The expressions of Niel and Sarriel changed. But, ultimately, they were still geniuses, Sarriel especially. The young lady's shy personality had nothing to do with how she was in battle.
Both made the best decision in an instant. Even though they were the most powerful with their corpse puppets, they realized that they had yet to adapt to this world. They faintly understood that this odd Nether Qi would influence their control, so it was best to rely on their own fists.
Sarriel brought out a long and slender sword that made Ryu raise an eyebrow. It was obviously a katana, but its blade was over two meters long alone. It definitely wasn't the kind of weapon one would expect the shy Sarriel to choose.
But, the katana, especially one so long, was highly reliant on the user's flexibility, dexterity and control. It was definitely a favorite of female warriors. In fact, when Ryu's mother didn't dual wield, she too liked to single wield a katana. Ryu faintly believed that his mother's most explosive attacks occurred when she single wielded as well.
As for Niel, he pulled out a bow and a quiver of arrows. He was the far more conventional Necromancer of the two, utilizing attacks from afar to supplement his corpse puppets.
"JIJIJIJIJIJIJIJI!!"
The jittery, spine tingling sounds only became fiercer. They sounded like a cross between an eerie, high pitched laughter and bone chattering against bone.
It was the that the first of creatures entered the range of their sight. And, this small dose alone was enough to make their blood run cold. This wasn't because they were so powerful, but purely because they were so grotesque.
Objectively, they seemed to look like humans. At the very least, they had human faces. But, this thin line of connection was where the comparisons had to stop.
Though their faces were that of humans, they were about a size too big. It looked as though if these faces were attached to humans, they'd be forced to use a harness to stop their neck from bowing continuously.
Rather than walking on their two feet like humans would, these creatures walked on all fours. But, this wasn't the end of the oddity. Even their method of walking on all fours wasn't normal.
Their elbows were inverted. If one didn't know better, it would be possible to think that they had been snapped the wrong way. In addition, their heads seemed to be attached the wrong way as well.
The result was a group of creatures that ran along the trees and ground with their bodies arched in a bridge position. Yet, instead of their heads being upside down, they were right side up and their elbows were flared out to the side.
It looked as though some vindictive, sick and twisted god had taken the image of a human and squeezed it into the form of a dog. The sight alone was enough to make one tremble with both fear and fury.
'The Canis.' Ryu's gaze turned cold.
The Canis were one of the many races of devils that appeared on the first level of the Nether Realm. Despite their terrible appearance, their agility was off the charts and their pain tolerance was impossibly high. Even if they had several limbs severed, if you got too close, they would still use their bite to rip your flesh apart.
In addition, they all wore what seemed to be bone masks. But, these weren't masks at all. Rather, they were protrusions that pierced out from their skin and grew from their skulls. This bone growth ability varied greatly amongst the Canis. But, if they ran into an Elite Canis with high bone control, they would be an enemy even Ryu would have to take seriously.
Ryu didn't act immediately, his [Third Perspective] revolving in full force as he tried to ensure there were no Elite Canis hiding amidst the pack.
'I can't find any, but I have to be cautious. One wrong move and it's all over.'
"~Nie! Nie!~"
Sarriel shot forward as Niel grew his bow.
Ryu didn't lag behind by far. The winds picked up around him as a massive grimoire appeared before him.
Flipping through the pages, the grimoire eventually landed on an open spread that looked no different from a sea of snaking blue lightning. It crackled about with a violent recklessness, seemingly as though it wouldn't be satisfied until the world burned down with it.
The Elemental Energies of the Nether Realm tended heavily toward Yin. However, it was exactly because of this that Ryu chose to rely on Yang. There was no better way to destructively dominate such a world.
Ryu raised a hand, his robes fluttering.
The simplest form of fire control the Fire Dragon had was its Flame Breathing. This concentrated its flames into a beam of fiery rage that wrought destruction.
For a Lightning Qilin, though, its simplest form of lighting control was different. It was nothing more than a simple strike from above, an arch of striking lightning condensed almost to the point it looked like a sword being pierced down from the skies.
Compared to the Fire Dragon, the ranged attacks of the Lightning Qilin were on a completely different level. Even in its simplest form, Ryu felt as though he had the world in the palm of his hands.
"Strike down." His cold voice laid down a command for death.
At that moment, orbs of lightning appeared all around the forest of hell. The Canis couldn't even react before a bolt descended down upon them from above, blasting their bone masks into smithereens.
Sarriel appeared within their midst. Despite the length of her katana, the rotting trees couldn't seem to impact her in the slightest.
Her two hands gripped the long, curved handle, her body spinning as though completing the steps of an elegant, graceful dance.
Scythes of wind manifested to life, sheering apart the forest from several hundred meters as the life of one Canis after another was reaped.
Niel's arrows tore through the air, cleverly avoiding branches and thick trunks to find their targets. His kill total was the smallest, but every single one of his arrows reaped a life.
"~Nie! Nie!~"