About half an hour passed by before Ri's aurora flame finally settled down. The feeling coming from her was such a bone chilling cold that Dyon had to layer Little Lyla with array after array, just to make sure she felt no discomfort.

Just as she finally relaxed, the butterflies of the cave began to float around her. But, Dyon couldn't help but gulp.

Ri's hair stuck to her face ever so slightly, evidence of how much pressure she had just been under. Her chest still heaved as she caught her breath, but the sight was much too enticing for Dyon's demon essence to handle. Despite this, he couldn't look away from the sweat slowly dripping down her subtle, but very present ravine.

By the time Dyon's eyes reached down to her exposed and tone belly, he could only shake himself awake.

Luckily Ri hadn't noticed, or else he'd probably be a dead man by now.

Trying to calm himself, Dyon stretched his hand out to one of the fluttering butterflies.

Meanwhile, Ri had finally taken her last deep breath and was shocked beyond belief, "65%?!"

She turned a complicated gaze towards Dyon, 'just who are you really?...'

Just as she was deciding on whether she should ask Dyon and open herself up to being questioned as well, she noticed Dyon frowning.

"What is it?" Ri asked.

Dyon's confused voice rang out, "my ring.. it's vibrating.. why?..."

Ri's eyebrows furrowed, "ring?... vibrating?..." Ri looked at what Dyon what talking about only to find him staring at the very same spatial ring she had once held around her neck. But, Dyon's hand was visibly shaking, and it clearly had nothing to do with him.

'what's going on?' they both thought at once.

Suddenly, Dyon's eyes widened with a sudden realization.

He jumped up, running to Ri. He quickly took off the ring and put it in her hand, "whatever you do, Ri, do not take this ring out of this cave."

Ri didn't understand what Dyon was talking about, or why he would say that, but she nodded her head obediently. This didn't seem like the time to be questioning him.

"Let Little Black take Lyla out of the cave, and have him stay with her. It's best we err on the side of caution," Dyon said solemnly.

Ri nodded heavily, watching with anxiety as Dyon scrunched his brows in concentration, as though he was thinking through a difficult problem.

'could it be that they're awake?' thought Dyon, 'worst case scenario.. I'll have to use the cave left by Ri's mother to kill them all by teleporting them out..'

With that thought, Dyon vanished into the ring.

Little Black had long since heard Dyon's words. Flipping Lyla onto his back, she yawned as she wrapped her small arms around his neck.

Ri looked on worriedly. Staring at the ring in her hand, hoping Dyon was safe.

**

Dyon flashed into the ring, looking around with a serious look on his face.

Sound of fierce banging and raging roars resounded through the large world.. and Dyon knew exactly where it was coming from.

He sprinted towards the arrays he had put up around them. He knew that he spent hours studying and building the defensive array that caged them in after he stepped into the 5th stage of soul cultivation. Someone, even at the peak of the essence gathering level, would be hard pressed to shatter the array. But, by the time Dyon got to the area he left the prisoner's of the sage demon in, he couldn't have been more horrified to find the array had long since shattered.

There instead, thousands of people stood, releasing their auras into the sky, hoping to break their way out of this world.

Somehow, all of them had changed drastically. Their hair color used to be varying, different for each person. Yet, they now somehow all had bright white hair. Their eyes shone a dense, but clear black, as though nothing could cause them fear.

Suddenly, with the arrival of Dyon, everything became strikingly quiet.

But, Dyon didn't know how he should feel about these thousands of eyes being trained onto him. Was he meant to be happy that it was clear they maintained rational thought? Or be apprehensive about the fact he was no match for so many warriors? Especially with how much stronger their bodies were as compared to the norm.

'should I send them out now? Can Ri's mother's cave handle this many at once? How much time would pass? Would we still be in danger even if I did that?'

Dyon's mind was in chaos, but, he maintained a calm outer appearance as he scanned each pair of eyes one by one.

Suddenly and silently, a handsome young man stepped forward. He was about Dyon's height, 1.9 meters tall, and was only a few years older. From the looks of it, he couldn't have been more than 20 now.

His long white hair flowed, as his shirtless torso and raggedy, hole filled brown pants swayed in the wind.

Suddenly, he crouched downwards. His muscles rippled and flexed as his eye trained on Dyon. To him, there was nothing else in the world but the boy in front of him.

Dyon's eyes narrowed as he felt the dense killing and demonic aura dripping from the young man and the thousands around him. However, none of the others seemed intent on moving..

'a test? For what?' Dyon knew he had no time to think, and he couldn't see through the young man in front of him, so he jumped to his most serious mode immediately. Dyon could risk it and try to kill them all, but then he would learn nothing. He would either end up dead, or he would kill them all with no one left to explain things.

BOOM!

Dyon's body immediately expanded to 2.5 meters tall, blasting his shirt into ashes. He had no time to call for his sword, but, something told him that didn't matter.

The eyes of the young man narrowed at the sight of Dyon.

A blood red aura rolled off of the both of them. Dyon stood tall, not an ounce of fear in his eyes.

BOOM!

The young man sprinted forward, leaving a deep crater behind him. Demonic will condensed in his hand, hardening his skin and amplifying his strength.

BOOM!

Dyon leaped forward, his massive body shaking the world with his every step. Celestial and wind will condensed at his arm, intent on slicing through the aura of the young man infront of him.

To Dyon, there was nothing other than murder in his thoughts. To destroy the young man in front of him with no remorse. No human kindness. No regret.

ROOOAAAARRR

The thousands behind them roared into the skies, stomping their feet and banging their chests.

Battle. Victory. Blood. Carnage. These were the things you would think of seeing this scene.

BOOM!

Their fists collided. A raging tempest of wind blasted between them.

Two young men with one goal. Neither willing to lose. Neither willing to give up.

Silence..

Dyon stood tall, his fists clenched against the young man's. His fist ached, his arm was partially fractured, and yet he felt the best he had in a while. The thrill of battle filled him with a feeling he found hard to describe, making his demonic battle path thrum with excitement.

But, just as Dyon was about to retract his arm to punch once again, his eyes widened in shock.

There, in front of him, the young man kneeled. His arm crossed his chest in a respectful manner, and his head was lowered in reverence.

"you are indeed the proper successor of His Lord Demon Sage Sargerus."

The sounds of kneeling filled the once quiet atmosphere. Figure after figure bowed their heads to Dyon. The sea of white and black gave off a will that would make anyone's bloods boil.

Suddenly, the next words of the young man made Dyon tremble with even more shock than before. His thoughts unconsciously jumped to a sassy red-haired girl covered in short, tight red leather.

"Your servant, Arios Sicarius, at your service."

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I have more questions than all of you, llmmaaoo. Why is Ava's brother alive? What was he doing to even end up in this situation? Why are prisoners somehow loyal to their captor? Why is Ri's aurora flame blue? Why did all their hair turn white? Will Dyon ever stop being a pervert? Who knows man, who knows...

lmao, hope you enjoyed :)

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