Reaper Of The Martial World 574 Karma 1

However, this victory wasn't without a price. Although King Belmont's three opponents were likely too injured to continue fighting, King Belmont's stamina was just about gone as well. The problem with that was that there was a man he had yet to defeat… The King of the Aumen Royal G.o.d Clan: King Aumen.

"I must say, your flames are quite impressive." King Aumen's fiery golden hair stood in sharp contrast to the Elvin Ingram family. Whereas their hair glowed and gave off a comfortable feeling, the hair of Aumen's was more like the mane of a lion – domineering and oppressive.

King Belmont's rudimentary domain cracked before falling apart. He stood with his hands trembling by his side, hardly able to stop his eyes from flickering between purple, red and blue.

He was very aware of the side effect brought about by forcibly combining his flames, but he had no choice. If he hadn't, victory would have been a pipe dream… Unfortunately, now even his red and blue flames would be nearly impossible to control.

King Aumen could sense this very clearly. Before, he hadn't dared to approach King Belmont to pit their fires against each other, but now that he was fatigued, he had all the confidence in the world.

He wasn't stupid. No matter how overly arrogant he was, he would never think that his flames could truly match up to phoenix flames… The kinds of flames that could would be as rare as finding a phoenix itself, and they were an extinct race.

The golden flames of the Aumen's had a proud origin, but if King Aumen was honest with himself, even he as King did not know the truth from the falsehoods. All he knew for sure was that through the universes, golden flames were special, and should anyone ever find their true source, they would also find with it the sovereign path of flames… the doubtlessly most domineering path possible for the will.

King Aumen walked forward. Such a blazing heat and light wafted from him that he was almost like a second sun. The sharp contrast between him and the depleted King Belmont was striking…

Suddenly he paused, "You must be worried about many things, no? As a king myself, I can understand the weight on your shoulders.

"Your subjects, your family's legacy, your wife, your sons, all of that must be causing a heavy toll on your mind." King Aumen mused as though he was silently thinking all of this to himself.

King Belmont's breathing continuously deepened as he tried to quickly gain his bearings. However, his most potent problem was lack of stamina, and there just wasn't enough time to correct that.

"I don't say this to belittle you, of course." King Aumen continued, "I even feel a bit shameful sneak attacking a single planet with so many allies. I only say this so you can rest at ease in death. Although you won't be able to carry out your family's legacy, someone else will." A knowing smile spread across the King's lips.

Up until this point, King Belmont hadn't been truly listening. In fact, he was hoping the King Aumen would continue to talk so that he could refine more celestial energy for himself in that time. But, those last words caused him to pause and look up.

Seeing that he had finally caught King Belmont's attention, King Aumen's smile widened, "Haven't you wondered why you have gotten any reports from your Holy Land? Haven't you wondered why your ancestors haven't come to support you in your time of need? Haven't you wondered just what our goal is in all this time?"

Each question was like a thunder bolt crashing through King Belmont's mind.

He had lost communication with the Belmont Holy Land. His ancestors hadn't awoken even in this time of strife. And the very thing he thought his enemies were working toward this entire time – the Epistemic Tower – isn't a goal that this attack would help them with at all!

With the intelligence of a celestial being, and their ability to quickly process things, King Belmont immediately understood that the goal of this pointed attack wasn't to find a reasonable excuse to gather all of their allies. No. The more logical goal was that there was something this tournament provided that nothing else could…

When you coupled that with the lack of communication with the Belmont Holy Land… The fact he couldn't awaken his ancestors… The way it seemed like from the very beginning, he was the most unprepared and foolhardy King in history… It all pointed toward a betrayal that his heart couldn't handle the thought of…

King Aumen's laughter boomed through the dark s.p.a.ce, vibrating to the twinkling of the stars that played their backdrop.

"I have to say, your son is quite intelligent. He still has cards to play that very few of us know about. After all, the reason you couldn't call on your ancestors, is because they're under his control. How could we dare to treat him so lightly when he holds the key to the tombs of a family as ancient as yours?"

King Belmont's visage darkened. He couldn't believe that thoughts swimming through his head, but the facts were laid bare to him… How could he not accept them?

His son… His very own son… Had betrayed their family…

He couldn't help but chuckle bitterly to himself. This was the very son he had once arrogantly proclaimed Dyon would have to prove himself better than… The very son he had placed so much of his pride in… The very son whose sole actions were about to lead to the ruin of his own father…

An instant later, King Belmont's vision was blinded by a ball of golden flames bearing down upon him…