Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Ryu stood silently, watching Vense. He didn't need to turn back to know that Selheira had made it through. Though he was a bit worried about her, he was also confident that she wasn't a glass vase. She would be able to survive the length of time he needed to get to the other side.

Empana was quickly approaching his breakthrough as well, and he had the upper hand in the battle.

Unfortunately, he still didn't attack to deal a death blow to Vense just yet because another powerhouse had made it through and was rushing ahead at their greatest speed.

Ryu didn't know much about Horned Devils. The first time he had fought one, they had been summoned by the Martial Gods back on Sacrum.

Back then, everything was a blur, and he just crushed everything in his path. Aside from their enormous size and sturdy bodies, the rest of his knowledge was limited.

It could be said, though, that Horned Devils were the more stereotypical of the demons mentioned in Mortal Realms. If they had red skin and a spade tail, it would be perfect. This Horned Devil in particular even wielded a weapon that seemed a cross between a pitchfork and a trident.

The weapon was an ink black and if not for the illumination of the blood crystals, even spotting it in these churning waters would have been difficult.

The waters around the Horned Devil trembled with every step it took. It seemed to be moving slowly, but its enormous body allowed it to cross a ridiculous distance with every step.

"I'll give you just one chance," Ryu said lightly. "You aren't on my kill list. Try not to be."

The Horned Devil was stunned when he heard Ryu. He had been striding over so confidently, but Ryu wasn't even looking at him. His gaze was still focused on Vense, as though his most important task was to tick another name off his kill list.

"JAJAJA!"

The Horned Devil laughed and suddenly struck out with its trident.

Ryu's gaze narrowed.

It seemed that these Demon Kings were obsessed with death.

Vense was a Lower Perfect Sky God, as was this Horned Devil. However, they were suppressed much like Ryu was, whether in moving through these waters or in their talent.

The difference was that Ryu had found a method of increasing his strength while they had not. He was so far ahead of the others in terms of Bloodline Resonance that they could only lag behind.

In this sort of situation, so long as he wasn't surrounded by hundreds-a problem already dealt with thanks to his schemes-what chance did they stand?

Even so, the strike of the Horned Devil caught Ryu's attention. Even in the now bright red waters, it looked as though the trident had vanished.

'This shouldn't be a normal strike. It's much closer to Bloodline Resonance than this Dream Wraith is.'

Part of the trident's disappearance was because of the technique the Horned Devil was using, but another part was it perfectly fusing into the waters. It was no longer pushing back against the heavy waves or thick pressure. Instead, it was moving as freely as it would in a vacuum.

This was still short of gathering strength from the waters to power up. But it was definitely much better than what Vense had accomplished.

Danger.

Ryu reacted quickly, slapping out at the water with a palm and sending out a controlled Bloodline Resonance.

At the same time, he sent out another fist toward Vense, not wanting to give the latter the breathing room to start attacking his mind.

Magus Lock had done him a great deal of service until now, but he had a hard time believing that it could withstand the methods of a Dream Wraith. Especially if said Dream Wraith was given vanguard support.

The Horned Devil found their trident rippling. It lost grasp of the resonate wave it was riding and its trident appeared at the last moment, right before it reached its peak power output.

BOOM!

The waters exploded, and the Horned Devil took a disbelieving step back. It had just faced a backlash from its own attack?

That said, it was limited. Ryu had reacted fast, but there was still a distance between himself and the Horned Devil. In addition, he didn't have the time to accumulate and layer the resonances like he wanted to.

It also didn't help that he had needed time to replenish his Vital Qi with his Embryonic Qi after the first round with Vense.

The result was a partially interrupted attack that still had quite some striking power.

It appeared before Ryu in a flash.

Ryu's gaze sharpened. His fighting stance shifted and his right leg swung back in a graceful arc along the "ground". His palms faced out in a relaxed, loose posture, before one slowly tapped at the air.

The aura of a Staff God resonated. It was just a light touch, but it looked as though Ryu was guiding the piercing power of the strike away from him, amplifying his Bloodline Resonance to a new degree.

The staff was a weapon that was well associated with pacifism. Among the nine weapons, it was the one with the greatest number of defensive stances, and though it could unleash a great deal of power in a sudden burst, what it was best at was forcing an opponent to make mistakes first.

Ryu's palms glowed, and he took a step forward. His eyes pulsed as though they wanted to erupt with the light of eight trigram diagrams, but it was once again repressed by this world.

Even so, it didn't slow his movements in the slightest.

Like a master of tai chi, his arms glided through the air, the piercing attack of the Horned Devil rounding his back and following the strike of his second palm.

With every successive flow, it grew larger, expanding to the point the outline of three blades looked as though they could encompass the world.

The Horned Devil's eyes widened, but it was far too late.

His attack was reversed back toward him at an even faster speed than it came. With his enormous body, his trident was obviously appropriately sized as well. But now, it felt like he was meeting a giant even by his criteria.

The waters shook and rumbled. The trident's pierce suddenly accelerated, seemingly flashing across a large distance and appearing before the Horned Devil in a blink.

He roared, trying to fight back, but it was meaningless.

His body was shredded to pieces.

Ryu didn't even spare him a second glance, his body touching upon a state of enlightenment he had grasped earlier once again.

He had already realized that his Dao was missing many things. Temperament had been one, but the environment had been another. He was very good at reading people, but not as good at reacting to the environment and what changes it might cause.

In fact, Ryu believed that the inaccuracies of his [Lines of Fate] and his Dao could be greatly attributed to not taking into account the environment enough.

This was highly ironic in his opinion, especially since he was a Ruin Master. What he should be best at was observing the environment, taking in context clues, and acting upon them.

That said, being a Ruin Master wasn't so simple. It was a lot of reading about and understanding history. A lot of the work of a Ruin Master was done before stepping foot into any Ruin.

However, what if he changed his perspective?

Did he need such in-depth knowledge about everything in order to grasp something in the middle of battle?

No. The foundational knowledge he had as a Ruin Master was enough.

In this case, he wasn't using his Ruin Master knowledge at all, though. He was relying on Bloodline Resonance and the faint understanding he had of the Horned Devil's technique from canceling it out.

The results spoke for themselves.

Ryu turned toward Vense, who was struggling with the fist he had sent out earlier. He was clearly on his last legs.

In the distance, another figure had broken through, but seeing the death of the Horned Devil, they froze in place, not knowing what to do.

Ryu sneered, ignoring them entirely.

"Die."

BANG!

Vense's head exploded.

Ryu looked up, seemingly at nothing. But at that moment, to those of the outside world, it felt like he was staring into each and every one of their souls.

It had been a while since people tried to convince him that he wasn't worthy of his wife. Selheira's parents were dragons and even they hadn't gone so far.

Who did these people think they were?

He would kill and kill to his heart's content. Let them be enraged, let them be infuriated.

The name Ryu Tatsuya would echo far and wide.

When the Title Stele Battle began, they would know exactly what kind of monster they were facing.

And he would make them all tremble in fear.