The entire demeanor of the Martial Gods seemed to have shifted as this young man stepped forward. The air of oppression that had come from Ryu vanished and even the clouds above seemed to have settled down somewhat.
Dreame lazily ruffled his hair, sighing.
It seems that everything was still just as boring. Nothing had changed.
Why put in effort when it all ended the same anyway? He never really understood it.
People were always complaining about meaningless things, harping on meaningless things, prattling on about useless things. Martial Gods things, Apostles this, conquer this land that. Blah, blah, blah.
He strolled forward.
He didn't even really want to fight, but everyone kept nagging him. It was just like that time they forced him to become their Throne. But then that lady came around talking about how inferior they all were and how they were merely Apostles.
Dreame couldn't really understand what her point was. If they were so unimportant, why did he still have to work so hard? Just let him lazily lounge a bit. Or, better yet, call out one of your real geniuses to finish the job. In fact, you didn't have to even do that, just finish the job yourself with just a wave of the finger.
If there was something Dreame was the most annoyed about, it was how that lady had forced him to change chairs like that. However, it wasn't for the reasons one might expect.
He had only sat in the center throne because it was the closest and easiest. Plus, he didn't have to sit near anyone, making it more convenient and allowing him to dodge useless small talk. But then she swooped in and made him move again, how annoying.
Now she sat on a throne way up there. How much effort must it have taken to put that thing all the way up there. And all for the sake of what? Sitting on this man's mother's head? No wonder he was so mad. And that just made his job even harder.
When people were mad, they were rarely rational. He could smell the scent of a Phoenix on this man and the Southern Heavenly Wind on top of that. His stamina must be off the charts. Even if he put effort into beating him up for several days and nights, he would probably still get up.
Look at that, he was already standing up.
He was pretty sure that last attack had shattered his heart, but there he was, standing up, just as expected. In fact, now that Dreame thought about it, the damage he had done didn't feel as final as he thought it should. That probably meant that there was something protecting this man's heart too.
Phoenix Blood. Southern Heavenly Wind. And what must have been at least an Origin Grade treasure protecting his heart.
Oh brother, what a hassle. He would be here forever.
Dreame tapped forward another finger, this one a bit more forceful as his annoyance shone through. Everyone was always making things so annoying, such a hassle.
She said that the Martial Gods were great and lofty existences, yet she also said she wasted billions of years of her prime here as well. It didn't make any sense, were you lofty or not. Dreame didn't think a lofty existence would have to do anything they didn't want to do.
The attack landed on Ryu's chest once again. This time, it was even more obvious, a hole the size of his heart being blasted right through where it had been.
He spiraled backward, his blood spurting out in all directions.
Dreame shook his head again, that took way more effort, he even felt like he was getting a headache. He didn't like using his strength too much, it made that slumbering part of him feel like it could come out again, when in reality there was nothing here for it.
Just more boredom.
Ryu landed on his back, staring up at the skies, his expression difficult to read. It was safe to say that his fiendish grin had vanished. Though, he didn't seem to be perturbed.
Instead, his mind was thinking about something else entirely as the hole in his chest slowly healed, the loss of his heart feeling no different from a small flesh wound at this point.
He was sure before, but after that third attack, he was. This Dreame person, the Throne of the Martial Gods, he had been told that he was in the World Sea Realm. But, that was a lie, it wasn't true at all.
One might expect, then, that he was in the Sky God Realm considering his current display of strength, but that much wasn't true either. In fact, he wasn't in the Cosmic Seed Realm, or even the Dao Pedestal Realm.
Dreame was in the very same Realm as himself. This Throne Dream was in the Ninth Stage of the Path Extinction Realm.
Ryu raised a hand to his face, using his palm to shield his eyes. He took a deep breath.
His current state looked like one of abject defeat. In fact, he even looked like he was crying. It was quite a sad sight to those with sympathy. However, there were many more who sneered and even more who laughed, the delight in their hearts flooding forth.
All that bloviating, all that arrogance, what was it worth? The moment the Martial Gods stopped playing around, what had happened?
Wasn't this proof? Wasn't this exactly why they had all bent the knee?
However, Dreame's steps were the only ones that paused.
"I forgot…"
Ryu said lightly, his voice soft and hardly perceptible.
"… I guess I should unseal these…"
Ryu had spent the last several years in a severe time dilation. Due to that, the Dao and Inheritances around him were all distorted.
For a normal person, all they had to do was ignore these distortions. But, for Ryu, who had eyes that could see through any and everything, just an inadvertent glance could send his Dao and comprehensions spiraling in the wrong direction.
As such, Ryu had no choice but to ask Ailsa to help seal his Heavenly Pupils so that he could focus and not make a mistake he would regret for a lifetime.
After he had stepped out, he was so eager to get here, his rage having been bubbling up for years, that he had completely forgotten to undo it.
But, the situation now seemed to warrant exactly that…
The sound of glass shattering resounded, the skies above beginning to rumble once more.