Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

An eruption of qi surged about Ryu. He felt like his blood was lit on fire, that his bones coursed with strength and his muscles bulged with power.

He pressed down on Sarriel with both his bone blades, his strength reaching a fundamental level of superiority even she couldn't match.

Sarriel took a heavy step backward, her planted leg shattering the ground and causing an eruption of dirt. That single step alone shook the earth and threatened to have the power to split a continent in two. No matter how talented Sarriel was, no matter how powerful a Fey's body was purported to be… What good was it in the face of a Dragon?

BANG!

Sarriel was pressed down to the point her back almost touched the now snowless ground. Her veil fluttered about and her violet eyes met Ryu's silver pair with a cold indifference.

Ryu's laughter still hung in the air, but at the moment, he felt like a completely different person, the crackling of lightning and fire hanging around him in a purple haze. It felt as though he could force even the world itself to ignite under his whims.

He was Ryu Tatsuya. To be so arrogant as to have a contest of pure strength with him… There should be a limit on just how much you dared to look down on another.

BANG!

The ground completely collapsed. As though shattered glass cratering against a marble floor, it splintered into countless pockets of irregularly shaped rocks.

Ryu's expression sharpened. He retracted one of his Great Swordstaffs in a singular, sweeping motion. The clang of metal resounded through the air as a sword was rebounded away by his counter.

However with just one arm supporting the pressure he applied to Sarriel, she instantly forced him back a step, her body rising from a near parallel position with a flexibility that suited her elegance.

Her katana left afterimages in the air that instantly placed Ryu further on his backfoot. Seemingly having learned her lesson about a direct clash of power, her strikes became swifter and craftier, her sword often leaving several images in the air, only one of which was real.

Ryu instantly activated his [Lines of Fate] in full force. But, even then, the illusions of Sarriel's blade could only be read in terms of fluctuating probabilities. It was like an illusion that rooted itself in reality, becoming so real that even Ryu's Heavenly Pupils were having difficulty differentiating between them.

Only in the instant before Sarriel's strike landed would it become absolutely clear which was real and which ones were fake to Ryu, it was only then that Ryu had 100% assurance to counter, but this also left him reacting later and later, leaving him in a passive position.

Their clashes rang through the skies, each of them seemingly stepping through space just to appear before each other once again.

Sarriel's strikes became colder and more domineering, her sword image Immortal Ring shimmering with ever strike. She had yet to use a true sword technique, only relying on the basic abilities of her Heavenly Pupils, and yet her every action felt lethal to an extreme.

Ryu's gaze sharpened. '[Third Perspective].'

In that moment, [Lines of Fate] and [Third Perspective] layered atop of one another, synergizing. It had been a long time since Ryu was forced to use such a combination, but it was clear that Sarriel was worth at least this much.

He suddenly began to see the probabilities of the world in a three dimensional fashion. The fluctuation of probabilities became constricted and less volatile. Without being constrained to a single view, it suddenly became possible to not only react before even Sarriel made her decision, but it also became easier for him to control his corpse puppets.

'[White Serpent's Dance: Lurking Shadow].'

Ryu vanished and appeared before Sarriel. Even though his arm seemed to be in a position to pierce forward, somehow, it felt as though the blade he should have been holding was nowhere to be seen. Sarriel lost track of how long the blade had been, how thick its spine was, and even the exact angle it was approaching at. It was as though all this information had been covered by a thin veil.

Sarriel immediately understood that Ryu had countered her [Infinite Illusions]. He no longer hesitated before her flickering sword images, guessing at her path long before even she herself was certain of which one to take.

A disdainful pressure came from her gaze.

"[River Lotus]."

Sarriel's voice sounded as though the technique owed her for caring to use it, as though the Heavens themselves should be thankful that she was snatching their energies for her own purposes.

Her stance changed, her two handed approach changing to just a single hand while her now free arm swung out in an elegant cadence. Her veil fluttered, revealing hints of her cherry lips and flawless skin, on which not the slightest bead of sweat could be found.

Her hips swayed, her body shifting as though ramping up toward a revolution.

Her sword streaked through the air, leaving micro tears in space and arcs of sword qi that made the void tremble.

Her hair fluttered, her steps increasing in speed as she suddenly began to spin.

In one moment, it seemed as though she was still slowly preparing herself to attack. In the next, it was as though she had finished in an instant.

Her arcs of sword qi layered upon herself as her body spun in a graceful dance. It took but a moment for the sword key to take the form of a budding lotus, every slash of her sword forming another petal.

The instant such a technique was layered with [Infinite Illusions] it felt like Ryu's mind was being overloaded with information. His Origin Flame couldn't keep up with this level of strength, forcing him to rely on his own ability to absorb information.

A layering of tens of lotuses, each with their own fluctuating probabilities appeared in his vision. His [Lurking Shadow] suddenly felt stifled, not knowing how to continue forward.

Ryu's pupils constricted, a strand of sword qi whipping by him.

An arc of blood and sliced white hair shot into the skies.

Ryu's [Lurking Shadow] was forced to turn into a [Skim], sliding against the side of Sarriel's sword qi and deflecting it. But, he was still a step too late.

The qi tore through his cheek, a portion of his ear, and even took some of his hair with it. Had he been any later, everything above his nose would have been separated from the rest of his skull. But, this was just the first strand of qi.

The assault bore down from all sides. The beauty of the fluttering lotus, sometimes corporeal, sometimes illusory tore through Ryu's Small Realm like a tornado of blades.

Ryu's gaze flashed. He was well aware that he couldn't allow things to continue like this or he would be quickly overwhelmed.

A low shout came from his lips as his aura surged.

'[Death Acupoint].'

Ryu's silver eyes flashed with a glow. He released both of his Great Swordstaffs into the air, a swirl of death qi suddenly manifesting around him, soon forming into a Lower Skeleton Warrior.

'[Death Swap].'

The Lower Skeleton Warrior shot forward, snaking through the dense net of sword qi. Just when it had made it part of the way through, it was sliced into fine sand.

It was at that exact instant that the pile of scrapped bone the Lower Skeleton Warrior vanished, replaced by a robust High Skeleton Warrior wearing layers of bone armor that resonated like screeching metal beneath the avalanche of sword qi.

'[Warped Corpse Explosion].'

BANG!

The sequence all happened in the blink of an eye. For an instant, the world seemed to have lost all sound before an explosion of epic proportion rocked even the skies themselves.

Sarriel's technique completely collapsed as both of them shot back, avoiding the range of the explosion. All the while, Ryu couldn't help but take deep breaths, trying to steady himself.

In the distance, Sarriel had already come to a stop. She rested her long katana before her, her wrist relaxed and her posture poised. Compared to Ryu, it was clear that she was the far more casual party and the arrogant pride in her gaze only seemed to grow fiercer with every passing moment.

That feeling, Ryu could tell what it was. It was an intangible will that could fall under Natural Enlightenment. It seemed that Sarriel was just breaths away from grasping it, or maybe she already had and simply couldn't be bothered to use such a powerful ability against Ryu.

Natural Enlightenments… They were rare and powerful to the point that it made Mortal Endowments seem like child's play…

If Ryu remembered correctly… It was called…

"It took you so much effort to deal with a mere Earth Grade technique? Don't you think that's a bit too pathetic? I'm done wasting my time here. Just die."

At that moment, an all pervading cold suddenly manifested around Sarriel, causing Ryu's pupils to constrict.

Up to now, she had only used her sword and her eyes. But… Was that really all she had?

Sarriel's Sword Small Realm was suddenly layered by something even a hint more powerful as she activated an Ice Inheritance to the Monarch Realm as well.