‘…..’ The system’s nonsensical chatter had finally gotten under Ryuk’s skin once more.
For a brief moment, he considered the possibility of clarifying things in a way the system might actually comprehend.
However, given how the system adapted to his abilities with each passing day, always managing to escape his grasp after he subdued it, he ultimately concluded it was wiser to simply ignore it.
“Ugh…”
A sudden wince caught his attention, prompting Ryuk to turn to Esme.
She was completely focused on Yu Shao Yan, her expression a clear indicator of the mental strain she was enduring.
It was obvious that her condition was worsening under the tremendous pressure she faced.
With the heightened vulnerability of everyone nearby, concern washed over Ryuk; this news was far from reassuring.
He felt utterly drained, and the burden of needing to protect Esme while preparing to confront that woman once again weighed heavily on his mind.
As he contemplated the toll this would take on him physically, a surge of familiar energy signatures drew closer to their location.
Without a second thought, he declared, “Leave her.”
“What?” Esme replied, her curiosity ignited even amid her distress.
She had caught his earlier mention of liberating the woman from her mental prison—the illusion that Esme herself had woven.
At least, it was evident that both of them recognized the toll their exhaustion was taking.
“Stop pushing yourself. It’s fine,” Ryuk reassured her, his amber gaze fixed intently on the woman who was on the brink of being freed.
His eyes remained unblinking and alert, prepared for any sudden movements from her after she broke free from her confinement.
As he said this, Esme nodded, placing her trust in his words, and retracted her illusion.
In that swift moment, reality returned with startling clarity.
SWISH!!
The air, mere inches from Ryuk’s body, sliced through with alarming force, sending gusts of wind rushing past him. The searing breeze tugged at his hair, yet his body remained utterly unyielding.
Without so much as a blink, he caught sight of Yu Shao Yan, sword in hand, launching a ferocious swing aimed directly at his neck, covering the ten-step distance with astonishing speed.
When her voice finally resonated in his ears, it carried the weight of her frustration, reverberating with a slow intensity that starkly contrasted her rapid movements. As she swirled and swung her sword once more, her sharp words echoed in the air: “Enough with this pity gameplay!”
Ryuk barely registered her words; her speed eclipsed the sound itself, evident from the way her lips were not moving in sync. This signaled that her words had been a foreboding prelude to her attack.
In that frozen moment, where time seemed to halt, both of them moved at a velocity nearly imperceptible to the naked eye.
“Yes…” Ryuk responded, undeterred by her swift approach or the lightning speed of her blade.
A smile graced his lips as he spoke, his voice slicing through the charged atmosphere just as she was half a hand’s distance away, reaching her even amidst her rapid, mid-air trajectory.
Most likely, she couldn’t hear him, given that her speed surpassed the speed of sound, but he pressed on regardless, completing his thought: “Enough of games.”
‘!’
SWISH
As her sword met the outer layer of his neck, the cold steel pressing against his skin, Yu Shao Yan suddenly spotted a swift silhouette colliding with her weapon.
The impact was forceful enough to make her recoil. Her body spun in mid-air, yet her mind, in its heightened alertness, clearly processed the figure whose sword had deflected hers.
Clank!
The sound resonated sharply, accentuating the chaos of the moment; the clash had materialized only after she felt the shock of the impact, with the sound trailing behind it.
It was abundantly clear that this newcomer’s speed matched, if not exceeded, her own, moving faster than the sound of their clash.
In her elevated state of awareness, Yu Shao Yan’s eyes narrowed, reflecting the image of a woman clad in a military uniform.
She was strikingly formidable, her eyes hidden behind a white mask that obscured the intensity of her amber gaze but allowed those glinting, sharp orbs—filled with the seriousness of the situation—to shine through.
But it wasn’t just this woman who had arrived to deflect her blade; as Yu Shao Yan remained suspended in mid-air, she sensed ominous shadows looming overhead.
A chilling awareness filled her as she felt several energy signatures brimming with power in the nearby space, each one stronger than the young man she had been battling moments earlier.
Alarmed, she quickly gathered the last vestiges of her internal energy, feeling grateful for the training she had received from that young man. Yet it became painfully evident that she was already too late.
In an instant, two hands clawed at her shoulders, pulling her downward with an unbearable force.
Boom!
Upon impact, pain shot through her body, causing her to lurch forward.
Her eyes widened in shock as a mouthful of blood escaped her lips, staining the ground beneath her.
Though her vision blurred, Yu Shao Yan managed to glimpse the two figures draped in cloaks, their presence steeped in a dense aura of mana that seemed to permeate the air around them.
The strength radiating from these two was staggering, especially as she now processed it along with that woman from Sword Valley. Now, that young man had two more individuals with him.
The situation was growing increasingly dire.
As she fought through the pain, her gaze flickered momentarily towards the sky, and she glimpsed similar cloaked figures—more than just ten or twenty—hundreds of them surrounding the area.
It felt as if the most formidable beings had descended from the skies, possessing the might to obliterate the entire Jade Dominion.
This was the frontline battalion of Ardoros.
“Kugh!” she gasped, the sound echoing the chaos around her.
Her eyes widened as she found herself in a small crater, a result of the overwhelming force that had thrown her down.
Though she was clearly injured, the damage was not life-threatening.
Prompted by a surge of adrenaline, she swiftly flipped herself back onto her feet and, with remarkable agility, distanced herself from the crowd surrounding her.
As she did, her gaze finally grasped a larger view of the unsettling scene.
“Y-you?! What do you want?!” Yu Shao Yan exclaimed, her voice trembling.
She had initially anticipated that this guy would arrive alone or perhaps with one or two experts.
But now, in front of her stood an entire army.
Panic gripped her thoughts—was he here to annihilate the Jade Dominion?
Initially, she had thought that he, living inside the Heindal continent, was just trying to torture her granddaughter, evident from years ago when she had tried to attack him.
But the mistress of the Devereaux family had sternly warned her not to even think of harming her grandson.
And now, when Yu Shao Yan thought to, just in case he tried to come back for her granddaughter, she used that gardener as a means to kill him before he could even reach Middletown.
But now that he had arrived here, it appeared that this was more than just to harm her granddaughter. Instead, his aim was different.
Given this support, it was also evident that he had become a flag bearer.
Things were dire, and right now she needed to prioritize her family or the safety of this place.
