Dyon watched Ri adjust her chest bandages without a care for his eyes, "she really is an odd one…""ugh... use your creation array to make me new and softer bandages. This thing is too tight and uncomfortable."
Dyon"s array flashed, causing a blinding light to encase Ri.
Within, Ri suddenly felt her chest fall free, but was immediately tied down again in a loose and comfortable feeling.
Once the light faded, Dyon nodded in appreciation.
Ri looked down at herself in a mix of pleasure and confusion, "what are these… they"re springy, but tight, and yet still comfy?..."
Dyon grinned, "they"re from the human world. That," Dyon said pointing to her chest, "is called a sports bra. And those," Dyon said pointing to Ri"s new black pants, "are called yoga pants."
"The human world sure does make fascinating things… but do the pants really need to cling to me like this. You"re already a pervert… I don"t need your eyes prying at me any more than usual," thinking of something, Ri pointed to Dyon"s sweats, "gimme those."
Dyon laughed diabolically as though this was exactly what he wanted, "at your service milady."
With another flash of Dyon"s purple-gold array, Ri stood before him in loose low hanging grey sweats and a black sports bra. Dyon couldn"t help but sigh at the perfect of her figure, "your chest was so big all this time… yet you hid them… a waste of heaven"s treasures."
Ri ignored Dyon, "alright. You"re tasked with making my wardrobe for the foreseeable future. Keep in mind that dark red is my favorite color."
Dyon smiled bitterly but nodded anyway. Ri hadn"t asked for explanation for why he had locked her in here, or even about what had happened. She knew he"d let her know when the time was right, and that was enough for her. Dyon appreciated having a friend like this… especially since he knew that revealing things too early might ruin everything.
But, he decided to let her in on at least one thing, "you know, I already manifested my soul… a while ago actually."
Ri turned her gaze towards Dyon, "really? When?"
Dyon chuckled, "same night as Zaltarish."
Ri"s brows furrowed before she thought of something, "you mean?... stop it, you brag too much."
But, before she could say anything else, Dyon released his manifestations for the first time.
The skies darkened, clouds rolling over.
The inner world shook under Dyon"s oppressive manifestation.
A 20-meter-tall black-red paG.o.da boomed into existence, dripping with a blood red aura.
In front, a humanoid figure of Dyon stood at 5 meters tall, its ma.s.sive wings seemingly wanting to blot out the sky.
The demon generals immediately felt something amiss, but then they smiled to themselves.
Arios chuckled, "it seems like Dyon is doing just fine…"
A beautiful female demon general stroked her long white hair, "it"s not polite to try and force a girl to kneel you know…" she said pouting adorably.
This caused an uproarious laughter to spread through the generals.
Ri looked up at Dyon"s manifestation, feeling an oppressive might, "it really was you…"
Ri hadn"t been close to the city at the time the words appeared in the sky… but if something was domineering enough to cause such a thing to occur… it would be Dyon"s manifestation.
Ri harrumphed, "why are you telling me this now, show off."
Dyon"s manifestations remained as he chuckled bitterly. But, it was an odd sound. His voice had deepened considerably and seemed overlaid by another voice.
"of course, it"s because I want your help. I have no idea where to begin in understanding this and I want to understand as much as I can in at most half a month."
"why so quickly? What"s happened?"
"your cousin, Princess Acacia is making a move in 2 months time. I"m meant to make my affiliations with your alliance clear at that time."
A look of realization flashed across Ri"s face, "so Alex is making her move… alright… it"s not ideal, but I guess it can"t be helped. The Sigebryht family and the Norville family are both getting bolder because of Zaltarish… but I guess that plan is about to fall flat on their faces."
Dyon smiled knowingly, "I wonder how a supposedly secret marriage alliance became such common knowledge for the Acacia alliance," despite thinking this, Dyon said nothing.
Ri continued, "I really hate banquets though… just do it without me. I"ll help you with your manifestation though, I already have a few faint ideas of how it works…"
"I"ll also help you manifest your soul… but not here. To make the biggest impact on those neutral families, don"t you think releasing your soul in front of all of them would be best?..."
Ri hesitated, "you can really do it?..." she asked hopefully. But, then she sighed, "it"s probably not the best idea for me to do this…"
Dyon smiled sympathetically, "I know what you"re thinking… but you know that the big plays are happening. It"s time to put all our cards out on the table."
Ri sighed, "you and Alex are looking at this problem too simply… the problem was never about being powerful. If it was, my uncle"s rule would have never been opposed and my father wouldn"t be being supressed even as a headmaster."
Dyon nodded, "I know. It"s about the hate of the Acacia family."
Ri looked up at Dyon, surprised by how much he knew, "exactly… there"s a reason a princess has to stay hidden so deeply. My uncle was the most powerful expert the Elvin Kingdom had birthed since coming to this universe…. Because he didn"t want to rule through power, but reason, he was taken advantage of. And now, he"s left for reasons unknown even to me and Alex… for all we know, he might have already died…"
Ri"s eyes glistened with tears, but, she felt a firm hand on her shoulder. Before she could even react, Dyon pulled her into a tight hug.
"you"ve had a lot on your mind," he said faintly, "but, right now, I need you to trust me. When the time is right, I"ll explain everything to you."
Ri felt odd. Dyon"s manifestation was still there, so she felt an arrogant and overbearing will bearing down on her… but, it was oddly comforting. Because she knew that it wasn"t pointed at her, but instead, her enemies.
Ri pinched Dyon"s side, "alright, alright. Stop being so sappy. I"ll believe you for now. Let"s get to studying your manifestation."