The center of the Shrine Plane had always been where a gathering a monsters and monstresses came together. For a very long time, it was the pinnacle of all that was.
But, in recent years, it had become quite empty, not due to the choices of the majority, but rather as a result of a seal that had claimed its lands for itself.
The sight of the seal itself was grand beyond compare. As though the wings of an Ice Phoenix had enveloped everything, a beautiful crystalline structure stretched over hundreds of thousands of miles, and yet still managed to maintain every intricate detail. From its individual feathers, to its proud neck, down the woman with beauty beyond words that sat in silent meditation within its forehead.
They say that a painting could capture a thousand words in just a few strokes, but the visage of this gallant heroine seemed to speak many more. The staunch pride, the slight smile, the selfless fortitude… It spoke to the heart and pierced into the soul.
This was the picture the seal brought about. If everything else was ignored, it was the most beautiful scene in maybe all of existence, the kind that one would never forget in a lifetime. However, things were never allowed to be so simple.
All around this seal currently, individuals with no intention of admiring its grace and elegance could be found. Many weren't even present with ill-intentions, simply here to witness a matter that would most definitely be written into the annals of history.
Of course, whether or not the truth would be written was a different matter entirely. However, there was something to be said for being able to witness it with your own eyes. Even if you couldn't speak of what had truly happened, that sort of knowledge was power.
Around the base of the seal, youths that were far too eager stood. Not many thought that it would be necessary for more than them to step forward. The idea that a youth of not eve 30 years of age would be able to fight Sky Gods was asinine. They were already placing bets on just who it was that would claim his head.
Many of the Sky Gods of the Martial Gods weren't even here, they were still fighting a war against the Ancestral Beasts on the Blossom Plane. The fact that Mistress Holy Wing was here at all was seen as a ridiculous amount of overkill by most everyone else.
Even with this being the case, though, Ryu had still managed to gain himself enemies from all walks of life.
At the lowest levels, there was the likes of Fidroha, an Immortal Ring Apostle who Ryu couldn't even bother to lift a hand to kill.
A step above, there were hordes of Isemeine suitors, each believing themselves to be more worthy than the scion of a long dead Clan. They littered the Path Extinction and lower Dao Pedestal Realms.
A step above that, there were the enraged individuals of the Hastam Clan, Ramir. By his side, a familiar shadowy figure and a certain monk of the Temporal Buddha Sect also stood, the latter wearing what seemed to be a sincere smile filled with pity upon his face.
And yet, it only seemed to continue.
A step past that and there were the World Sea Realm and humiliated members of the ceremony. Some had lost their children and some were like King Adonis, wanting nothing more than to see Ryu fall.
A step beyond that, there was Demigod Lioche. A true Demigod, he stood amidst many of his peers, some beyond him in strength, and many more below him. The resonating power of a newly founded World Sea Realm expert pulsed about him, his gaze locked forward into seemingly empty space as the snow continued to fall.
As though this wasn't enough, the line up of Elena's suitors followed this. Those with more class had long since pulled away. There was a difference between pursuing a woman who was a widow and a woman whose first husband was very much still alive.
However, that still left the most shameless of them, Aalot, the Human Beast True Sky God. He was a man who didn't care for etiquette and what it entailed. All he knew was that he wanted Elena in his bed, and that was enough for him. He would see Ryu's death through on this day.
Then there were Sky Gods whose pure hatred for Ryu went beyond just the pursuit of a woman…
True Sky God Jan Arcus. Supreme Black Smith Arcus.
Both had reasons to hate Ryu down to their bones, the latter's inaction having caused their Arcus Clan to a devastating degree.
However, there was an individual here that maybe Ryu wouldn't even expect to find.
An old man, hunched and grey, his shoulders graced by a thick bear pelt, the head of which rested upon his own line a crown. He leaned on a long staff with a bulbous head and the scent of death permeated around him.
This old man was none other than Head of the Armored Beast Branch of the Necromancer Guild, the very man that had procured the Bear God corpse in Ryu's possession and the very grandfather of the man Ryu had killed to save Yaana.
And he was not alone. Several other Sky Gods of the Necromancer Guild had stepped forward, each with a gripe of their own, very much likely related to the number of youths Ryu had killed during the Martial God's trial… Many of which had been their young geniuses.
None of this number even began to touch the number of so-called 'neutral' spectators, and it most definitely didn't touch upon the number of Martial God powerhouses watching in silence, or…
The now young woman who had placed a throne upon Ryu's mother's head, sitting up above everyone and looking down with an indifferent expression on her face..
Who else would this be if not Mistress Holy Wing?
If Ryu was smart, he definitely wouldn't appear. If he was smart, he would escape to the True Martial World, change his appearance, and use his talent to join the best Sect he could, riding their resources until he became unmatched in this world before he appeared once more as Ryu Tatsuya.
However, those that knew him knew that this would never happen.
That was why when a man wearing beaten and ragged cloth appeared on the horizon, his face obscured by a mess of white hair and his bare feet causing the snow to grind and crunch, only those who hadn't heard of his arrogance were shocked.
After today, though, there wouldn't be a single soul in Sacrum who didn't know the weight of the name Ryu Tatsuya.
At that moment, like a fluttering butterfly, wreath in gorgeous wings of golden peak, a gorgeous woman with beauty beyond words descended from the skies, landing before this beaten and ragged man.
Ryu looked to have spent the last year sleeping on the streets, the cold winds blowing to the point the torn holes in his clothing were visible for all to see. However, every single time they blew just enough to reveal his skin, a wall of rippling muscle would appear in the sights of all, pulsing with blood and vitality.
The beauty landed, looking toward Ryu with a complicated expression.
"Hubby… Let me take you away. Please."