"Did you have fun?" Luna smiled, scooping the small bundle of joy that was Alauna into her frail arms. The little girl really was spoiled too much, wherever she went, she was showered with love.
Alauna wanted to reply with her usual enthusiastic yes, but for the first time, she looked back at her father with sad eyes. She wanted to say no, but she thought she would hurt Dyon's feelings if she did. She didn't want her father to think that she didn't like spending time with him.
Dyon smiled, rubbing her little head. "It's okay, you can say no. Remember, honesty is important for a princess."
Little Alauna relaxed under her father's assurance.
"Today was sad, momma. A lot of big boys cried today, but it wasn't a happy crying like daddy either." Alauna large hazel-green eyes slightly watered, causing Dyon's heart to tighten.
But he shook his head, he knew he couldn't continue to be too soft. He saw Alauna as his heir. With how the martial world functioned, it was very possible he would never have another child in his lifetime. He didn't want to treat her with kid gloves just because she was his daughter or just because she was a girl.
He had meant what he said. If he told his little girl in one breath that women could be strong too, then treated her differently because she was one, wouldn't he be slapping himself in the face?
Dyon also didn't want to raise a child who only knew how to rely on him. He would spoil Alauna with everything he had, but he also understood the value of being a bit hard hearted at times. Alauna was only just about to reach her second birthday, so Dyon wouldn't go too far in this regard, but he trusted his little girl to grow up strong.
Luna understood Dyon's intentions so only silently listened to Alauna's feelings. The little girl had a gift for storytelling, even making a question for painting colors seem lively. So, when she was talking about something that affected her deeply, though her vocabulary was simple, it had a way of making people feel how she felt.
"What do you think, Little Precious? How should big bad guys be dealt with?" Luna asked.
Alauna fell into silence, she didn't know how to answer. She could only pout.
"Why can't everybody just be good?" She said in a weak voice.
Dyon sighed inwardly.
"Come, that's enough for today. You wanted ice cream, right? Dad will take you little ones to go get ice cream."
The seemingly depressed Alauna suddenly livened up, excitedly squirming in her mother's arms.
"I want cherry ice cream!"
Dyon smiled though he felt uncomfortable inwardly. It seemed being a parent was even more difficult than he thought.
**
When facing the Ragnors and the Pakals, and eventually the Uidah, Dyon didn't want to use the same tricks. At least for now, he kept it in his back pocket that he was able to attack the Ragnors and Pakals even when the Gates were closed.
As of now, Dyon controlled 22 universes. Chaos Universe, Celestial Universe, Soul Universe, Universe One through Eighteen, and finally, King Universe.
Among these universes, he had conquered the spirit of 19 of them, leaving only Chaos Universe, Celestial Universe and Soul Universe untamed.
Chaos and Soul Universe had Universe Spirits Dyon felt might still be too powerful for him to handle, while Celestial Universe had its Universe Spirit taken over by the slumbering Entity.
If Dyon had tamed all 22 universes, he likely would have made a quick push to conquer 3 more to officially step into the ranks of Emperor God Clan. If he could do this, his chance of success against the Pakals, and especially the Ragnors, would skyrocket. Unfortunately, he was 6 universes away, not just 3.
One had to understand that though major divisions in Faith depending on how close to the Main Line you were existed, there were also the divides between tiers of Clans and Sects. The Faith wielded by a Peak King God Clan like the Uidah was vastly inferior to Faith wielded by even the lowest Emperor God Clan.
Of course, there were also differences in quality even among Clans that controlled the same number of universes. For example, both the Golden Crow Sect and the Flaming Lily Sect controlled exactly 25 universes, but the former was much more powerful than the latter.
This was all to say that Dyon didn't feel relaxed now that he had conquered the weakest of forces within his home quadrant. There was too much work to do.
First, he had to stabilize the commoners of Universe One through Eighteen. Someone of his stature would usually ignore these people because they were seemingly of no use, but Dyon understood that if he had the hearts of the commoners, it would be far more difficult for the Five Beast Clans to betray him.
He wanted to vastly improve their quality of life, ensuring that they had proper food and water. He wanted to provide them opportunities, and that was linked to opening academies across the eighteen universes as well as businesses for the Sects. And, he had to protect them, not allowing them to be bullied by a perceived lawlessness.
5 months wasn't nearly enough to do this perfectly, but it was enough to show the commoners that being ruled by him was far better than what they had experienced previously, and that was just what Dyon wanted.