“Elder!” Several disciples gasped in horror as they watched their elder being slowly drained of energy by a dark, ominous dome. His skin began to tear, blood gushing from his wounds, and in a moment of desperation, one of the disciples swung his sword.
Infusing it with his Qi, the disciple unleashed a strike with enough force to slice through the elder’s weapon.
The elder, unable to wield his own power or exert any control, found his sword did not resist the disciple’s attack; it was too weakened by the energy drain for him to defend himself.
“Urgh?!”, the elder grunted, shock coursing through him as his sword was cleaved in two. He felt the vise-like grip of the dark dome loosening its hold on his internal energy, but the relief was fleeting.
Instead, he was left feeling as if he had been cast onto a volcano, searing heat igniting from within him.
The energy that had been siphoned away through a single passage was now spreading across his body and rampaging through him, causing chaos.
“Kwackh!” Blood erupted from his mouth, and he lost the tenuous grip he had on his limbs as gravity took hold.
As he plummeted downward, the internal energy that had previously kept him buoyant now turned his body into a weighty anchor, dragging him down much faster than any of the disciples could react.
Desperation surged through the group as they scrambled to catch their elder before he met a terrible fate.
“Elder!” Some of the disciples cried out, calling the old man’s name, but their voices were drowned out as his body struck the ground with a sickening thud, shattering a wooden structure beneath him.
THUD!
The sound reverberated through the air, and dust billowed up around the scene as dozens of disciples descended swiftly, rushing forward while swinging their swords in an attempt to clear the debris.
[Host, they are ignoring you O_o ]
‘…..’ Ryuk ignored the system’s voice, which came across as uncaring. Despite its cold, mechanical tone, he exhaled slowly, allowing a sense of calm to wash over him after taking a very important decision right now.
He recalled the Devereaux member’s guidance when they insisted he wear a black robe instead of his suit, as the Empress of the Jade Dominion had taken a disliking to that particular outfit.
However, after witnessing the Empress in her weakened state today, he felt that the requirement to don the robe had vanished. There was no longer a need for him to adhere to that expectation.
After the incident with Iliantara, who was able to detect the sound of his clothes fluttering, he kept thinking about it.
Although her ears were sharp, according to science, sound is also a form of energy.
So how was his ability to nullify energy not working on her?
The answer was his robe.
Naturally, this robe was creating problems for him, given that, unlike his suit—which was an artifact—it wasn’t conducting his ability.
Without touching anything with his hands or skin, he was not able to nullify it until the energies penetrated his clothes and then touched his skin. Until then, he was vulnerable.
So, he just thought of a better way to get rid of this robe.
Rumble! Rumble!
He began to relinquish the tight control he held on the energy coursing through his body, which created a ripple in the surrounding air within a moment. Slowly, the land started to tremble beneath him as he surrendered all his control over his energy core.
SWOOOSH!
The barriers within him slowly crumbled, setting his energy free. A tsunami of ether burst out of his body, instantly spreading in all directions with him at the center.
“Kurghhh!—h-help!” One of the disciples, having just touched down, felt a searing pain erupt in his back, as though his skin were melting beneath the intense heat radiating from something glowing ominously in a vibrant orange hue.
“Aaarrggghhhh—wh-what is—Kughh!” The air around them surged with a catastrophic blast of energy that erupted like a tidal wave.
An orange light, shimmering and expansive, engulfed everything in its vicinity, causing the flooring of the entire outer pavilion to fracture and disintegrate, as if being consumed by heat.
At the center of this chaotic display stood a figure, luminous and humanoid, radiating an overwhelming aura of energy that threatened to obliterate all in its path.
“PREPARE FOR THE IMPAC—AARRGHHHH!” The disciples could do little more than cry out as they felt the rapidly spreading energy enveloping their bodies.
Those who noticed the intensity of the surge acted quickly, covering themselves in internal energy to brace for the impending impact.
However, their reactions were hampered by the overwhelming nature of the force that swept through the area, moving too rapidly for any of them to respond in time.
The energy surged like a violent storm, carrying a destructive power that reduced everything to dust.
It felt as if a massive cloud had exploded, so intense that they could feel their skin vibrate as if a sweet, ephemeral mist was forming around them.
ALERT!
[ Temperature is reaching 5,500 degrees Celsius ]
The source of this devastation was the orange light slowly enveloping the entire outer pavilion, emanating from Ryuk.
It spread relentlessly, engaging with its surroundings in a cataclysmic reaction akin to a nuclear bomb’s detonation.
The potency of this phenomenon was staggering: a raw outburst of ether energy from Ryuk’s body unleashed damage equivalent to that of a 5-kiloton nuclear explosion.
In that moment, Ryuk was not exerting control to modulate his strength. Instead, he simply released all the raw energy stored within his core, unleashing it in an effort to resolve the situation in an instant, eschewing the need for any physical exertion.
To put it simply, consider the analogy of a bullet.
When fired in a specific direction, it has the potential to inflict precise damage.
However, if the same bullet’s internal components were removed and the gunpowder was ignited without restraint, it would create an explosion that disperses energy in all directions.
Additionally with what happened to the elder, whose energy was extracted within the confines of the conduit dome. Unlike internal energy that requires a medium—such as meridians or vines—for flow, the mana or ether within the Ryuk’s body was in the form of aura, infused as a cohesive mass that didn’t require a medium for movement.
Instead of discharging energy in a targeted manner to eliminate each disciple one by one, he ignited a small cartridge—more akin to a nuclear blast.
Given the unique nature of ether, which does not harmonize well with other forms of energy, it reacted violently, leading to a chain reaction.
The raw force and temperature escalated rapidly, reaching levels of approximately 6,000 degrees Celsius—a temperature comparable to that produced by a nuclear explosion.
In less than a second, this immense release of energy provided insufficient time for those within the outer pavilion to respond, despite their cultivation status being in the realms of the Golden Core or above.
They were confronted with a surge of unrestrained energy, so concentrated and intense that it generated heat reminiscent of the surface of Gaia itself.
Of course, it wasn’t solely the raw potency of the ether that caused this chaos; Ryuk’s ability to nullify other energies played a significant role.
It effectively negated the spiritual vines present within the outer pavilion, amplifying the explosive effect even further.
Indeed, there exists an energy source known as the spiritual vines, nestled within the mountain peak. Ryuk had already detected this from that green stone slab, which was able to withstand the punches of many people. He understood that it was the spiritual vine providing immense internal energy to the entire area, fortifying it and making it strong enough.
At present, standing and firmly connected to the ground, Ryuk’s ability was making direct contact with the spiritual energy carried by those golden spiritual vines.
Instantly, his presence nullified it, rendering the very foundation of the Outer Pavilion utterly void. This was possible since his shoes were also burned, and being barefoot, he was connected to the ground.
With no internal energy left to sustain it, the ground and the upper levels of the mountain became vulnerable to a force born from nature itself—one that possessed ten times the strength of mana and a repulsive property.
This force was suppressed to such an extent that it approached a density capable of becoming liquid, were it not for its unique properties.
The result was nothing short of devastating when it found an escape route from Ryuk’s body.
“ARRRRGHHHHHHHHHH!”
In mere seconds, everything came to an end; the once heavenly Outer Pavilion had vanished without a trace.
Only the anguished scream of a single individual echoed through the desolation where their body was burned, protected by Ryuk for their final moments of conversation.
Of course, three horses and an unconscious man were also unscathed due to his significant control.
The scream reverberated inside the place, which now appeared as if the ground had been struck by an asteroid.
A massive crater now marked the spot where the Outer Pavilion had stood proud, leaving behind a black dome that loomed ominously above the mountain peak.
Below, there was nothing but an empty, barren landscape, scorched and lifeless.
‘Were you saying something?’ Ryuk asked, standing at the center of the devastation.
Around him lay an eerie stillness; nothing remained of what had once been.
He glanced toward the rocks, noticing the black dome arching above and encasing the crater like a sphere. Ignoring the destruction, he inquired about the alert system that had triggered moments ago.
[ Nah, I was just saying you mistakenly burned your clothes and now you are naked (￣ヘ￣;) ]
