Grand Ancestral Bloodlines
chapter-2015

Ryu hardly looked at the descending man. His thoughts almost felt as though they were elsewhere entirely.

Was this the feeling that he was chasing after all this time? He felt like the entire world was in the control of his palms, as though there wasn't anything he could face that he would have no chance of dealing with.

Maybe even if a Dao God had showed up just now, he would feel the same way. Though that would probably be foolhardy of him, it was a resonant sort of confidence in himself that shouldn't be shaken or moved.

His Clear Mirror Dao Heart shone with a resplendent light, and his skin, already practically clear and crystal-like, likewise reacted with the same sort of flare.

Ryu took a breath, and the harsh winds around him seemed to freeze.

This was an odd occurrence. Considering the destruction in the surroundings, the meteors falling from the skies, the fluctuations of a battle of Dao Gods in the distance, it didn't make any sense whatsoever for there to be such a stillness here.

But to Ryu...

Any world around himself was his own.

[Tatsuya Constellation].

Shimmering starlight descended, streaking with a beautiful sort of cadence that an expert would recognize as the rhythm of a unique formation.

Ryu took another breath, and the world seemed to pulse along with him once again. He looked as though he had completely forgotten that he was in the middle of a dangerous situation, or maybe he was simply incapable of taking it as a dangerous situation.

A smile couldn't help but curl his lips.

This was certainly the action of his Dao Heart. If it could make him feel calm even with Ailsa so close to him, then something like this was almost certainly going to be pressed down by it with great ease.

In reality, he knew that these opponents were not easy, and it could become troublesome if they laid down their pride enough to actually attack him together.

But...

Would they?

And even if they did...

Would he care?

"If you're not going to come... I will."

Ryu took a step, and his body seemed to become a streaking starlight. He pierced through space, time, and Fate all at once, disorienting their senses.

BANG!

His fist drilled into Adlael's gut. The latter was completely taken off guard, not expecting such a sudden blow. He had been expecting a blow from behind, only to realize at the last moment that Ryu was actually attacking him head-on.

It was almost like Ryu knew what he would think and acted accordingly.

The aura of a powerful Founding Dao shrouded the space. It leaked into the fabric of the world, manipulating even its Fate.

Ryu already had [Lines of Fate] activated, and even the smallest changes were already in the purview of his Heavenly Pupils.

Adlael coughed up a mouthful of blood, his eyes bulging as a mysterious power almost forced him to stay in place.

However, the surprise in his gaze was quickly overwhelmed by fury. His earlier calmness was erased so easily it would have shocked even him if he was aware of what was happening.

Ryu was still playing games of the mind. Adlael was the least of his dangers until now, especially since he had shown no intention of attacking. And yet, Ryu had still attacked him first as though to pour salt into his wound.

Ryu had killed his family; he had forced him into humiliation time and time again, and even now, he was still humiliating him.

It looked like between the two, there wasn't even a competition. Even without looking up, he could almost see the sneering grin on Ryu's face.

That forced a chink to appear in his calm facade, and he immediately roared out, his white-gold hair billowing as his Heavenly Dew fueled his body.

In truth... between himself and Kira, it was actually he who had the stronger body.

"Die!"

Taking advantage of the fact Ryu kept him close, he sent out a streaking punch right. for the side of his head.

BOOM!

His fist collided with something solid. A shuddering pain wracked his arm and threatened to shatter his wrist into countless pieces.

However, it wasn't Ryu's face.

Soon after the pain came a biting chill, a harsh, penetrating iciness that threatened to

destroy all of his nerves.

O

T

He barely had time to register the fact that Ryu had summoned the Immortal Sakura. Or, rather...

His [Heavenly Dao Tree].

BANG!

A tree branch came from nowhere, shrouded in darkness. Its unpredictability reached

a new level, cutting into Adlael's flesh almost down to the very bone before he was

sent flying away.

Ryu stood there, still unmoved. Starry light streaked around him, and a crystalline tree rose to his back, wreathed in ice and darkness.

Gorgeous icy blue blossom petals fell from the skies, coated in Ice Phoenix Heavenly Patterns. But if one looked closely, from time to time, one would see one hidden in the masses that carried the Heavenly Pattern of a Dark Phoenix.

At that moment, Ryu suddenly felt like he was frozen in place.

His [Third Perspective] locked onto the three-pupil woman whose three pupils were rotating in her eyes like a rolodex. They locked onto one, and for a moment, Ryu felt as though all the space in the surroundings was constricting him.

But he also knew that it couldn't possibly be space. It was something else.

Laws.

He had never faced this woman before, so he didn't know what her abilities were at all, seemed he knew what one of her Pupils could do now. And judging by the greed

but

in her eyes, she seemed to understand what his eyes could do for her.

A shame, really.

A roar came from Adlael as he closed in the distance once again, aiming a punch right.

for Ryu's head.

However...

PA!

He was sent flying again.

What good was locking him down if his [Heavenly Dao Tree] wasn't?