Reaper of the Martial World

historical

Book 11: Chapter 22: Expect (1)

Dyon sat on a pile of corpses, his body covered in blood. His hands looked no different from a man who inexplicably dipped his palms into a bucket of red paint. It was oddly vibrant yet gruesome at the same time.

His breathing was ragged and uncontrolled, but it had nothing to do with how tired he was. Ripping those four Supremes limb from limb was as easy as slaughtering an infant.

No, Dyon’s breathing had little to do with the effort he was putting in and much more to do with the torrent of emotions rippling through his heart.

Everything he looked at seemed to enrage him. The skies above his head, the earth beneath his fit, even the slight breeze. It was completely illogical, yet it was his current truth.

Oddly enough, despite what was happening to him, Dyon hadn’t asked the very obvious question yet… Why?

Why was he feeling this way? Why was he suddenly so enraged? Why did it feel like everything was against him?

**

“Dyon? Dyon!”

Lilith grabbed Junior’s shoulders, trying to shake him awake.

Maybe if it was anyone else, they would have already fainted from shock. The aura billowing from Junior’s, or rather, Dyon’s body was unlike anything Lilith had ever felt before. It was the kind of presence that could squash her father with a single finger, a completely effortless, unmatched strength.

However, there was nothing effortless about Dyon’s current state. His palm clutched his own forehead so fiercely that it seemed as though he might shatter his own skull at any moment. Yet, he was completely oblivious to the pain he was inflicting upon himself.

Dyon abruptly stood, a mighty roar escaping his lips.

His vajra body appeared in the skies, striking forward with a momentum that collapsed the skies.

Everything crumbled.

Countless planets in the strike’s wake exploded into molten rock. Space warped and shattered, collapsing in on itself and deforming to the point of forming several black holes at once. The very universe the stood in seemed prepared to self-destruct at any moment…

Though the strike wasn’t aimed toward her, and could even be considered to be facing directly away from her, Lilith uncontrollably vomited several mouthfuls of blood. The planet beneath their feet wasn’t much different either, sending the earthquakes the likes of which couldn’t be scaled terrorizing its surface.

“Dammit!” Dyon roared, his voice reverberating through his steel-like vocal cords. Just this simple word made the roar of a dragon sound no different from an infant learning to speak.

Maybe realizing how reckless his actions were, Dyon quickly found Lilith’s near unconscious body, the pain in his heart blossoming forth several fold.

What the hell was he doing?

Maybe it was only now that it became obvious that even this clone of Dyon’s didn’t have complete access to his memories. If he did, would he be reacting in this way along with his main body? It simply didn’t make much sense.

It was too difficult to make heads or tails of anything. Even this version of Dyon, who had access to relatively more memories, couldn’t understand the root of his rage. It was as though it was on the tip of his tongue, but refused to come out.

“Lilith… Lilith?” Dyon kneeled down, pulling Lilith up and cradling her in his chest.

Lilith breathed a bit raggedly. Dyon’s body was still emitting a suffocating pressure that made it hard to breathe, but she still somehow felt more comfortable here. She didn’t even have a single thought of blaming Dyon.

“… Not again…” Dyon muttered, holding on to her slight frame as though he feared she might disappear in the next instant. “… I can’t lose her again…”

Lilith’s heart trembled when she heard these words. Her arms creeped upward, using her small hands to grasp Dyon’s as they cradled her face.

But she couldn’t seem to find the words to say. She felt that no matter what she said, it would be useless.

Even if she trusted Dyon with all her being, it was still too difficult to wrap her mind around some things. How were her and Dyon truly related? What was their past? What happened to bring Dyon down to his knees like this?

However, seeing him in this state… How could she continue to doubt?

The very man who seemed to be able to hold the world up was now holding onto her as though she was his pillar. But even she felt it was beyond that. It was as though she symbolized something… He cared for her, but he cared for the symbol she represented too… If he lost either, he would sooner have the world follow suit in tribute.

“… I’ve spared the world nine times already…” Dyon muttered incoherently. “… I allowed them to breathe, to live, to love and laugh… How many trillions of years have I given them…?

“… If you fail to give me anything in return… then that breath and life… those loves and laughs… I will take them all back… Not just from this world, but from them all… For the price of taking away what was most precious to me… You can all pay…”  

Tears uncontrollably fell from Lilith’s eyes.

She felt that these weren’t words Dyon spoke now, but rather ones he had already spoken in the past… It was as though he was reminding the world of his conviction… If they took what he cared about away from him again… He would destroy everything.