Ryu’s jaw clenched tighter and tighter the more words Monalise spoke. He didn’t realize it, but even his halberd was quaking under his grip.
‘A war erupted, if one could even call it that. The Tatsuya Clan was continuously backstabbed. It seemed there would be a new traitor every other day.’ Monalise grit her teeth. ‘Those Martial Plane bastards claim that their approach for the human race was far better, that their path of absolute strength was the only way for us to survive, yet they shamelessly used underhanded tricks and schemes to eke out victory.’
Ryu’s breathing turned erratic. His face, one that seemed carved of the purest ice, reddened with rage.
His father’s whereabouts were completely unknown. He couldn’t imagine what his mother had to face without her husband by her side. The more he heard, the more and more difficult it was for him to forgive his great grandfather.
However, Ryu knew that such thoughts were useless. He had committed suicide precisely because he could feel the tides of their Fates shifting. He knew that if he didn’t grasp strength for himself, his Tatsuya Clan was doomed.
At the same time, though, he knew he also made mistakes. Was it unwise of him to not speak of these matters with his parents first? Maybe if he had told them his thought process, they would have been more prepared for the coming war.
Ryu knew why he hadn’t said a word. If he had, it was very likely that his parents would have tried to stop him. It may have seemed cruel that he killed himself within his and Elena’s wedding chambers, but that was the only place he could guarantee that Nuri wouldn’t be in position to stop him, it was the only place she didn’t keep her eyes on him at all times.
On the one hand, he had to keep these matters a secret so that he could actually execute them. But, on the other, his silence might have made the situation worse than it potentially could have been. With the resources of the Tatsuya Clan, as long as they were preemptive, even fleeing to another Realm wasn’t impossible. The measures they could have taken were practically endless.
‘I believed in our absolute strength too much…’ Ryu’s eyes sealed shut, it was almost as though he didn’t register that he was still in battle.
Ryu took such actions because he believed that his Tatsuya Clan would survive until the time he made his way back, even if it was barely. But, he was wrong. After his death, they didn’t last. Nothing could last forever. Even if that thing was a Clan that stood atop the Shrine Plane for so long.
‘Young master, I really do not know much more. Although us subordinate Clans were conscripted to battle, the underhanded schemes of the Martial Plane resulted in wars of our own being fought on the Blossom Plane. Let alone help the Tatsuya Clan, the Sect fell to the Eighth Order under my watch… It’s likely become far worse by now.’
Ryu remained silent. If he told Monalise that her treasured Sect was now of the mere Fifth Order, only worthy to share the Outer Ring of the Pedestal Plane with other middling Sects, he didn’t know how she would react.
‘There are only two remaining things that are of great importance that I have left to tell you.’ Having tacitly understood Ryu’s silence, Monalise continued. ‘The first is that the Shrine Plane is now sealed. It wasn’t by a fluke, but rather by Mistress Tatsuya unlocking the potential of the Ice Shrine. Much of the Plane is currently frozen over completely. Her actions forced those Martial Plane bastards to retreat. As they were unable to break through the seal, they could only bide their time. The so-called ‘Martial Plane’ isn’t actually a new Plane at all, it’s only the parts of the Shrine Plane that haven’t been sealed.’
Monalise shook in anger at their shamelessness. ‘They want to portray to the world that they’re mighty Martial Gods, so they claimed to have created a new Plane, but you know as well as I how impossible that is. With Shrine Mountain overseeing the balance of our Realm, the creation of a new Plane is impossible for such weak cowards.
‘They wove a story about young master’s Tatsuya Clan sealing themselves away in fear and allowed it to permeate through our Realm. They hoped to slowly whittle away our Faith and eventually eradicate what remains of their opposition.’
Monalise struck forward with her spear once more, pushing Ryu back again. ‘The final thing of importance that I have to tell young master is related to young mistress Elena.’
Ryu felt his heart seize at these words, his bloody arm bulging all the more.
‘There was no word of Miss Elena after young master’s death. I know that Master and Mistress wouldn’t have allowed her to be taken away, so it must be another underhanded scheme of the Holy Wing Clan.
‘Young master should know that the center of all of these matters wasn’t the Holy Wing Clan, but instead, another race of people who call themselves Martial Gods despite being the cowards they are. As young master knows… Miss Elena’s father has always been unknown…’
The thumping of Ryu’s heart grew erratic. The Fire Dragon blood coursing through his veins grew so violent that the thrumming of his heart resonated through the castle of ice.
Ryu understood.
The Saintess of the Light Shrine during Ryu’s first life was actually a woman that was technically Ryu’s Grand Aunt. The reason Ryu’s Grandma Kunan hated Mistress Holy Wing, Elena’s grandmother, so much was because she drugged Ryu’s Grandpa with an aphrodisiac which led to the birth of Ryu’s Grand Aunt.
However, Mistress Holy Wing had another daughter, one she birthed from an unknown man. This daughter was Elena’s mother. But, what was truly baffling was that not only was the man Mistress Holy Wing bedded to birth this daughter unknown, so was the man Elena’s mother bedded to birth her.
This was completely different from the way the Holy Wing Clan usually did things. They would usually parade around the mates they chose as a method of increasing their Faith, after all, their partners were usually chosen from great Clans, so forming relationships with these men would only bring benefits. But, for some reason, they remained silent about these matters not just once, but twice.
‘Young master, I died before I could learn the truth, but I think young master should be mindful of this relationship. Just like young master is a focal point of the tides of Faith, so is Mistress Elena…’
Ryu was no longer listening. The so-called cold of his Ice Silk flexible armor had given way to an oppressive heat. The crackles of abyssal flames, the caliber of which could only be bred from a Dragon of Fire, surged through the ice castle.