Reaper of the Martial World

Book 7: Chapter 26: Tribulation (2)

Dyon stood frozen, his brain seemingly short circuiting. He was usually proud of his demeanor… it was an aspect of him that made him almost unflappable. It usually took something as big as suddenly leaping from a first level intent to a ninth to make his mind turn to mush, yet he could hardly process what he was seeing.

After leaving the Daiyu to their own devices, Dyon immediately used the Demon Sage Tower to travel to the Elvin Kingdom.

The truth was that Ri and had come with him to visit her parents, but he had insisted on dealing with the war himself. Ri had thrown herself into cultivation in order to be able to help Dyon with his burden, so over the last two decades, she had only seen her parents a handful of times, something that Dyon told her was unacceptable. So, she happily agreed to come.

As Dyon expected, King Acacia wasn’t a fan of King Belmont’s change either, but unlike Dyon, he didn’t have the twins to tell him that something odd was going on. His True Empath abilities saw through King Belmont despite him being unable to change anything.

This aside, King Acacia remained in the Elvin Kingdom, focusing on building it back up while taking care of his wife because he felt that it likely wouldn’t be long before the Elvin Kingdom was forced to take the mantle of Royal God Clan.

Knowing this, Dyon had been coming back to let his father-in-law know that there was nothing to worry about anymore, but that was when his attention turned toward the Eostre Holy Lands and he remembered Ms. Everdeen.

For a long time now, Dyon had felt a looming guilt over her death. It wasn’t just for a simple and vague reason like he felt responsible for it, but it was rather deeper and darker than that…

Despite knowing that Jade was entirely responsible for not only this poor and kind old lady’s death, but also for her torture before death, Dyon almost forgave Jade…

He didn’t understand the feeling. He was usually cold and decisive when it came to parsing enemies and allies. It didn’t matter how beautiful you were, it didn’t matter if they had a good relationship in the past, nothing effected Dyon’s ability to differentiate right from wrong.

Yet… Despite Jade not being as beautiful as any one of his wives, despite her destroying her image in his heart every time he recalled that crazed and depraved look in her eye after Ri destroyed her face, despite knowing that she played a key role in making Meiying’s life a living hell for almost two years… Dyon still found it difficult to hate Jade.

An innocent woman was dead. She could never come back and it was Jade’s fault. Yet, Dyon always found himself making excuses for her and that wracked him with guilt.

So, when Dyon silently slipped into the Eostre family tombs, a sacred place Ms. Everdeen was buried in with her crystal coffin, and saw all of the frozen traitors of that family kneeling before, his heart couldn’t help but stop beating when he noticed a new kneeling ice statue in the place he had sworn to drag Jade to…

And… his eyes blurred the moment he realized that that new kneeling ice statue was Jade herself…

“What…” Dyon felt short of breath, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t seem to fill his lungs to their full capacity.

The twins who were standing on Dyon shoulder looked from him to the ice statue he couldn’t take his eyes from. It didn’t take long for them to understand the history of this place with their abilities.

‘So, the Eostre family tried to betray their Elvin kin by relying on the Daiyu and this was their punishment? To forever kneel before the coffin of that pitiful old lady?’ Little Yin’s immature voice was projected to her brother, clearly she was saddened by this story.

“H-How long?” Dyon squeezed these words out, directing them toward the twins. “How long has that statue been there?”

Dyon closed his eyes the moment he heard the response from the twins. The date they gave him… It was the same date that Jade disappeared from the clutches of the Daiyu…

He didn’t know how to feel. Jade, a woman he thought he would have to hunt down, had already been punishing herself for more than 20 years.

With Dyon’s senses, he knew that this was her true body, there was no doubting it…

Somehow, she looked just as beautiful as the first day Dyon met her on the library terrace. It seemed the Daiyu had healed her scars for her, one way or another. What Dyon didn’t know was that the last time Chenglei and Elder Daiyu had seen her, her face was just as deformed…

Her silver hair draped along her slender shoulders, her eyes were closed as frozen tears dripped from them… Her delicate features were contorted in a picture of absolute guilt and remorse…

Dyon’s heart inexplicably quaked. He wanted to break her out, he wanted to forgive her for everything she had done.

Wasn’t this exactly what he had been waiting for? It wasn’t her fault that her family technique distorted her personality and ravaged her mind. It wasn’t her fault… historical

Dyon grit his teeth… It wasn’t until a full day later that he finally bowed to Ms. Everdeen’s coffin and left.

No matter how he felt… It wasn’t his place to forgive… It wasn’t his forgiveness to give…