The second floor of the 'Nether Realm' was a completely different animal. Rather than the rotting woods and bright blue, cloudless skies, it seemed far more like a true depiction of hell.
The skies had become a beautiful deep violet that carried a sinister edge to it. Black clouds hovered above but they didn't act like storm clouds, instead drifting about just like normal clouds would.
The ground was covered in endless mountainous regions. As far as the eye could see, jagged peaks of pitch black stone rose several kilometers into the air. It truly didn't seem as though even a single patch of flat land was anywhere to be seen.
At that moment, the harsh call of several birds tore through the skies. Their cries made one's blood curdle, almost as though metal was screeching against metal.
Without even looking, Ryu immediately pinpointed what that creature was. He understood right then that no matter what, he couldn't use Little Rock on this floor.
'This terrain… it isn't consistent with the second floor of the Nether Realm. This would be what the fifth plane looked like…'
The Nether Realm had nine levels and a mysterious tenth which was thought to carry the center of Reincarnation. Ryu could recognize them all with a single glance.
The first floor that had been on was indeed the first, or rather a replica of it. But, this most definitely wasn't the second.
The trouble with this was that although the eco system of the first floor was somewhat constrained and different from the true first floor, the Canis, Falx and Rotting Wolves were all creatures that did indeed appear on the first floor.
Why did this matter?
Well… The Fifth Floor was where the weakest of the Demon Clans began to reside. If this pattern continued, they would no longer be dealing with unintelligent beasts. Even if they were nothing in comparison to Demon Barons, these Demon Clans weren't something the current Leonel could dismiss.
Ryu suddenly spun, his Great Swordstaff jetting outward in a stream of violently fluctuating qi.
BANG!
Ryu's body shot out like a cannon ball, his cold eyes locking onto Isemeine even as he torpedoed through the air.
Isemeine brandished a golden spear that was at least 2.5 meters long. Seemingly having finally lost her temper completely, her short white gold hair billowed as violently as their short strands would allow.
"You bastard! How am I supposed to get back now?!" She roared. "You did this on purpose!"
Isemeine didn't believe for a single second that someone who could activate that formation on their own wouldn't have understood its one way function.
Originally, she had thought that Ryu simply stood at the center of the formation because he was feeling entitled to her services. As she enjoyed him being dressed down by Matheus, she was even relishing a future where she'd be able to make him plead to activate the formation.
Yet, not only had he forced it to go himself, he had taken her with him. The worst part was that her two subordinates were very obviously not here, meaning that Ryu either purposely excluded them or sent them off to a completely different location.
Ryu crashed into a mountain range a distance away, but his feet landed first. It was clear that he had long since been prepared for this attack. Yet, even then, he felt that his arm was threatening to shatter. In fact, it would have had he not let it enter his Spirit Body form to dissipate the strength.
This girl. She was strong.
At the moment, Isemeine was furious. A wild gold energy swirled around her, carrying an eerie likeness to the wild red energy Ryu had seen Fidroha and her subordinates use. This once again confirmed to him that his two interactions with the Martial God Clan likely came from two separate branches rooted in the same trunk.
At this time, there was absolutely no one in range of the two of them. Even Sarriel and Nemesis had been sent to a separate location by Ryu who could easily use his connection with the latter to find them.
As for Zanlis and the Orobona Clan members, he sent them to a completely different location. He had already fulfilled his agreement with them by leading them to the second floor. He had no obligation to help anymore.
If Ryu wanted, he still had one Nether Key remaining, the very same Nether Key he had gained from the Three Pupils Eclipse Sect – he could easily use it to go to the 'third' floor right this very moment.
However, after all these years, he finally had a Martial God here he was within shot of being able to defeat. How could he possibly miss out on this opportunity? Was he just supposed to let her go? That was impossible.
This was also an excellent opportunity. He knew that he would stand less than a 10% chance of defeating this woman even after the improvements to his strength after his battle with his little nephews. However, this was the Nether Realm and the only qi available here was Nether Qi. If he couldn't take a chance on this sort of advantage, he might as well give up on saving his family entirely.
He would pummel this woman into the ground. He would force her to submit to him and tell him everything she knew.
"I don't know who you are… or who you think you are…"
Isemeine's words suddenly sounded exceptionally even and measured. For once, she had reached a state of calm, the likes of which would usually send a spine tingling coldness up the spine of her enemies.
"However, I am Isemeine, a Goddess of the Martial World and a warrior that cannot be blasphemed. I have given you enough chances to bow your head in obedience, but since you don't seem to understand benevolence… I will show you what separates a Mortal from a Deity!"
Isemeine's voice rose to a roar by the end of it, a violent white-gold qi surging around her body as the spear in her hand wildly trembled.
Then, she shot forward, drawing the arc of a golden meteor in the skies.