Ryu's claw descended like the commandment of a god. Its momentum was undeniable, its progress unstoppable.
The Demigods found their hearts shaken, their feet rooted in place and their gazes stricken by fear.
Ryu's Rage Flames seemed to have transcended again, not only taking fuel from the fury of others, but also directly attacking their psyche. Before it, they were rushed with feelings of inferiority, of weakness. The kind of emotions the likes of them hadn't experienced maybe in their entire lifetimes.
Ryu's Dao leaked into his sparking blue lightning, the fuel of Dividing Tribulation piercing into their souls.
It was just a subtle hint, something Ryu hadn't even done on purpose. Against these enemies, he didn't feel the need to use his Dao, it was a waste, a useless expenditure. Years were enough for Ryu's refinement in skill to reach an unprecedented level, it was the kind of improvement that others couldn't fathom making even given millions of years.
However, it was this subtle hint that made the expressionless Mistress Holy Wing sit up in her chair, the same subtle hint that made Tybalt's expression change wildly, the very same subtle hint that made the Godhoods of every Sky God present tremble.
A threat. A real threat.
BOOM!
The battle was split by five unholy fissures, each impossible to see to the bottom of, and each radiating with sparking fires and arching remnants of lightning.
The entire landscape was morphed, warped and changed by the hands of a single man. Violent surges of spatial qi danced about, the Shrine Plane fighting back against Ryu's attempts to change its very foundation of existence.
However, Ryu didn't seem to feel this at all, his furious gaze locked onto the area before him.
The Demigods were in shambles. Their bodies were a bloody mess, their armors ripped to shreds, many had lost limbs and yet many others had simply directly died.
"Is this it?" Ryu spoke calmly, his voice rumbling.
He took a step forward, his figure vanishing until he reappeared to pick Lioche up by his neck. The latter had completely lost his shield hand and his spear was warped beyond recognition. Despite Ryu's height, he was actually much taller. However, that only made the image all the more humiliating as his shin and feet dragged along the ground, being pull up by Ryu.
The sparking lightning of Ryu's guantlet's slowly burnt through his throat, the pain surging through his body bit by bit. However, in a final act of stubbornness, he clamped down on his jaw hard, entirely unwilling to make even the slightest of sounds.
"Is this all your rage is worth?"
Ryu's gaze seemed to pierce into Lioche's very soul. Tears of blood fell from the latter's eyes, his fury bubbling up within his chest.
However, toward this sort of pitiful sight, Ryu's placid expression suddenly spread out into a grin.
It was a demonic, twisted and dark sort of smile. The kind that took absolute pleasure in the suffering of the man in his hands right now, the kind that would only seem satisfied if Lioche's face twisted with more pain, with more heartache.
At exactly that moment, Ryu suddenly felt a palm on his forearm.
His pupils constricted. He hadn't noticed when this person approached, he hadn't felt a single threat, it had just appeared.
Dreame yawns, his expression still as lazy as usual.
"I think that's enough, don't you think? Why don't you just give us all a favor and take your wife's offer to get out of here. Is fighting this battle even worth it? Isn't the ending of it all obvious?"
King Adonis, who was among those heavily injured by Ryu's earlier strike, watched darkly as his younger brother stepped forward. Just as usual, he was as lazy as could be, and yet effortlessly more powerful than all those around him.
It filled him with an unbridled rage, but looking down at that gash on his chest, deep enough that his inner organs threatened to spill out, there was really nothing that he could say.
Ryu's gaze turned toward Dreame for a moment, looking him up and down, his expression still twisted into the very same twisted grin. It seemed to ask Dreame what he would do about it.
Ryu's palm squeezed down, prepared to crush Lioche's heart entirely. But that was when something he could have never expected happened.
Just then, the forearm where Dreame's hand rested deformed. Without even the slightest pressure or the slightest effort, Ryu's arm cracked, its bone splintering and bending at an odd angle.
All the strength of his clampdown vanished, his ligaments having lost their anchor. The pain shot through Ryu's body.
Ryu's bones had never been as sturdy as the rest of his body due to his Bone Structure. He didn't have his father's tyrannical Bone Structure, and rather inherited it from his mother. Unfortunately, even after they had mutated, this weakness hadn't vanished.
Even so, Ryu's bones were still beyond what a normal attack could even dream of shattering. His Body Realm cultivation was too profound, too deep. And yet, it didn't seem to take Dreame any effort at all.
Ryu's grip involuntarily loosened, causing Lioche to drop to the ground.
Dreame's finger tapped forward, seeming to be all too slow, and yet it shifted through space, landing on Ryu's chest before he could even react.
Ryu's chest sank, his ribs snapping all at once and his body bending into a bow.
He shot away like a speeding bullet, the last shred of his upper garments tearing to pieces as his Dragon Soul wavered.
Elena gripped her fists tightly. From the beginning, she hadn't relaxed even once. Until Ryu left here unscathed, she wouldn't be able to.
But, she was also aware that she couldn't act personally. Not only did Ryu not want her to do such a thing, but there were complicated chains binding her, ones that couldn't be easily shattered.
She knew well how dangerous Dreame was. Of all those here, he was maybe the most dangerous in his own way. She hadn't expected him to act so soon, given his nature. But, it seemed that the Martial Gods had every intention of going all out.
Even the famous slouch would have to do his part.