[Bonus chapter for 300 golden tickets]
'He's not a bowman either.' Annbar thought with a shocked expression. 'He lacks the foresight and comprehension a true long ranged specialist has, yet his arrows are actually so dangerous…
'He's not a Necromancer… He's not a bowman… I have a feeling he's not a Mental Realm Master either despite that impressive Visualization! Just what is he?!'
Not just Annbar was thinking these things, but so too were Vygil and Lucien. At that moment, they all glanced at one another and came to a conclusion. They absolutely could not allow Ryu to leave here alive! Even if he had become a cripple, they wouldn't feel comfortable allowing such a genius to live on as their enemy. Absolutely not!
"[Bloody Rain]!" Annbar no longer held back.
"[Lao Swordsmanship: Third Form]!"
"[Sky Fall]!"
The three of them unleashed their true strength. Ryu didn't stand a chance.
With his Focus Qi drained, Ryu's ability to communicate with the Glove of Order was severely hampered. Even after fusing four qis as one, their strength was less than half of their usual ability. To make matters worse, even forming one such arrow drained his Spiritual Qi almost completely as well, further weakening his ability to control his two remaining corpse puppets and causing his [Immortal Sakura] Visualization to waver.
It was then the attacks fell.
Annbar's needles rose into the sky, shimmering with a bloody light as they fell like a torrential rain.
Lucien's sword almost became ethereal, forming three after images with every stroke.
Vygil's fist made Ryu feel as though the very skies and clouds themselves were collapsing. Under his might, even something so lofty wouldn't survive.
Needles pelted Ryu's cherry blossoms. Every time they shattered, a new injury would appear in his Mental Realm, causing his consciousness to be filled with an endless black.
Lucien's sword was unimpeded. Ryu lacked the focus to comprehend which of his sword images were real and which were fake, causing his male corpse puppet to suffer a sever slash. It bounded through the air, ripping through the space by his side and landing several hundred meters behind him, unable to move.
Vygil's fist collided with the female corpse puppet, tearing a hole over a half a meter in diameter through its shoulder and torso. The hole reverberated like a black hole, seemingly willing to engulf everything in its path.
Ryu's Immortal Sakura trembled and collapsed into motes of light. The soft crackling of lightning was all that was left behind other than a beaten and bloodied Ryu, struggling to pull his bowstring once more.
Looking at his pitiful state, Ryu couldn't help but think of his Grandpa Kukan. All those times he faced the Tribulation Shrine with nothing but his bow and his arrows, was he this drained as well?
'I'm sorry grandpa… your grandson is useless… I can't do your bow proud…'
Ryu coughed. But shockingly, blood didn't fly from his mouth this time. Instead, an eerie black smoke did.
Vygil, Annbar, and Lucien all experienced a severe change of expression. That black smoke… Could it be he had burned through his own organs completely?!
A screaming, burning pain ravaged Ryu's body. But, he still solemnly put his bow away, taking out a halberd with a dark violet body that stood two heads taller than himself.
He couldn't do his grandfather proud with his bow like he had wanted to. But even if he would die today, his back would be straight enough to pierce through the skies.
He hated those skies with every fiber of his being. It was those skies that gifted him such otherworldly talent, yet sealed his ability to use them with a False Spiritual Foundation. It was those skies that gifted him his Chaotic Silk Meridians, yet didn't allow him to reach even the mere Fourth Order. It was those skies that beat him down again and again, ripping his family, his dignity, and now even his hope from him.
If he was going to die today, he would make sure those skies felt his rage.
"Don't hide it." Ryu seemed to be speaking nonsensical words to himself, but the person they were meant for understood just fine. "I want it to see this… I want it to see my last stand."
Ryu's second hand made it to the shaft of his halberd, brandishing it forward with a menacing sheen.
His aura changed completely, the image of a man in robes soaked in blood rising to his back.
This shouldn't have been the projection that appeared. The Dragon God was man who oozed nobility. He wasn't supposed to look like this…
Ghastly screams filled the air. No one knew where they came from, but they dripped with resentment that could drown even the Heavens themselves.
"Birthed… Phenomena…" The three geniuses looked at the manifestation above Ryu's head, shaken to their core.
But, they didn't get the time to think. Ryu, with what remained of his strength, had already surged forward. The thought of escaping never entered his mind.
It was then that the tribulation clouds above that had still yet to disperse began to slowly turn crimson.
**
Matheus' features darkened as he dodged the attacks of six assailants. In truth, the pressure on him wasn't very great despite the savage grins on the faces of his opponents. Defeating them would be as easy as summoning just one of his mid-tier corpse puppets despite the fact all six of his opponents had stepped into the Connecting Heaven Realm. However, it was impossible for him to do this.
He had spent all this time hiding his status as a Necromancer from even his own family, it was even to the point where he committed a massacre on the Loom Clan's council to ensure it remained a secret. In fact, even to this point, his family still had no idea where he had been all this time and just where he had gained his status as a Throne from. He wasn't powerful enough, he didn't wield enough strength... How could he now compromise everything now...?