1365 Love
Empana's pupils constricted when he saw Ryu. The latter was like a completely different person, and yet just the same at the same time. His features were sharper, his skin clearer, his hair shinier and more luscious. But what was the most important was that his aura had completely changed. If it was like a bent and damaged blade previous due to his crippled status, it shone forth now like a shimmering and unbreakable force, a kind of aura he had rarely seen in Sky Gods, let alone a Dao Pedestal Realm expert.
It was hard to pick up on exactly what Ryu's cultivation was, even for him as a Sky God. His body seemed to both be in the Nine Life Revolutions Realm, and not. His energy level seemed to be both in the Cosmic Seed Realm, and not. His Mental Realm seemed to both have reached the status of a Sky God... and not.
It made him several times more mysterious, and even though his overall aura couldn't compare to him, it made Empana hesitant and cautious. Every time he thought he had a strong understanding of who Ryu was and how to deal with him, the situation would change and he would find himself in a bind that was impossible to deal with.
But being so focused on Ryu, he almost missed Mae entirely. No, it wasn't just because he was focused on Ryu, but because the latter seemed to have entirely given herself to Ryu. It wasn't just in body, but in soul, in mind, of heart. By her husband's side, no matter how powerful she was, she had willingly lost her color, aiding in supplementing his aura instead of exposing her own.
It was a beautiful sort of balance, and it was incredibly rare. Empana had seen countless immortal couples, but as one might expect from the title, the women were prideful and had their own sense of self. They might love their partners and their husbands, but it wasn't enough for them to give up their ambitions completely. This was why there were even sometimes cases of Dao Companions betraying one another. In a world this cruel, sometimes... love just wasn't enough.
Even so, Empana felt that in the current state Mae was in, the idea of betraying Ryu was so far from her psyche that she wouldn't even consider it if her life was on the line. Even if it meant dying in his stead, she would do so with a bright smile on her face.
The worst part was that Empana couldn't see a reason to call her a fool, and that meant quite a bit coming from someone like him.
Given his background, Empana never really put much stock in love. His father loved his mother, but how had that worked out? His mother had died with grievances, his father had married for the sake of appeasing Clan elders and upholding tradition, and his so-called step mother had ruined his chances at receiving the highest level blessings that he was at least capable of.
Usually, a single pathway would only allow one person at a time to receive a blessing. However, this cycle seemed to be different. Empana realized early on that it would be impossible to catch up to Ryu, but he still had a chance at reaching an Indigo Reward at worst.
But just when he was, he hadn't expected to suffer a sneak attack from his most trusted guard. It was an irony that wasn't lost on him at all.
Jorlumin was the man that he had tasked with being in control of Ryu and filtering the latter's commands. And in the end, it was he who betrayed him.
Did Empana hate Ryu? Not particularly. He had faced much crueler things on the Eighth Plane, no one hada a responsibility to help you if they could instead screw you over. He had lost at the hands of someone not even in the Heavenly Deity Realm, that was a humiliation he had to take on the chin.
But Jorlumin? And this supposed adoptive mother of his, Ellaura? They took on the greatest brunt of his fury.
If not for his strength, he would have already died on the path, but even now he didn't even have 20% of his original strength, the situation was bad.
When he remembered this, he looked away from Ryu and Mae. He couldn't even deal with the threat before him, let alone worrying about how he would deal with Ryu.
Just because he didn't have any animosity toward Ryu, didn't mean that he wouldn't do everything he could to free the reward he had taken for himself. Since he acknowledged that it was the way of the realm of combat that had screwed him, why wouldn't he also use these very ways to his advantage as well?
But if he wanted to, he would have to deal with the threat before him as well.
The figure beside Jorlumin, who apparently still insisted on remaining in disguise, looked toward Ryu and Mae, her expression changing. She hadn't expected that Ryu would actually be the greatest beneficiary. She had known that Ryu would be a variable that would be difficult to manage, and she had tried several times to kill him, but those had all fallen flat. It was even more accurate to say that her attempts didn't even get off the ground.
Every time she thought she had an opportunity, she, who thought she was very good at scheming, would be crushed long before she even got the chance.
Her gaze flashed. There would be no chance to evade this time, she no longer cared about being overly covert.
"Jorlumin."
"Yes!"
Jorlumin moved to act, but just as he was about to burst into action, the others that had remained as onlookers until now suddenly burst forward as well, all of them surrounding Ryu and Mae.
Jorlumin hesitated, but then remained by his Mistress' side. Her safety was his top priority.
There was something odd going on here. They should have all returned to their own Planes, leaving the Fifth Plane as the only ones with direct access to Ryu and Mae, but things hadn't come up that way.
The only explanation was that someone had interfered, and just as expected, the only group that hadn't moved, those of the Ninth Plane, suddenly looked up into the skies.
Auras more powerful than could be fathomed appeared one after another, each no more than a projection, and yet no less imposing.
