Ryu burst forward, without an ounce of hesitation, he crossed into the inconspicuous at the base of Shrine Mountain before his body convulsed, slowing down his speed drastically.
As though his body was waiting for this very moment to attack him, a wave of pain tore through Ryu, causing a roar of anguish to escape his lips. His bones fractured and his tense muscles tore, shredding one after another without thought of stopping. Maybe the only saving grace was that Ryu's upper body was left alone, but that was only in a relative sense considering the ghastly chest wound that still adorned his heart and ribs.
Ryu suddenly felt his body go cold. A deep, shivering erupted from his core, taking over without regard for his own feelings. It only took Ryu a moment to understand what was happening because he had experienced it before… It was death. His body had gone through too much in the last few hours. The moment he relaxed even a moment, that tenseness that was keeping his together shattered.
Ryu fell to the ground, his lips bluing as he gripped his fist over his chest.
The cave around him was dark. In the far distance, Ryu could see a faint light that was likely the true entrance of the Immortal Path, but even the effort of looking was too much for him.
He immediately regretted slowing down. Why had he done it? If he had just kept going…
Ryu laughed at himself. What a joke. His body was on its final legs to begin with. In all likelihood, he wouldn't have made it whether he relaxed or not.
Gritting his teeth, Ryu began to crawl. If he had even a single ounce of strength left, he wouldn't let it go waste. If Fate wanted to kill him, then he'd only allow it to do so when he truly had nothing remaining. Fate would have to take his life from him, he would no longer simply hand it over.
As Ryu crawled toward what seemed like an impossibly far away goal, Headmaster Leopold sprinted at his fastest speed. He had his own worries as well, though they were decidedly less existential than Ryu's.
He knew well that upon completion of the Immortal Path, Shrine Mountain would teleport its trial taker the furthest points from itself. On the Mortal Planes, that made things easy since Shrine Mountain was located upon their edges. However, for the Immortal Planes, this meant that there were a near, if not infinite, number of locations Ryu could appear precisely because, for them, Shrine Mountain was located in its very center.
If he allowed Ryu to complete the Immortal Path, it would be an impossible task to find him. It was known by everyone that Immortal Planes were easily ten times larger than Mortal Planes, and that was a conservative estimate. Considering the size of the Outer Ring, how could Leopold be expected to find him? The worst part was that Leopold's strength was garbage on the Immortal Plane. What if Ryu used his talent to gain some substantial backing? By that point, Leopold would be the one who had to hide!
Ryu continuously stabbed his daggers into the cave's floor, pulling himself forward inch by inch. Leopold probably thought that he'd be able to catch Ryu as he was struggling against the pressure of the Immortal Path. This was Ryu's ray of hope. He had to make it.
His legs were absolutely useless. Not to mention the fact his bones were fractured in too many places to count, even if they weren't, the muscles he needed to use them were torn beyond recognition. If Ryu's legs weren't covered by black fabrics, they would shine a disgusting purple, blue and green color.
Ryu suspected that his legs had long been in this sort of condition, but adrenaline and his willpower pushed him through it. However, he had never expected for it to be this bad. This level of self-mutilation was enough to cause a wave of disgust in anyone's heart.
Pain racked Ryu's body as he was forced to drag his injured chest along the hard ground. He had no idea that Headmaster Leopold had already set his sights on the large rockface of Shrine Mountain. The more than ten meters that remained between him and the orb of light before him seemed like the distance between the earth and the heavens.
Ryu's tenacity shone through, however it wasn't enough. Headmaster Leopold made his way to the cave entrance, gasping for breath. But when he saw Ryu's unsightly appearance, a thunderous laughter erupted from his wrinkled lips.
"Tsk. To put you in such a state, I can imagine that that technique you used to explosively increase your speed is definitely taking its toll, hm?"
The weight on Leopold's chest dropped, leaving a pep in his step he hadn't experienced for several hundred years. Today was definitely a good day. For him, that is.
Ryu continued to claw forward as though he hadn't heard a single word. The trail of blood left behind by sent a shiver through Leopold's spine. But he quickly shook it off. He might be surprised by Ryu's will to live, but what did that matter? Everything was meaningless in the face of absolute power.
"Is there a need to be like this?" Leopold casually walked to Ryu's side, lifting his head from the cave floor by his dirtied white hair.
In that instant, Leopold was shocked by the cold emitting from Ryu's body. As an experienced person, he immediately sensed what it was… The Breath of Death. This young man wasn't more than a few minutes from losing his life.
Leopold immediately gave up all thoughts of threatening Ryu's life. What was the point? He let Ryu's head drop. The dull thump of what sounded like nothing more than a dead body resounded through the cave. Still, somehow, Ryu's arms never stopped. He continued to crawl as though he was mindless.
Leopold frowned. Checking Ryu's hand, he looked for his spatial ring. But, he shockingly found nothing. Suddenly, a bad premonition overcame him. In a rage, he kicked Ryu's body, sending him slamming against the side of the cave with a reverberating boom.
Blood flew from Ryu's lips as he slid down the cave wall. He was nothing more than a limp doll.
"WHERE IS IT!" Leopold roared.
Ryu coughed, a sneer coating his blue lips. "It's in my Inner Space. Why don't you kill me and find out if you can get it or not? Or is the grand Headmaster Leopold as useless as his two disciples?"
"YOU?!" Leopold trembled with rage. His hand descended slapping Ryu across the face an sending him flying.
Suddenly, Ryu laughed. "It was a fifty-fifty chance, but you still did me a favor. Thank you."
Leopold immediately realized his mistake, but it was too late. Ryu's body flew into the Immortal Path.
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