The Dark Phoenixes felt their hearts seize. The pressure Ryu's soul was giving off was something they had only experienced once before. But, for the life of them, they couldn't wrap their minds around how such a thing could possibly appear within a human. Unfortunately, they didn't have the time nor the luxury to think about it.

In that moment, the arrows began to fall from the skies. A volatile sort of upsurge took hold as the Elemental War God Tome shone brighter and brighter. In those moments, as long as it was a qi Ryu had affinity with, it was stripped from those in the surroundings.

Wind Elemental users found themselves unable to use their speed and cast their techniques. Ice Elemental users found their bodies to be decidedly hotter than they were used to, the cold they had come to know no longer responding to their touch. Lightning Elemental users experienced a drastic dip in their offensive output, their weapons and fists no longer able to give off even the most minor of sparks. And Fire Elemental Users

The Dark Phoenixes found that the coat of flames that flickered about their bodes dimmed considerably in that instant. Their Death Flames didn't seem to want to respond to their call, their bodies suddenly becoming heavier as they had to rely on the strength of their bodies rather than the strength of their elements to hold themselves up.

In the presence of the Elemental War God weren't you too arrogant to think you could wield the elements as you pleased?

The halo above Ryu's soul's head pulsed, the radiant beauty of the Immortal Sakura shimmering with a royal violet color. In that moment, the entire battlefield was enveloped by the canopy of Ryu's Immortal Sakura, fluttering snowflakes of purple falling from the skies and shattering every attempt at attack.

Some tried to attack Ryu from a distance and found their qi blocked before it could even leave their weapons. Some tried to charge forward and close the distance, only for a delicately fluttering petal to appear in their way, sending them flying backward and coughing up several mouthfuls of blood.

Gorgeous Ice Phoenix Heavenly Patterns lined these fluttering violet petals, the control of purple and sky blue reflecting delicate lights all across the battlefield.

Linnet of the Silver Touch Branch stood in the air with silver hair fluttering about wildly. They had all realized that they could no longer hold back. If they continued to do so, this would truly be the place the fell.

Her palms shimmered with a silver color, a strong suction force suddenly pulling an unsuspecting Dark Phoenix into her direction. Dai'si noticed this change too late. But the time he wanted to act, his junior had its enormous body grasped by Linnet, shrieking out in horror as it began to shrink before all their eyes.

In the blink of an eye, there was nothing left but dried flesh and bone, the corpse of a Dark Phoenix falling through the skies.

A delicate shout left Linnet's lips, her hair expanding outward until it became a long river of silver, dancing in the skies as though it was truly a stream of water.

Not long later, though, this beautiful scene became nothing more than a nightmare. Shooting out like vicious tendrils, her hair used its newfound fluidity and length to latch onto beasts and humans alike, sucking them dry until nothing remained even as the glow on her hands became fiercer.

Gervis of the Heavenly Dew Branch roared. Realizing that Linnet had begun to go all out, he too took action. In fact, they all did.

A dense fog of white gold erupted from his body, twinkling with the depth of a shimmering nebula as his body expanded by a size.

Joce of the Berserk Branch rose his crimson halberd, his once black hair becoming an even deeper shade of magenta as veins popped up across his body.

And finally, Berold of the Nourishing Soul Branch raised his hands into the air, the crying sharpness of countless swords rising up.

The four acted with a tacit understanding. Joce and Gervis would take the vanguard and occupy Ryu in close combat. As for Linnet and Berold, they would build their assault from a distance. With the four working together like this, Ryu's death was set in stone in their minds.

They were the Apostles of the Martial Gods. To lose to a human Was that a joke?

"RETREAT!"

Dai'si's call shook the skies, spoken in the tongue of the Phoenixes.

"Dai'si, what is the meaning of this?"

"We will be moving our efforts to the Blossom Plane. The others were right, we don't have a chance at the Pedestal Plane. Get your people, Fei'lan"

"What are you talking about, they're so weak! You're the one who made us drag this out!"

"He's weak?"

"I'm talking about those four jumping clowns, dammit!" If it wasn't for his beast form, Fei'lan would have definitely been blushing at this point.

"Do you take me for a fool, Fei'lan?"

"No!"

"Then stop asking so many questions and get ready to retreat. If we don't enter the Blossom Plane now, it will be difficult to do so in the future. We'd have to go by some tedious roundabout method when the door is still open for now."

After saying this, Dai'si ignored everything on the battlefield, his body suddenly lighting up. A violent whirlwind formed around him, soon forming into the swirling patterns of the Dark Phoenix. In those moments, it looked as though he had been encased by cyclones, his Heavenly Patterns springing to life with an artistic conception that seemed to want to drown the world in death.

And then, he shot forward.

Everything in his path crumbled to dust, a line of Dark Phoenixes following to his back.

Ryu's gaze narrowed, the feeling of Dai'si's oppressive might feeling very clear to him right now. A grin couldn't help but spread across his face.

'Interesting.'