~Hour later.

Ri awoke from the daze she fell into under Dyon's passionate kiss. She smiled lightly, wondering what Dyon could possible be so happy about. When she got her explanation, she was naturally happy as well.

"Do you believe that she fell for it a little too easily?" Ri asked.

"Definitely." Dyon nodded seriously. "Between intelligent people, often times, it's impossible for schemes to win. The only way to truly come out on top is for one person to make the other willingly go along with their schemes."

"You mean that Aritzia knows she's being duped, but is going along with it anyway."

Dyon smiled bitterly, but nodded. "She's doing all of this in exchange for 5% of Dark Ocean's resources. Regardless of whether she's duped by me or not, she gets those resources in the end no matter what. And, even if she's aware that she'll never actually get majority hold over the Sapientia Network back, it's likely that she doesn't care because she had always planned on taking that route in exchange for my knowledge of array alchemy.

"Essentially, I'm paying her off in exchange for not interfering in our matters. But, whether or not she'll interfere in the future remains to be seen"

Ri sighed. "It's still worth it. The depths of BPA aren't something we can deal with right now. If we exchange 5% for insurance that they won't interfere, it's worth it. In the end, 90% of the resources will still be as ours. As of now, we have too little people to spend it all on anyway. We already have too much money as it is."

"You know something about BPA?"

"They approached me to join their organization while I was staying at Snow Palace. It was a very long time ago, while you were still in your trials. I turned them down and pretty much forgot about it."

"BPA has some sort of connection to the kitsune?"

"Most likely not, or else they probably wouldn't have approached me personally. But, I wouldn't rule out the possibility that some more outstanding members were taken in by them."

"I see" Dyon's brows furrowed. In the future, he had planned on using the Shruti to take care of the Kitsune once and for all, but this piece of information definitely threw a wrench in those thoughts.

One had to remember that although the Shruti had Divine Elephant blood flowing through their veins, they were still classified as humans, not beasts. This meant that if there were any conflicts that jeopardized the wellbeing of the kitsune, it was obvious what side BPA would stand on.

"What exactly did they promise you?" Dyon asked.

"I don't think they revealed much on purpose. All they said was that their goal was the elevation of the beast sub-race from the oppression of their human counterparts. They wanted to give me an invitation to join in as a high ranked outer member, a step from becoming an inner member similar to the inner workings of a Sect."

"Do you believe the Dragons are on their side?"

"Unlikely. Dragons are arrogant. If one of their own dies, they never pursue it, believing that dead youth was simply unworthy. So, joining an organization to protect beasts doesn't sound like something they'd do."

Dyon nodded. But, he couldn't help but think of Titus He definitely didn't fit the normal Dragon mold. Also, Dyon had been certain that Titus had a Life Saving Jade. Yet, there was no spectacle after his death like what happened to Diasho Ken. So, Dyon assumed he was truly dead and that he was wrong.

Still, he felt a nagging feeling like he was missing one connecting link to understand. Much like Aritzia who felt like something was off after Dyon asked for 30% of the Sapientia Network, Dyon randomly thought of Titus after Ri spoke these words It seemed intelligent people truly were similar

Dyon sighed. "It seems like we have more worries for the future. But for now, let's focus on this task."

Ri snuggled into Dyon's arms as they stood in the skies above the raging ocean. To their back was the very edge of what the mortal realm knew as the martial realm. Focus Academy, or what remained of it, wasn't too far from here.

The ocean looked incredibly sinister and menacing. If Dyon had to compare it to something, it looked like a vessel of deep black hair gel, yet far more fluid.

Dyon had no way of truly knowing what was hidden down there, but what he did know was that these oceans represented an opportunity.

When Earth was its original size, the deepest part of the ocean was just 11 kilometers down. However, after expanding millions of times its original size, this number was far too exaggerated as more than 20 million kilometers. Even Dark Ocean only had a depth of a few dozen thousand kilometers.

This wasn't all that could influence these Oceans either. Under normal conditions, the deeper you went, the less sunlight there would be, and thus the colder the oceans would run. The only exceptions to this were areas of water with underwater volcano sources.

However, these oceans were entirely different. The deeper you went, the closer to the entity's imprisoned body you would be, and the hotter the temperatures would run!

Dyon didn't know if any beasts could survive in such conditions But, he did know that if any could, they would be powerful beyond belief.

It was time to put the Beast Compendium to use.

...

At this moment, Dyon sat cross legged on the bow of the golden yacht with Ri's petite figure resting her head on his chest while on his lap. A radiant, but gentle golden hue surrounded them, pushing the water back with ease as they entered the dark ocean waters.

Dyon's eyes narrowed, he could feel that this surface level water was incredibly chilly. It was at least 20 or 30 degrees Celsius below the outside temperatures. Such a thing wasn't normal. The difference shouldn't be so drastic.

Dyon could feel this cold seeping into his divine sense and reaching into his soul.