2048 Hypocrite
"Nameless, huh?" Ryu said. "I was right. He and I are really too different. So similar that we took opposite paths, you said? I guess that is also correct. I wonder... between the two of us, which one is stronger?"
"He could wipe you out with a single thought. In fact, he would if he cared to pay attention to an ant disrespecting him like this."
Ryu didn't seem offended. In fact, he only laughed harder.
"I'm sure you know that isn't what I meant," Ryu spoke through his laughter, the wild ambition in his eyes burning like a furious light.Nôv(el)B\\jnn
"And I'm sure you know that he wouldn't care about your semantics."
"True." Ryu's smile became a fiendish grin, his heart beating wildly as anticipation grew within him.
Would he be content if he were to die here? Yes.
But the world had forgotten one thing.
He was a hypocrite.
Down to his very bones.
Who cared if he would be content?
Contradiction.
DUDOOM. DUDOOM.
Ryu's heartbeat grew so furious that it began to ripple across the world of fog he was in.
He already had a solution to the problem. He just didn't want to use it.
He could also guess who this voice was. He just didn't want to acknowledge it.
But in the end, between the choice of allowing his life to fade away here and grasping another chance...
There was only one choice to make.
Who cared if he was a hypocrite in the eyes of others? Who cared even if he was a hypocrite to even his own self?
In what felt like a far-off, distant past now, Aika had once told him that his Dao Heart was so rigid that it was brittle. If he ever failed one day, it would cause him to collapse.
However, she didn't really understand the type of person Ryu was. She couldn't be blamed, though, because even Ryu didn't understand what kind of person he was until
this very moment.
How could the Dao Heart of a hypocrite be broken?
If he ever met anything contradictory, he would just ignore it. If it came again, he would steamroll it. If it came again, he would grind it into such a fine dust that it would have no choice but to cower before him.
"Not in the slightest bit."
Ryu smiled, flicking out his wrists and causing his great swordstaffs to appear at the
same time Sarriel waved a hand to manifest her steely blue katana.
"That's fine. I can make you a believer. We can start with lesson one."
Ryu took a step forward and vanished.
BOOM!
The pressure of their two blades stopped them from meeting. Space bent, but was
forcefully maintained by Ryu's pressure.
Sarriel's gaze flashed, her blade passing through his. But Ryu didn't react to the
sudden warp in reality at all.
Instead, both of them came to a sudden stop.
BOOM! BOOM!
Air exploded as their weapons stopped at one another's necks. Another millimeter and
both of their heads would fly into the skies.
Just as Sarriel was about to speak, a pressure slapped against her face, sending her
flying into the distance.
"Lesson one. I don't hit or abuse my women. If you want to avoid the pain I'm about to
inflict, there's really only one choice to make."
Sarriel's eyes bulged in shock, and then came her fury.
"RYU TATSUYA!"
"Ah, my name has a nice ring to it, don't you think? Learn it well. You'll be saying it a
"I'LL KILL YOU!"
"You see, that was less nice. Doesn't have the same charm.""
BANG!
Sarriel appeared before Ryu in a blaze.