In Titanora's capital city, a figure levitated in the air, her gaze fixed in a certain direction. She appeared beautiful, with fluttering black hair and two deep eyes that seemed to tremble.
"Ugh, my eyes," Drishti muttered while feeling pain in her pupils, she closed them before massaging, feeling somewhat lost.
SWISH
Another woman, wearing a military uniform, materialized beside her, inquiring with a composed demeanor, "Is something the matter, Lady Drishti?"
'....' Drishti, hearing Regina's words, glanced at her before parting her lips to firmly inquire, "Where is he?"
"...Liege is busy," Regina said, her composed expression faltering slightly as she saw the cold look on Drishti's face.
She averted her gaze, looking in the same direction Drishti had been a few moments ago. Her pupils widened before she turned her gaze downward.
"You knew this all along, didn't you?" Drishti asked firmly, not understanding exactly what her eyes had just witnessed—something she had never seen in her entire existence.
"I warned him that this would be overkill," Regina replied, scratching her neck, feeling somewhat at a loss after witnessing the scene herself, even doubting if she should have stopped it.
"Overkill? This isn't even an ethically moral practice!" Drishti exclaimed, bringing her hand to her forehead and rubbing it, trying to make sense of the extent to which someone could even think of doing such a thing.
"I also told Liege that it should always be opposite genders," Regina added, not knowing how to cover up this whole mess, which was foreign to both of them.
Even all the present LEGENDARY Rankers, who had the strength to observe from that distance, had averted their gaze in loss.
This was the limit of evil their minds could conceive, something corrupt and unethical.
'He is the heir of the Abernathy Family,' one of them thought, glancing toward the others.
They all realized the severity of the situation.
It was clear that this incident would not be a minor one.
Humiliation to a warrior is losing their will to fight and being defeated by their enemy one-sidedly.
But there is a limit to the cruelty even an enemy could show to one person.
Yet all of them remained quiet, knowing that things had already slipped out of hand.
The most they could do was follow orders without asking questions due to their submission of loyalty to Regina or Ryuk Devereaux.
"It's disgraceful for anyone. But what did he say?" Drishti, whose strength was more than anyone here, was able to see things more vividly.
Right now, only she knew how many of the strongest beings were shocked.
A year in that world equated to a week in the real world, meaning time flowed 52 times slower there
"Indeed he would," Ryuk glanced in that direction. Despite his strength, he wasn't able to see outside Titanora, but he knew how things were happening as he expected.
The moment he heard that Drishti had restricted him from killing Edward Abernathy, it was clear that Edward held a higher position, not only for her but also for other individuals as strong as her.
Although Ryuk wasn't aware of what that might be, seeing how several stronger beings were trying to look into Titanora and their battle, it was clear that Edward held a higher position in all their eyes.
But to what extent?
After a conversation with Regina before the battle, Ryuk came to know about the advantages the major families could offer Edward, like Aurora's Nest from the Riantains, the Flagbearer battle from the Devereaux, and personal training at the hands of the strongest entity—Amrantha Tenebri.
Despite being unaware of the motivations behind these major families' actions, he devised a backup plan for such scenarios by secretly infusing Grimoire into Edward's body, even before employing the WyrnCoil on him.
Also, if it wasn't for Edward's denial, he could have joined the Flagbearer battle at will, choosing to grow stronger by fighting individuals of his level.
But his ego took over him, and losing his hand to a Devereaux led him to harbor hatred towards the entire Devereaux family.
For Ryuk, anger is good until it interferes with decision-making.
"And what could I find interesting here?" Drishti inquired, not understanding why she should be interested in someone else becoming stronger instead of the man in front of her.
Ryuk, looking at her with a smile, calmly asked, "Lady Drishti, what would happen if Edward Abernathy lost his energy core while within the Riantain family?"
'?!'
"Y-you?" Drishti's eyes widened slightly before she started to relax. A smile began to form on her face as her eyes met his, his amber ones glimmering and momentarily outshining hers. She finally found the situation "interesting."
"But how would you do it?" Drishti, curious about how he could accomplish such a feat under the eyes of so many stronger people, asked.
Naturally, Edward's body had adapted, making him immune to any poison or harm except for that hand wound, which could not be healed unless she or Amrantha intervened.
Both of them were capable of healing Edward's dissected hand by simply rewriting reality, making it as if there wasn't a wound to begin with.
But, of course, they had no valid reason to do so.
"Lady Drishti, have faith in me. You will definitely find it to your liking," Ryuk stated with a playful smile, his eyes narrowing as they fixed on Drishti's. She reciprocated with a smile.
"Heh, where are you going now?" Drishti inquired, seeing how Ryuk's figure started to blur, though already aware of his destination.
With a soft smile, Ryuk glanced toward one of the battleships, his eyes tearing through any obstacles before settling on a room where a beautiful woman lay on a bed, wearing a white dress with fluttering eyes. He vanished, leaving behind the words, "She asked for a reward after this battle is over. Can't disappoint her."
SWISH