Chapter 1289 Older
The inhabitants of the Royal City paused their work to find a good spot to watch the show. Just as they expected, how could that young lady allow Zaire to rampage around as he pleased?
As for the older generation, they hardly cared. As was the way of the Dragons, they left the matters of the younger generation to the younger generation.
It was at this moment, just as Zaire's voice was booming and echoing throughout the planet that the sound of slow footsteps filled their ears. This matter was incomparably mysterious, how could it be that such soft steps could overwhelm the sounds of a demon qilin's booming voice? Yet, that was exactly what they experienced.
Zaire's expression turned serious, his haughty bravado turning down a half measure as his eyes slightly reddened. It wasn't out of fear or rage, but rather battle intent that pierced the heavens.
The white scale on his forehead glowed fiercely, sending out a pressure rivaling that of Kings throughout the Planet. Inevitably, those with weaker Dragon Souls paled, but they continued to watch, their pride as Dragons not allowing them to retreat.
The soft steps grew faintly louder. Their pace was steady and unhurried, spaced evenly, each not too long or short of a time before the other.
Then, she appeared.
What first came into view was the softly fluttering edges of her lavender gown, followed by the dainty image of her small, pure feet. She walked across the marbled floors of the Palace entrance, feeling the ground with her delicate soles.
To her back, her hair shimmered like gems. In one instance it would appear to be a light pink, at others, it would glow a light blue, and still during others, it would perfectly fuse with the gentle lavender color of the fabrics she wore.
She was exceptionally tall for a woman, standing at just over 6'2. And, despite her frail appearance, she gave off a contradictorily valiant aura reminiscent of Amphorae, but with far less bloodlust.
Her curves made men and even women swoon. Her towering breast, even under her light gait, threatened to escape their enclosures. Her long, slender legs peaked out and reflected like crystals under the sunlight, taking advantage of the slits in her gown. Even her waist seemed to swing like the pendulum of a hypnotist, swaying seductively without even their owner's consent.
"Damaris, bring out my little sister, no one has time to play with you." Under normal circumstances, Zaire would be the first to challenge Damaris. However, he had more important things on his mind. His big brother was back now so he wanted to talk with Lyla about what they should do next. Should they stay and wait for him to come and get them? Or should they go to Celestial Deer Corner and wait for someone of his upper echelon to appear and take them where they were needed.
"That's not my title." Damaris said lightly. "When you're speaking to someone above your stature, you should refer to them respectfully. Also, Little Sister Lyla has no interest in seeing you now, she at a very important juncture in her cultivation."
Lyla, who was standing just inside the Palace, giggled slightly. Her personality had grown to be quite like Madeleine's, so she decided to not interfere as two people she cared about glared at one another. At worst, Zaire would just get beaten up a bit and then they could go about normal matters.
Zaire said no more words. They were completely useless, and much like his elder brother, he hated explaining himself. Even in the face of someone who was certain to defeat him, an unbridled battle intent sprung forth from his body.
He shot forward, raging red flames and sparkling white celestial intent blooming around him.
Those watching shook their heads.
"Poor boy, how long do you think he'll last this time?"
"He showed some improvement a few months ago. I'm thinking he'll break less than two dozen bones this time and last about 30 seconds."
"Hohoho," Another group chuckled, "That's quite a high evaluation. I'm thinking that Zaire will last 25 seconds this time and break three dozen bones."
An older man with flowing lavender hair sighed. "This boy should give up on challenging Princess True God Agios so much. Technically, it's a bit too shameful for us to always send the Princess to handle him. After all, she's almost 90 years old this year but Zaire isn't even 30 yet."
"Hush, we have no 30 year olds capable of dealing with that battle maniac. It's better for the Princess to handle him."
"He's always been too stubborn. Had he not been so dead set on stealing the Princess' Key, he could have taken it from one of the other four and become a True God himself by now."
"I agree. That blood thirsty True God Tatsuya is no match for him."
"True, but that's only because True God Tatsuya paused his cultivation to enter his trial world. Let's not pretend as though he's just another regular genius, now."
"Mm. That's true as well. Little Zaire has never taken his trials, so he's spent all more than 25 years of his life cultivating."
"Still, even if we subtract that time, True God Agios is still about 40 or so years old. It should be about the same for True God Tatsuya. Not everyone can finish their God Trials in 13 years like that True God Sacharro fellow."
"Oh look, the battle's already over." Someone mused.
"Haha! Pay up!"
The silent exchange of gambling collateral became to theme music to Zaire's battle with the Princess of the Crystal Dragon Clan.
Zaire found himself gasping for breath, looking up at the sky. The light harrumph of the Princess let him know that Lyla had likely finally come out, but his vision was too blurred with pain to tell. In fact, Zaire's intuition was correct.
Like a fairy, Lyla seemed to glide with her every step. Her sharp, elvin ears gave her an otherworldly feeling, the kind that made one believe she was of an origin much higher than themselves. Pink diamond hair fluttered behind her as similarly colored large, watery eyes seemed to smile toward the injured Zaire.
"Big brother, you should stop provoking Damaris so much. You know she doesn't take too kindly to your entrances." Her voice sounded as one might expect, light and airy almost as though it was a drug in and of itself.
Zaire snorted, but the pain of doing so reverberated through his cracked ribs. Still, with his abilities, they were rapidly healing. He'd be just fine in as little as ten minutes. Maybe it was because of this overpowered vitality of his that he was so masochistic. Like brother, like brother, one might think at this point.
Luckily, with Lyla by his side, this ten-minute healing timeframe was cut down drastically. It wasn't that she had some hidden healing abilities, but rather that natural energy itself seemed to condense wherever she went. Because of her, Zaire had more energy to heal himself with and soon sat up as his vision cleared.
"I'll never understand why you call him big brother," Damaris said in a slight teasing tone, "I know quite well that you're older than he is."