This was already the product of Rogryll holding back. He seemed to remember that his daughter was on Ryu's lap at the last moment, and pulled back a measure. If not for this, the pressure of his aura alone might have shattered Ryu's body to pieces.
However, Ryu himself didn't seem to be aware of this.
He sat up from his leaning position. Ignoring everyone around him, he looked down toward Mae. She was pale faced, blood dripping from her lip. She looked as though she might pass out at any moment.
Ryu's frown deepened, the chilliness in his expression spreading out. At that moment, if it wasn't obvious before, Ryu's own aura seemed to be just as suffocating. Even when he was ignoring the entire world around him, his fury was deep enough to set the clouds themselves ablaze.
Ryu placed a hand on Mae's abdomen. After a moment, he placed a finger in her mouth and dripped a hint of Embryonic Qi into her mouth. Very quickly, a rush of light spread throughout her body and a milky whiteness flashed before vanishing.
Before the eyes of everyone present, Mae's pale expression became rosy once again and she seemed to finally be able to breathe again.
It was only at that moment that Ryu seemed to remember where he was, but when he turned his gaze toward Rogryll, it was as though space itself was collapsing. Their gazes seemed to be corporeal, clashing and causing fissures in space to form.
"The last person who did this to her, I swore to kill."
The icy chill in the room was palpable. The temperature plummeted.
Rogryll was already feeling a hint of regret. He had lashed out without thinking, and it had ended up in this sort of situation. But hearing Ryu's words, he was so infuriated that he laughed. It was a laugh that rumbled like thunder, causing the hall to shake and quake.
However, before this laugh, the iciness in Ryu's gaze only seemed to grow deeper and deeper. Before he could speak again, though, he felt Mae's hand grab onto him. Mae didn't seem to want to see this matter go any further.
Ryu, who had been about to stand, slowly leaned back into his chair once again, but the smile didn't return.
"I won't kill you, but one day you'll have to suffer a fist of mine."
Rogryll's laughter hadn't even come to a stop yet, but Ryu's voice cut through it just as easily. He didn't seem moved by this Patriarch's anger in the slightest. In fact, his own brewing rage made those around feel as though two tigers were facing off in the jungle. Even Hurath felt as though he was drenched in sweat, no one could remember the last time anyone had spoken to Rogryll like this, because there simply wasn't an example of it happening in the past.
The last echoes of Rogryll's laughter continued to boom. He looked down toward Ryu. The fleshly crimson eyes of his seemed to be an even deeper shade of red at the moment. When he looked toward Ryu, all those even in the general vicinity felt like they had been forcefully shrunk an entire foot.
"You really think that I don't dare to kill you."I think you should take a look at
"You can dare to do whatever you want, what does that have to do with me? It'll be you who has to deal with the consequences in the end," Ryu uttered coldly.
"You think that woman cares about a cripple like you?"
"The fact you think I have to rely on others just shows me why it is your Dream Asura Race is so pathetic. When I speak, I speak with my own ability, relying on others is for the weak. You went to the True Nether World, hat in hand, eyes to the ground, knees ready to bend, and you didn't expect this sort of result?
"And now, under your leadership, you do nothing as your daughter is castigated by your supposed subordinates. Why? Because they feel frustrated that they're too weak and cowardly to fight for a space for themselves?
"The moment you chose to negotiate, you had already lost. You have no backbone, you have too many concerns, you are weak."
Ryu's words boomed, their echo no less thunderous. It was as though his voice traveled through the void, quaking the surrounding voidal nodes and making it echo with more force.
Rogryll felt suffocated. He wanted to lash out again, but how could he make the same mistake twice. He felt as though a twin pair of fire laden hands were wrapping around his throat. He had never felt so stifled in his life. Usually, he would have just attacked to kill, but how could he?
No matter what he said, the imprint of that woman's strength was still in his mind. And even if she didn't care about a cripple like Ryu, the fact that he had been crippled in their territory was still something he wasn't quite sure how to deal with, this didn't even mention the pressure coming from his own daughter.
Who knew that Ryu actually wasn't finished yet, though?
"You could have simply gone and staked your land. You think that every strength on the Plane you chose would gang up against you? Do they not have enemies of their own? Do they not have people who would much rather them be destroyed? Do they not have concerns of their own?
"But now you've not only taken a stance of weakness, but you've announced your arrival at the same time so they'll be perfectly ready.
"If you aren't weak willed, then you're too stupid to lead anyone.
"What alternatives do you have remaining here? To die at the hands of the Higher Heavens? Or to leave 99% of your Clan behind and send off 10 million to suicide themselves? Both of these options mean death because of nothing more than cowardice.
"How ridiculous can you be, exactly? But I'm not sure what I'd expect from a father willing to allow his own daughter to take on such a burden.
"What worth does your strength and strength have if it can't be used now?!"