The moment he said these words, a projectile of blood flew from his mouth.
Ryu's gaze glowed. "Good!"
Ailsa smiled sweetly from Ryu's shoulder, his erratic movements seemingly not bothering her at all. She rarely got to see Ryu's genuine emotions, but right now, he looked no different from a child opening a gift from his parents.
'This Tatsuya blood is really too savage, making my loveable Little Ryu into a battle fiend. But this should be good. [Lines of Fate]'s basic ability is to read an opponent's intentions before even they are certain of it. However, in order for its auxiliary ability of technique snatching to come into effect, Little Ryu must have a strong Fate-based connection with the person he is battling.
'Though he doesn't have much of a connection with this Edwin… His ties of Fate couldn't be stronger with the Martial Gods and Apostles who did this to his family… Since this technique originates from them…'
Currently, Host Minn was feeling much better. As long as Ryu was beat into submission, he wouldn't have anything to worry about. It wasn't like Ryu would heal himself all for the sake of revenge against him for a few words right?
He smiled complacently. 'So what if you're a genius? You'll still get put in your place today!'
Edwin's speed actually increased to the point where he was now on par with Ryu. There was no one more surprised by this than Ryu himself, but he could also see that the price was also exceptionally heavy. But Edwin seemed more willing to die than to accept defeat on this day.
His fist slipped through Ryu's guard.
Ryu's expression flickered, feeling the strong wind pressure already threatening to shatter his rib cage even before the fist landed. However, he reacted quickly, casting [Warped Ripple] in a split second.
The ground beneath their feet shattered and splintered as [Warped Ripple] deviated the strike's power below. But even still, the final barrier shattered.
A fist that seemed capable of breaking the skies collided with Ryu's torso, sending him flying backward.
Edwin felt a surge of satisfaction. Finally, finally he hit him!
'Follow!'
His strong legs launched him into the air, following after Ryu's flying body with blinding speed.
However, what he found when he caught up and looked down toward Ryu to send another strike was a gaze of pure boredom. That apathetic gaze dug into his heart and gnawed at his bones, the feeling of absolute inferiority overwhelmed him to the point of suffocation.
"I think that's about enough." Ryu said calmly as though it wasn't he who flying through the air. "Impose."
The sound of shattering glass reverberated through arena. Edwin grabbed his head, his agonizing screams making the crowd feel as though bugs were crawling through their heart.
Ryu flipped through the air, allowing himself to stand up right before landing gracefully.
Edwin, however, completely lost control of his body, crashing into the ground below.
"To be honest, I'm quite disappointed. I didn't expect you to be so weak."
A beautiful green barrier surrounded Ryu. It was none other than his Wind Impose Barrier, something he had only recently comprehended.
When two Impose Barriers crossed, when there was an obvious difference in strength of quality between them, the weaker would shatter. This backlash would directly impact the victim's Mental Realm. For those who weren't used to such things due to their not being Mental Realm Masters, this result was especially difficult to deal with.
Host Minn shivered. "I.. Im… Impose Barrier…"
It wasn't just a normal Impose Barrier. It was one that made it difficult to breathe even without being within its boundaries. It was the most powerful Impose Barrier he had ever witnessed in his life.
Ailsa's eyes narrowed. 'This increase in strength definitely can't be due to Earth Grade techniques alone… I have a feeling that Ryu's Chaotic Qi is still strengthening itself. In addition, this Edwin is weaker than I thought. His qi technique is powerful, especially its fusion. However, he doesn't have a constitution powerful enough to make use of it. He's nothing but a leaking faucet…'
Edwin's qi was incredibly powerful, but neither his meridians or his body could handle its flow, this led to the vast majority leaking out from his body and becoming wasted. This was why Ailsa initially overestimated his abilities. She had gotten too used to working with Ryu who seemed almost perfect in every facet.
Fidroha frowned deeply as Ryu raised his glaive, but she already lost her right to say anything.
"Young man, is there really a need to go so far?" Ancestor Ember's magnetic voice sounded over the arena. He didn't seem to be trying to be overbearing, but the strength of a Path Extinction Realm expert was simply too much. No matter how much Ryu overestimated himself, he wouldn't survive a single blow.
So… He didn't even look at him.
"Yes." Ryu replied.
With a swing of his glaive, Edwin's head fell.
Ryu looked toward Edwin's corpse with an expressionless gaze. He didn't feel anything special toward this victory. As he had said before, to him, Edwin was nothing more than a stepping stone. His life and death wasn't worth anything more to him than another step forward.
With a simple application of [Demonic Strings], he pulled Edwin's spatial ring from his body then sent Esme out.
Under the shocked gazes of the crowd, the hobbled Esme's fingernails turned a demonic shade of black, extending almost a meter in length and stabbing into Edwin's corpse.
A surge of qi and Vital Qi was ripped from what remained of him, nourishing and healing Esme with each passing second.
Esme's body seemed to glow, her grey skin becoming more resplendent. At the same time, her physique bulged almost as though she had overeaten. But, very quickly, the added weight began to concentrate. One could even see the new muscle fibers being formed, only to be compressed back down into the corpse puppets original slender appearance.
Suddenly, Esme's slender body trembled, her aura breaking into the Half-Step Seventh Order.