Jade’s features smirked. In fact, she looked as beautiful as she had before the day her and the Eostre family were exposed. Since Dyon had no memories of her horrible state, it was likely the old man didn’t bother to check on Jade’s current appearance… But, maybe, that was for the best.
Dyon was already close to his break point just from listening to the thoughts of four. If you added Jade’s anger and Meiying’s sadness on top of that… He didn’t know how much he could handle.
And, maybe the worst part was the fact he was home… and yet all he had seen up till now were things from the martial world…
However, with every sentence these women spoke, it was as though their pain became Dyon’s. It wasn’t just the words that hurt… it was the emotion behind them that was getting to Dyon.
Suddenly, Jade laughed. “Were you hoping that that was all? Aren’t you forgetting about a few people?”
Suddenly Eli and his elder sister Venus suddenly materialized, crying in each other’s arms. Uncle Ail wrapped his arms around them, trembling.
They sent glances toward Dyon, but it seemed like something was holding them back from
“Did you even think about what would happen to the Viridi family after you left?” Jade chuckled lightly as she circulated Dyon.
“Was it a secret that you and Eli were good friends? Was it a secret that you killed Baal partly for Venus? Did Elof and Ace seem like magnanimous people to you? Did you think they just accepted their losses before heading home with their tails between their legs? Or do you think they pressured the big sects into belittling and ruining the Viridi family?”
Dyon’s jaw tightened, his teeth clenching together so tightly that he felt blood filling in his mouth. And yet, all this time, Ava and Delia still clung tightly to him and Madeleine and Ri never stopped looking from each other to him.
“I’d be surprised if the Viridi family is much of anything anymore. You thought you didn’t see Venus here because she was a woman? How sexist of you. What if she’s working away her young days to try and help a family that no longer has any backing? What if she’s sold her body to try and make up for your mistakes? Even worse, what if her and her entire family have been sold to the Ragnor family to add to their slaves? Did you even think about any of this?”
‘It’s okay big sister. When Dyon finds out he’ll be really angry! Then he’ll help us!’
The bleeding of Dyon’s chest seemed to increase even further at Eli’s words. Was this really what happened? Was the Viridi family sold as slaves? What had happened in his absence? How could he have made such a mistake?
‘Big brother?… Did you kill my mom?’
Dyon’s head snapped toward Little Black who was in his human form, holding onto Little Lyla’s hand tightly while keeping his head lowered to the ground.
Blood seeped from Dyon’s lips as he thought back to the legacy world opening… Because he was too arrogant and jumped into a situation he should have avoided entirely, the last sliver of his master’s soul was forced to be used to protect him. Any chance she had had in reviving was completely erased with that one act. Dyon didn’t even know if there was any of her soul left…
“Little Black I…” Dyon could only clench his teeth when he realized no sounds came from his moving lips. He could only watch as tears fell from Little Black eyes, his heart losing another piece of itself.
‘It’s okay little one, I’m here. I’ll take care of you. As long as we stay away from Dyon, nothing bad will happen.’
Dyon couldn’t even bring himself to look at the materialized form of Ms. Everdeen. His mind was filled with thoughts of a burning orphanage and the corpse of a poor old woman mutilated and hanging from the tree.
Jade giggled lightly. “Are you wondering why I killed her? Are you trying to say that it isn’t your fault since it was me and not Zaltarish? After all, it was Zaltarish you looked down on. Not me, right?”
Jade’s laughter only grew louder. “You had the audacity to flirt with me. Then you tell me a few days later that you have a fiancée. You deserved what you got. Someone had to teach you a lesson.”
Jade stopped in front of Dyon, knocking Ava and Delia away and grabbing onto his shaft much too tightly. “Maybe I should just cut it off, hm? Then you won’t have to think with it so much.”
Looking up into Dyon’s eyes, Jade suddenly found a sliver of defiance. “What? It took the idea of losing this thing to snap you out of it? How fitting.
Mm. Did you think about how I felt? Finally finding a man that wasn’t thinking about me just in terms of my looks, just to find out he had someone else? And worse yet, that for that person, he was willing to completely ignore someone like Mithrandir? That’s quite frustrating, don’t you think?”
Suddenly, Jade let go, moving backward toward the door with a slight smile. “Maybe this torture is too easy for you. Maybe you just don’t care about us from the martial world enough. Maybe it’s time you dealt with something that really hits close to home, hm?”
Dyon’s vision blackened and he was suddenly brought into an empty church.
Near the front, gripping the edge of a coffin tightly, stood a tall black man.
The ever so slight trembling of his body was the only thing that let you know he was alive. Other than that, he was completely still.
It seemed as though it was hours before Dyon was finally allowed to step forward to see what was really going on.
But… The answer was something that made tears of blood begin to streak down his face.