The beam of rotating colors slowly tapered off, narrowing to the point it became nothing more than dashed lines across the skies before vanishing entirely… Along with everything that had been in its wake.
A large majority of the army was completely wiped out. But, the largest blow was most definitely the loss of their four leaders, each of whom had died so miserably that there wasn't the slightest shred of their corpses left.
Ryu took a breath and released it. This was the first time he had used his soul to actively attack and it truly felt far better than he had ever thought it could. Without having to worry about the usual vulnerability of the soul, it was like he had a perfect copy of himself. The only unfortunate part was that the cultivation of his soul was still a bit lacking, but there was a good reason for this as well.
Because of the talent of Ryu's current soul, his foundation had expanded by hundreds of times, making the basin he had to fill countless fold more difficult to please.
His soul was currently still within the Soul Birth Realm, the equivalent of the Immortal Ring Realm of Mental Realm cultivators. And yet, it could display such unbridled strength. It seemed that Ryu's soul combat prowess was even a tick above the combat prowess of his actual body.
It felt somewhat different to take the form of a beast. Though it was just his soul, Ryu felt as though his entire body was enveloped by the change. He became far more acutely aware that there were simply things the beast form of a body was far more equipped for than a human body could be.
This made sense. After all, beasts were far more powerful in their true forms than their humanoid forms and this went beyond just a level of comfort they had. Their Bloodlines were perfectly tailored to be used with exactly those sorts of body constructs.
Ryu realized then that maybe he had been too stubborn about not wanting to shift into a bestial form. There was, at least, a compromise to be found here. He could maintain his human form and techniques with his corporeal body, and then tap into his Bloodline Legacies with his soul with a beast form.
Ultimately, if he completed this transition well, there was no doubt that Ryu's strongest 'beast companion' would actually be none other than himself.
Ryu thought of these matters absentmindedly while he cleared what remained of the battlefield. He didn't have any moral qualms about massacring those that remained. Though he could probably find some decent bodies to turn into corpse puppets here, there really wasn't much of a difference between killing them and doing that anyway.
Plus, Ryu found that his strength improved too quickly to nurture normal corpse puppets. The corpse puppet he had formed to replace Esme had already been left far behind by him. He didn't even consider taking it out to battle any longer, it was just a waste of time.
Though, there was the Bear God corpse he hadn't gotten around to using just yet… Then again, he could probably find an even better Bear God somewhere in this wild, raging war. After all, since the Ancestral Beasts were back now, there were definitely Bear Gods among them.
Ryu was still very much interested in the Rune Armor of the Bear Gods. He only had a White Rune Armor now, he definitely wanted to aim for a Gold Rune Armor.
Soon, there was simply no one left. But, unsurprisingly, things weren't over. This wasn't because there were more enemies coming. The Dark Phoenixes had vanished up the Immortal Path to enter the Blossom Plane and the Martial Gods that had remained either followed suit or had been slaughtered by Ryu.
No, the reason things weren't over was because Sarriel finally acted. Or, rather… The contingencies she had left behind finally sprung into action.
The region began to glow with an odd light, an enigmatic energy spreading into the air.
At first, it was hard to tell exactly where it was coming from, but very quickly, the light concentrated into bright spheres dotted across the landscape.
Ryu sat on Nemesis' back in the air, watching this scene without a word. But, he was inwardly laughing, seemingly already understanding what was about to come. Despite being aware, he didn't seem panicked or hurried, nor did he seem very angry at all. Instead, he continued to watch the play. The only thing he was missing was a snack to enjoy himself with, but he soon took even something like that out.
Ryu took a sip of his grandmother's favorite tea, the icicles forming around his body relieving much of his pain in an instant. Despite all the wealth Ryu had, he had still insisted on healing normally for a few reasons.
First, he couldn't allow his life to become too easy. Second, there was no need to waste resources on something he could do himself naturally regardless. And lastly, a more recent addition to his list, Sarriel's words had been very interesting to him.
She had said that 99% of the wealth his Clans had accumulated would soon be useless. Of course, this wasn't because they would lose their function, but rather because they would become so ubiquitous that they would become valueless.
Such words fascinated Ryu. As an Origin Grade Herbologist, the idea of such rare materials being everywhere left him with a great amount of intrigue. He wondered just what he could accomplish with so many things to experiment on, what could he do when he didn't have to divert so much attention toward resurrecting long since extinct species?
'Oh, what an interesting thought… Am I getting interested in such stuff again…?'
Ryu didn't get much of a chance to continue down this line of thought before a strong spatial fluctuation covered him and his beast companions.
He couldn't help but chuckle. It seemed this woman was kicking him out after making use of him.