No matter how the crowd chanted, no matter how many emotions and hopes they placed behind their words, Atticus' fate was far worse than even Silas'. Even with the precautions he took, Ryu's speed was too ungodly.
As things stood now, Ryu didn't even have five percent of his fighting strength. This so-called borderline Spiritual Severing Realm speed of his couldn't even be considered his best. Yet, it was more than enough to deal with these jokes of an enemy.
Ryu stood on the edge of a building's roof, his glaive being held tightly to the side of his body as Atticus hung limply on the other side of it. Though it wasn't a lethal blow to a cultivator, Atticus' spine was still severed. Whether it would ever be reattached in the future was improbably.
In the distance, not to mention King Lantes whose rage had reached a boiling point, King Tor felt like leaping up and shredding Ryu to pieces. If he couldn't tell what Ryu was doing by now, wouldn't he be too much a fool? No matter what, he was still a man who ruled over the strongest Kingdom of their Higher Mortal Plane.
Although those core members of Tor Kingdom were aware that Ryu's relationship with the Tor Clan had long since been severed, did the public know this?
In truth, the Kings of the three opposing Kingdoms should be aware. It was impossible to keep the discrimination Ryu faced as a Prince under wraps. This was especially so after that damned Patriarch Agnes had Ryu publicly whipped. There were too many witnesses to this matter.
Armed with this knowledge, those Kings should be clever enough to know what Ryu was attempting. It was just a difficult matter for them to handle easily due to public perception. They would definitely come to King Tor to demand restitution for their swallowing these events without a word.
'If you think this is enough to destroy my Tor Kingdom, you're a fool!' King Tor roared in his mind.
He wasn't entirely wrong. Hoping to stoke the flames of war by Ryu's actions was nothing more than wishful thinking.
It was obvious to now that King Tor was once more benefitting from Ryu's lack of understanding. Which Kingdom didn't place hundreds of spies within the walls of their rivals? Tor Kingdom was also most likely a heavy focus of the three Kingdoms as well, considering they had the highest strength.
Ryu continued to hold Atticus up with his glaive, oblivious to the thoughts of King Tor.
A lewd laughter left Atticus' lips, before he winced in pain. "I guess… *Cough* … You loved that old cougar more than I thought."
Ryu didn't say much to these words. Him doing so would only tell Atticus that he was bothered. Since it was clear who held the power in this situation, did Ryu need to do such a thing?
In the end, the two-hour timer ran its course. Ryu absentmindedly allowed Atticus to slip off of his glaive, causing not only the Lantes Prince to panic, but also the Lantes warriors below. They only sighed a breath of relief when they managed to catch Atticus before he hit the ground.
"Next."
The next two rounds were no different. Cayden foolishly tried to fight a one on one battle with Ryu, only to end up routed for the entire two-hour period. Even while he was beaten, bruised and beaten, Cayden was no match for Ryu.
He lost in physical strength. He lost in speed. He lost in technique. He lost in depth of comprehension.
When the crowd saw how easy Ryu went on his third brother compared to the stark contrast with Silas and Atticus, they felt a deep sense of cognitive dissonance. Come to think of it, didn't he go easy of Kalmin and Amory as well?
Some who felt themselves clever felt a conspiracy brewing. Kalmin and Kwan were no longer threats with the destruction of the Natural Order Sect. Maybe Ryu felt there was no need to trample on their dignity, but it was necessary to knock Lantes and Viri Kingdom down a peg.
Only those with high authority like Headmaster Leopold were aware that this was Ryu's own personal crusade. But, that only made them shake their heads. The Higher Mortal Plane had been at peace for too long. It was even to the point where they decided to hold these cooperative Coronation Games instead of just laying waste to the Opes Kingdom. What could Ryu hope to accomplish with these actions? After getting his revenge on Silas and Atticus, their two backer Sects wouldn't spare any expense to cure them. And, in the end, after suffering a small loss to recoup their costs, King Tor would still stand tall.
Still, they continued to watch this futile fight as Ryu decimated Kwan's attempt as well.
In truth, Prince Kwan only attempted to stall, not even using a single Qi Refinement expert in hopes of saving them for his brother's turn, should it come. Luckily for him, Ryu also went easy, simply running for the two-hour time period before sending him off.
Finally, it was Amory's turn once more. He was forced to take on the Mortal Role, limiting him to five Qi Refinement experts, but he was also given three attempts at five hours each to succeed.
No matter how many heaven defying acts Ryu was a part of, he looked no different than an arrow at the end of its flight. How could he last another fifteen hours?
His breathing was haggard, the number of self-sutured wounds on his body were uncountable, and his body no longer had any ability to sweat. Even his Ice Phoenix Martial Form couldn't seem to saturate his blood with oxygen as efficiently anymore, leaving his lungs screaming in agony.
As Amory's first attempt began, everyone could sense a conspiracy brewing. Ryu wasn't given any time to breathe as he was constantly pressed, time and time again. Those Amory brought this time weren't up to the standard of the Dragon Corps, but they were double in number and just as fervent.
By the middle of Amory's second attempt, it became far more obvious was he was trying to do. No matter what hiding place Ryu chose, he was always smoked out. He was pressed, pressured, and continuously injured. After seven rounds of dancing on death's blade edge, this eighth round was truly perilous.
Once the second attempt came to an end, Ryu felt that his legs could hardly hold his own weight. He was forced to rely on the Northern Heavenly Wind just to stop his knees from trembling. But, the third attempt came without pause. This time, though Amory brought his three hundred Dragon Corps warriors, they only loosely surrounded Ryu. As for who came forward, there was only one man: Death Guard Bhishak.