Grand Ancestral Bloodlines
chapter-2007

Ryu sat in silence.

It was a tale as old as time. A man's fight with his own ego.

The truth was that if Ryu was the one to set Ailsa free, he won no matter what. She would be relying on him as always, the way he felt like things should be.

However, it wasn't the perfect win he wanted.

He could already manage what would happen. The moment Ailsa was set free, everything would be

over.

There was no one here that was a match for her, he knew that. It didn't even matter that she was outnumbered by so many. Ryu knew that not only would she win, she would make it look easy.

At that point, his efforts would seem pale by comparison. It definitely wasn't the perfect victory he thought it would be, and definitely far from the perfect ending he was looking for.

On the other hand, he could choose another option. He could take the much tougher road and only release her at the end. When that time came, there would be no room for doubt who was superior. Ryu chuckled. 'Since when did I care so much about what others thought?"

He never did, never had. He hated to explain himself. But here he was wringing his hands and brain trying to squeeze out a perfect idea so that he could one-up his own wife.

He could consider himself to be a petty, hypocritical man, but that was only when things were in line with his heart and his mind.

But this... this wasn't in line with his mind and his heart.

The difference was clear to him.

He had been willing to target the God Grade Holy World instead of an easier Spacetime World because the burden would be on his shoulders. No one would suffer other than himself.

However, trying to extend this problem just because wouldn't just be making himself suffer anymore, it would be causing extra suffering to Ailsa.

And at that point, what sort of husband would he be?

Even if he wasn't in a state where he would happily call Ailsa his wife, he couldn't deny himself his love for her.

If he was willing to do this, then he probably wouldn't even be a man any longer.

Ryu shook his head and chuckled.

He didn't need a technical victory. Regardless, he would one day defeat her with his own hands. It was fine if that day wasn't today.

Ryu's heart settled down and a stoic sort of calmness returned to him.

Deep within a familiar world, Ailsa's eyes suddenly snapped open.

She hurried to stand, her eyes opened wide. Her cherry lips parted and she shouted out. "NO!"

It was too late.

She didn't even know why she was screaming out. Or, rather, she only had a vague, subconscious

understanding, one that her subconscious couldn't or didn't want to acknowledge.

And it made sense that she wouldn't... after all, the fact Ryu made such a choice meant that she had shifted in his mind.

She was in the same category of people he couldn't be bothered to explain himself to. The only reason he had even thought about doing something so petty was that he actually cared what Ailsa thought. She was in his heart in ways others couldn't fathom. A Life Partner had a bond with another that simply couldn't be described and could only be understood by the two of them. Even Ailsa, who thought she had already been prepared for this result, couldn't help but react like this not just once, but twice.

The first time she had such an outburst was when Ryu threatened divorce and then directly ignored her.

And the second time was now...

Somehow, this one decision, one that should have brought them closer, actually made them feel much further apart instead.

Beads of sweat fell from Ryu's brows, but his expression was peaceful. He held his wife in his arms, not tiring of her presence even as the years ticked away.

The chaos in the world didn't seem to have anything to do with him at all. All the probes of the Fey and Fiends against the Human Emperor all ended in failure as the man only seemed to grow stronger.

None were willing to invest their Peak Dao Gods, and because of that, failure was the only option forward.

The gears of war churned, and soon the years became decades.

Ryu continued to sit in silence, and by now, Hope, Selheira, and Eska were by his side as well. It was almost like they had felt how good his mood was and felt that it was only natural that they should be by his side.

Soon, it had been almost 70 years since Ryu had entered this world, and the war of Fey and Fiends seemed to be about to boil over.

It was then that a crack echoed across the world.

Ailsa sat in silence, tears streaking down her face. Her golden hair spread across the ground around her, fanning out like a gorgeous fan. Beneath her tears, her irises seemed more crimson than ever before.

As the last of her shackles were shredded apart, her fury seemed to pierce toward the skies. Her aura made that of a Peak Dao God seem like nothing more than a joke. One side of her seemed wreathed in a bright gold so shocking it almost looked white. On the other, there was a dark gold so deep it almost looked black.

Her tears fell faster, but her fury rose with even greater speed.

She had lost count of the number of years she had spent suppressed here. And now... her mood was particularly bad. So bad she couldn't even quite put it into words.

'You all... should just die..."

She didn't even bother to det in. Her hady inet vanished and von che anneared high in the chine

She didn't even bother to get up. Her body just vanished, and soon, she appeared high in the skies. Her hair still spread around her, forming a sun in the skies as portals of darkness and light appeared one after another.