After their initial surprise, clarity returned to the eyes of the two elders.
"Anger is useless to you here," Elder Daiyu said calmly. Despite his outward appearance, waves of shock were rippling through his heart.
The only reason he was able to shield himself from the fear of this entity was not only because of the distance between them and it, but also because he had felt the pinnacle of what it meant to be right beside it… He would never forget that moment.
He, as a peak Dao Formation expert, a mere step from becoming a half step transcendent, had immediately fallen to his knees…
The entity hadn't released any technique, they hadn't manifested their aura or domain… No, all they had done was sweep a gaze over Elder Daiyu, and he broke down in an instant…
The most shocking part about that event was something Elder Daiyu himself was too ashamed to admit and it was something only he had a high enough cultivation to pick up on at the time… And it was likely a secret that he'd take to his grave…
And yet this child had torn through that feeling in a fraction of a second? Even Elder Daiyu had to suppress the feeling!
'He's not merely suppressing it…' Elder Daiyu frowned. 'He's quite literally no longer feeling it. Is it possible to adapt so quickly?'
Dyon's sharp eyes turned from the entity in the distance and trained onto Elder Daiyu. "Save me your bullshit."
He had dealt with enough. He was sick and tired of listenign to these buzzing flies swarming about him, all these pathetic wastes of space looking down on him because they themselves felt inferior.
On one side was a crippled man who couldn't even be deemed a Dao Formation expert anymore and on the other was an arrogant son of a bitch from a family Dyon swore he would uproot from the universe one day.
That was all he saw.
Elder Daiyu could tell that, for some inexplicable reason, this child hadn't resigned to his fate yet. Did he think that because there were only two of them left that he'd find a way to escape? Even if he somehow managed to do such a thing, he'd die in these tunnels. There was no one in this universe with high enough space will comprehension to navigate these tunnels without a cheat. And Dyon definitely didn't have that cheat.
Even then, that was a secondary problem he wouldn't even have the opportunity of lamenting. There was no way he could defeat Patriarch Ragnor.
Elder Daiyu shook his head and took a step into the world, following closely behind by a Patriarch Ragnor that kept his hand clamped to Dyon's shoulder, effectively controlling his movements.
**
"Madeleine, no!" Ri refused adamantly. Regardless of whether Madeleine gave up the Faith Seed willingly or not, it would still severely weaken her for an extended period of time – it might even cause permanent damage!
The longer one spent with a Faith Seed, the more it integrated with one's self. Although Madeleine hadn't spent an exorbitantly long time with it, because of the talent given to her by her God constitution, her speed at integrating the once unfamiliar faith seed far exceeded most.
As an example, when Caedlum first met Dyon, the reason he didn't learn demonic will as quickly as Dyon, which resulted in him missing most of the events, was because he had yet to awaken his Faith Seed.
This same logic was applied to Vidar. Although he had known about his faith seed for a long time, he had tried again and again only to fail in awakening it – much to the disappointment and disdain of his father. In the end, he was able to forcefully awaken it using Ragnor family experiments. This was the reason for all of the scars along his body… However, this was also the reason he was so weak in comparison to the power his faith seed should provide…
In the end, this was why a faith seed wasn't the end all and be all of talent. It was the reason why the Demon Sage was able to look down on the Pakal clan with disdain for having chosen someone less talented simply due to a faith seed.
However, because of Madeleine's speed of integration, even to the point where she's already comprehended several legacy techniques, it was all the more detrimental to remove the seed from her. If she gave it up, especially in her currently severely weakened state… Ri didn't want to think about what the consequences would be.
Madeleine smiled weakly, still lying comfortably on cushions furniture. "He sacrifices too much for us, it's the least I could do… I know if you were in my position, you wouldn't hesitate either…"
"But… We don't even know if he can really do what he says he can!" Ri grit her teeth.
Ri wasn't worried about the danger. But, how could infiltrating the Belmont Holy Land be so easy? Especially when that's exactly what they'll be expecting?
Just because Dyon often figured things out quicker, didn't mean that Ri and Madeleine weren't intelligent in their own right. Ri had witnessed how much importance the Daiyu placed on Meiying and Jade's abilities. From her understanding, they both had special abilities pertaining to searching for things. The only people they had here who could do such a thing would be either her father or Little Lyla. The problem was that her father was the only one powerful enough to stabilize and maintain her mother's health right now, and she would rather die before she sent a little girl into such a dangerous situation just because she would be of use.
"You clearly have a lack of understanding about the land they've taken your husband into. Why do you think a legacy the Belmont's were sworn to protect didn't appear at the Earth Gate, but rather the Naiad Gate?" Lionel said slowly.
Ri's brow furrowed. She had thought of this briefly, but had pushed it to the back of her mind since it seemed irrelevant.
"The Belmonts didn't lose charge of what we were protecting. All of the gates in this quadrant are connected by unfathomable space will. Earth's Gate just happens to be the center of it all for reasons I don't have an explanation for."
How could Ri not understand the reason? It was without a doubt the Epistemic Tower.
"However, that's irrelevant. The point is how could the protectors not understand how to navigate around what they're protecting?"
Ri frowned. "Prove it first."
"As insurance, Madeleine must come. As soon as I prove my ability to help, she must hand the Faith Seed to me. Only then will we proceed."
"Ridiculous! She's already weak. If you take it then, she'll be even weaker!"
Lionel still seemed unperturbed. "Your husband hides it well, but I'm almost certain at this point that he has a treasure that is capable of holding human lives. It was just confirmed for me when these ten people showed up out of nowhere." Lionel looked toward the ten demon generals Dyon had left behind. "And, if he's as intelligent as he claims to be, he would have left such an important treasure to you before he left. I'm 70% sure you have it with you now. Use it."
Although Ri's frown deepened on the outside, she inwardly smirked.
'You're too smart for your own good, husband…'
"Keep whatever limit of people you can within that treasure, because only you and I can enter. When the time is right, they'll have to be the ones who save Dyon." Lionel continued. "Just to be clear, I am only a guide. After I do my duty and receive my payment, I'll be leaving. Whether you can navigate your way back out will be up to you."
Ri struggled with her decision, but in the end, she nodded. She had no choice but to hope that the strength of the demon generals would be enough. With any luck, they'll be able to at least help Dyon a bit…
Then, Ri crushed an array plate Dyon had made, causing the demon sage's tower to disappear from sight. With a sweep, Ri took everyone the entire tower into the spatial ring after they left the surroundings of the arena under the shocked gazes of the warring clans around them.
Ri didn't forget to take up the celestial puppet Dyon had been forced to leave behind. It would hopefully be useful, even if she couldn't control it.
Soon, it was only her and Lionel Belmont in the desolate Arena City.
"Let's go."
