The words were like an unending echo that resonated through the deepest part of her soul, but a second later, a more visceral pain settled in.
RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!
The sound of something being torn out rang out as Ryuk pulled on all four wings with all of his power.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"
A terrifying, blood-curdling scream of pure pain left her lips, as golden blood sprayed into the air.
Ryuk’s hands pulled back, holding four large, severed golden wings, with blood splattered all over his face.
He watched her fall erratically from the sky, like a fallen angel, slamming into the ground and carving a crater.
This time...she didn’t get back up.
But then, Ryuk’s eyebrows furrowed, and he stared at space before him, which was suddenly sliced open.
From the depth of the slice, the familiar edge of a blade appeared once more, cleaving toward his face, as if to sever his head into two clean halves.
His neck jerked down to his shoulders, the blade flashing toward his mouth instead.
The next second, Ryuk’s cheek parted up until his ear, a draconic maw shifting out and clamping hard against the katana edge.
CRAAACCKK!
Cracks immediately spread through the entire katana surface, and then it shattered into nothing.
Right after, Ryuk slammed the wings in his hands against the space where the blade had come from.
Space shattered into fragments, revealing a figure that plummeted downward like a shooting star, crashing into the ground and skidding back several meters before coming to a halt.
A dark rift opened, and Ryuk threw the wings into it before they closed. He then turned to face the new attacker.
"We meet again...Old Man."
He said, floating down from the sky, and landing onto its cracked surface as he watched the Old Man rise from his skidding position, standing upright to face him.
Ryuk could still recognize the old man.
He was the one whom he had found in the Koenka.
One of the three Grand Elders of the Dominare family, who had shown the family’s decision to punish Elder Nogara and had led him to that underground area where the Elders were being punished for plotting against him.
His face was at first devoid of emotion, looking at the side where Morgaine’s battered body rested.
But he wasn’t much ruffled, knowing well she was still breathing.
But then, he turned to look around, and Ryuk watched as his face went through a 180-degree change, from calm to horror, when he saw the sprayed blood all over, mixed in with splatters of remnant organs and blood.
Even if it was nothing but blood and tissue, he knew it well, and his aura billowed out uncontrollably, unable to be restrained.
He turned to Ryuk with eyes burning golden before saying, in a rather calm voice,
"You Massacred All of the Clan Elders..." He said, and all of a sudden, his hands raised to the sky.
CRAAACCKLLLEEE
The sound of golden lightning crackling from the sky rang out, and then a pillar of golden lightning blasted downwards towards his raised arm.
Ryuk watched all of this without a single change in his expression, and soon enough, the lightning dispersed.
In the old man’s palm rested a one-meter-long golden sword, completely covered in celestial white runes, with golden lightning dancing across its surface.
"Do you feel any remorse?"
He asked, turning to look at Ryuk, who had a glint flash in his eyes,
"I’ll reply with two questions."
"Firstly, when a Lion and Tiger fight, and an Ant is asked to move out of the way, but doesn’t for whatever personal reason it may have."
"Does the lion or the tiger ever feel any remorse if it gets crushed under their paws amidst the battle?" He asked, his voice though low ringing clearly.
"Secondly, when you took the only daughter of a family who all want nothing more but to start a fresh new life in a new world, and replaced her consciousness with an Old Ancient monster of your family."
"Did you feel any remorse?"
He spoke, and in the next instant, his right fist clenched tightly, powerful blue and purple light gleaming all around.
Even more shocking was when the purple runes on him began shifting to a golden hue.
’He can use Fallen Energy!? How!!?’
It surprised him, but even more, he listened to Ryuk’s question and answered,
"Morgaine’s consciousness was never replaced...only switched."
"To realize the full potential of her bloodline, we had the consciousness of one of our greatest geniuses implanted into her with an Ancient Fallen Soul Technique."
"This consciousness only shows up when she is cultivating to enhance her cultivation veins and increase her cultivation speed."
"Morgaine is the one who owns the body if she’s not cultivating."
Moreover, the consciousness was implanted because she consented, noting that she vowed to bring peace to the world by becoming the strongest.
The Elder answered, leaving Ryuk in stunned silence.
He could remember that she was truly cultivating when he had entered her abode.
If the Word of the Gand Elder could be believed, then the new consciousness was only there because she was cultivating.
Moreover, the reason Morgaine had consented could not be overlooked, as their last conversation involved her speaking of peace.
The mention of her wanting to be the strongest to achieve her goal, and going through a risk as getting a new consciousness, wasn’t something that was beyond Morgaine.
"You thought Morgaine had been killed, and your anger is not without reason."
"But Killing All 10 of the Clan Elders, you went too far..."
He said, and Grand Elder Shota swerved to the side behind him as he got into a striking position.
"As you understand that my anger is not without reason, and maybe due to a misunderstanding,"
"I also understand that as the Grand Elder of the Family, it’s only right for you to seek revenge against one who had killed your Elders," Ryuk agreed,
"But..."