was king, what was happening now was out of his control. In addition to that, this entire event was meant to be a test for Dyon. Although it had clearly gotten out of hand, this was the martial world. The truth behind what Dyon was facing was far beyond this. If he couldn't even manage to show up, then he had already lost.
"I'm participating." Arios' eyes burned with rage. His father's touch was doing nothing to calm him. In fact, he knew very well how his father would react had it been him in this position, and it wouldn't have been anywhere near as calm.
However, what Arios didn't know was that Big Red was privy to the same information that King Belmont was. Big Red hadn't been mad that Arios was a subordinate, but rather, about who he was a subordinate to. He had just gotten his son back and now he could very well lose him again because of this Dyon character.
"There are some things men have to fight for on their own. If he can't handle this without you, then is he really worth following at all?"
Arios slapped his father's hand away. In all his years of living, he had never disrespected his father. But right now, he was out of line.
"What do you know?! What do any of you know?!" Arios' voice trembled, "This isn't just about Dyon. And, even if it was, all everyone wants to do is put him in a box. You haven't seen the things I've seen.
"He has nothing left to prove to anyone. You think he takes any of your so-called tests seriously? He doesn't put even the Heavens in his eyes! While you're all looking down on him as though he's some sort of guinea pig to test and poke at, he's already climbed past you!"
The people of this universe had no idea what Dyon had accomplished already, but how could the demon generals not know? They had spent years campaigning under a half-step transcendent God amongst men. How could they not know what an Epistemic Tower was?
And yet, Dyon had conquered it alone. And after he finished with that, he took an army of no more than a hundred demon generals and crushed a King God Clan with numbers surpassing a hundred thousand. And the most impressive part? The demon generals hadn't had to lift a single finger.
Now they wanted to test Dyon more? Test him for what?
Arios flashed out of the sky box, unwilling to watch this farce anymore. He needed to go and find out what happened to Dyon and he couldn't do that here.
Ava glared at her father, clearly disappointed in how he had tried to handle the situation. It was no secret to anyone that Big Red's motto was for men to pull themselves up under their own power. But, that philosophy of his had not only nearly lost him a son this time, it had lost him many others in the past.
On top of that, he was still peddling such a useless philosophy even when the situation clearly didn't warrant it.
Dyon? A cheater? Ava had never heard anything so ridiculous.
It was clear that all Big Red wanted was for his son to no longer follow Dyon and Arios had immediately picked up on that and lost his temper even further.
Big Red could only sigh. He knew very well what he meant, which means he had no excuses to make on the topic and could only accept the glares of his wife and daughter.
Riley, however, remained quiet. He was Arios' elder brother and thus wanted to protect him, but, his little brother had surpassed him in power. Now, the best he could do was give advice. But, it was clear that Arios wouldn't listen – he respected Dyon too much.
This situation was only getting more and more complicated.
King Belmont continued to sit silently on a throne beside his wife and sons. He couldn't help but feel that Arios' words were aimed at himself and Lionel.
King Belmont had known Arios from a very young age and because of that, had a good understanding of his character. For him to so adamantly defend Dyon and even reprimand his own father and by extension him, as a king… Just what had this Dyon done that was so impressive… What had Arios experienced?...
**
Away from the primary sky box, Ri and Madeleine weren't fairing any better than Arios.
Ri was leaking out void will and her hair had very noticeably darkened. Her eyes had formed into blue-silver slits and her canines lengthened.
The bestial aura that leaked from Ri had caught the attention of Saru Shruti yet again. Because Saru understood why Ri was angry, she had time to even further study just what Ri's lineage was.
'She's no normal Kitsune…' Saru thought to herself. 'I may have to inform master about this…'
Madeleine, however, couldn't speak. In fact, because her music will was locked, she felt weaker than usual. But, that didn't stop faint flickers of purple flames to light in her eyes and hair.
The heat that spread through the Sapientia sky box even caught Connery Sapientia's attention.
"Madeleine, stop." Ester tried to whisper to her disciple, but she was completely ignored. If Madeleine wasn't being locked down by saint energy, it was likely that she would have already left the sky box to find out what had happened to Dyon.
All of this nonsense she was hearing? She didn't even entertain it.
It had been a long time since Madeleine felt this level of anger. In fact, it hadn't been since Dyon's death that she had. She was the type of person who took being wronged much easier than seeing her loved ones being wronged.
Ester tried increasing her saint energy output to stop Madeleine's ability to use her wills, but she immediately felt as though her very cultivation was being burnt away.
'What is this…' Ester had no choice but to move away from Madeleine, leaving her alone in the corner of the sky box.
Connery Sapientia however found this very interesting. 'Purple flames... No wonder…'
Madeleine couldn't speak, but she needed to vent. Comradery? Being amiable? The image of the Sapientia? She threw it all out of her mind.
'You don't care about our image. So why should I.'
