Ryu stood to his feet, moving his gaze away from the Zu Clan. Whatever it was they were planning, it didn’t matter to him. Out of respect for his master, he wouldn’t go out of his way to kill them. But, that also didn’t mean that he intended to allow them to roll all over him. His blade might be merciful, but it would still be true.
The harsh winds and the crackling of space only continued to grow, the pure violence of it all grating on the soul.
At that moment, an aura of resentment and rage began to permeate, leaking out from the quickly widening portal in the skies and bearing down on them all until many couldn’t even stand.
Deep frowns etched the faces of even those below, some of those who were struggling more than even others having veins that popped across their foreheads as their fists clenched. This level of resentment was not something they were prepared to experience, it felt like even the most powerful of Wraiths in the Nether World were wholly lacking before.
Ryu stood amidst this resentment just like everyone else, his heart calm. This resentment and unwillingness, wasn’t it a familiar part of his life? It felt like he was right at home. He didn’t feel tainted by the rage like everyone else. Rather, he seemed completely unaffected even as he took a step into the air.
In the skies above, there wasn’t a single soul but himself. The youths below were still waiting for the elder generation to stabilize the situation so that their trip into the Legacy World would be relatively safe. After all, with such volatile space moving about, one wrong move would result in death, even for one well into the Dao Pedestal Realm.
However, for Ryu, he might as well have been strolling in a peaceful garden. The fluctuations in space were marked by a very specific color under his [Ephemeral Tapestry]. Whereas they were random and almost invisible to the eye to anyone else, to him, he could point them out one by one should he choose to do so. This might as well have been his playground.
“Seal the area! Only those with plaques can move forward and follow me! Those without will be killed on sight!”
At that moment, even as Ryu hung in the air, unbeknownst to anyone else, he heard a familiar voice. It was one, quite frankly, that he would never forget.
The first time he heard that voice, he was in the Outer Ring and almost died. The second time he heard it, he killed her subordinate right in front of her. This was the third time he was hearing it… Wasn’t it about time she died?
Ryu’s gaze shifted, landing on Fidroha who was below directing the youths below with an authority only Apostles could command. It was clear that she was the cream of the crop the Martial Gods had to offer at the Immortal Ring Realm, but also that she wasn’t quite at the pinnacle or else she wouldn’t have been tasked for such a mundane job.
By now, Fidroha was at the Half-Step Path Extinction Realm. It was clear that she had made great progress since Ryu last saw her, but that was a given considering it had been hundreds of years.
However, to the current Ryu, she might as well have been a paper tiger. He only had to reach out a finger to snuff out her life. The difference between how it had been when they first met to now struck a cord with Ryu. What she was about to feel… Wasn’t it exactly what he felt when facing that Overseer?
Ryu’s mind entered a state of disharmony, an action that he would have taken without hesitation just a few months ago suddenly making him hesitate. But, it was exactly that that forced Ryu out of Meditation State, causing his presence to fail to remain hidden.
“The sky!”
It was hard to tell who it was who yelled out first, but it wasn’t long before several auras locked onto a cloaked figure standing amidst a swath of flickering spatial scythes. Even though his face was hidden, a few strands of white hair still peeked outward, making his identity almost too obvious to guess.
Ryu didn’t seem to react very much to being exposed. In fact, the only reason he kept his cloak on even at this moment was because he was too lazy to take it off. Whatever it was they thought below had nothing to do with him. Quite frankly, he couldn’t be bothered to care.
Fidroha suddenly shivered. Even though she couldn’t see Ryu’s eyes, she could feel his gaze locked onto her. Her spine tingled and her blood rushed, her body entering a state of flight or flight in an instant—it was the sort of reaction that left her feeling as though she had been locked down by a wild beast.
She suddenly remembered what she had experienced that day when she allowed Edwin to attack Ryu from the back. She had sensed a pair of eyes gazing at her with a killing intent that made her feel an undying, instinctive fear. But, back then, she hadn’t been able to pinpoint where it was coming from.
At this very moment, though… She couldn’t have been more sure of who it had been back then.
The instant everyone recovered from the initial shock, a spike of rage almost burned the capital down.
On one hand there were the elders of the Cloaked Dagger Sect.
On another, there were the Zu Clan individuals who had managed to connect the death of their two Immortal Ring experts and even Esme—who should have been participating today—to Ryu.
On yet another, there were the Dugo Clan and their Ninth Order Clan counterparts who wanted Ryu for the sake of his Faerie.
And, as though that wasn’t enough, the Ember and Lao Clans from the Core Region of the Pedestal Plane lit their torches and raised their pitch forks as well. This was especially for Ancestor Ember who still remembered the humiliation Ryu forced him to experience all those centuries ago and for Throne Byrine who could still feel Ryu’s foot pressing down on his head.
What felt like an endless tsunami of killing intent rained down upon Ryu, each wave more vicious than the last.