A blaze of fire erupted around Ryu’s body. At first, it was just surface level, but an instant later, the red-black flame enveloped him completely until it seemed that all that remained of Ryu’s body were two floating eyes without even the semblance of a body around it.

It was clear at that moment that Ryu’s Fire Spirit Body had suddenly manifested itself. Fueled by fury, his Rage Flames broke through a barrier and even began to faintly suppress his Lightning.

Logic told Ryu to calm down, but he was having a very difficult time. The feedback loop of his rage making his flames burn brighter and stronger was endless. For a moment, it felt as though he might burn the entire city to ash.

”Hm?”

Up in the skies, the three figures frowned, looking down and sensing something that was particularly dangerous. Seeing the state Ryu was in, they suddenly became serious.

Spirit Body? Had they invited a Clan with such an ability? Or could it be that this person had a parent who was from outside of the invited Clans?

This was possible and would explain a lot. But, why was this happening now? Was it just a coincidence that they had stumbled into such a breakthrough?

It was clear that these three had no way of recognizing the Rage Flames. They were able to tell it was a high level flame, but the Fire Dragons hadn’t appeared in several Eras and the Tatsuya Clan had been a remnant of history for hundreds of millions of years already.

Unless one was a Ruin Master like Ryu who had an almost endless depth of knowledge and the ability to link tidbits of information to draw conclusions about things he had never seen personally, pinpointing exactly what they were seeing would be impossible.

And, even if they did recognize the flame, at best they would think that Ryu had stumbled into some sort of Fire Dragon Legacy World and benefited greatly.

Someone like Ryu might have shone brightly in his life, but he had ultimately only lived a thousand years.

In a world where even those who had experienced a million years of life were still considered juniors, how could he possibly be remembered? Or, more accurately, how could he possibly be among the first connections even someone who remembered him would make?

Among the three figures in the sky, two were men and one was a woman. From their position and demeanors, the woman was clearly in the lead.

She had short white gold hair that barely passed her jawline. Her body was fitted in a tight training uniform that would have made her look like quite the master if one wasn’t first infatuated by her figure.

Her eyes carried the same white gold color, completing the look of a woman who seemed descended from a goddess. The only issue was that she seemed to be quite the tomboy, deviating away from this path as much as she could.

The two men beside her had the same white gold hair and eyes. Their auras seemed particularly restrained and subtle around this girl. But, it was difficult to tell upon just having seen them for the first time if this was their normal demeanor, or if it was as a product of this girl to begin with.

The young woman, though, wasn’t paying attention to these two at all. Instead, her eyes were completely focused on Ryu whose own eyes were completely focused on her. She could feel that if Ryu had his way, she could be run through completely with one of his Great Swordstaffs.

’… This… Is not the same…’

Amongst his swarm of enraged thoughts, Ryu completed a coherent one.

His father and grandfather had always told him that those with the Fire Dragon bloodline would always be emotional and have a quick trigger. He had always thought himself to be too cold to allow such things. But, more and more recently, especially as he began to take a long, hard look at himself, he realized he was no less vulnerable to this than the rest of the Tatsuya Clan had been.

In the moment those three figures appeared, Ryu was almost certain that they were Martial Gods. He could ‘see’ the same wavelengths of energy that swirled around Fidroha the Apostle.

With Ephemeral Tapestry, Ryu’s sensitivity to energies couldn’t even be compared to the past. He could see details now that he never would have before, especially as his pupils grew stronger.

However, he had made a mistake.

Ryu had never personally seen Fidroha after awakening Ephemeral Tapestry. His Heavenly Pupils and his Ice Jade Crystal Body had synergized after he left the Core Region’s tournament and battled those two Zu Clan Elders.

In order to draw the connection to the Martial Gods, Ryu was relying on the perfect picture of Fidroha he had thanks to his Origin Flame. But, that picture didn’t have all the details since it was prior to him awakening his ability.

There was no doubt that this group of people were closely related to the Martial Gods. They were likely even from the same place. However, there were enough differences that Ryu was able to quickly understand that he had drawn the incorrect conclusion.

When Ryu came to this conclusion, he began to calm down, his flames slowly dying down. Not long after, he gained perfect control of it. It wasn’t very difficult given that he had the experience with his Lightning Spirit Body.

Ryu frowned. He felt that his Spirit Bodies wanted to interact with each other, but this wasn’t the time to allow this to happen. Whatever changes were occurring definitely had his Ice Jade Crystal Body as the core. If not for its Balance characteristic, it would be impossible for Ryu to sustain two such opposing Spirit Bodies at once.

Ryu suppressed the feeling, allowing his body to manifest itself once again.

”Ah!”

Sarriel covered her face with her small hands. But, considering how wide her fingers were, it was clear that she was still seeing everything.

The heat her hands felt from her burning features was definitely not small.

As for the young woman in the skies, her frown deepened, a hint of displeasure coloring her features.

However, Ryu didn’t seem to care as his body began to be subtly wrapped by a new Visualization. If it wasn’t for him losing control of his mind and energy for a moment, he would have never been naked to begin with.

With a thought, he stepped into the air. Having people stand above him? That was something he would never allow, especially not when these people likely had connections to his mortal enemies.

The young woman was stunned by Ryu’s audacity for a moment. Then, she was even more shocked by the fact he could fly at all. Then, she felt a fury that made her want to knock him down a peg.

But, even as her aura violently fluctuated, causing a maddening turbulence that was even comparable to some regions outside of worlds, Ryu showed no signs of wavering.

Not even a few seconds later, his feet were level with the three figures. With his height, he was even above them, his gaze looking down coldly.

’All of them are in the 1st stage of the Path Extinction Realm.’ Ryu thought to himself.

If they were anywhere near as talented as Goaman or Zanlis, this would indeed be a problem if they were hostile.

Seemingly realizing she had a job to do, the young woman calmed herself, seemingly not embarrassed by her failure in the slightest.

”Are you the only who claim the Nether Key of a second city?”

Ryu didn’t answer immediately, his eyes scanning the three before him in almost too much detail, almost as though to ensure that he remain calm. Though he had only heard of the Martial Gods, he had no idea if there might be others involved. Or, for all he knew, these people could call themselves Martial Gods as well but were simply part of a different branch clan.

Just when the young woman was getting impatient, Ryu spoke.

”Yes.”

The young woman suddenly found that she really wanted to break that beautiful nose at the center of Ryu’s face. This bastard had only spoken one word, but he was actually so annoying. What had she done, exactly, to deserve such treatment?

”We are here to inform you that you have gained the right to proceed to the second floor. Or, you may continue to remain here until you are ready to proceed.”

Ryu’s eyes narrowed. “Who are you?”

The young woman smirked, finally seemingly getting a leg up on Ryu. What reason did she have to explain herself?

However, she never expected what happened next.

Ryu’s hand stretched out, causing his two Great Swordstaffs to shoot into his hands from the ground below.

The moment he felt them snapping into his palms, he pointed one forward toward the delicate nose of the young lady before him.

”Who are you?” He asked again.