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Riiip!
From a single punch, space ripped apart and the void shook, although it wasn't as noticeable due to the void's dark colors.
You. Will. Regret. This.
The same static voice spoke before the void shook once more.
Eternal Paragon simply smiled mockingly, "I told you to fuck off! I have better things to do than bother with your nonsense!"
Her body shook with aether as her undulations were released, boom! The surrounding life was destroyed, all fiends were killed.
Kekeke. You. Die.
The moment those words were over, a grand hand came crashing down from above Eternal Paragon, it wanted to crush her. The hand was so big it was like comparing an insect to a normal human hand, Eternal Paragon being the insect in this instance.
That was just the palm of the Fiend Emperor, but Eternal Paragon seemed unfazed as if she was not worried. Her fair hand turned into a fist, as her aether flowed to her hand before it began to glow a purple luster.
Shng! Bam! She punched upward and the force of her punch caused the empty void to cry out, Waa! Her hand met the Fiend Emperor's descending palm and a standstill was formed.
A shockwave spread in the dead surroundings from their collision, Eternal Paragon's fair purple hair fluttered wildly as her golden eyes were filled with a hate that made one feel death.
"Go back!" Eternal Paragon screamed as her fist overpowered his palm. The palm was pushed back up before it vanished in the dark void.
Kekeke. Die.
Yet the Fiend Emperor did not give up, instead, a humongous body appeared within the void. Eternal Paragon was an insect when it came to their sizes.
Its whole body was grey, being too skinny. His arms were very thin and long, reaching his knees. Its chest was the only thing that looked normal, as his stomach was so thin that it seemed like it was empty. Horns protruded from its monstrous mouth as its teeth were razor sharp. This was the Fiend Emperor.
Eternal Paragon watched his real body with utter calmness, her expression was neutral as her golden eyes stared at his purple eyes.
"Why are you so annoying?" Eternal Paragon was exasperated.
"Because, you, are unique. So I want you. Join me, or die." His voice was no longer static, but it was still hoarse.
Eternal Paragon made a frown, her beautiful face held immense anger and annoyance.
"I told you already, no! I have no interest in your goals! I am a Paragon! Do you think your schemes work against me!? The only reason you match me is that I am on your turf, the void's will supports you! Otherwise, you would not be able to match my gaze so arrogantly!" Her voice was filled with majesty, arrogance, and pridefulness.
Fiend Emperor smiled, a mocking smile. "So what? Power is power. No matter how it is obtained."
Eternal Paragon sighed, feeling this would get nowhere, so she stopped caring. A wind that seemed to shred space gathered, lighting that made spatial cracks appear on its path roared.
Eternal Paragon smiled before her lips, covered in lavender lipstick moved, "Ravaging Winds, Rupturing Lighting. Destroy!"
Crackle! Swoosh! Like they had a will of their own, the winds and lighting moved from near her body and outwards, multiplying and spreading until they surrounded Fiend Emperor.
The lighting turned into a storm, purple lighting crashed into the body of Fiend Emperor constantly, while he tried to dodge, the winds around him turned into a tornado of voracious winds that wanted to shred his body to pieces.
But soon, both of Eternal Paragon's attacks became weaker, she could feel something weighing down on her body and soul.
"Hmph!" Eternal Paragon got mad when she saw her attacks were slowly losing power, 'Void's Will is acting up. I can't stand my ground without my domain, but it is covering that kid to prevent him from being kicked out or killed by the void's will.'
Eternal Paragon frowned, the domain was a zone where a cultivator could be said to be god. No suppression, curses, debuffs, or anything similar would work. But her domain was not with her, but with Rhys. So the will of the void was depressing her attacks to make sure she did as little damage to Fiend Emperor as possible.
'Is this why he attacked me? Because he knows my domain isn't here?'
Eternal Paragon clicked her fair tongue before she vanished and appeared before the Fiend Emperor, 'Before it suppresses me, I will blast you off back to your little empire!'
Her eyes shone with a crazed light before her fist made contact with Fiend Emperor's chest.
Bang! Like an explosion, the body of the Fiend Emperor flew out, into the void and his humongous body soon vanished as it got too far away for Eternal Paragon's eyes to see through the void's veil.
"HAHAHA! I will return!" The crazed laugh of the Fiend Emperor echoed as it grew distant.
"Bah." Eternal Paragon snorted before her winds and lighting slowed down and vanished, like everything that had just happened, was nothing but a mere lie.
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While all of this went down, Rhys, who was fighting against fiends, had no idea of what was happening, the void was just that big. When someone from the Paragon realm fights, the surrounding space and worlds would be destroyed. Stars go supernova and small galaxies might be split, but this was just from the Paragon stage, which in the Paragon Realm is the lowest level of power!
Yet the void was big enough to make Rhys not realize a fight of such proportions just went down, he kept on moving forward without knowing Eternal Paragon just had a fight against the ruler of the void.
As Rhys moved his hand, releasing aether blasts with every punch that connected, he felt a form of enlightenment come to him, it was something he had never gone through before. Immediately, he sat down, he released all of his aether in a single wave to kill the remaining fiends before he closed his eyes and fully focused on the sudden enlightenment.
Time slowly passed as Rhys felt like his mastery of aether grew, at a slow, but steady level, it grew.
Minutes... Hours... Days... Week...
Rhys stayed like that for weeks, of course, by now Eternal Paragon was watching over him since even she did not expect this of Rhys, after all, it was out of nowhere.
Rhys remained sitting as he floated, his multicolored hair swayed lightly as if there was a small gale. Rhys's body lightly shook before his eyes opened and with that came a burst of aether.
Rhys's breathing was heavy, he felt tired and hungry. His body did not disturb him until now that he had woken up to not disrupt his enlightenment. Yet now that he had woken up, his body was sending him a signal to nourish it.
Rhys felt like he was dying from the immense pain, so much so, he could not process what he had gained. Rhys's stomach groaned, so he immediately put his hand against his open mouth and food started appearing, Rhys continued like that as he devoured all the food he could.
Rhys had forgotten to eat since he entered the void, simply because he did not feel hungry. But now, his body was almost killing him because of it.
For minutes, Rhys stuffed different types of foods into his mouth as he devoured it, he took some water before he stopped and realized where he was. In a little hut, but through the windows, Rhys could see the void.
"So you are awake." Eternal Paragon's voice echoed in the room Rhys was in.
'Yes, thank you.' Rhys bowed after standing up.
"No big deal, anyways, what did you acquire during your weeks of enlightenment?"
'Weeks!? I see...' Rhys was shocked, but soon calmed down when he realized that was why he was so hungry.
"Go on, I am waiting."
'Besides learning the concept of 'destruction,' I learned nothing else.' Rhys's mouth moved as a reddish, sinister aura spread all around Rhys.
"Concepts... hoo." Eternal Paragon nodded before she lost interest in it.
Like laws, concepts were something one had to comprehend, concepts, added whatever concept one had comprehended into attacks, in other words, Rhys could act the concept of destruction to any attack, even a ball of plants could have the concept of destruction.
Concept, just like laws were difficult to grasp as conditions had to be met, in Rhys's case, interacting with the destructive properties of aether for so long made him comprehend destruction.
"Anyways, prepare."
'For what?'
"We are leaving." Eternal Paragon spoke nonchalantly.
'What!?'
"Don't worry, only temporarily, I am low on resources, we are going to a world so I can get some high-quality resources for years to come." Eternal Paragon smiled like a little kid.
'I see... then what about my time? I am in a trial, I have to get back if we are going out.' Rhys could not help but voice out.
Silence ensued for a few seconds.
"Hmm... I see, then go back, complete your trial. I am sure that after every trial you get some sort of break. So we'll use that break."
Before Rhys could complain, he found himself back in the same place, that wicked arena where he almost died multiple times. Immediately after, Rhys heard the same, monotonous voice speak.
[Congratulations on passing the second trial. The final Trial will begin in 5 months, till then, rest.]
Rhys stayed quiet as he merely thoughts, 'No questions? What about the spatial formations? Strange... for it to act as if nothing happened...' Rhy's eyes squinted before his body calmed as he felt a rush of fresh energy invade his body, making Rhys feel the pleasure of his strength returning, Rhys also used this chance to take out a pill to heal his arm.
As he popped the pill in his mouth, he heard Ina speak.
"Rhys! Thank goodness you are fine. I felt like I just woke up from some hypnosis."
'Don't worry, everything is fine, I can't explain now but once this is all done, I will." Rhys thought, as his left arm began to wiggle and new tissue, bones, and asking started to grow out of the lump left on his left arm.
The gentle energy of the pill prevented any damage or pain, his arm took a few minutes to reconstruct, but once it was done, Rhys clenched his hand and felt his arm was back to normal. Which felt weird since he had built some experience with his right arm now.
'This is for the better.' Rhys thought as he sat down and let the energy of the air overflow into his dantian and nourish it, as the aether in his body laid dormant via a forceful, but temporary suppression with his will.
"Sleep? I see, I will wait for you to tell me then, I hope you can trust me, Rhys." Ina's voice held some emotion, making Rhys feel bad, but he didn't want her to worry about him training with a being who was one of the strongest.
"Of course, so please, rest." Rhys spoke out this time, with a smile, he felt refreshed that he could finally hear his own voice.
"I can't rest, but whatever." Ina's voice went quiet afterward, Rhys felt like laughing, she could not sleep since she was a spirit, a will. She had no physical body that needed rest.
'Whatever.' Rhys remained on the ground for a few more minutes until he felt his dantian was full and his body was invigorated. Rhys also spent some time cleaning and washing his body in a bathtub that appeared from the jade ring, which contained many wonders. After drying his now cleaned and chiseled body, Rhys made sure he put on his underwear, a black pant, and a long-sleeved shirt, before, over it, he put on a white robe that made him look stylish.
Once that was done, Rhys activated Void Travel as his body pulsated and his tattoos distorted space, the formation was oddly silent but Rhys did not ponder over it now, he didn't care as he felt going with Eternal Paragon would be more fun. Soon, he found himself in the void.
'I wonder if Eternal Paragon will go to a world higher than mine?' Rhys could not help but think as he soon found himself enveloped by the same warmth of her domain, Ina by now had fallen 'asleep' by Eternal Paragon's energy.
Before him also stood Eternal Paragon wearing 'casual clothes.' Making her look very beautiful and mature, as those clothes made sure to reveal her supple, soft, purplish-pale skin.
"I see you recovered your arm, good. Here." Eternal Paragon nodded before she handed him a mask that seemed to be made of high-quality materials. The mask itself looked rather majestic. It was all black, but the design of the mask was that of a dragon face.
'What for?' Rhys felt curious as he took the mask and looked at it.
"I am a Paragon boy, if they see you with me, who knows what they would do to find your identity, they might even search lower worlds, find yours and harm your family, I have enemies. But they are too weak to do anything to me, still, it is better to be safe than sorry." Eternal Paragon's words made sense to Rhys, he nodded as he put on the mask, immediately he felt his undulations, aura, and presence disappear, unless one focused on him for some reason, he would not catch anyone's eyes.
Eternal Paragon nodded, before space warped around the both of them and they vanished.
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Author's Note:
Hope you enjoyed!