Tae glanced at the side of Ryu's face. She still couldn't see his features clearly, but for some reason, it didn't matter.
She herself had no feelings for Ryu. He was the exact opposite of the warm and loving husband she had always dreamed of. Yet, after living over a hundred years of life herself, somehow, he had become the closest that ideal image of any man she had ever met.
It was quite an ironic thought. He was in the middle of sneering and talking down to those around him, yet she somehow saw an image of warmth. Who knew what was in that pretty little head of hers?
Grand Elder Loom's expression darkened.
"Brother. We know nothing about this young man. We're not even certain that he is as young as he appears in the first place. To make matters more uncertain, he constantly wears a mask and is a necromancer, a group of individuals you know well that the Zu Clan despises.
"Even if there were no other factors to worry about, do you believe that the Zu Clan would leave silently if they knew their territory would be inherited by one of their sworn enemies?"
The grudge between Mental Masters and Necromancers was not a secret, this was something everyone was aware of. Grand Elder Loom didn't need to reach, and his logic was sound.
"And what exactly do you want me to do? Break my grand daughter's engagement after it was already announced to the world?"
The City Lord's stiff reply left the Grand Elder speechless. He knew his brother well, so he immediately understood that this couldn't have been his original intention. Some mistake had occurred, or…
'This young man enticed my grand niece in some fashion? Or he schemed this from the very beginning to weasel out of my brother's rage?'
In that instant, the Grand Elder's deductions became the deduction of many others. In fact, maybe only Tae was completely aware that Ryu hadn't done this intentionally. Even the City Lord felt his vision cloud when he gazed upon Ryu as though he was trying his best to control his rage.
Everyone knew that Necromancers had strong mental realms. Currently, Tae had still only opened her Spiritual Pulse. This wasn't an odd sight… Because it took so long to complete one's Immortal Ring, those who weren't focused on their Mental Realm didn't attempt to open their Spiritual Vessel until after entering the Divine Vessel Realm. Some even waited until the Connecting Heaven Realm.
Making Tae absentminded for a moment, just enough for her to sit in the wrong place, was as easy as flipping over a hand for someone with as deep a Mental Realm as Ryu. In truth, Ryu's Mental Realm was currently even stronger than even the City Lord himself! This was why the City Lord couldn't be certain that he would have detected Ryu's underhanded tricks or not.
Ryu, however, under the scrutiny of so many individuals, hardly reacted. He didn't particularly care that his good intentions were being taken for some sort of dark scheme. In fact, he preferred it this way.
This mistake of his had suddenly made it difficult for him to find a path toward revenge in the future. He couldn't very well harm the grandfather of a woman he now had to responsibility for, right? However, if this City Lord believed he had ill intentions, at least it would be a sort of psychological revenge.
What Ryu was more annoyed by was that his time was being wasted. He had already made his goal of accepting all challengers clear, yet these old fools were still speaking nonsense. For him, every second was precious. Wasting hours away like this was something he had never done.
"Then I'll battle him, if that's what he wants…"
A calm voice cut through the silence. Many already knew its owner, but couldn't help but look over to see Matheus slowly rising from Erea's side.
Unlike Ryu and Tae who sat front and center, Matheus could only sit to the side in a slightly respected position. This was the fate of a youth without claim to heirship.
"Stop." City Lord Loom finally collected his emotions enough to speak calmly. At his words, though Matheus still continued to stand, he didn't continue forward for the time being.
"You all have been under my rule for too long to believe me to be an incompetent ruler."
All ministers and elders, regardless of the side they were on, couldn't help but nod. There was a faint struggle between both sides, but it never crossed over a line. In the end, though Grand Elder Loom was ambitious, he still treated the City Lord as his elder brother. When he heard that City Lord Loom had chosen a stranger over his own grandnephew, he had felt more hurt than rage.
"Little Matheus is very talented, but there will always be higher mountains and deeper seas in this world. The reason I called this meeting wasn't to have Ryu fight, it was to make you all aware of his identity. This young man… is a Working Disciple of the Mercenary Guild."
The atmosphere was suddenly frozen solid.
Ryu finally understood why it was that the City Lord trusted him with such an important task. It seemed that the ring on his finger was a form of status as well… However, the City Lord's Judgement was still lacking. Ryu wasn't a Working Disciple, he was a Core Disciple.
The disciple rankings were known by all. The lowest Working Disciple, then the Outer, Inner and finally, Core Disciples. Above that, there were the Inheritors, and even above that, there was the unrestrained Throne Disciple.
By receiving the ring on his finger, Ryu had the minimum status of Working Disciple. But what City Lord Loom didn't know was that Ryu had been accepted into a Sky God's Faction, thus making him a Core Disciple at a minimum. Clearly, he didn't have enough insight or knowledge to see through this.
Still… one only needs to see just how shocked those in this Grand Hall were to know that even a Working Disciple of such a massive Guild could not be looked down upon. In fact, even the calm Matheus had a slightly more serious expression on his face.
It was no wonder the City Lord was respectful of Ryu's talent, but not to the point of being unwilling to kill him. Working Disciples wouldn't receive any sort of protection from the Mercenary Guild. In fact, the nature of the Mercenary Guild itself meant that even Core Disciples might not be protected.
However, just as everyone was shocked, they couldn't have possibly guessed Ryu's next words…
"It seems you've not only underestimated me, but also your own grandnephew."
Ryu casually rose from his seated position, meeting Matheus in the center space of the Grand Hall.
City Lord Loom frowned. Underestimated? Could it be that his judgement was wrong?
He took another look at the ring on Ryu's finger, but no matter how he tried, he couldn't seem to see through it. It was veiled by a thin sheen of mystery.
'Could it be that his status in the Necromancer Guild is even higher…?' Unfortunately, all of his thoughts frozen when a blazing phenomenon erupted within the Loom Grand Hall.
Raging golden winds spiraled as the two men faced, wrapping them in a cyclone of Essence that seemed willing to tear the whole of the hall from its very foundations.
In that moment, two majestic thrones appeared above them both. Though decorated differently, they each had a gorgeous air to them that could stall one's heart.
Ryu's came with a cold wind, pulsing with a gentle pale blue light that was almost white. It was embroidered in sapphire and diamonds before being finished in a beautiful silver.
Matheus' had a darker, yet somehow bright presence. Dotted with rubies and black diamonds, it was finished with a gorgeous Damascus Steel, unbridled and arrogant.
"Throne Ryu." Matheus' calm voice spread through the Grand Hall.
A cold reply came from Ryu. "Throne Matheus."
The Pedestal Plane once only had two Thrones, both of whom resided within the Core Region. A third didn't appear until Ryu conquered the Awoken Moon Sect's trial.
However, Ryu had a feeling that Matheus wasn't any one of those two. This throne, matching Ryu's own in aura, had to be from an Eighth Order Sect or Clan at a minimum, while the two Thrones of the Core Region could only have a Sixth Order Throne at best.
Though the Awoken Moon Sect's Throne should have been of the Ninth Order, how could it not weaken after all their descendants had been through? So though it was meant to be a Ninth Order Throne, its aura was only of the Peak Eighth Order.
The question was, then… Just where had this Matheus gone? Which mighty Eighth Order Sect did he claim the Throne of?