Every strike of Ryu's dagger was lethal, but especially so to Lioche's techniques. It shredded them to pieces.
The blade danced within his palm, the skies acting as his stage and wind singing to his melody.
"Show me your rage!"
The more Ryu cut down Lioche's attacks, the more he asked for retaliation. His smile became darker, the light in his eyes dimming to a smoldering heat. His heart thumped and his blood rushed. Every part of his body thrummed to life with strength.
He sliced apart another dragon of water, his blade cutting across Lioche's shield and sending him flying once more.
He stepped through the air, activating <Lightning Divine Mark> once again and appearing above Lioche's flying figure and swinging downward.
Lioche quickly blocked with his shield, but ended up crashing into the ground below, his body leaving a deep trench in its wake. A projectile of blood flew from his mouth, his ribcage feeling as though it had been savagely stomped on by the heel of a giant.
His eyes widened in shock. He had definitely diffused Ryu's strike, how had he still ended up in such a sorry state? It was precisely because he was so confident in his defenses that he had actually not set up further measures to protect himself, even preparing a counter while Ryu was getting cocky.
How?
Lioche didn't have time to think because Ryu had already appeared before him, his right blade swinging down once more.
Lioche moved to parry with the tip of his spear, even with his back on the ground. The act of parrying a much smaller weapon with such a large polearm went to show just how confident he was in his own skills. But, the result made it seem like maybe he shouldn't have had such an overbloated sense of self.
Ryu's blade position shifted ever so slightly, causing Lioche's delicate maneuver to miss entirely.
A snaking, venomous point of a dagger raced for Lioche's throat, bearing down on him from above without remorse.
"HA!"
Lioche roared, the metal plates covering his throat suddenly thickening by several measures.
BANG!
Ryu's gaze narrowed as his blade bent slightly to the side. Ultimately, these were just Black Grade treasures. No matter how much he reinforced them, they could only go so far. However, even with this being the case, Lioche was buried even further into the earth, his body traveling so far down that it felt for a moment to those spectating that he might go all the way through.
Ryu raised his blade up to his eye. Its tip was slightly bent and there was a hint of it.
In one motion, the blade erupted with flames, melting back into one piece. Before it could go any further, Ryu Ice Flame danced to life, racing up its spine and freezing everything over.
'I can probably only do that two more times before it collapses, but that's fine. I've already learned almost all there is to know about you…'
Ryu twirled the blade through his fingers.
An enraged roar shook the earth from below, a pillar of white piercing through the ground and splitting the clouds above in the next instant.
Ryu looked up. For the first time, the calm look on Lioche's face had distorted, replaced instead by a furious, blood laced visage. Despite the layers of defenses, Ryu was certain that his strike just now had at least broken Lioche's neck, so it was no wonder he was in such a state.
"Furious enough now?" Ryu asked lightly. "You entered a battle with me, unable to use your qi or your Cosmic Seeds. Do you think that your comprehension alone could defeat me? Don't you think you're overestimating yourself too much?"
The smoldering fury within Ryu's gaze had turned his expression placid. He pointed his fixed blade toward Lioche.
"If you want to die, come now. If you don't, I suggest you take your people and scram."
Ryu could already see an escape measure gripped within Lioche's hand, nothing could hide from his eyes. He knew he wouldn't be fast enough to stop Lioche if he wanted to run, just like he had been caught off guard by his appearance in the first place. That said…
"I hope when next we meet, you aren't still as much of a coward."
Ryu's canines lengthened, a black-red flaming flickering to life across his body. The fury was palpable, drowning out even the skies above. It became clear in an instant the Lioche's rage could never compare to his own, and maybe this was the reason for Lioche's eventual change in expression.
Lioche knew that he had already decided to run. Despite the gap in their cultivation, Ryu wasn't someone he could afford to fight while handicapped, and if this continued, he would end up ruining his breakthrough entirely and crippling himself for a lifetime.
The difference between himself and Ryu is that Ryu wouldn't care. He wouldn't even be considering his future at a moment like this one. If it was his wife snatched away and taken to become an enemy's next corpse puppet, the Gates of Hell themselves would have to open up and snatch him away, and even then, he would rip them from their hinges and claw his way back.
There would be no dampening his rage, no waiting until next time, no biding his time.
Lioche's palm squeezed shut with such force that all the bones in his hand shattered at once. Slowly, but surely, his body began to vanish, taken away by the wind.
He didn't say a single word but his gaze never left Ryu. If looks had any potential to kill, today would have most definitely been the first instance. Unfortunately… they couldn't.
Ryu wasn't put off by the gaze in the slightest. His expression was placid, his demeanor wasn't surprised by his victory in the slightest and his momentum was just as stifling.
Worrying about Lioche's return? Was that a joke?
"Those that I've defeated shouldn't hope to catch up to my steps." Ryu said coolly, his hair dancing in the wind.