9 Dioro's Strength

"Don't let up! Today, the mighty Dioro will finally fall!"

Zetro almost appeared insane as they finally began to overcome Dioro's defenses. While he still helped the other two perennials attack Dioro, he was waiting for a hole to appear and strike the killing blow. But for some reason, a hole never appeared. Even after hundreds of strikes between the three baboons, Dioro's paper-thin defense held strong.

"Why won't it break!?" Zetro began to lose control of himself and his essence energy, letting it leak out of him in rage.

"Ha! It'll never break if that's the extent of your power," Dioro played Zetro's heartstrings like a fiddle. "I expected more from you, Zetro. I thought you, being a former tournament fighter, would at least give me a warm-up."

"Huh!? Is that all you've got? You've forgotten how to attack in order to make armor, that's beyond disappointing!" Zetro's face twisted in disgust after hearing Dioro's arrogance. Throughout his life, Zetro was famous for his willingness to slander his opponents and similarly famous for not being able to endure slandering from others.

"Be gone Zetro! You and I both know this is your battle to lose. Why waste your life on something impossible to achieve?" Dioro persuaded.

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"Shut up!" yelled Zetro

"You'll die, Zetro!"

"SHUT UP!!!"

Just then, everyone heard the distant howl of a Saber-tooth Baboon. The gorillas though nothing of it and kept their resolve in case Dioro gave a new command. The baboons, on the other hand, got excited, some even jumped up and down.

"Ha! Did you hear that, Dioro!?" Zetro immediately took control of the situation. "They got him! Those idiots finally got him! I'm sure he's scared for his life right now, maybe fainted even. After this, I'll have to bring him here for Dioro to see one last time."

"Don't tell me—"

"You already know who I'm talking about, Dioro. Did you think I would bet this all on a fistfight with you, the former mortal champion? Maybe that idiot Rathe would try something like that, but I'm far too clever to resort to such stupidity. I made sure to get ahold of the precious son of yours, that way I can make a fair trade with you, your son for your divine core. All that I have to do now is—"

"What have you done?" asked Dioro.

"Oh, the usual. He may have some broken bones but I'm very certain that he's alive. I can't waste my precious trading materials, you know?" Zetro danced around the question, "Either way, you might as well hand it over now to save us all the trouble. Just give it here."

"I must see him first," Dioro stated frankly.

"Stop bargaining Dioro, I'm the one in charge now. We may not be able to kill you, but you can't kill us either. And with our numbers, I can guarantee that he will perish before any of your apes have a chance to touch him," Zetro finally calmed himself after gaining the advantage. "So, what's it gonna be? Your son's life, or your core? Which will you give up?"

"Neither," Dioro rose up on both feet, standing tall above everyone gathered here. Iron-body Gorillas had the longest legs of any ape species, almost comparable to humans in proportion, but their enormous arms made up for it. Looking down on each baboon surrounding him, his unwavering figure sent chills down their spines.

"What? That's impossible Dioro. You must choose, I insist," Zetro tried to act cool and shake off the nerves, hoping to let the other baboons do the same.

"I already mentioned earlier that you're one of the vilest scums I know, there's no way I can give you my core and leave my troop defenseless. If you want to fight, just do it. If you only offer empty threats, go back home, coward," Dioro's calm demeanor made him all the more threatening.

Unsure of what to do Zetro tried to scare him into submission, "Dioro, think about this, your son will die if you act out. And if you can't hand it over, I may not be able to guarantee the security of your troop, or even your wife."

Dioro closed his eyes as if accepting something in his heart. Zetro saw this and grew excited thinking he had finally convinced Dioro. Ania saw this, shook her head, and covered her giggling mouth with her hand.

"Who's laughing!?" Zetro hated being mocked more than anything in his life and was certain to never let it happen in front of his clan. "Stop laughing or I'll—"

"Now you've done it, Zetro," Dioro opened his eyes with a new resoluteness.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Zetro was caught biting his tongue and at a loss for words.

"With that, not only you shall die but your entire clan as well," stated Dioro.

"What? And how are you going pull that off?" Zetro hadn't any idea what would happen next, beside yet another stalemate.

"It's like you said Zetro," answered Dioro. "I can no longer guarantee the security of your clan, not after threatening my son and wife."

"You think that you alone can—"

Zetro couldn't finish the sentence before Dioro's aura of a peak-perennial stifled him. Suddenly Zetro's throat was grabbed and crushed in Dioro's hand. Unable to speak he thought to himself, A peak-perennial! He's already a peak-perennial, a full two tiers higher than me! Impossible!!

"It's too late to retreat and take back your actions. Besides, I would never get my hands dirty and cut a deal with the likes of you," Dioro looked around him and released a single pulse of soul energy, with him at the center. It passed over the gorillas easily. The baboons, however, each collapsed to the ground without much struggle.

"H-how can he…"

"I know what you're thinking Zetro. How is this possible, right?" Dioro wanted to give him one last thing to think about. "It's because instead of finding underhanded methods to accomplish madness, I train and cultivate for a cause. Your final act in this life will have been threatening that cause."

Dioro's open hand jabbed into Zetro's chest just below the rib cage and shot up like an internal uppercut. But instead of attacking, he grabbed something. It was round and felt harder than diamond, not to mention it fit perfectly in Dioro's palm.

In one swift movement, Dioro retracted his hand, removing Zetro's divine core with it. No longer of any importance, Dioro tossed the corpse aside like a rag doll, not even bothering to remember the final look on his face that Rathe longed to see.

"I'm sorry that my past reputation has brought you all trouble, please forgive me," Dioro directly bowed to his clan in search of forgiveness.

"Oh Dioro, get up," Ania reached out to him. "You've proven yourself as the chief again and even resolved it without casualties. Be proud of yourself."

Dioro let out a sigh of relief as he got back up, "I guess you're right."

"Now hurry up and go find my son!" she couldn't contain her motherly worries anymore, "And don't you dare slack off till I have him in my arms again!"

"Ye-yes, Ania!" startled by her burst of fury, Dioro took off at full speed in search of Oli.