1344 One Month
Empana's gaze sharpened. He looked toward Ryu's side profile, his thoughts unreadable.
This was completely unexpected. He felt that Ryu had something to rely upon, but after Morhorn blocked him from using his Matrix, he thought that Ryu's chances had plummeted and he was just moving forward because he had hopped onto the back of a tiger he couldn't get down from. But now...
"You cheated!" Morhorn practically screamed.
Ryu didn't answer, his expression indifferent and unmoved. It was clear that he couldn't be bothered to deal with Morhorn at all, he was simply beneath his notice.
Morhorn lost it when Ryu ignored him, fully prepared to attack, but just as he raised his hand, he found himself flying. A projectile of blood flew from his lips as he slammed against the sturdy walls of the throne room. As he slid down, he was shocked to find that it was actually Empana who stood in the location he had just been in.
Empana's father frowned. He didn't seem to like the action Empana had just taken, but the latter had moved far too fast. It was clear that Empana didn't want to seek counsel about this matter.
"As a Master, you should take your word more seriously," Empana said lightly.
"Please leave."
The Mistress of the Lizard Demon Clan's eyes flickered, but she remained silent.
Without a choice, Morhorn could only stand to leave. His eyes seemed to have been lit on fire, but he didn't dare to say anything. He flicked his sleeve and gave the others a glance. Soon, they had followed him out as well, leaving no one but Ryu and Mae behind.
"We will set off in one month," Empana said lightly, giving Ryu a deep look. "Please feel free to enjoy the city and all it has to offer."
...
The family of three watched Ryu and Mae leave, but none of them said anything, even long after they had left. It wasn't until a long while later that the Patriarch finally spoke.
"What is your meaning, Empana? I don't need to say too much because I'm sure you're aware how important Morhorn has been to our family, he leads all such masters and has a large influence amongst the alchemists and blacksmiths as well."
"He was inferior in skill, do you want me to place the wellbeing of this small city ahead of the importance of my Birth Right?" Empana asked. "It seems you've forgotten that my stage isn't the Fifth Plane, what happens here has little to do with me. What the Lizard Demon Race has lost will be returned a hundredfold once I truly establish myself on the higher Planes."
BANG!
The Patriarch slammed a palm on his armrest. "Child, who do you think you are speaking to?! I think it's you who've forgotten who your father is!"
"Have I?" Empana smiled. "If I had forgotten who my father was, would I even allow you to speak to me like this? Do you know who my master is? Who I rub elbows with? Why do you think I allow you to command me if not for this?
"But it seems that you've forgotten that I am indeed your son outside the times it's convenient for you."
Whether intentionally or unintentionally, Empana swept a gaze toward the Clan's Mistress before vanishing before his father could say anything more.
The Patriarch's face turned livid, burning with a fiery red. He only barely managed to calm after a palm pressed against his forearm.
"Little Empana still doesn't like me very much, please don't strain your relationship on my account," the Mistress said softly.
He took deep heaving breaths before he calmed and looked toward his wife with a sharp gaze.
"Ellaura, don't think that I am a fool who can't see through things. I married you because you have the highest state of Bloodline the Lizard Demon Race has seen in countless millennia, but your ambition is too great. Remember, you are not the future of the Lizard Demons, that is my son."
The Patriarch flicked his sleeve and then vanished as well, leaving the Mistress in silence.
Her calm, sweet appearance slowly faded. Her tail swiveled, a long tongue slithering out from her red as rouge lips. Her pupils pulsed into cold vertical slits.
Soon, the coldness faded once more, and her calm and sweet appearance returned.
She vanished as well, and when she appeared again, she was before Morhorn. The so-called Ruin Master was still brooding, his rage clear in his eyes. However, when the Mistress appeared, he almost jumped out of his seat. That smiling face sent cold shivers down his spine.
"Mistress!"
"Your performance today... left a lot to be desired," Ellaura said lightly.
Morhorn trembled. "... M-Mistress, that brat definitely cheated-!"
Morhorn didn't dare to speak anymore. Ellaura's calm and kind eyes were like a venomous bite to him. Others might feel that this gaze was quite amiable, but for Morhorn who knew what this woman was capable of, it was like looking the devil in the eyes.
"Do you know who I am, Morhorn?"
"Queen!" Morhorn replied almost too quickly.
"Indeed, a Queen, The Queen. The blood that flows through my veins is the most noble of the Lizard Demons, but unfortunately, I am a woman. The quirk of the Lizard Demons subjects me to subservience, but there's no husband that's worthy of me so I have no choice.
"I had to marry into this family. I had to watch as my husband dared to have other women. I had to watch as one of those many harlots managed to birth a child like Empana. Do you think that her death made me feel better?"
"No, Mistress! I mean-yes, Mistress! I mean-"
"Now there's a chance for me to reverse this situation forever. I've meticulously laid out my plans, carefully taken every step until today, and for what, exactly? For you to ruin it all? For your ineptitude to become a stain on my reputation? For your stupidity to cause me to be reprimanded by that small, insignificant man?"
"Mistress, I-!"
BANG!
A whipping tail came from nowhere. It moved so fast and swiftly that Morhorn didn't even feel his death. His head, brain matter and skull all splattering against the wall like an abstract painting.
Mistress Ellaura smiled pitifully and shook her head as though she was mourning the mess Morhorn had dared to cause even in his death. She waved a hand and everything was incinerated to ash, and yet not even a single bit of furniture was harmed at all.
With a sudden flash, a shadow appeared to Ellaura's side.
"There'll be a change of plans," Ellaura said lightly before slithering away.
...
The situation on the Fifth Plane turned particularly odd. The Dream Asuras were still warring and the response of the Lizard Demon Race was quite muted, until it all suddenly came to a stop. It was unknown why but everything fell into silence for a long while and the Dream Asuras took control of a small area not even enough for a small Clan.
The rest of the Fifth Plane didn't seem to have the time to care as the time was swiftly approaching.
As for the man that had caused much of this, he was sitting in silence, his wife by his side. The words about enjoying the city that Empana had spoken seemed like an beginning for freedom, but in reality it was a confinement order. Ryu was sure that if he tried to take even a single step out of the city, he would be finished.
However, Ryu had long since regained his calm.n0velusB.c0M
Mae sat off in the same room as Ryu, not bothering him. She seemed to be able to sense the tension of the atmosphere as well. Although neither of them had been threatened, only a fool would relax completely in this situation. It only made matters worse that she could sense some inner turmoil within the Lizard Demons as well.
Ryu, though, was entirely focused on himself. Nothing else mattered.
Since his garbage units had been basically confiscated from him, what was more important to him now was studying these souls of his. He had even spent some time describing things to the little woman to see if she could create the pills he needed to target Focus Qi.
The Focus Alchemy Sky God, who had been practically dormant for months now, suddenly lit up. She couldn't believe that Ryu had actually discovered onto something like this. She was excited to the point that she ignored everything else to focus on researching this new pill.
As she did this, Ryu turned his attention toward his Seven Corporeal Souls once more. If it was possible to target his Focus Qi, then it was definitely possible to target his Blood Essence as well.
He felt more and more now that maybe he had targeted his Bloodlines too superficially. What changes would there be when he managed to find his Blood Essence and fuse them as well, would his road ahead be smoother, or more difficult? And most importantly, would he grow stronger?
The next month passed by extremely quickly, it was simply too short a time for cultivators. Soon, Ryu and Mae stood amongst a small forces of at least 10 000, led by Empana and his friends. It was time to set out.
Ryu swept a gaze over them all, memorizing each one of their faces. He seemed to be entirely focused on doing this for reasons that maybe only he would understand. Then, he closed his eyes as though nothing else mattered.
