Within the Black Winds Kingdom carriage, there was another familiar face. This was none other than the very same young man who had tried to stop Niel and Ryu on their journey back to the Moonlight Blossom Sect, only to lose the troops he had come with by Zulfiqar's hand.
This young man was known as Jock. His standing in the Black Winds Kingdom was no different from Zulfiqar to the Moonlight Blossom Sect.
This was all to say that he was well aware of the power Zulfiqar wielded. For Ryu to be standing here, so unbridled, despite having made an enemy out of Zulfiqar… Jock really didn't know what to say. Had Zulfiqar been too incompetent? Or was there something special about this kid in particular?
Thinking back to how Ryu actually managed to dodge a lethal, sure kill strike from Zulfiqar, he felt that it might really be the latter.
All this time, Jock had thought that the word the Moonlight Blossom Sect had been sending out about not being able to find Ryu was all bullshit. In his opinion, they had long since killed Ryu and snatched the key for themselves. But, the fact Ryu was standing here completely unharmed, and even with a beauty by his side… Well, that spoke volumes by itself.
What Jock had never expected though, even with all this being true, was for Ryu's beast to so suddenly humiliate the guardian beast of the Nightingale Mansion so thoroughly.
Jock's gaze narrowed. 'Even Cere is trembling…'
Though Little Rock's aura was aimed toward the bird, it was clear that this Cerberus look alike had felt no small part of it. It even faintly wanted to run away as well.
At that moment, Sarriel hid behind Ryu with a worried expression. Though Ryu hadn't done anything personally, this sort of slap to the face wasn't something any Sect could take laying down, let alone Nightingale Mansion.
Toward her actions, Ryu was truly speechless. This woman's strength was unfathomable, yet she insisted on hiding behind him. What was she doing exactly?
The clouds rumbled and dispersed, revealing the clopping hooves of a horse drawn carriage. Their flaming green pupils danced like fireflies under the partial darkness of the skies this high up.
Completely oblivious to what had just happened, the members of the Moonlight Blossom Sect finally arrived. Or, rather, many thought that they had been oblivious. But, just before they had entered the clouds, they had very clearly seen the plummeting Nightingale Mansion faction.
Unable to withhold his curiosity, or maybe due to the fact he was sent here to answer exactly this question, Niel shot out from the carriage, struggling to keep himself in the air before trying to land on Little Rock's back.
Unfortunately, before he could, Little Rock gave an unhappy cry. Just a small gust of wind almost sent Niel tumbling to the ground below.
Panic grasped his features. In the end, Niel had no choice but to summon a small flying boat, barely managing to keep himself afloat.
Ryu couldn't help but smile. It seemed that as Little Rock grew older, he was getting more and more of a personality. It made sense that he easily allowed Sarriel on board since she was a fey and a beautiful woman. Setting aside the latter, the fey were well known as being beloved by nature not much unlike Ryu.
However, not only had Ryu not said anything about allowing Niel on, he was an ugly man.
These were probably the clearest projected thoughts Ryu had ever gotten from the little Roc, making him chuckle slightly.
"… Do that again…" Sarriel tugged at his sleeve.
Ryu gave Sarriel a weird look. "Do what?"
"Laugh." Sarriel said with an expression that was almost too serious.
Ryu was left speechless by this girl again. He could only shake his head and look toward the pitiful Niel.
"Are you alright?" Ryu finally asked.
Niel smiled bitterly. "It's really hard to fly properly up here with the qi so turbulent, but I'll be fine. Apologize to your beast for me, I should have asked first. I forgot myself for a moment."
The turbulence of qi was most definitely not a joke. One would think that there would be less qi the further from a world's surface you got. But, the truth was that there was qi everywhere. It was just that this qi was the most organized on a world and got less so the further from worlds you got.
Ryu felt a little bad seeing Niel in such a state. He always thought that Niel was almost too good of a guy. His temperament was excellent and his heart was kind. This sort of matter was all too rare in the world of cultivation. To even apologize to a beast… This was a rare matter indeed.
Ryu smiled. "Don't be so stingy, Little Rock. Let Niel on."
"~QI!" Little Rock's call held no small amount of defiance.
"Alright, alright. I'll give you more of your favorite snack, how about it?"
Sarriel watched from the side, her eyes sparkling. She didn't know that Ryu had such a nurturing side to him.
Reluctantly, Little Rock allowed Niel only his back. But, he still gave the latter one good zap for good measure, leaving Niel's hair somewhat frayed.
Niel chuckled bitterly again, but didn't pursue the matter.
"Right." Niel slapped his forehead. "The Nightingale Mansion, what happened up here exactly?"
"… About that…" Ryu said slowly before he suddenly looked off into the distance.
At that moment, the clouds separated again, revealing a familiar carriage. But, this time… There was a distinct lack of bird.
Standing atop the carriage were many powerhouses. Clearly, they were using their qi and other special methods to hold their large movement treasure up. The strain was definitely not small considering the atmosphere they were in. And, given that they were all staring daggers toward Ryu, their faces burning with humiliation, it was quite obvious that Ryu was spot on.
Unfortunately for Nightingale Mansion, before they could even think of retaliation, a surge of energy caught everyone's attention.
A massive complex formation of violet hues manifested, causing the appearance of one figure after another.
The Three Pupil Eclipse Sect had arrived.