Now, the advantage that Elena's mother had built up through the sacrifice of Mistress Holy Wing had crumbled.
Now, individuals as powerful as the Perfect Sky God Realm could descend. And, because the ties of Fate had been completely unwound by Ryu, it wouldn't be long before Transcended Sky Gods could descend. By that point, even Himari wouldn't be able to do much about it.
With things being the way they were, the faction Elena's mother was currently heading was in no small bit of trouble. Soon, they would have to contend with the true powerhouses of the Clan for Sacrum. And, that was just the Deity Race, there were plenty of others who already had their gazes trained on Sacrum.
As for whether it was just greed or something more important than that… Kagan seemed to imply that it was more the latter. But who knew whether the words of someone trying to claim the home of another was trustworthy or not?
Ironically, Kagan was among the only one who had survived, gasping for breath on the ground as he tried not to catch the attention of the powerhouses around him. But, when he sensed the ice creeping up his legs, he could only smile bitterly as he faced his death.
How could Himari let him go so that he could inform the others about her son?
In the end, Xalvador chuckled.
He did as he pleased, moved as he pleased. What was the point of holding power if you didn't exercise it? The only thing that mattered to him was his own pleasure. Why else would he spend billions of years of seclusion at a time? It was purely to hold onto this power that he had.
This was what it meant to cultivate. There was no joy in power if you couldn't use it, and he wouldn't let anyone stand in his way.
"Alright, beauty. You can have your way this time."
Xalvador shrugged a shoulder, letting his mother-in-law's corpse crash to the ground and splinter into countless ice shards.
A deathly frost spread out, but Xalvador just shook his leg, shaking off the ice that threatened to freeze his leg.
"You'll beg me for this chance in the future." Xalvador laughed, rising up into the skies. "Not just anyone can become my wife, and not just any woman can gain my help."
Xalvador stepped through the skies and vanished over the horizon as Himari's gaze flashed with killing intent. She really did want to kill Xalvador, but aside from wanting to leave his head for Ryu, using the Shrine again like this would hinder the rest of her plans.
Himari's eyes sharpened, feeling a rumble beneath her feet.
Though slowly, much of the damage to the Plane was being healed. This could only mean one thing: Shrine Mountain was awakening from its slumber.
Himari's seal had taken with it much of Shrine Mountain as well, but she had done this on purpose. The Protector Spirit was very important to their world, she couldn't allow the Martial Gods to weaken it any further.
But now it seemed that things were returning to normal.
Suddenly, Ryu's coffin trembled.
CRACK!
Himari's eyes widened as a vicious crack appeared down its center like a bolt of lightning in the shape of carved ice.
Before she could do anything, an enormous beam of light descended from the skies, crashing into Ryu's coffin and flooding it with Essence thicker than anything Himari had ever experienced.
However, despite the situation, Himari didn't show any sort of happiness.
"No…" her voice trembled.
This wasn't a good thing, not at all.
Just now, Ryu had comprehended a Natural Enlightenment. However, it was so powerful that even Himari's seal broke under its presence.
What Himari didn't know was that Ryu had comprehended this Natural Enlightenment long ago. Every time he touched on the border of a Natural Enlightenment and grasped it, only for it to reel back and escape his grasp, it was precisely because Shrine Mountain was sealed.
A Natural Enlightenment was formed based on a phenomenon of nature, and Ryu had comprehended the mountainous nature of Shrine Mountain not just once, but at least a half dozen separate times and in completely different ways.
All of those comprehensions were stuck behind a dam, a dam that finally broke the moment Shrine Mountain awakened once more. They fused into one, becoming a monstrosity capable of shattering even a Perfect Sky God's seal.
But now, the perfect seal around Ryu was shattered. Let alone an eternity, Ryu didn't even have a few hours left to save himself. If he couldn't do so, Natural Enlightenment or not, he would find himself walking down the road of death…
And this time, there wouldn't be reincarnation waiting on the other side.
Himari's small fists tightened. Though she didn't know exactly what was happening, she felt that it was her fault once again. It definitely wasn't a coincidence that this had happened the moment Shrine Mountain stirred. This meant that her seal had once again affected her son.
She had already given up half of her cultivation to form the coffin in the first place, she wouldn't be able to form it again without giving up her life.
Himari's gaze flashed with determination, ready to form another tear.
Her energy accumulated. Though her hair was already white, the natural light it gave off rapidly dimmed, growing more and more dull with each passing second.
…
"It's not bravery if it comes from a place of ignorance! And it's not heroism if it saves nothing but your own ego!"
The words roared in Ryu's mind again, oppressing his heart all the more. He couldn't even feel the Essence flooding into him, his own body feeling a world away.
An abyssal darkness clawed at him from all sides, his Bloodlines rushing away in retreat.
But it was then that this abyssal darkness touched upon the darkness in Ryu's heart, poking and prodding at a rage he had buried deep.
Ryu unleashed a roar from the depths of his heart. It didn't come from his shattered soul, nor his crippled mouth, but rather from something buried deep within him.
He needed to live. He needed to defy death. But according to Sarriel, wasn't death a powerhouse he should lower his head to? It was so much more powerful than him, so shouldn't he just accept its will since it had come for him?
What was he supposed to do? Obediently accept his death?
He refused.