'Connery hasn't fully awakened his aurora. His 6th sense is weak because of that. I'll be able to use that to my advantage.

The puppets are the equivalent of first grade experts. Matriarch Niveus is a fourth grade expert. So is Connery. Both lower grade. That should be a large enough disparity for my first level celestial stage puppet to do well enough against them….'

Dyon had thought of this long ago, but technically, puppets were a sort of solution to the soul's inability to translate its full potential into strength.

Puppets required your soul to control. The better the puppet, the higher the requirements. Technically speaking, before his soul reached the peak of the 8th stage, Dyon would have struggled to use the full force of the puppets for an extended period of time. Although this was still true now, it was much easier than before. The only problem was that Dyon's soul was already tired…

'I need to end this quickly. Which means I can't reveal the 4th stage celestial puppet unless I can ensure a kill. Neither of their souls are at the celestial level, so I don't have to worry about them surviving out of body.'

With a flash of his ring, a 20-meter tall obsidian warrior appeared before Dyon before it instantly pulled out two swords, causing a gale of winds to open up a s.p.a.ce on the arena floor.

"Forget about me." Dyon said to his demon generals. "As long as no one interferes with this battle, I can win!"

Dyon didn't want his demon generals getting needlessly injured. He didn't even have a full scope of the situation. Regardless of the fact he knew that something like this was coming, that didn't mean he was ready for it now. By all accounts, everything pointed toward nothing happening until the tournament had ended. But, clearly Meiying had changed all of that…

In a flash of golden lights, Dyon disappeared from where he stood.

Matriarch Niveus sneered. "You think you can use your petty little array alchemy in the face of a true expert?!"

Her wrinkled hand stretched out, grasping at thin air.

A formless pressure appeared in an instant, stunting movement through hundreds of meters. Dyon's array didn't stand a chance.

Showers of gold rained as Dyon coughed up blood, falling unstably to the ground.

He had attempted to teleport to the tower so that he could control the puppet within safe confines, but Matriarch Niveus had locked the s.p.a.ce in the area. The bombardment of clas.h.i.+ng s.p.a.ce wills caused a viscious backlash to his Dyon, resulting in some minor damage.

'Stupid.' Dyon berated himself.

In reality, he couldn't be blamed. He knew little of the full extent of a celestial's ability. But, in retrospect, it was naïve of him to believe he could teleport freely in the face of one. Matriarch Niveus didn't even need to understand s.p.a.ce will. However, because she was so powerful, she was able to shatter said s.p.a.ce with a wave of her hand. If she really had understood s.p.a.ce will instead of using her power to overwhelm it, Dyon would have suffered even more!

Luckily, despite the matriarch's prowess, Dyon's arrays were still powered by a peak saint soul. So, while she could still disrupt them, it wasn't so exaggerated that Dyon's life had been on the line.

However, this exchange gave Matriarch Niveus all the more confidence. She had been wary of the puppet Dyon pulled out. But, now it just seemed like a desperate plea.

From within the tower, Ri watched this scene nervously as she grasped onto Madeleine's hand. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, Madeleine had slipped into a deep sleep and thus couldn't witness this.

"Alright then." Dyon chuckled, spitting blood away from him mouth before wiping it on his wrist. "Let's do this here then."

With a single leap, Dyon landed on the head of his puppet. His eyes flashed a dense purple, gold and red as he lasered in his focus. He could see and feel everything, and yet, he blocked it all out, focusing on the movements of just two.

A formless barrier wrapped around Dyon as an extension of his puppet. He had little doubt that without this s.h.i.+eld, he would die very quickly in such a battle.

"You really plan to fight us both?" Connery's brow furrowed.

"That's up to you." Dyon said, his features completely focused. "If you can bear the optics of joining a side of this war, have at it."

Connery snorted. "I have no need to fight. Matriarch Niveus is more than capable enough."

"Doesn't seem like you believe that by your question."

Matriarch Niveus' lip twitched. Dyon was right. All of Connery's actions pointed toward his apprehension. But, she had had enough.

"Come die a slow and painful death then boy!" The old lady flashed forward with blazing speed. This was a celestial expert of no normal degree… She was at the mid-levels!

As a lower 4th grade expert, for her to emit the aura of a mid-level celestial, meant that she was at the 4th or 5th celestial stage. She could not be underestimated.

However, right now… She was like a snail crawling along a paved road in Dyon's eyes!

In an instant, the cultivation of the puppet was no longer hidden. There was no room for playing and even less for deception.

Matriarch Niveus extended a clawed hand. It held no technique, nor did it hold any profound laws. She wanted nothing else but to crush Dyon's puppet in a single blow, but she didn't feel the need to strike heavily to do so. From her knowledge, this puppet was only capable of dealing with saints. She was on a completely different level!

And yet, that one moment of haughtiness, was just enough for Dyon to take advantage.

Before she could even notice the spike in celestial energy, two ma.s.sive black jade swords swung downward with unbridled force.

s.p.a.ce shattered. The air moaned and whined, crying out in pain as Matriarch Niveus' eyes widened.

BOOM!

Her fragile old frame was sent blasting into the ground. The impact was so devastating that the stadium cracked in half at the blow.

A crater spanning hundreds of meters blasted outward, giving way to the tunneling Matriarch Niveus.

Her body cut through the earth like a hot knife through b.u.t.ter, until eventually, she flew in so deeply that the eyes of a normal human could no longer spot her.

Connery stood in the air with a shocked expression as a cold sweat permeated his back. In that instant, he understood one thing… If it had been him… He'd be dead…