Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Lu'card gazed down and found Ryu, realizing that his senior wanted him to fight a human. 

"Old man, that human uses Immortal Qi. Where's the fun in that? He won't even last a single exchange."

"I expect him to be dead within an hour. If he isn't, you can forget about marrying my daughter."

Lu'card was speechless. Even if he wanted to forget about marrying this old man's daughter now, would he even allow it? Never mind him, would she even allow it? She would sooner castrate both him and her father before she allowed such a thing to happen. 

Though Lu'card kept calling the Wind Dragon, Ru'cil old, compared to most World Sea Realm experts, he was actually quite young. However, Lu'card, who was only a few dozen years old hardly cared about any of that. 

While the Dragons were conversing as though nothing at all was going on around them, the Armament Guild had fallen into complete chaos. 

Wynhorn, who had been enraptured by Ryu's blueprint, had already appeared in the skies, her expression flickering several times. However, just when she went to take action, the Wind Dragon Ru'cil who had had his previous attempt at a speech interrupted by Ryu finally began to speak. 

At that moment, True Sky God Arcus came out from the Bowman Faction, Wynhorn too standing in the air. In fact, even the newly minted True Sky God Hastam, Aberardus, appeared. 

"Sacrum has been under the control of you humans for far too long."

The booming voice in modern tongue shocked many awake. They had never heard of beasts speaking before, and definitely not so fluently. There were many beast masters that could eventually come to understand the gist of their partner's meaning, but usually, only beasts of exceptional talent could ever learn to speak like humans did, and such beasts rarely if ever fell into the hands of humans to begin with. 

This sort of experience was completely novel. 

Ryu, however, wasn't thinking about this at all. As far as he was concerned, these people were worried about the wrong thing. 

Sacrum? What the hell was that? 

Depending on the language you were translating from, it could mean anything from Holy to…

'Shrine.' Ryu's pupils constricted. 

That was when Ryu noticed it. When the Wind Dragon spoke those words, the world seemed to calm a bit. It wasn't as exaggerated as when Ryu spoke the name Tatsuya, but there was something about it that still somehow felt more powerful. 

It was as though the reaction when Ryu spoke the name Tatsuya was like an overcompensating bully that needed to be as loud and boisterous as possible… But this Sacrum was instead so much more powerful that it didn't feel the need to flaunt at all. Instead, its presence was like a gentle breeze, tickling the ears and senses to the bare minimum, almost as though the only thing it cared about was you knowing that it was there and nothing more. 

'Could this be… The true name of the martial world? Of the universe?'

Ryu took deep breaths. 

This didn't seem like it was a big deal, but to Ryu, it felt like his entire world was being flipped on its head. 

What did it mean to have a name? On the surface, it was just an identity. A step deeper than that and it was the representation of all that you were, your Faith, your Fate, the person you had been up to that point and the person you might become. 

There was weight and heft to a name, meaning that went beyond just the surface level of identity… But what if you went even one step deeper than that? What facilitated Faith and Fate, who controlled its checks and balances? 

Wasn't the answer to that the Heavens? 

Over the years, Ryu's attitude toward the Heavens had changed. Though he hadn't entirely stepped onto the side of Ailsa's thinking, he had also learned not to hate it. Compared to others, he was much luckier. Even if he never managed to Awaken a Spiritual Foundation, this would still be true. 

Now, Ryu was quite neutral when it came to the Heavens. He was willing to fight it when it stood in his way, but he didn't care to seek it out or hunt it down. To him… The Heavens were like an independent arbitrator, giving where it should give and taking away where it should take away. 

But… If this world had a name, what did that mean? 

Who was assigning Faith to this world? Who was guiding its Fate?! 

Ryu was shaken to his core, his breathing being heavy. His injuries flared up, causing him to wince, but even then, it wasn't enough to calm him down. Only a fool wouldn't understand just how much weight such a discovery held. 

"Your Kings, Queens, Emperors and Empresses have come back to rule you all as you should be. However, according to the record, you humans are very stubborn and don't seem to ever be capable of understanding your place… So we will show it to you."

The aura of the Wind Dragon continued to grow. 

"As many of you pitiful Sky Gods come is as many as I will fight. I will give you a chance and won't touch your little cubs. Instead, I will leave that to my own juniors to handle.

"Come. I would like to see how far the mighty Human Empire as come, or just how far you've fallen."

The last words came out in a rumbling growl. 

A single Eleventh Order beast challenging all of the Armament Guild's Sky Gods at once… Was this arrogance? Or was this confidence? 

At that moment, though, something no one could have possibly predicted occurred. 

Ryu's figure had flickered, passing through the barrier that protected the main city as though it wasn't there at all. He faced hundreds of Ancestral Beasts alone. 

The glares of so many Dragons at once was enough to force a man to their knees. It only became worse as they sniffed the air, sensing the Dragon Blood emitting from Ryu in but a single instant. 

"I will fight your Lu'card, however when I win, I want you to answer three questions for me."

The Wind Dragon Ru'cil's gaze narrowed. Didn't this child realize that it would take but a single breath for him to wipe him from existence? 

"What?" Ryu's placid expression spread into a grin, his fiendish aura returning. "You don't dare?"

Lu'card raised his head into the starry skies, releasing an earth shattering roar. He hadn't been interested in this human before, but he suddenly wanted to feel his bones between his teeth.