"Fight me." Sokzac growled.

The core disciples who had gathered around suddenly got excited. Though Sokzac didn't have the highest cultivation among them all, he definitely had the highest talent. And he even had such a beautiful fiance, he had become a male idol for many.

Dyon who was holding Amphorae's hand was a relaxed expression on his face raised his eyebrows as though he was amused by the prospect. But, Sokzac's challenge wasn't anything but funny. If he still had his right forearm, such a challenge would be a joke. But, right now, he was on a lower playing field.

He was a lower celestial while Sokzac was a middle celestial. At the same time, they could both be considered 9th Order experts.

That said Would Dyon lose? Of course not. Sokzac would get beaten into the ground ten times out of ten for two reasons: Dyon's soul strength was too overwhelming and his Presence had fused into every fiber of his being.

Before, Dyon could only use the first stage of his [Judgement] weapon's hell array. But, during his adventures within the Golden Flame mystical world, he had already been able to use the second stage, [Torment].

Though back then Dyon had to use his fourth degree of freedom, [Slow], to execute it, now that his soul had broken into the dao realm and he had comprehended planet qi, he had no such restrictions. In fact, Dyon believed he could use the third stage [Suffering] with relative ease now, about with the same proficiency he could use the first stage, [Carnage], with before he entered the Golden Flame Mystical World. And, he could use the fourth stage, [Raze], if he made use of [Slow] once more.

And that was all before he even factored in what the Sovereign Flame did to his body.

Before Dyon took in the sovereign flame, [Torment] was able to kill a peak celestial transcendent beast with a single tap to the forehead. Though, it had to be considered that the Tiger Demon King Dyon faced at the time couldn't defend itself after being suppressed by Dyon's Presence and Shere's bloodline. Still, with the help of Presence, [Torment] could heavily injure a normal pseudo dao expert, while the third stage [Suffering] could put even a genius pseudo dao expert at risk.

If Sokzac, for any reason, gave Dyon the chance to activate [Raze] He would die without a corpse. And the issue was that Sokzac was nowhere near powerful enough to stop Dyon from using it. Not that Dyon needed to go that far

Simply put, it wasn't a battle that needed to happen. Even if Dyon didn't fight straight forwardly because of his arm, Sokzac was not his opponent.

"You dare to look down on me?!" Sokzac's black eyes flickered with arcs of black lightning as his dark hair whipped under his trembling aura.

"Tsk." Dyon muttered. "Did I do something that could have pissed him off?" Dyon looked toward Amphorae who only shook her head at her husband's shamelessness.

Suddenly Dyon froze. The SHIIING sword of an arching sword cut through the air. It was so fast that Dyon almost couldn't react.

Before he could do much of anything, the sword stopped a mere inch from his nose.

Dyon looked up from the tip of the sharp katana and into Lilith's eyes. They were filled with such rage that they were flickering with the red he remembered so clearly. It seemed like if she had the choice, she would tear his throat in two with nothing but her teeth.

'What the hell did I do?' Dyon who felt he was great at understanding people was completely baffled. Why the hell was she so mad?

He suddenly felt Amphorae's hand leave his own.

He looked toward his wife in confusion, but he somehow felt she wasn't on his side anymore either. What the hell was going on?!

Seeing Dyon's confused face, Amphorae smiled, letting Dyon know that he was on his own.

'Those are the eyes of a jealous woman.' Amphorae thought with an amused expression. It was rare for her to find something so interesting, so she decided to sit back and watch the play.

"I'll battle him. Step back." Lilith really didn't speak like she was speaking to her fianc at all.

Dyon regained his composure, his playful expression becoming blank.

"Is it appropriate for a celestial to battle a saint?"

"Are you looking down on me?"

Those who were used to seeing Lilith's expressionless, picturesque image were shocked. They didn't even know this woman had emotions to speak of, who knew she could feel rage?

But the women in the crowd had odd expressions on their faces. It seemed they had sensed the same thing Amphorae had Could it be she was angry because Dyon was speaking so intimately with Amphorae? Was there a story between these two?

They'd be really shocked to find out that there was no such thing.

"I seem to remember someone saying that I was inferior to Sokzac because I battled him knowing I could defeat him I believe your exact words were 'He's clearly shown more courage than you. It's easy to seem brave when you knew you would never lose to begin with.'"

Dyon's eyes sharpened. "Mind you, I found that statement pretty funny considering he was a lower celestial back then while I was only an essence gatherer I just don't want to be accused of taking advantage of an easy win again."

[Author's Note: Lilith said these words after Dyon defeated Sokzac in 'Aftermath (2)']

The breath of those around felt stifled. They suddenly understood why Dyon carried a carefree expression most of the time. Because if he got serious Even the air grew heavy.

But as shocking as his Presence was, his words were even more so. Defeating a celestial as an essence gatherer?!

They wanted to refute and defend their idol, Sokzac, but seeing his face reddening with rage and Lilith's lack of a rebuttal, their words stuck in their throats, weighing the atmosphere down all the more.