Reaper of the Martial World - Book 13: Chapter 29: Shattered

“First Brother, is it necessary to go this far?”

Aritzia’s words had lost their former caring tone. It wasn’t that she had suddenly become enraged, but rather that she was growing more and more callous as time passed. With every passing moment, her Dao Heart was tempered to a greater degree and the more certain she became of her path.

With each strike, her power seemed to grow exponentially, inching closer and closer toward her First Brother’s true peak.

Dyon didn’t respond. His arms swung seemingly without a care in the world, carrying with them a power that could cause a universe to collapse.

Aritzia’s brows furrowed.

“I don’t know how it is you managed to stop the charge of my Clan, but I know that there’s most definitely a time limit. Let’s say that you really do somehow manage to defeat me in the end,

what do you plan on doing with them? Do you really think that everything ends with me? How many years has my Sapientia Clan existed? Even if I am the most powerful of them all, do you think my death would really stop anything?

“First Brother, is there really a need to go so far? To sacrifice so much?”

Aritzia’s fist met Dyon’s. She could sense the fracturing of his bones, but Dyon’s expression didn’t even wrinkle as he pulled his arm back, swinging his scythe forward once again.

“Why are you suddenly speaking so much?” Dyon replied indifferently.

Their battle had been raging for several months already. In fact, it was almost the eighth. Yet, these were the first words Aritzia had spoken in a long while.

Though he didn’t say it, the meaning of his words were obvious. Did someone who was

certain in their victory have to say so much to get their opposition to give up?

Dyon wasn’t wrong. Despite the situation he was in, Aritzia felt a growing unease lodging in her heart. Every time it crept up, she would reaffirm her Dao, causing her heart to strengthen once again… But, with every cycle, this unease grew harder and harder to expunge.

Dyon’s lip curled, his foot slamming downward as he sent forward another attack.

To his back, a singular eye flickered in the skies, staring toward Aritzia unblinkingly as though it could see through all of her secrets.

Aritzia’s anxious feeling wasn’t completely without merit. She had been so focused on Dyon’s battle initially that she hadn’t even noticed the change to the Mortal Plane. It was only a while ago when she felt confident in her victory did she turn a part of her attention

toward her surroundings. She had hoped to deal a blow to Dyon, maybe mentioning to him how many of his wives had died already, or better yet, that his daughter had already died.

But, who knew that she would find the number of her clansmen to be sorely lacking? Not just this, but even though their situation wasn’t exactly safe, none of his wives had died.

This sort of reality was a massive blow to her. She had been certain that without Dyon’s backing, his wives were just ants she could crush without even lifting a finger personally.

The reality of it all made her heart falter. Though she quickly recovered, the uneasiness only grew.

“I just don’t want to see you have to suffer through that pain again.” Aritzia sneered.

“Oh? So it seems you still haven’t realized the situation you’re in yet.”

Dyon suffered another blow to the chest, blood flying from his mouth, completely outside of his control.

“My situation?” Aritzia’s sneer deepened. “You should be worried about yours. You haven’t laid a single hand on me from start to finish.”

Aritzia’s words weren’t wrong. She still looked like a woman in the prime of her youth. Let alone an injury or blood, she hadn’t even suffered the lightest bruise. As if this alone wasn’t enough, she wasn’t even sweating as though this was never that difficult for her to begin with.

In her mind, the only reason Dyon hadn’t died yet was because she wasn’t willing to take the risk to push him to that point just yet. She wasn’t foolish enough to underestimate her First Brother even in this situation.

He was a man who had turned the Immortal Plane upside down. She would be asking for death if she thought that he would fall so simply.

So, she was keen to sit and wait. In her mind, standing on top of the world didn’t just have to do with the size of her fist, but also her mind… She was a Sapientia. In a lot of ways, compared to how strong she was, she placed more emphasis on how smart she was.

As a result, she felt no shame stringing her First Brother along in this way, weeding away his strength until he had nothing left. Maybe, some place deep within her heart, she wanted the image of her First Brother to fall to the greatest low. Only then would she be able to cleanly separate from him after he died…

She wanted to destroy his image in her heart by her own hand. It was quite a sadistic thing, but

she knew she had to do it. Only then would she sit atop that throne in peace.

Dyon only smiled at these words.

“I knew from the very beginning that I wouldn’t be able to beat you in strength. Wouldn’t that be too ridiculous? You’re a Peak Immortal God and I’m a mortal who has yet to finish perfecting his body. Don’t you think a bit too much of yourself taking pride in defeating me?”

Aritzia was stunned. Of all the words she expected to hear, these were the very last.

Was this really her First Brother? The man she worshipped so much? The one who had never taken a loss in his entire life? Was she hearing correctly?

After she settled down from her shock, Aritzia felt as though a wait had been lifted from her chest. And, for the first time in a long time, she smiled, genuinely.

However, when Dyon saw this smile, a flash of pity whisked by his gaze. It was a for but a fleeting moment, so fleeting that Aritzia didn’t notice.

He knew how she was feeling. She was finally relieved that his legend in her mind had been wiped away completely. This was why she smiled like this, putting forth such genuine emotion for maybe the first time in her life. Now, she really had no connections left with this world.

“Since that’s the case… fair well, First Brother.”

Aritzia’s momentum climbed to a new peak. A golden shadow so large it dwarfed a planet appeared to her back, taking the form of a shimmering abacus.

Her palms stretched outward, vibrating in the air. Each vibration layered atop of one another, fusing together to the point space trembled.

It could be said that the space within an Origin Source was several levels more powerful than the Immortal Plane. It was for this reason that Immortal Gods usually took their battles to places like these. Yet, it seemed that at that very moment, Aritzia wanted nothing more than to shatter her own world.

“Layering instances of time? Not bad.” Dyon said indifferently.

How could he not tell what was happening? Through her abacus Vajra Body, Aritzia had a control of time that likely rivaled even their master. This attack… was definitely among her most powerful.

Layering the past, present and future. Fusing the attacks into one to create a world resounding strike.

Aritzia met Dyon’s gaze. Her own no longer carried the same love and attraction. It held nothing but indifference.

It couldn’t be described as cold nor was there any anger or disdain. It was as though Dyon was no longer worthy of these emotions from her.

When one stepped on an ant or swatted a fly… was there a need for emotions?

Aritzia took a step forward. She carried a valiant air that suffused the surroundings, yet she still maintained the elegance of a woman. One would think that instead of levying an attack that would kill the only man she ever loved, she was raising her paint brush to finish the strokes of a painting.

As her palm approached Dyon’s head, she couldn’t help but think of the first time they met.

In truth, she hadn’t been accepted by Abraxus as a disciple initially. She followed him around,

doing odd tasks for him. After all, in her life, there were only two men she ever respected. Dyon and her Master.

She remembered that the day Abraxus accepted Dyon as his First Disciple despite having met her first, she was infuriated. She immediately challenged Dyon that very day.

Things didn’t go as one would expect. Let alone putting up a fight, Dyon was beaten into the ground so severely by her that his handsome face had become completely obscured beneath the cuts and bruises.

Back then, she had turned to Abraxus with a lofty air, sticking her nose into the air and demanding to be accepted as a disciple. How dare he pick someone who couldn’t even defeat her? How was Dyon worthy of a position she couldn’t be accepted into?

Not only did she demand this, but she also demanded that her First Brother be expelled from Abraxus’ disciples. How could someone so much weaker than her possibly have the right to be her senior? If it came down to being Abraxus’ second disciple, she would rather not be a disciple at all.

She still remembered what happened that day clearly. It was so clear in her mind that it might as well be passing her by where she stood currently.

She still remembered the indifference on Dyon’s face when he stood from his beating. That calm, callous cold that radiated from his gaze. It almost felt as though he had been watching someone else suffer the punishment he had rather than it being him.

Without a word, he had walked forward and attacked her again. Even as he got beat down

again and again, he didn’t seem to realize that it was him suffering the pain and torture at all.

At first, Aritzia thought that it was just false male pride. She thought Dyon couldn’t stand losing to a woman so he kept coming at her for this very reason.

However, the more he looked into his indifferent eyes, the more she understood that Dyon didn’t even look at her like a person. For those moments, she was his whole world, but not in the sense that he was in love with her. He simply saw her as a mountain to climb over. Despite her defeating him, she was nothing more substantial than a long path to walk or a tall peak to reach.

It was never nothing more.

Aritzia had long since forgotten how long it took Dyon to defeat her that time. All those memories had boiled down to those cold, indifferent eyes. Those eyes had grasped her

heart, making her feel as though if she ever were to be with a man, maybe only he could be worthy of her.

It was likely that the events of those days had left a mark on her heart. She knew how much stronger she had been than her First Brother, yet he still somehow managed to defeat her in the end. When it was all said and done, it was her who no longer had the strength to rise up after she was knocked down.

Since then, she had tempered her will many times over. In fact, it was due to this that she was eventually chosen as Abraxus’ second disciple. Back then, she had returned to the Sapientia Clan to temper herself and when she came back, she was no longer the weak willed girl she was in the past. But…

When she saw Dyon’s gaze just when her palm was about to shatter his skull, she felt her heart tremble once more.

He seemed to peer into her soul as though she was stripped naked before him. A frigid wind snaked up her spine, fraying her nerves as though she had been electrocuted.

However, her Dao Heart wasn’t so easy to move. This time, when her gaze regained its firmness, she said her last goodbyes to her First Brother.

‘You were a great man, but you gave up your power for fleeting matters… I’ll erect your tomb in the holy land I create with my own two hands… rest in peace.’

BANG!

Dyon’s head burst into a rain of blood. His nose, his eyes and the front of his skull completely shattered.

His body was sent flying without suspense.

He tore through the wind so quickly that the tough skin on his back was sliced apart.

By the time he landed on the ground, his body seemed completely boneless as though not a single part of his skeleton remained intact.

“That’s impossible…”

Aritzia stood frozen, looking at her palm.

She could feel it. That palm strike of hers should have been enough to blast Dyon’s skull into a rain of blood and gore. With how much strength she put behind it, it should have been absolutely impossible for it to remain as intact as it was.

In truth, Dyon’s skull couldn’t be described as ‘intact’ by any stretch of the imagination. His entire face was devastated as though someone had taken a saw to it, slicing off everything from his forehead to the very edges of his eyes.

At that moment, a subtle pull of qi came from the surroundings, entering Dyon’s land of black

and grey and surging into him, slowly repairing his face. It was only then that Aritzia’s expression changed.

Dyon coughed violently. Though his face had been partially repaired, his sorry state didn’t seem to become much better. He could only weakly stand, his knees feeling weak.

However, what he could say was that he had repaired his eyes, just enough to look back toward Aritzia with the very same indifferent expression. The same callous look, the kind that saw her as something no different from a pebble for him to step over.

Aritzia now understood something. The reason she hadn’t seen this indifferent look on his face before was because she still held a place in his heart.

That day, when she treated her no differently than a road to travel, he hadn’t known her, so he could remain indifferent.

When this battle began, he couldn’t enter that mind state. This was his little sister, his Junior Disciple Sister, a woman he had grown up alongside. The love he had for her, even if it wasn’t the kind needed to take her as his wife, it was still the kind of love a brother would have for a sibling.

She was supposed to be under his protection. He was supposed to be willing to fight the world for daring to make her cry. This was his responsibility as the First Brother.

Those feelings, those emotions… even for the Nameless Immortal God… they weren’t so easy to dispel.

He was so powerful to this day not because he was callous, but because he loved too much.

It was the ultimate irony. The Heavens created him to be the ultimate evil, but he grew to be something completely different. Maybe he couldn’t be said to be an absolute force of good. He knew quite well that only his lovely wife was worthy of such a title. But, what was clear was that he wasn’t what the Heavens thought he would be.

Dyon straightened his back, his hazel green eyes as calm as the stillest lake.

He could never respect the actions of the Sapientia. He spent his whole life swimming against the tide the fates decided for him… today wasn’t the day he would fall victim to that tide.

Aritzia’s heart trembled. She knew then that her last attack had shattered whatever lingering attachments her First Brother had for her.

She didn’t realize until this point that she had hoped to never see that gaze of his again. She didn’t realize that she had tried to kill him with a single strike so she never had to deal with the repercussions.

It had been so easy for her to cut off the last bit of attachments she had toward him… So why was it so hard for her to face him doing the same?

“As I said before…” Dyon said indifferently. “… I never thought of defeating you with my strength. As dissimilar we are, we are also similar in another respect. I don’t have to win using my fists either. So, I’ll ask you again… you still haven’t realized the situation you’re in?”

Aritzia’s expression flickered with confusion.

After a moment, she began to observe her Origin Source around her. At first, she didn’t see

anything wrong. But, a moment later, her expression changed wildly.

“You…!”

Aritzia’s gaze changed, looking back toward the land of black beneath Dyon’s feet.

“Miss Sapientia. When I called myself the One Above All, did you think this was a joke?”

Aritzia’s delicate figure trembled when she heard Dyon’s form of address. To him, she was nothing but the figurehead of his enemies. He had no room for leniency any longer.

Dyon took a step forward, causing another surge of qi to spiral toward him.

“When you decided to go against me… the only possibility for you became defeat.”