Gale had thoroughly lost himself in rage. The thought of having lost to a mortal was one thing, but the fact that it had been so easy and casual, even when he tipped the balances in his favor, was a humiliation his Martial Way couldn't withstand.
If at the start of all of this Gale's inner devil was fabricated, it was entirely real now. His arrogance crumbled in a mere instant, leaving behind a seething and boiling animosity he didn't have anywhere to place.
It bubbled over, causing his eyes to redden with a light of madness. A wave of Spiritual Qi erupted along with his aura, pervading the ceremonial hall. Many weaker individuals immediately fainted, unable to handle the assault on their Mental Realm.
At this moment, Ryu was in a trance, a flood of information overwhelming him. A dull ache started slowly, before growing outward. His Heavenly Pupils seemed primed to evolve, but he simply didn't have the cultivation to sustain such a change. In the end, he hit an insurmountable barrier. The Origin Flame knew that if this bottleneck was forcefully shattered, Ryu's only path would be death.
It was in that instant that a wave of Spiritual Qi raged toward Ryu. No matter how talented he was, he was still a mortal. Ryu's Mental Realm was mature, but his Spiritual Qi was far too weak because he didn't have the realm to sustain it. If Gale's wave of rage hit him in such a vulnerable state, Ryu's only path would once more be death!
What Gale was doing was absolutely reckless. Putting aside the fact Ryu's death would cause irreconcilable hatred between the Ventus and Tatsuya Clans, the mere fact he was using his Spiritual Qi to attack without form was practically suicidal.
One's Spiritual Qi was the most fragile part of one's body. It could only be transformed into a weapon for attack if coupled with Mental Realm techniques. But, such techniques were all destroyed!
However, how could Gale care about such a thing? Spiritual Qi was undoubtedly the fastest attack in existence. If he attacked normally, Ryu's family would have far too much time to react. After all, although Gale was talented, he was still a member of the younger generation. Plus, didn't it also help him that no one would expect him to do something so stupid?
This wasn't all either. Ryu was nothing but a mortal. Even if he hadn't been in a trance-like state, it was impossible for him to do any real damage to Gale. Even his ability to defend his own self would be nothing but a fleeting dream. In Gale's mind, Ryu was dead without a doubt!
The closest individual and the one most capable of stopping Gale's actions was Old Mistress Holy Wing. In fact, this Old Mistress was just a single step behind Gale and had been from start to finish. If she wanted to, she could simply reach out and touch his back. With her cultivation, stopping him would be as easy as thinking it. But… Would she do such a thing?
Old Mistress Holy Wing's eyes flashed with a light of hesitation before becoming decisive. She pretended not to notice anything wrong despite the fact she was the closest. After the deed was done, even if Titus and Himari wanted to declare war on the Holy Wing Clan and the Ventus Clan, would their various Priests, Grand Priests and Supreme Priests allow it? Especially for a dead cripple?
She sneered when she thought to this point.
In fact, Gale's thought process wasn't too different. Would they dare?!
The Golden Era had been far too peaceful. The last war was several trillion years ago. Their people had long since forgotten what it meant to struggle, what it meant to live with their lives on the line. Would the people of the Shrine Plane who had grown accustomed to comfort sit idly by as the Tatsuya Clan waged war for a cripple? The public outrage would cause a severe drop in their Faith!
'Your life is worth nothing! DIE!' Gale roared in his mind.
However… In all the sinister and vile schemes Gale and Old Mistress Holy Wing concocted, they had both forgotten one very important thing.
From birth, she had always been by Ryu's side. She was there when Ryu was a bright-eyed little boy with a smile that could light the world. She was there when this smile faded into an unending coldness the day his meridian awakening ceremony failed. She was there when Ryu entered the Shrine Library with the determination of an unrivaled expert, and she was there when he exited with the knowledge of one. She was there when Ryu conquered his first ruin, saved his first extinct species, cracked his first formation, even when he fell in love for the first time. She was there for all of these things, so how could she not be here now?!
A supreme beauty stepped out from the void, appearing before Ryu as though she was nothing but a wisp of heavenly fragrance.
Her hair was as black as the night, falling to the small of her back like a calm and steady waterfall. Everything from the gentle slope of her small nose, to the delicate lining of her soft cherry lips, to the shapely contours of her holy body caused the eyes of those who landed on her to shiver.
Still, their thoughts remained pure. Even the most perverted, unscrupulous individual wouldn't be able to scrounge up a single obscene thought when looking at this beauty… She was simply an angel, impossible to blaspheme on penalty of death!
However, at this moment, this otherworldly beauty's soft features were contorted in anger. How dare these vile individuals attack her Ryu?! Her heart wouldn't be able to rest unless they were both dead!
Nuri's sky-blue gown fluttered as her aura rose, her face, even contorted and reddened with anger, the epitome of beauty itself.
A small grunt of rage escaped her perfect lips, unleashing a torrent of qi Gale was no match for.
Caught completely unawares, Gale hadn't even registered Nuri's appearance before his Spiritual Qi was sliced apart with vicious abandon.
His face paled, blood flowing from his lips as he collapsed to his knees. His vision blurred, causing him to only be capable of seeing the faint image of the beauty before him. In his eyes, she looked no difference from the God of Death.