Chapter 1318 Long Gone
He wouldn't even have to stand from his throne to destroy all fifty puppets, nor would he have to use his Presence to cripple them.
Suddenly, before Dyon could make his move, his divine sense twitched.
"Tch," Dyon sighed, disgruntled. It seemed that the other geniuses had succeeded on their second attempt. He could even sense that the most powerful of them completely ignored the treasures and were barrelling toward the second set of doors. It was likely that they understood the keys to the third phase were limited.
The hoarse laughter of the guardian filled Dyon's ears. He found it hilarious that after so much bloviating, Dyon was being put into such a situation. Soon, those geniuses would come here and considering their prowess, it would be difficult for Dyon to take even one key amid so many peak celestials.
Unlike the puppets, most of these geniuses had protections against Presence. And, even for those less fortunate that didn't, Dyon could at most lower their battle prowess by one or two orders, only the weakest would fall to the second grade. Dyon knew that he would still have to put in some effort to defeat a second grade peak celestial human. It wasn't a lot of effort, but if it was multiplied by ten or twenty, he would have to sweat it out.
This didn't even count those who would remain unaffected by his Presence or would still remain at the first grade despite being affected. Dyon knew he would have to go all out to defeat a first grade peak celestial.
Then there was God Goldeen. If he was still in the middle celestial tier, Dyon was confident in defeating him in a few moves. However, if he improved like everyone else had and entered the high celestial realm, Dyon would have to struggle against him as well.
Dyon sighed again. "What a headache. Seems I can't have the battle I wanted."
The guardian's hoarse laughter continued. "Don't worry, you'll have all the battling you can take."
Dyon smirked. "Such a stupid creation could only be formed by an equally stupid Lord Creator. To think that you're such a fool."
"What did you say?!"
Dyon didn't bother to answer, with a thought, the excited Little Rain appeared, his miniature Dyon form flickering with an illusory light as he looked around happily.
"Just tie him down for a few seconds Little Rain, afterward, all 50 of these are for you."
"Really? Reallly?!"
"Mhm." Dyon nodded.
The guardian's expression changed under its visor, but it was too late. Thousands of crystalline chains powered toward it, they were so numerous that they were completely impossible to dodge. In the end, even the golden flame that sat atop its head became hidden from view as it was wrapped in a cocoon of chains.
Dyon smiled lightly, jumping up from his place and snatching all 13 keys. He thought about leaving one behind to force his enemies to fight amongst each other, but he decided against it. After deducting the time he wasted from the year time frame between phases, there were still another 6 months until the third phase started. With so much time, they would definitely have too much time to heal.
There was something fishy going on with the Golden Crow disciples. He felt that they were above the laws of this world for some reason. So, Dyon didn't believe such a simple trick would work against them. Instead, he preferred to have everything in his palms. He'd play with them to death if he had to.
With a thought Dyon, Little Rain and the beast babies disappeared into the tower that had shrunken down to its smallest size. Even a dao expert would have trouble spotting them.
Dyon chuckled as he watched the black guardian destroy his throne in a rage.
"You got the keys already?" A questioning voice sounded behind Dyon.
Before, Dyon had purposely lowered the shields on the tower so that Yandevere and Sabona couldn't see what happened outside. So, when Dyon appeared before them less than half an hour after he sent them in, they couldn't help but be surprised.
Dyon grinned, allowing 2 keys to float to each one of them.
"This…" Sabona and Yandevere were speechless. The worst part was that Dyon didn't have a single injury on him, aside from his shirtless body glistening with a thin sheen of sweat, there was nothing that said he had just undergone an intense battle.
At first, they thought he relied on the beast babies, but when they saw the four of them in their toddler forms happily munching away at snacks that made their hearts hurt, they would only throw that idea away.
"Alright!" Dyon clapped. "Time to go."
The Demon Sage Tower stealthily flew over the heads of the geniuses that ran into the throne room. By the time they realized what had happened and enraged roars shook the castle, Dyon was long gone.
...
Long after Dyon had left, the geniuses stood in the castle hall with ugly expressions on their faces. Because all of the keys were gone, not only would they not be able to enter the third phase, but the second phase had closed too, barring them from contending for any of the remaining treasures here.
Deep seeded rage burned in their eyes. They were all geniuses, used to living with their noses angled high, when had they ever suffered such a loss? Even in the face of True Gods, especially not those so far below their cultivation level, they wouldn't suffer such a devastating blow.
Kali's regret was only further multiplied at this point. She had thought that she could console herself by making some small gains here, she had even gone all out against those puppets outside, yet this was the result. She got nothing, all because she was foolish enough to look down on a True God.
True God Tatsuya suddenly started laughing. His body was bloodied and mangled in many placed, but his eyes burned like eternal embers. This level of injury could only be expected. Despite being a True God, they did have to fight against a pseudo-dao puppet, after all. But, to think that they would get nothing.
Unfortunately for them, the black-armored guardian was forced into hibernation just seconds after Dyon took the last key, so none of them comprehended the kind of prowess he had. Plus, the wounds the hall had suffered from the battle had healed. All of them believed that Dyon had simply strolled in, taken the keys, then left. This only made them angrier.
"Good…. Good…" God Goldeen mumbled to himself, a sinister and horrid aura emanated from him as the flames that coated his golden hair flickered wildly. He had been entrusted with an incredibly important mission, but to think he would have failed so miserably.
The Sovereign Flame wasn't ranked first in offensive power, nor was it some magical alchemic flame, but it held a value that was unimaginable. Simply put, if God Goldeen knew that this Mystical World would open in his lifetime, even in the face of his shrinking potential, he would have never broken into the celestial realm before getting his hands on it…