Trying her best to hold back her tears and knowing she didn't have a lot of time before her master came to get her to bring her back, Madeleine pointed toward her throat, trying to get her meaning through to Ri.
In the shadows, red crystals exploded again and again, frustration coloring their face. They were so close! 'I'm sorry little sister… I'll find another way…'
"Big Sister Madeleine, what's wrong? You can't speak?"
Madeleine nodded vehemently. But, this news sent the crowd into an upheaval. What was going on? Why couldn't she speak?
"Who did that to you?!" Ri's anger built up again. Madeleine was a sister to her now, who dared hurt her in such a way?
"Madeleine." A stern voice sounded as Ester appeared from seemingly thin air.
Hearing this voice, Ri immediately stepped in front of Madeleine protectively. But, this only caused a sneer to appear on Ester's features as she crushed an array plate. Immediately, a concealment array was raised, hiding them from the crowd even as boos rained down.
Madeleine pulled Ri back, stepping forward with every intention of going with her master, but Ri didn't budge. "No. Anything we do from now on, we do together."
Ri's words caused tears to stream down Madeleine's face. In the back of her mind, Madeleine had been worried about whether Ri would accept her or not, because that was just the type of person Madeleine was. But, this told her all she needed to know.
Ester seemed to have lost her patience. Everything that was occurring was only making the Sapientia look worse and worse. She couldn't stay here for any longer. If she hurt Ri, it could be passed off as an injury that happened during the match. She needed to go.
"Little girl. Move." Ester raised her hand, intent on slapping but that was when the worst thing Ester could have imagined happened.
The array shattered and a large hand gripped onto Ester's outstretched hand. The optics were terrible.
There stood a crying Madeleine, a frowning Ri, and an Ester that was clearly about to hit one or both of them.
"Who?!" Ester had never felt so powerless. A massive hulk of a man had grabbed her small wrist and dangled her in the air.
"You have a lot of guts to be hitting the successor's wives. Who do you think you are?"
The words of the man sent the crowd into an uproar. Wives? Who was the successor?! And more importantly, why was Ester Sapientia hitting her own first in line genius and the genius of another clan? What was going on?!
Ri and Madeleine, however, were focused on something completely different.
A handsome young man with a warm smile had stepped out from behind the hulking figure. His hair was an arrangement of reds, golds and browns – but his eyes, a deep hazel-green, were so warm and inviting that one could only feel endless comfort and confidence in them.
Madeleine's lips trembled. 'Two years… Two years…'
In an instant, Dyon stood before his two wives, both of his hand placed on either one of their cheeks. He could care less about the reaction of the crowd, all he saw were the loves of his life.
But then, Dyon's eyes burned with rage, his aurora blazing as he positioned his hand on Madeleine's belly, causing her to blush profusely.
Boos began to rain down until Dyon's hand pulled back and Madeleine began coughing up a dense black fog.
Ester could only watch in horror as the events unfolded. She had no idea how Dyon had gotten rid of the pill so easily. Was his array alchemy really at that level?
"Madeleine," Dyon smiled, "Ri," He tightly embraced them both. "I made you wait too long…"
"What is it that you think you're doing exactly?" Elder Er appeared in the air, looking down on the events. It was clear he couldn't allow this to go on.
Madeleine trembled under Dyon's embrace as Ri too buried herself in his scent. "D-Dyon…. Delia… S-she…"
Dyon pulled back and kissed Madeleine's forehead. "Look," Dyon waved his hand, revealing Delia floating on an array, "she's just fine."
"Did you not hear what I said?" Elder Er's anger was building until he suddenly realized just who he was looking at, "It's you?" A robust laughter escaped Er's lips, "It seems the coward has come!"
"Coward?" Dyon's brows furrowed as he looked back toward Arios. Was this the problem he had to make them pay for? But, all he got was a nod toward a monitor.
Seeing an image of himself being shit on by farm animals, Dyon snorted in laughter before pulling Ri and Madeleine both to his sides.
"Look at that! Don't you think that gives me just the right amount of handsomeness? If I go around looking this good all the time, won't everyone die of shame or jealousy?"
Ri rolled her eyes, flicking Dyon's forehead as Madeleine giggled lightly.
The crowd didn't know how to feel about Dyon's reaction, was this how someone would usually react to such slander?
But, even worse, Dyon then proceeded to completely ignore the elder and the pictures entirely, instead grabbing Ri and Madeleine each by the hand and spinning them around. "Look at you two! Perfection!" Dyon grinned wildly, grabbing the waists of his wives and bringing them into another tight embrace.
King Belmont started laughing uproariously. No one could hear him because of the way their sky box was set up, unless he wanted them to that is, so he really unleashed.
"How can I hate this kid? Look at him!"
Ri and Madeleine blushed. It wasn't that they minded being hugged by Dyon. But, in front of so many people was a little much.
Finally, Dyon set them down, a serious look coloring his features as he looked toward the dangling Ester and then toward the Sapientia sky box.
"Is she still a master to you, Madeleine?"
Without a shred of hesitation, Madeleine shook her head. "No."
Ester could only look downward, still being dangled up by her wrist.
"I don't believe I was done with you, coward." Elder Er sneered.
Dyon turned a gaze to the skies. "Do you think before you speak?"
"How dare you?!"
"I'm just asking a simple question. Did you have fun while I was away? Well, let me tell you a few things.
"The battle between Connery shithead and me was scheduled for the end of today's festivities, not the beginning. Am I not here now?"
"I – "
Dyon cut the elder off again, not allowing the crowd to react to him calling the head of the Sapientia a shithead. King Belmont though, found this hilarious.
"Didn't I tell you, Lionel? Connery is an idiot, Haha!"
Big Red spit out his drink at Dyon's words. "This kid is bolder than me…"
"Secondly, even if I didn't show up, so what? You and Connery likely have twenty thousand years of life between the two of you, if not more. I just turned nineteen. You're calling a kid who ran away from a Celestial expert a coward? That makes sense to you?"
The crowd was at a loss for words. He was right… He was a nineteen year old kid…
"Don't try and spin this. You cheated. You deserve whatever title we give you."
"Oh, I cheated did I? I guess we'll see. Right now, I don't have the time to deal with you. The second to final round just concluded, no? There's a break right now, you don't need to be here."
Dyon turned to Ester. "Did I not warn you two years ago about what would happen if you didn't allow me to see Madeleine when I wanted to?"
Ester grit her teeth. "You can't be with her! You don't deserve her!"
"Tell me more about who is deserving of what. As we stand here, you've already lost her respect as a master. She doesn't even look at you with a shred of admiration anymore. Who are you to tell us what we can do?"
"I – " Ester was at a loss for words. Dyon hadn't said anything wrong. How could she refute?
"It's clear you need to be taught a lesson." Elder Er stood in the air, rage building in his heart. When had he ever been so disrespected in his life? "You bring a weak saint here and think you can speak however you'd like? I'll show you the difference between heaven and earth."
Elder Er flashed forward, appearing mere feet away from Dyon who was still facing Ester's dangling figure.
"Die."
Dyon snorted. Although his body and energy cultivation couldn't keep up, his soul was so powerful that even the movements of saints were slow to him. Seeing Elder Er's movements, even though he was a peak saint, was child's play.
So, knowing he couldn't move to react in time, Dyon acted differently. In reality, Thadius was strong enough to clash with this elder. But, that wasn't enough. Dyon wanted to make a statement. He wanted to make it clear to everyone here that he could really do the things he said.
Dyon's ring flashed.
A massive sentinel appeared. Its armor had changed drastically. Blinding silvers edged with shining blacks made its armor. Its size was even more massive, stretching 20 meters into the air. It even had a sword by its side that had cracked out of its previous stone covering.
Elder Er stood not a single chance.
A massive hand slapped him into the ground, sending shock waves through the arena.
It seemed as though hours passed before sound settled and silence reigned in the stadium.
Dyon shrugged. "I just thought I should make it clear. There's not a single person here that can make me do anything I don't want to."
