Reaper of the Martial World

Book 2: Chapter 66: Comfort Across Worlds

Madeleine walked out of the banquet hall to enter a hallway with such a high ceiling and windows it was almost like its own world.

Clinging to Delia’s arm lovingly, she glanced out of the tall windows to look at the calm night sky sprinkling gentle moonlight into an elegant garden.

They were currently in the Royal God Clan’s main palace, invited by the prince of this generation.

Martial artists lived for so long that there was no real point in ranking royalty until the current monarch neared the end of his life. As such, princes and princesses were just divided into their generation as opposed to how likely they were to inherit the throne.

In reality, this worked the best. After all, if you lived thousands of years, you could have hundreds of children if you were so inclined… so, instead of constantly switching the crown prince for a newborn who happened to have more talent, you could just make a single choice when the time was appropriate.

So, the heads of Royal God Clans always waited to the end of their lives to make a decision. As such, this allowed the strife for supremacy among siblings to be tempered down from what it could be… it would be at least another millennia or two before the current Head of Planet Earth began to show signs of old age.

But, a head with so many years ahead of him also came with the ambition to match it…

Madeleine’s thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Delia’s sigh, “I miss Meiying, big sister…”

A sad look appeared of Madeleine’s features, “I miss her too… unfortunately, there’s not much we can do… The Bai and Daiyu clan have been constant enemies in recent years. It’s just sad that Elder Bai sacrificed his daughter for the sake of peace…”

If Dyon knew about the clashes between the Daiyu and Bai clans, he would have been confused… a rare emotion for him.

To Dyon, there was no way that the Bai clan could stand up to the Daiyu clan at full strength. The only explanation was that the Daiyu clan was feigning weakness all while making covert moves… covert moves that for some reason involved Bai Meiying who was now Chenglei’s second wife.

In fact, Dyon was unaware that Meiying was the second wife. Because if he knew this… his perspective on everything would change… Change so much that he would laugh until his sides split, right before his rage burned like an endless fire for Meiying’s sake…

Suddenly, a gentle gust of wind passed by, appearing as Madeleine’s master.

Madeleine released Delia, bowing respectfully, “master.”

Ester Sapientia sighed, “why do you do this, Madeleine? You know I have your best interest at heart.”

Madeleine’s brows furrowed. She loved her master, she had done so much for her… but this was getting to be too much for her to handle.

“Master I don’t understand. If you’re so sure that time will wash my feelings away, why are you acting like this now? Isn’t a year but a blink of an eye for you? If you’re so set in your beliefs, why can’t you wait until I’m a hundred years old? What about two hundred? Is that not still considered to be young?”

Madeleine’s master sighed. The truth was that Madeleine’s logic was flawless. But, the problem wasn’t whether Madeleine’s feelings were real or not, it was about how dangerous it was to be with Dyon. But, this was a secret she was bound against telling. So, she could only act as though she was an unfeeling master who cared not for Madeleine’s thoughts and feelings.

“Do you think that because he was lucky enough to stumble into the remains of a dead clan that he deserves to be with the first in line genius of the Sapientia God Clan? Do you have any idea why I feel like I’ve accomplished nothing in my life? It’s because you can’t imagine the scale of a clan like ours. The fact we call ourselves a God Clan here is laughable.”

Delia looked at Madeleine worriedly. Regardless of whether Ester was Madeleine’s master or not, she was still a saint level expert. Angering her was not a good idea.

But, all she found was Madeleine’s calm continence.

“Master, I’m not sure what you’re trying to hide from me… but I know you aren’t like this….

Regardless of what problems or dangers you think are associated with Dyon, it doesn’t matter to me. I will choose him whether I know or don’t know. Whether it leads to my death or my glory. Even if I were to find out tomorrow that Dyon was no match for even the weakest of geniuses here today… that he had lost his arms and his legs… that his handsome face was cut and burnt beyond recognition… I would still choose him.”

Madeleine’s master inwardly trembled, listening to the words of her disciple, but… she maintained her calm outer appearance.

Ester Sapientia sighed looking at her disciple’s calm appearance. To her, Madeleine was the daughter she never had… watching her run head first into danger was something she wasn’t willing to see. As such, she maintained a cold exterior.

“I don’t approve. Nor will I approve. You can continue to play your game of house. But, if I see he’s taken your virginity, I’ll kill him.

Once enough time passes, you’ll realize he isn’t worth your time. He’s nothing compared to the geniuses inside that room. And definitely, nothing compared to the prince that invited you here today…”

Although Ester couldn’t use her senses to check for Madeleine’s virginity like Dyon could… there were many other tools, although expensive, that could do the same job.

Before Ester could continue, she suddenly felt Madeleine move as she walked passed her… stunning Ester out of her rant, ‘you really dare to disrespect me as your master like this?…’

However, she never got the chance to voice her concerns, “I’m the best genius the Sapientia God Clan has to offer in the universe. In fact, I’m among the best geniuses in this universe period. Aside from those with faith seeds, I am unmatched.

I will give my virginity to whomever I want to give it to. I’ll love whoever it is I want to love.”

Madeleine’s Goddess’ Disposition suddenly raged to life, endless twinkling lights and purity beyond words reigned down in the hallway.

“If my Dyon is hurt by anyone of the Sapientia God Clan, even if it’s you, I will bide my time. Whether that take centuries or millennia. Then, I’ll kill you.”

Suddenly Madeleine giggled lightly, “but, something tells me I won’t have to do something like that. I’m sure you remember the warning Dyon gave you when he entrusted me to you.”

Ester’s jaw clenched remembering Dyon’s words of warning…

Suddenly, Madeleine’s threatening aura completely changed as she turned back, taking her master’s arm in one arm and Delia’s in the other.

“there’s no need to be so serious, master. Let’s go, I have no interest in seeing the prince.”

Ester Sapientia was stunned once again by Madeleine, ‘what’s she playing at here?’

“you’re so disrespectful to your master, yet you want to treat me as your friend now? Since when were things so simple?”

Madeleine giggled, “don’t be like that master, I just showed you the anger you wanted to see, didn’t I?”

Ester’s eyebrows furrowed.

“I wouldn’t draw a line of division between us so easily… you may have no idea, but I’m clear on the man my fiancé is. The God Clans? A Prince? Our rival universe? He sees them as nothing but stepping stones. If you were to get in his way, he would simply see you as another one…

So, what’s the use in me getting angry about a result I already have a full grasp of? Since I know Dyon will win in the end, why should I lose my relationship with you in anger?”

Delia and Ester blinked with a sudden realization… Madeleine had been toying with them this whole time. To her, the conclusion was already set in stone. Why would she get angry with her master for wanting to stop her from seeing Dyon, if she knew Dyon would put a stop to that as soon as he found out? Why would she get mad about her master saying Dyon wasn’t anything compared to those geniuses when to her Dyon would prove otherwise soon enough? Why would she get mad because her master didn’t understand that her fiancé would never lose in the end?

Madeleine’s master didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at Madeleine’s antics, ‘how am I supposed to keep being serious in the face of something so ridiculous?… he’ll definitely win? How blind could love be?…’

Madeleine looked at her master as they slowly walked along the hallway, “I know what you’re thinking master… but in as little as 20 maybe 30 more years, Dyon will be as strong as you are now.”

Ester Sapientia raised her eyebrow, “you think he’ll enter so far into the saint realm in such a small amount of time? Do you have any idea how much cultivation slows down at the peak levels of meridian formation? Even crossing over the essence gathering is near impossible. And couple that with how difficult it is to sense an intent and comprehend saint energy?

Stop saying such ridiculous things.”

Madeleine smiled knowingly. What her master didn’t know was that Madeleine had already reached the 10th stage of meridian formation and she had only been cultivating for a year… and that was all thanks to her understanding of Celestial will. Even Madeleine’s master couldn’t read her cultivation because her meridian paths were so pure that any normal measurements didn’t match up. She almost looked like someone with no cultivation at all.

In this universe, geniuses would reach the 8th stage of meridian formation… Those who separated themselves might reach the 9th stage before breaking through to essence gathering… but, those who reached the 10th level were only those with faith seeds, something Madeleine knew she didn’t have. Yes, because of celestial will, she had easily stepped into such a level.

Right where they stood, Madeleine could already compete with an essence gathering expert who had only cleared to the 7th stage of meridian formation. The use of Celestial will was ridiculous… but the important part was that Dyon had access to it…

With Dyon’s intelligence, would it really be difficult to understand an intent upon reaching essence gathering? After that, he’d simply make use of celestial intent to clear his meridians for essence energy during Essence Gathering. Then repeat the same process of clearing for saint energy during the Saint stage.

To Madeleine’s master, a genius reaching sainthood in 20-30 years was possible… but reaching the middle of sainthood, the point where she was at, was ridiculous within that time frame. Ester had spent centuries stuck at single saint stages, yet Dyon was going to clear 4 or 5 saint stages in a few years? This was ridiculous. How could Ester know that to Dyon, the middle of the saint stage was the 6th and 7th level corresponding to one who had opened all 108 meridians?

But, in her ignorance, she couldn’t see a hint of doubt on Madeleine’s face, ‘what is Madeleine hiding?…’

Ester sighed, “you’ll know soon how wrong you are about everything. He isn’t a match for those geniuses. He won’t catch up to me so quickly, and I doubt he will ever catch up. And lastly, I know you’ll soon forget about him.”

Madeleine only giggled as though she hadn’t heard her master.

Although Madeleine’s master was beginning to get annoyed, how could she allow a child to rile her up?

“I’ll be sending you to another Sapientia Branch soon between now and the world tournament. They have different philosophies, techniques, and maybe being they will help you forget this nonsense. I’ll come to get you to bring you back before the world tournament.”

Madeleine nodded cheerfully, releasing her master to type away on the device Dyon had left to her.

With that, Madeleine’s master disappeared. And with that disappearance… Madeleine’s demeanor completely changed as a pained expression appeared on her face.

Delia immediately noticed this change, “it’s okay, big sister. I believe in Dyon.”

Madeleine bit her lip, nodding, “mm, I believe in him too.”

No matter how Madeleine acted, there was a nagging doubt in her heart. At first, her anger was not an act, that was how she really felt. But then, she suddenly realized that her anger benefited no one… it would accomplish nothing. If anything, it would only drive her from her master.

The worst part was she wanted nothing more than to hear Dyon’s reassuring voice, to feel the warmth of his touch… to see his unyielding back stand in front of her with no fear… but he was far away… too far away…

So… she vented. She wrote all about her problems, sending text after text to Dyon. Knowing she wouldn’t get a response, but somehow feeling better knowing he would be somewhere reading what she had to say…

In her head, she imagined his calm and reassuring voice telling her that she was silly to worry so much… that in just a few months from now, they’d see each other, and nothing else would matter.

**

Within dead kings valley, Dyon and Ri had spent the month completely incapacitated.

They each lay parallel to each other, being watched over by the stone puppet.

Slowly, Ri’s fingers began to twitch as she woke up.

Sitting up, she took in her surroundings… but, that didn’t last long because she almost immediately noticed Dyon laying beside her.

Ri’s brow’s furrowed as she tentatively shook Dyon, “Dyon?” she asked softly.

Suddenly she felt a strong arm wrap around her waist. Ri’s senses were suddenly invaded by such a strong masculine scent she lowered her head and blushed. Dyon smelt exactly like what pinewood sprinkled with spicy cinnamon would smell like… cultivators, especially those with bodies as strong as Dyon’s, usually began giving off their own unique scents. And Dyon’s was beyond intoxicating.

Being pulled into Dyon’s lap, Ri had no idea what to do, “wake up you idiot,” she whispered.

But, she suddenly heard Dyon whisper something that made her feel like her heart was shattering into a million pieces.

“Madeleine…” Dyon’s voice was faint… but how could Ri not hear him in such close proximity?

Ri started to fight harder to wiggle out of Dyon’s embrace, she couldn’t handle being this intimate with him right now. But, she felt like her emotions had caused her to lose all of her strength. Dyon’s arm was like a steel bar, unmoving and sturdy…

Ri felt like tears were about to spill out of her eyes, ‘what kind of ridiculous situation is this? Get off of me!”

But suddenly Ri froze again…

“She’s Ri…” Dyon spun in his sleep, pulling in Ri even tighter, “yea… she’s great… don’t you think you two would make great sister wives?…”

Ri buried her head into Dyon’s bare chest as she cried. She had no idea whether they were tears of happiness or anger at being toyed with, but she cried them nonetheless.

And just like that, another day passed… Dyon none the wiser.

**

“mm,” Dyon stirred in his sleep, “hm… what?”

Dyon felt a bundle of softness in his arms, invading his senses with unparalleled comfort.

“Ri? What are you doing clinging to me?” Dyon suddenly grinned, “if you wanted to get intimate, you should have just asked. I’d be more than willing.”

However, Dyon didn’t receive the usual eye roll and forehead flick… instead, Ri wiggled her head up from his chest and the sight Dyon saw was something that sent him into a panic.

“Ri? What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”

Tears still fell from Ri’s eyes as she looked up at Dyon with her gentle blue-silver eyes.

Her hair was a mess, and her face was a sight that would break the heart of anyone seeing it… Dyon had no idea what was going on… for all his intelligence, he was truly lost, ‘what did I do…’

Almost ridiculously, Dyon checked to see if his essence blood had done something ridiculous in his sleep. With his consciousness to reign it in, his body could have very well done something to Dyon to replenish itself… and what could replenish a body filled with demonic blood better than a virgin with a body as powerful as Ri’s?

But, he soon sighed in relief after he scanned Ri. Her virginity was intact… but that only confused Dyon further.

Dyon reached for Ri’s cheek, pushing away the hair that was sticking to her face, “little feu glace, why are you melting?”

Dyon’s voice was so gentle and full of concern that Ri almost started crying again. But that only made her scream even louder in her head, ‘what is wrong with me!’

Minutes passed as Ri stabilized her emotions.

Dyon was in such a worried state, he didn’t even realize how tightly he was holding onto Ri’s waist… they were even in an odd position on the ground… lying to their sides yet facing each other.

Luckily, Ri soon took a deep breath and spoke softly, “tell me something Dyon… if I one day looked nothing like this anymore… would you feel the same way about me?…”

Dyon scoffed in relief, “that’s what you wanted to ask me?” he lightly pinched Ri’s small nose, “you can look the same, you can look different, but you’d still be you, no?”

Dyon didn’t wait for Ri to respond, immediately picking her up bridal style to jump onto the shoulder of the stone puppet.

Ri grabbed onto Dyon’s shoulders, resting her chin to one side, unwilling to have Dyon look at her in this state anymore. Her water will silently came to life, wiping her face clean.

“you can set me down now, pervert.”

Dyon put Ri down, pinching her nose again, “pervert? Aren’t you the one who came into my manly embrace while I slept? I feel violated”

Ri scoffed, clearly exasperated, “it was YOU who pulled me to you! You’re lucky I didn’t punch you to death!”

Dyon grinned shamelessly, “there’s no need to lie, I’ll accept all your flaws.”

Ri turned away, clearly annoyed, “hmph, what’ll it be like in the future? You’ll take my first everything, then claim it wasn’t you then too? Maybe I should just ignore you from now on.”

Dyon suddenly looked distraught, “don’t be like that, I was kidding, only kidding… don’t ignore me.”

Ri still kept her face turned from Dyon, but smiled gently, ‘at least he knows when to give in.’

Ri suddenly felt a gentle pat on her head, “we’ve wasted enough time,” said Dyon, “let’s start this raid.”

With that, the stone puppet walked forward, leaving the effective area of the last step with Ri and Dyon on its shoulder.

Suddenly, two keys appeared in front of them. Each was identical to the other.

They were about a good 10cm long and beautifully embroidered. However, their key mechanisms were unlike anything Dyon had ever seen before.

Not only were the key grooves large and 3D in nature, but they were also constantly moving. And from what Dyon could see, it was yet another puzzle.

Suddenly, Dyon looked up to the tomb floating above with a look of annoyance. But, he wasn’t even the first to speak.

“is this a joke to you? I almost die, yet you want to test me again? Do your job without bias and give us what we’ve earned, your tricks are pathetic,” with a wave of her hand, both keys spun violently, the arrays within them cracking and imploding.

“we don’t have time for your games,” Ri said glaring at the tomb.

Dyon chuckled, ‘it seems like with little feu glace here I won’t have to do all the yelling. It seems like her fully awakened aurora has heightened her senses tremendously.’

A voice resounded from the tomb… and had Dyon and Ri been present during their earlier conversations, they would have recognized that voice as the old bobbing will.

“leave,” he said faintly, the voice sounding in their heads, “we can’t accept giving our legacies to you two. Use the short cut within the first palace in order to exit. Or else we’ll be forced to kill you.”

Ri’s brow furrowed, ‘are they serious?… is it because I’m only half an elf?’

The old will had spent many weeks thinking about it, and in the end, he decided it was for the best that they ignored these kids. It wasn’t even certain that Dyon was the one the prophecy spoke about because it was clear Ri wasn’t a True Empath… they could at least tell that much.

And if his lover wasn’t a True Empath, then why would they consider allowing him to benefit? But, all their thoughts were shattered when Dyon suddenly began laughing so hard tears came from his eyes.

Wiping them away, he sighed, ignoring Ri’s confused glance, “you know what I find funny?…”

Silence reigned the world.

“It’s the fact I know very well you have no power to do much of anything. You can’t kill us even if you wanted to. If you had real sway over this world, why would you allow so many of your geniuses to die before even making it to these steps?

And you know what the best part is? We don’t need you to enter the 9th palace. The only requirement is the percentage your aurora is awakened to. The ‘key’, quote-unquote, is the awakening your aurora undergoes when you can no longer continue. Each step corresponding to another percentage, thus why there are 99 steps. As long as you’ve connected with your aurora, you’ve already taken that first percentage… so the rest is obvious”

Suddenly Dyon started laughing again, feeling the agitation of the wills.

“but, wait… damn my stomach is seriously hurting,” even Ri had started smiling at this point, “the best part is that you claim this is your world, when all you’ve really done is store your things in someone else’s shed,” Dyon took a deep breath trying to stop his laughter.

“you think I’m not aware that the Elves never created that ancient game below? Let alone you thinking you could convince me that you created this world and that these are ‘your things’.”

‘you… you’ve been to that library? That’s impossible!’

“I don’t care what you think at this point anymore honestly. All about 80% of the Elvin race has done is piss me off. If I didn’t have a few people I cared about from your kingdom, I wouldn’t care for it at all.

Let’s go Ri, these old useless things aren’t worth our time,” Dyon smiled gently at Ri, ignoring the anger radiating for the tomb.

But, despite their anger… they knew there was nothing they could do… even the key they created had taken up everything they had, just to try and fake them out. But, it didn’t work.

And the truth was, Dyon was right.

Once they reached the proximity of the palaces Dyon suddenly thought of something, so he turned to Ri, “you know, it would be a shame if we went through all this work and only went to one palace… and I’m in sore need of cultivation stones… I haven’t spoken to Madeleine in too long…”

Surprisingly, Ri smiled gently at this, “how thoughtful of you,” but her next words made Dyon cringe, “to want to rob my ancestors blind just to speak with your fiancée, how romantic.”

Dyon turned his head away and bitterly chuckled, ‘women… so difficult…’

Suddenly Ri grabbed his arm and buried her forehead into his shoulder to hide her face, “I’m kidding, let’s go raid…. Soon you’ll owe me an explanation about a lot of things. But, I think we have more serious concerns for now, right? I’m looking forward to meeting big sister Madeleine

Dyon smiled, ‘better… but still complicated… just what did I do in my sleep… I need to do it more often.’

With that, they began moving toward the first castle.

The bobs of will raged as they watched Dyon and Ri sweep seemingly endless amounts of cultivation stones and weapons into their spatial rings.

From the first to the seventh castle, the cultivation stones were mostly of the profound and saint level. However, there were millions of them… to the point where Dyon assumed it must be within the billions.

‘this is the wealth of an ancient kingdom?… they lost a lot of their transcendent stones to the Ragnor family… if they hadn’t, I would be set for life,’ Dyon thought mischievously, still ignoring the grumblings of protest from the bobbing wills.

Aside from the cultivation stones in those first seven palaces, there were also many weapons and techniques. Following the lead of the cultivation stones, they were also of similar rank.

The weapons were mostly of the master and grandmaster level, while the techniques peaked at the upper earth to lower heaven levels.

But, Dyon was aware that there had to be more to this. For one, the elves had never stepped into the ninth palace, which meant that whoever the true originators of this world were most likely left what they wanted to protect within that place…

Dyon had figured out the steps were yet another treasure. Just think about it. If someone had enough talent to make it through the ancient game, it was likely that they already had a fully awakened aurora… so why would they then need these stairs? It was clear that whoever left these stairs wanted the person who could figure out the ancient game to raise an army of aurora users…

Dyon shuddered with excitement just thinking about an army using his weapon’s hell array all at once. But, he reigned it in. After all, how likely would it be that everyone in his army would be as talented as Ri and reach the last step?

The second reason Dyon knew there had to be more to this was because in all seven of the first few palaces… not one contained a singularity type technique… and none contained techniques even as remotely profound as the one used to prophesy the future of the elves.

So, when they finally reached the entrance of the eighth palace, Dyon took a deep breath before entering. And there, he found exactly what he was looking for…

On 3 separate pedestals stood the most powerful singularity type techniques created in Elvin history… The Florence ancient family technique… the Mathilde ancient family technique… and the Acacia ancient family technique.

Dyon looked at Ri who held a complicated glance while she nearly bore holes into the Acacia singularity technique. But, Dyon snapped her out of it with a pat on the head, “it’s yours now,” he said softly.

Ri nodded, “what do you plan to do with all of this? Do you want to learn all three? My father once told me that singularity techniques are great body cultivation… but also really difficult. It’s likely these are peak divine level body cultivation techniques… it won’t be easy…”

Dyon smiled, “when have you ever known me to shrink under pressure?”

Ri looked at Dyon and could only shake her head, “so prideful… if you implode from the inside out, don’t expect me to put you back together.”

Dyon sighed, “we still need to find out what happened in the end between those three ancient families… and especially why only the Acacia family younger generation came…”

Ri nodded, “well, we do have one clue.”

Dyon smiled knowingly, “right. Who else could have left that library but the Acacia family younger generation?”

Ri nodded again, ‘he’s quite clever…’

“in terms of what I have planned though, don’t you think those orphans would love to learn these techniques?”

Ri opened her eyes wide with a sudden realization, “you mean?…”

“mhm. If I left them here, they’d eventually grow to the age of having to campaign themselves right? So why not protect them through life as an elder brother? They’ll have the best resources, the best food, and the best techniques.

The only real difference between elves is their bloodline… if the orphans choose one of these three techniques to practice, wouldn’t they make up for that difference?”

Ri suddenly laughed, “this sounds like child labor. You’re growing an army of children now, too?”

Dyon chuckled, “you make it sound so horrible.”

“well, I assume you’re making meal plans for them so diligently so that they can handle the strain of these divine techniques? You really planned this well in advance, hm? You probably knew you sent them too much food just soy you could prepare for us possibly being in here for much too long.”

Dyon grinned, “I have nooo idea what you mean,” walking to the pedestals, and ignoring the wailing of the bobbing wills, Dyon swept all 3 techniques into his ring.

Afterward, he swept his gaze toward the endless piles of dao stones, grinning, ‘I guess I’ll be able to speak with my Madeleine soon.’

Although he was excited too, Dyon suppressed his desire and headed towards the ninth palace.

Walking in, they were greeted by a magnificent sight.

Before them was an array of unmatched complexity, spinning slowly in the air and shining so brightly that Dyon couldn’t pin down the color accurately.

But then, he suddenly thought of something, ‘that’s like the array in the tome!’

Pulling out the tome under Ri’s curious eyes, Dyon opened it to a blank page.

WHOOOSH!

In almost an instant, the array disappeared from the palace, ingraining itself into the tome.

“what’s that…” Ri asked faintly, “wait?! The ranking tome? It wasn’t destroyed?”

Ri gave Dyon a ‘really?’ side glance, “so you’ve been stealing from my kingdom for quite a long time, hmm?”

Dyon chuckled, “I mean… technically… it chose me as its master. What was I supposed to say? But look,” Dyon pointed towards the page, changing the subject.

Looking towards the ridiculously complex array, Ri’s eyes widened, ‘[Dao of Array Alchemy]… how arrogant…”

Ri was exactly right… someone had the audacity to not only create this array but to then name it as a dao… the level this master had reached was one that Dyon couldn’t fathom… and only a master of that level could have made the ancient game Dyon had just played… but, looking at this page now… Dyon got the sinking feeling that that ‘complex’ ancient game was nothing but a simplified knockoff.

Taking a deep breath, Dyon swept his gaze through the now empty room, “well, I guess that it, hmm? Let’s go little feu glace, your kingdom still needs saving.”

Dyon quickly walked out of the palace and smiled deviously as he snatched the entire 99 set staircase into his spatial ring.

And with that, they turned to exit through the short cut left within the ninth palace. Never bothering to speak to the bobs of will again.

**

Later that day, Madeleine sat silently in a dark cultivation room. She was meant to go to a new planet soon, and she knew that the dao stones Dyon had left her wouldn’t be able to send a message across such a long distance, so she anxiously sat, typing away everything that came to mind when suddenly she felt a familiar vibration that sent tears streaming down her face.

‘Little Madeleine, your useless hubby finally got his hands on some more dao stones! I know you won’t be able to respond later because you’ll be too far… but don’t worry, I’m always here for you.

I’ll be starting my first campaign in 3-4 months time and I’ll make sure to make such a big splash you’ll be proud to stand by my side!

Also, don’t worry about anything. Leave it to me. I’ll never let you wait 20 to 30 years to be with me. Come the world tournament, there isn’t a single person on this planet or in this universe that can stop me from taking you away. Even if it’s your master. Even if it’s your master’s master. Even if it’s the Sapientia God Clan head. Even if it’s the head of the royal god clans themselves.’

Madeleine shook violently reading these words, her eyes twinkling and a bright smile appearing on her face.

Then, she sat and read as Dyon sent months worth of messages.

She read about Dyon’s adventures. About his new little sister. About his friendship with Ri. About the annoying Sigebryht and Norville families.

She cried when she read about the orphanage. And she laughed when she read about Dyon robbing the Heaven’s Wine owner and Elvin ancestors blind.

She felt better than she had since she left Dyon… a weight on her heart was lifted and she promised herself to never let this weigh on her again…

In just 8 more months, she’d see Dyon again. At that time, she’d be stronger… she’d be ready to stand by his side tall and firm.

In the end, Dyon and Madeleine messaged each other for hours. By the time Madeleine looked up, it was time for her to leave and head off on a new adventure. But, she left one last teasing message for Dyon.

‘tell little sister Ri I’m looking forward to meeting her. We’ll have to discuss how to deal with you and your antics

-love, your future wife’