Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

A harsh silence reigned. 

Ramir had no idea how to respond to Ryu's taunts. His first instinct was to lambast Ryu for using a spear with a single arm like this, but he immediately realized how toothless and cowardly such a rebuttal would be. 

He felt that he had only lost because he was careless, but he likewise didn't have the face to speak about something like this at all. It felt to him as though everything was crumbling around him. If he could find a place to bury his head and escape from all of this scrutiny, he would do so in an instant. 

Ryu's gaze swept away from Ramir and toward the Temporal Buddha Sect disciple and the mysterious black clothed saber experts. It was clear that he was lumping in these two along with them and the disdain in his gaze was practically palpable. 

Up in the skies, Vardus, the World Sea Realm expert, almost felt like his blood vessels were going to pop. Not only had Ryu humiliated him, but he had even then proceeded to ignore him and slap his junior's face right before him. The worst part of it was that he didn't feel that there was anything he could do about it. 

He reached a hand forward, hesitating about whether to ignore all pretenses and kill Ryu anyway. Even if the Armament Guild's reputation was stained for a small while, it wouldn't be irreparable. 

However, he hesitated once again. That might have been true in the past, but was it really still true now? That seemed unlikely. 

Now that Fate had been completely untangled, even the strongest powers had suddenly become susceptible and vulnerable. One wrong step could allow those beneath them to snatch Faith that hadn't belonged to them in the past. Right now, everyone was scrambling to gather as much Faith as they could so that they could change their destinies. 

There was a reason why a reclusive Sect like the Temporal Buddha Sect had agreed to participate in this affair. They weren't the only ones of the like either. Many such Clans and Sects that normally refrained from participating in worldly matters had come to poke their heads out once again. 

If a World Sea Realm expert of the Armament Guild made such a blatant showing of vileness, it would impact the Guild far more than even the same action would have in the past. In fact, it could start the rolling ball of their downfall. From there, it would only gain momentum. 

Thinking to this point, Vardus' expression grew exceedingly ugly. 

'Return.'

At that moment, a voice sounded in the ears of Vardus, Ramir and the two others. It was clear that someone far above themselves had sent these orders down. There was clearly nothing they could do this day. In fact, the moment spectators had come into view, their prospects of success were nil. 

Gritting his teeth, Vardus vanished. 

Aberardus glanced in that direction, a sneer in his eye. 

'Serves you right.'

Clearly, the old man had forgotten that he hadn't taken action so that Ryu could suffer a bit. That had, no doubt, failed miserably. And, yet, he was actually still so happy. This was definitely a shamelessness that came with old age. 

Ryu himself swept a glance over where Vardus had disappeared. By the time he looked back, Ramir had vanished as well, disappearing. 

"This one will be taking his leave. It seems that the time is no longer appropriate." The Temporal Buddha Sect youth bowed respectfully to the crowd before he too vanished. 

By the time he had spoken, the black clothed youth had also disappeared. In the end, there was nothing but a disappointed crowd, three Armament wielders, and an enormous Demon Duke who hadn't had its fill of battle just yet. 

Ryu's figure flickered and he appeared on Nemesis' back once again. He realized that his beast companion was emitting quite a bit of heat the moment he touched back down. 

He patted Nemesis' neck lightly. He knew that Nemesis had been enraged by Vardus' earlier actions. If there was one of Ryu's beast companions who shared his temper, it was most definitely Nemesis who had spent much of the beginning of his life as a tool for the Clans of the Inner Ring. 

Ryu had helped him seek some revenge back then, but it most definitely wasn't the same as doing it himself. It seemed that being suppressed by a World Sea Realm expert's aura had reawakened some of that hidden fury. 

Ryu didn't give Nemesis any words of comfort, he simply sat there in silence for a long while. Soon, he would let Nemesis vent his frustrations on some Wrath Knights. So long as his talent increased enough, the tribulation he would have to face would be much less of a problem. 

Plus, the Adept Body Talent was only one of the Wrath Knight's talents. In addition, it was exceptionally rare among them and rarely, if ever, was given birth to. Logically speaking, if the talent was so rare, why would the Wrath Knight be considered a Demon King race? 

Obviously, the Wrath Knight had several other talents that helped to support the prowess of its population between the appearances of this Adept Body Talent. In that case, there were likely many other helpful talents Nemesis could steal to strengthen himself. 

In fact, Ryu could likely leave this up to Ailsa to handle. It shouldn't be a problem for her to summon enemies Nemesis could handle himself. And, if Nemesis could, it would also be good training for Little Rock who hadn't gotten to battle alongside Ryu in a very long time. 

Right now, the two had progressed very quickly, but they didn't share Ryu's battle experience. Though Ryu could direct them in battle, if he truly wanted to be a 'one man army', it was ironically necessary that some of this army be able to think for themselves. 

Ryu suddenly looked down toward Yaana who sat before him, remembering something fairly important. 

He hadn't really expected to rely on Yaana for this matter, but things had inadvertently ended up becoming like this. 

"Yaana, who is Lady Demuire?"