Tens of dense black swords appeared in the air as an opaque domain of blackness surrounded Dyon and Zabia.
Dyon's eyes flashed with a sudden realization. This technique was the same one used by Yazid against Vidar, and yet, it was on a completely other level. It even incorporated the darkness domain used against Thor!
The illusory and yet tangible sword blinked into and out of existence, but suddenly, as the domain thickened, they disappeared entirely.
Dyon had no time to think about what Zabia meant. And, quite frankly, he didn't have the time to care. He immediately bloomed his humanoid manifestation into existence, boosting his soul to its full extent while awakening the Mathilde family technique.
His eyes sharpened, piercing through the darkness as the swords once again appeared within his field of view.
Dyon had been very much impressed by this technique. It combined the use of time will and space will in a unique way, making use of their ability to distort reality in the perfect way. The only issue he had seen with the technique was the stamina needed. To use time will as a simple illusory technique buffer was like the waste of all wastes.
However, that was only what Dyon had thought before he saw the final attack that hit Vidar before he was forced to activate his Faith Seed's constitution.
At that time, Vidar had been standing completely still with his nerves prepared to react at any moment, and yet, in an instant, tens of swords wounds appeared on his body without any warning. There was no sword qi. There was no spatial fluctuation. In fact, the illusory and ethereal swords hadn't been anywhere near him.
Dyon had thought of two possible explanations for this.
The first was the dimension and multi-plane path of spatial will.
Dyon dodged to side, swinging his sword in its usual calculated angle as the soft clanging of metal meeting metal reverberated through the dark domain.
This multi-plane path of spatial will was something that Dyon had only thought of in theory before he found notes on it within the celestial deer sect's library. It was a path capable of hiding things in space. However, with enough mastery, it would begin to separate the image of something from its effects on the laws in whatever space you wanted.
Essentially, you could hide the body of a sword within a different plane, effectively hiding it from sight and perception. But, you could keep its sharpness within this plane. Thus meaning that you could make your attacks nearly undetectable.
This was on a completely different level than simple invisibility because while invisibility hid you from only one sense, this path hid you from all of them!
Dyon's ear twitched in agitation as his head dodged to the side. He hadn't heard anything, but the uncomfortable feeling of blood dripping from his ears had alerted him to something even his eye technique had missed!
'Dammit…'
Dyon could no longer see Zabia, and although he had the means to tear this darkness domain apart, he didn't want to play all of his cards all at once. He wanted to see just what Zabia wanted to do first.
Dyon knew a thing or two about being as angry as Zabia was now. Just because he didn't care for Zabia's anger, didn't mean he didn't understand it.
A man who had delved so far into his emotions wouldn't be content with killing his prey from afar. No. Zabia wanted to feel Dyon's flesh crumble beneath his palms, he wanted to see Dyon cry out in agony from as close as possible, he wanted to tear Dyon's soul out himself. This was nothing more than foreplay. Zabia was coming.
The crowd could only watch as the faint echoes of blades clashing against blades sounded. All they could see was a dense black fog, and yet the anticipation they felt hadn't died down not one bit.
It wasn't long before Ri, too, understood just what Zabia meant. Unlike Dyon, she didn't have to focus on a battle. So, when she heard Zabia mention a child, it was suffice to say that she was conflicted. She didn't know how to feel…
Yes, she absolutely hated Ulu down to her very core. Had Dyon not been strong enough to save her, wouldn't they be slaves right now? Would Ulu feel bad about Ri no longer being able to have children? Would this Zabia character even give them a second look? And yet, she was supposed to feel pity?
Ri clenched her fists so tightly that blood began to soak her palms. But, that was when a soft hand clasped over hers and she looked over to find Madeleine smiling gently.
"What would you do?..." Ri asked softly.
Madeleine at Ri for a good long while before shifting her gaze to the dome of darkness in the distance… A dome where their husband was without a doubt fighting for his life.
"Let's trust him with the answer." She finally responded. "Because I think you've already made up your mind." Madeleine smiled, gently circulating her celestial will to ease the pain in Ri's palm.
A half laughing sob escaped Ri's lips. She really had already made a decision. How could she allow a child to pay for the sins of their parents? It wasn't fair. But, at the same time, what if her and Dyon had been with child at the time too?
In the end, Ri could really only leave the answer to Dyon… Because there just didn't seem to be a right one…
Bloody wounds continued to accumulate across Dyon's body. His mind was racing as he continued to calculate again and again to make his sword swings more precise.
He had come to the conclusion that this likely wasn't the multi-plane path… Or, that it wasn't it alone. The reason being was simple. Dyon's space will was on a higher level than Zabia's, having already reached the 9th will level. There shouldn't have been anything Zabia could hide in space that Dyon couldn't detect.
