238 Decision 4 (1/2)
Dyon's heart pounded. He was quickly reaching the limit of his stamina. If he let up on distorting space around him for even a second, he would lose consciousness and likely be torn apart.
Without thinking much, he took out the damaged stone puppet. He had been so distracted by this decision he hadn't even stopped to think that he could make use of his puppets since he was outside the confines of the ancient game now.
But, the relief on Dyon's stamina did little to ease the endless tension he was feeling… He didn't even take notice of the drastic changes the stone puppet had undergone.
All he could see was the pain of his fiancées. He could only watch as Ri's beautiful blue silver tails became dyed in red. He could only watch as Madeleine's lips dripped in blood as she pushed her stamina beyond her breaking point. He could only watch… Too distraught to make a choice…
'WHAT DO I DO?!'
**
Away from Dyon's mental struggle, two groups were approaching the enigmatic Epistemic Tower.
The first was led by a very familiar figure – Alidor Gautama.
”Brother, are you sure you want to do this?”
Alidor sat atop a scaled elephant silently as they crushed their way through a dense green forest. His sister was beside him, and about ten warriors sat behind them. But, he was completely focused. His eyes were in a perpetual state of gold as he constantly scanned their surroundings, changing the direction of the beast seemingly without rhyme or reason.
Noticing her elder brother's lack of a response, Keara sighed. ”I know you're not satisfied with being an auxiliary branch family to the Uidah family, but that doesn't mean I think it's okay for you to risk your life like that.”
The truth was that Alidor had been hiding his abilities as an innate aurora wielder since his birth as he secretly accumulated allies. He always used Bas and Liska as his proxies because he had no intention of revealing his plans until he was powerful enough. But, the more he studied the gates, the more his mind brightened to another possibility.
Alidor ignored his younger sister's words. ”I received a report earlier that said it's likely Earth's innate aurora wielder died. This works to our advantage.”
Keara, being used to her brother's antics, listened silently. Whether she could understand what he meant was one thing but asking Alidor for a full explanation was about the most difficult thing in the world.
But, in typical Alidor fashion, Keara got no explanation. Alidor simply raised his hand to his face, causing a flash of gold to appear. An instant later, it was as though he was a completely different person… a person that was the exact copy of Dyon.
Keara giggled, ”Oh? Is this the poor boy who died? It's a shame he had you as an enemy, he's quite handsome.”
Alidor didn't seem to get the joke. ”I don't know whether he's alive or dead. All that matters is that he's no longer on the battlefield, so his appearance is useful to me.”
A teasing expression colored Keara's features. ”I heard from Bas and Liska that you insulted him. You never care enough to insult people. Did he get under your skin?” Keara playfully poked at Alidor's shoulder, a bit happy to see her brother display an emotion other than cold determination.