Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

1912  Distortion

Ryu smiled lightly. 'Is that so?'

Gemini and Savannah appeared at once, their eyes still somewhat murky and glazed over. It took them a moment to understand what was happening, and then they both looked at Ryu at the same time.

The two were simply too beautiful. One had flowing pink hair and the other had flowing blue… or so it seemed. The latter's, that being Gemini, had hair that was almost ocean-like in its texture and look. It was more of a greenish blue than just a normal blue, and it even changed slightly in tone and shade as it danced in the wind.

Ryu took a breath and summoned Hrakka.

DOOM.

The Fire Giant lady landed with a heavy thud. Ryu had placed her on the ground, but almost the instant she appeared, whatever ground there had been sank down considerably.

At the moment, she was dressed in an armor of pearly white. She had been caught looking down at herself when she appeared, and it took her a moment to realize that her master had summoned her.

After hearing about Hrakka's wishes, Ryu found something else for her to wear.

Technically speaking, this armor was actually Isemeine's, but he took it for Hrakka. This would certainly get him a rant later on, but he only chuckled about it.

Isemeine was certainly the most disobedient of his women. It would be a good chance to set some things straight about their relationship.

Technically, without the word of his father, she would still only be considered a concubine to him and not a wife. But one way or another, she was his woman now, so he would treat her well… after she understood who her man was.

…

Everyone was quite stunned, though Ryu didn't expect them to be. He had been using Chaos Qi this entire time, so he would have thought that they would have long since noticed.

What he didn't know was that no one had commented on his Chaos Qi because no one had sensed it. In fact, they were having a hard time sensing the exact details of the battle overall. Or, at least, they were having trouble with Ryu.

This was definitely thanks to Ailsa. Much like Aika had protected him during his second Throne challenge, Ailsa was doing the same now, although in a far more subtle fashion.

…

Ryu took a breath. "This battle will be yours, Hrakka. Show me what you have."

BOOM!

Hrakka responded by slamming her long ax with her fist. The latter should have given way, but instead, there was a cascade of blue flames that sparkled into the surroundings.

Hrakka roared, and compared to her usual docile and gentle voice, this sounded like the true call of a beast.

BOOM!

She rushed forward, swinging out her ax madly.

Ryu observed from the side, trying to figure out something.

Did he believe that Hrakka could win this battle on her own? The likelihood was near zero. Although he had helped her talent, it had been too soon and her other strengths had yet to keep up.

He couldn't give her a Dao to master and he couldn't help increase her Inheritances. Though he was able to use his Dao to help guide people down their right paths, that also took time.

Unfortunately, without his eyes, this was also much harder. He couldn't support Hrakka in battle like he had Lu'card, and that made things much more difficult.

However, Hrakka could certainly give him time.

Within the first exchange, it was clear that she was at a severe disadvantage. But that disadvantage was still not nearly as severe as one would think should be the case. Even Ryu was a bit surprised. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

In this situation, if he had his eyes, it would certainly be an easy victory. But instead… it seemed that they would have to take a different path.

Ryu slowly pressed his hands together and his gaze flashed.

A projection of his Inner World began to manifest, but it was slow and hindered. His Inner World was directly connected with his eyes, so with one part of the connection ruined, it was almost impossible to take advantage of this ability.

Ryu knew this, which was why he hadn't been using his Inner World. But since this was the final battle, he might as well go all out regardless of the cost.

Realizing that this still wasn't enough, though, Ryu's Bone Structure thrummed with life and his Cosmos Fog began to manifest.

It was only then that the two women seemed to realize that something was wrong. But Hrakka was too large, and her flames too overbearing, for them to take her lightly.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Ryu took a breath once again and Darkness began to pervade the region.

With a flash, space and time began to distort.

During his Dao Heart's exploration of Dark, Light, and Ice, it realized something. In his body, he didn't just have these three perfect paths. In fact, compared to his Spacetime comprehension, his comprehension of Darkness, Light, and Ice was all pitifully weak.

It could be said that he had absorbed the equivalent of a far stronger Holy World of Space and Time affinity long ago.

So why did he not have any techniques of Spacetime?

The actual reason was that this knowledge wasn't as easily accessible. He had given up raw knowledge for potential instead, so it was harder to read into.

However, with his talent, if he really, truly focused… why couldn't he?

His Dao Heart hadn't succeeded in creating a powerful technique just yet, likely because what it would create would be beyond anything he ever had before… beyond [A God's Brush], beyond [Heavenly Dao Tree], beyond [— Judgment]…

However, that didn't mean that there were no gains. His thoughts had become more flexible and the ways he implemented Spacetime had changed something.

"[Distortion]." Ryu said lightly.

At that moment, the two women were completely frozen in time. Their eyes could only widen agonizingly slowly as Hrakka's ax cut them both in two.