Aki shook, caught between rage and complete embarrassment. However, he could do nothing as Dyon's hand touched the outer barrier of the defensive array, causing a steady stream of aurora flames to pour in and thus change the form of the cage.
Aki's prison began to grow spikes that steadily grew toward him, piercing into his skin and shattering his bone.
Blood curdling screams began to ring out, causing those geniuses who were still watching to tremble with terror.
"Don't worry," Dyon spoke calmly. "I don't need you to retract your blatant lies and slander toward my wife, I'll be going to the Kitsune clans personally for an explanation. Instead, you can focus on accepting the punishment for your crimes."
A spike shot forward toward Aki's crotch. No matter how he twisted and turned, it was no use. The space was too small and the defensive array was too powerful. It was meant to hold celestials, how could an already drained Aki defend against spikes created from such tough material?
The men in the crowd turned their heads away, unable to watch. They involuntarily crossed their legs, swearing up and down in their minds that they'd never cross Dyon.
"I'll kill you!" Aki roared.
There were a few things on the body that were almost impossible to heal no matter what medicines you had. The eyes were one of them, and the other? Reproductive organs. Unless Aki managed to get his hands on a Star level pill, he would forever lose his pride as a man.
Dyon clicked his tongue. "Eunuchs are supposed to be more docile than this."
Aki was so blinded by rage and pain when he heard this that he fainted.
Dyon didn't seem to mind. He calmly manipulated the array, stripping Aki of everything valuable on him. In the end, Aki was stripped completely naked and was flipped upside down for the world the see. The most grotesque part about it was that Aki's manhood was completely gone, mangled into a bloodied mess.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt'Master.' Dyon spoke in his Mind's Eye. 'Do you see any where his protective treasure is?'
Hearing Dyon's words, the 25th White Mother startled awake from her shock. It still hadn't set in that Dyon had actually won. Truth be told, she was planning on intervening until she saw that Dyon had teleported away. It all made sense though. Clara had created those special teleportation arrays, the ones that could only be written on red plaques, in order for Dyon to escape the spatial locks of Celestials. What did a mere Aki mean in the face of that?
'Most protective treasures are bond to the souls of young geniuses at birth. Aki's is no different. With your soul sealed, it's impossible to deal with. And, even if your soul was unsealed, entering to personally deal with a protective treasure would only lead to death even if you were a half-step transcendent. Souls on this plane of existence are simply too fragile.'
Dyon nodded in acceptance. In a lot of ways, it was better this way. Since it was impossible to kill Aki, he had no choice but to go with the smarter of his two plans instead of continuing to vent his anger.
Dyon took Masako's body out of his ring, ignoring Aki for the moment.
Her face was paled and there was a large hole in her throat. However, despite what others thought, she wasn't dead. That said, she was critically injured and without a high-level healing pill, her only path was death.
Those of the Heaven Kitsune clan, for obvious reasons, had much more robust life essence than others. It was similar to the way Luna from Dyon's second trial transferred forty thousand years of life to Dyon. People like her and Masako were simply loved by Heaven's energies.
Luckily, Masako's body was far less demanding than Dyon's and didn't require his highest-level pills to heal.
Dyon unceremoniously pulled a pill out and shattered it in his two fingers. He then did something nauseating… Taking the powder in his hands, he reached into the hole in Masako's throat, cleared out the path down her collapsed esophagus, and shoved the pill in.
Just as the geniuses still watching were wondering what the hell was going on, their eyes widened as the supposedly dead Masako wriggled to life. Her pale limbs gained color, the wound in her throat began to close, and she started to cough violently.
Dyon slammed his palm into her chest, causing her lifeless heart to beat once again.
Finally, Dyon looked around. "The show is over. Is there a reason for you all to still be here? It can't be that you want to steal my resonance, is it?"
The geniuses who were still there began to sweat profusely before shaking their heads vigorously. Dyon was right, the show was over.
One by one, they all left, leaving Dyon with an unconscious Masako and Aki. Only he knew the reason behind his actions.
'Master, I have a question.'
'Hm?'
'If you siphon off energy from my soul, could you use it to draw arrays without putting yourself in danger?'
'Theoretically, it should be possible. There's nothing stopping me from drawing arrays right now other than my own limited energy supply.'
Before Dyon could explain his goal, something unexpected happened.
"Kid, listen to me and stop resonating with that heart-breaker. Your ability to control the battlefield is unlike anything I've ever seen. I want to make you the God of Archers!"
Dyon paused. A statue from the core valley? Taking the initiative to come to speak to him?
The most shocking part was that the distance between statues was not small, this guy was definitely using a lot of effort to come here. There was even a chance his soul could dissipate before he succeeded. If Dyon said no to him, wouldn't he have died for nothing?
However, it seemed that after watching Dyon's battle, the spirit was thoroughly impressed.
Although the young geniuses might be fooled, with his years of experience in life, plus the help of the tower, he could see through Dyon entirely.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmIn truth, Dyon had no business winning that fight. In fact, if it had been anyone else, there was almost a 100% certainty that they would have died a horrible death.
Dyon had won not because of his power, but because of his intelligence. His ability to use every minor point on the battlefield to his advantage was something that impressed even the Archer spirit.
From the way Dyon pretended to focus on Diana before taking out the Kings, to the way he used his concealment arrays to hide his ability to teleport, to the way he used the power of his opponents against themselves. It was masterful, beautiful, it had even brought the spirit to tears.
He was so moved by Dyon's control of the battlefield that he had risked it all to fly here without the support of his statue.
"Wait…" Dyon suddenly realized something. "Heart breaker?"
The spirit bitterly smiled. "The 25th White Mother was the fantasy woman for too many of us men, but her clan insisted on marrying her off to another beast for the sake of their bloodline. I lost the race before I could even try!"
Dyon suddenly laughed. All of the tension he had built of in the last hour or so seemed to dissipate.
From within Dyon's Mind's Eye, his master pouted adorably, not liking this portrayal of her one bit.
Although Dyon could just tell the Archer about his Soul Tome, he didn't do so immediately. Something was telling him that he could get more if he was patient.
"Okay, then how do you plan on making me the God of Archers?"
"I know that you're skeptical, kid. But trust me, choosing me will be the best decision you've ever made in your life."
Of course the Archer understood a few things. Because of the restrictions placed on them by their clans, they weren't allowed to give out their core teachings, even to promising geniuses. This meant that the valley was essentially an exchange of geniuses handing off their fateful encounters, and they were often… lack luster.
For example, the best technique Dyon had gotten thus far was a single Divine level technique. However, the only reason he got it was because that spirit's clan had long since been destroyed.