“Do you really think Mathias can win against a prime saint without his domain?” Kimika asked sceptically as she watched her senior brother end up on the losing side against O’Brien’s second disciple, time and time again.
Though she was sceptical, she didn’t seem all that worried. Especially not with her second sister standing beside her.
“Mathias won’t lose!” Lauriella exclaimed confidently as she calmly watched her husband’s fight whilst casually standing on top of Byrius’ unconscious body.
“Knowing that masochist, he’s probably using that Talana woman as a whetstone so that he can finally have his comprehension break through to the deity realm,” Wukong surmised as he too casually watched the battle whilst sitting lazily on the branch of one of the few remaining trees in the area.
“Masochist?” Lazerim asked with a raised brow as he turned to his junior brother. “You’re one to talk about masochism.”
“This king’s a genius,” Wukong argued back. “You’re just jealous of this king’s brilliance!”
“I can’t argue with that!” Lazerim sighed. “To think you’ve already begun fusing two profound mysteries…”
“You say that like you haven’t,” Kimika rolled her eyes as she remembered the tree her third brother created previously.
It must be remembered that at the saint level, earth mages could form pure diamonds with their mageforce, but Kimika and the others could sense traces of adamantium in Lazerim’s tree.
It was clear that he had begun to fuse the Profound Mysteries of the Essence of Earth with Strength.
“But look at the age difference,” Lazerim reminded his fourth sister whilst glancing at his fifth brother. “I’m over 150 now, whilst little Kong’s only in his 30s. Plus, after his enlightenment, his comprehension of the Profound Mystery of Movement seems to have reached the level of a prime saint.”
The more he spoke, the more jealous he became. As it stood, the only reason he was still slightly stronger was because he was a saint, whilst Wukong was still in the middle stages of the ninth rank. The moment he decided he was ready to break through to the saint realm, Wukong’s strength would reach the level of Byrius or maybe even a prime saint.
“Still, I don’t want to hear you complaining,” Kimika snorted as she glanced at her junior brother, not bothering to hide her envy. “I’m already over 80, and this brat has already caught up to me.”
If any other saint were to hear their conversation, they’d be hard-pressed not to cough a mouthful of blood of pure frustration.
One was considered a peak genius if they were able to break through to the saint realm by the age of 100 and the peak of the saint realm in under 500 years.
Each and every one of Arianna’s original disciples had attained the strength of a peak saint well before 100.
Still, that only went to show the standards they all had for themselves. It was why they were able to look down on all the saints of their continent with such disdain – at the same level, they were literally invincible!
Lazerim was just about to reply when they all sensed a sudden change in the battle.
“He did it,” Lauriella said softly with a proud smile.
“You…
You just…”
“That’s right,” Mathias said, cutting Talana off mid-stammer, a proud and fiendish smirk suffusing his face as he looked at the burly axe-wielding Amazonian before him. “I helped you make a breakthrough, and now you helped me make one. Now we’re even; I think it’s finally time to end this.”
Till now, though Talana had been the one dominating the fight, Mathias had been able to somewhat hold his own.
There were multiple mitigating factors that went into making such a feat possible. For one, though not quite at the level of Aiden, Wukong, and Kimika, Mathias’ weapon handling was sublime. To the point where even a warrior like Talana had to admit her inferiority.
Second was that Talana’s fighting style matched Mathias perfectly. Had she been a prime saint who focused on speed, Mathias never would’ve been able to compete, being easily dominated. But with her being a power hitter and him being a saint who focused on the edict of destruction – the law famed for its overwhelming power – Mathias was in his element.
Finally, and arguably most importantly, Talana was on her own whilst being watched by four other saints with the power to threaten her, one of whom was no weaker than her, even with her breakthrough.
The moment the rest of her juniors had lost, she had wanted to escape, but she had promptly been forced to stay here.
The only good thing was that it appeared that the others seemed to have no intention of getting involved. Still, the stress of them being there was ultimately a big enough distraction that prevented her from being able to go all out.
Now though, Mathias’ comprehension had stepped into the realms of deities. Meaning that even without any support, Mathias could calmly face off against prime saints.
The moment she sensed the change in Mathias’ aura, Talana gave up attempting to fight her way out. She knew that as small as the chance was, if she were to stand any chance of escaping with her life, she would have to go for broke and try her best at running.
Unfortunately, whether she tried to escape or fight to the bitter end made no difference in Mathias’ eyes.
“[World Decimation]!” Mathias exclaimed as he slowly swung his axe from top to bottom.
Wukong and the others watched with rapt attention, but unlike what they expected, there was no giant axe light or earth-shaking explosion. Instead, Talana’s body simply disintegrated until there was simply nothing left.
“Well, that was anticlimactic,” Wukong yawned lazily as he stood up and hopped off the branch.
It wasn’t that Mathias couldn’t have made it more showy it was just that after his breakthrough, he realised that there was no need.
“True Gods of Destruction ‘destroy’ only what they want to!” Mathias said slowly as he landed on the ground before Lauriella and the others.
As they looked at him, they couldn’t help but raise their brows slightly as they found his presence had evolved, becoming closer to that of their master’s. If they had to use a word to describe it, it would be “natural”.
Unlike with Arianna, they could still sense Mathias, but it was definitely a lot harder. He seemed to have become a lot closer to nature.
“You all stayed here?” Mathias asked as he scanned his junior brothers and sisters. “What about Ace and Milianna?”
“Don’t worry,” Kimika said to put his mind at ease. “Elise used our bond of equals to let me know that she picked them all up.
Apparently, they got caught by another saint, but everyone’s alive and back at the Pavilion.
With Elise and Jax there, they’ll be safe until we get back.”
“What about Cesar and Uncle Aiden?” Mathias frowned pensively.
“Apparently, neither of their groups made it back yet,” Kimika replied somewhat concernedly.
“I see,” Mathias nodded. “Well, there’s no need for concern; with the strength of Uncle Aiden and Cesar, the chances of anything happening to them are virtually non-existent.”
“What do you wanna do with him?” Lauriella asked as she casually stomped on Byrius, startling him awake.
Seeing all of Arianna’s disciple’s still alive and kicking with none of his fellow disciples around, Byrius’ heart dropped as the fear of death overwhelmed him.
“Uncle Aiden will likely want to finish him himself in the future,” Mathias sighed. “I’ll take him back to his empire and go get master.
The rest of you go back to the pavilion to stop any other surprises from happening.”
At the same time, atop War God’s Mountain, the sound of deafening, violent explosions rang through the empire, shocking and putting the fear of god in the empire’s residents.
As one of the two most powerful nations on the continent, there wasn’t much that could scare them, but the repeated thunderous roars of battle…
The only ones capable of creating such terrifying sounds were deities. Most believed that it had to be the High Priest returning to challenge their empire’s founder and spiritual god, but those who were present for Ace’s challenge on War God Mountain knew the truth.
It was hard to believe that one saint was capable of clashing with a deity for so long, but they knew that was the case. And every explosion that resounded was just another reminder of how powerful that woman was and, in turn, how powerful and untouchable this Yin-Yang Pavilion and its students were.
Still, as shocked as they were, their surprise paled in comparison to that of Fain and O’Brien!
From the very beginning of the fight, O’Brien had been placed firmly on the back foot, and even with Fain’s support, there was no extricating himself.
What was even more inconceivable was that despite it appearing as though Arianna was going all out to Fain, O’Brien had this nagging suspicion that she was still holding back.
“Mathias,” Arianna called out, her sword coming to a halt mid-swing, giving Fain a chance to escape what looked to be certain death. “Since you’re here, I’m guessing Milianna and the others are safe?”
O’Brien and Fain had been under so much pressure previously that neither of them had detected the arrival of the dishevelled and bloodied man carrying Byrius over his shoulder, but when they did, their eyes couldn’t help but narrow.
Like Arianna, Mathias was only at the middle stages of the saint realm, but the aura he unknowingly gave off made it clear he wasn’t to be underestimated.
After battling Arianna for so long, they had both understood the implications of her aura, despite being so much weaker, still seeming much closer to nature than either of theirs.
“Yes, master. Ace and the others suffered a few injuries, but all are alive now and back at the pavilion with Lauriella and the others.
As for his disciples,” Mathias said, glancing indifferently at O’Brien. “Other than this one, all who came paid with their lives.”
“Good,” Arianna nodded gently as she casually put away her swords. “Let’s go.”
“Yes, master.” Mathias nodded before tossing Byrius like a rag doll at O’Brien, forcing Fain to step forward and catch him.
O’Brien couldn’t remember the last time he had been treated with such disdain, but as much as he hated everything to do with the situation, he didn’t dare say or do anything to agitate the situation further, but before leaving, Arianna’s soft but soul-chilling voice entered his ears.
“I have no intention of harming you or your people, but O’Brien,” As she said to there, Arianna’s voice became several times frostier in a second as her killing intent returned with a vengeance. “If you so much as breathe in my disciple’s direction, I will erase your miserable existence from this world.”
O’Brien and Faye stood in the skies, silently staring at the spot Arianna disappeared from for several minutes before O’Brien let out an enraged roar that shook the whole of the empire as the heat suddenly spiked throughout the whole empire.
“Fain,” O’Brien growled. “No one is to disturb me; I’ll call for you when I’m ready!”
Before he even got the chance to respond, Fain could only watch as his master disappeared before turning to Byrius, who appeared to be the most shaken up of them all.
“Tell me what happened,” Fain commanded his master’s crimson-haired descendant. “I want to know everything about that Mathias fellow and the rest of this Yin-Yang Pavilion’s members…”
.
.
.
Several hours had passed since the explosions stopped ringing in the empire, but the mood was anything but harmonious. Most still didn’t know the outcome, but from O’Brien’s roar, they could guess that it was less than desirable.
O’Brien was still in his personal cave, licking his wounds after his humiliating defeat when the doors to his abode opened without his permission.
“WHAT PART OF NO DISTURBANCES DIDN’T YOU UNDERSTAND?!” O’Brien boomed as he attacked the door without holding back, not caring who it was.
Space burnt and warped under the heat of O’Brien’s attack, but when it approached the door, it simply fizzled out, but even before that, O’Brien’s body had already frozen in shock and horror.
“Lo… Lord Beirut!” O’Brien exclaimed as he hurriedly took a knee and bowed his head. “I…
I apologise for my…”
“The boy and his mother,” Beirut indifferently interrupted the crimson-haired deity from his grovelling. “Where did they come from?”
O’Brien hesitated when he heard that. As far as he knew, other than opening the doors to a certain ruin every few thousand years, Beirut rarely bothered to interact with the rest of the world in any way, shape or form. Hearing him take an interest in his woman and son, especially when they may well be the key to everything he’d been dreaming of since his becoming a deity, how could O’Brien not be hesitant?
Still, as strong as Arianna was, in front of this man, she was nothing but a child. If Beirut wanted his life, he could only obediently hand it over.
“The boy, Ace, is my long-lost son, and his mother was once my woman,” O’Brien explained. “She escaped a little over 16 years ago when you last came to see me.”
“Not that,” Beirut shook his head. “I don’t care about their connection to you; I want to know where she’s from.
Do you know who that Milianna’s parents are?”
“No, Milord,” O’Brien shook his head respectfully. “As far as I know, Milianna grew up an orphan in an orphanage in my empire.”
“I see,” Beirut replied vacantly, a calculative light flickering in his eyes as he casually made his way to the exit. ‘The timelines should match. Milianna should be that man’s daughter…’
“Milord,” O’Brien called out nervously before Beirut disappeared. “Would you like me to pass the order not to touch them as they’re connected to you?”
Beirut opened his mouth to say yes when an idea suddenly popped into his head and changed his mind.
“No need,” Beirut shook his head as his body vanished, moving at a speed that not even O’Brien could catch a glimpse of. “What happens between you all is your business; I won’t interfere.”
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Book 11: Part 18 – Ancestral Baptism
