Annihilation
Ryu chose to directly ignore the Dark Phoenixes as they blazed a trail toward Shrine Mountain. Instead, he calmly observed Dai'si's use of his Heavenly Patterns. They seemed so much more alive and powerful than when Ryu used them. In fact, they almost breathed as though they had a life of their own.
Ryu took a mental note of this and turned his head away.
He already understood why the Dark Phoenixes had chosen to retreat. Whether it was the Martial Gods or the Ancestral Beasts, they all seem to have given up on the Pedestal Plane and that wasn't a coincidence by any stretch of the imagination. It seemed that even now, he had really underestimated that woman.
The Martial Gods had been preparing for generations, the Ancestral Beasts for even longer. But, with the way things were going now, it felt like of the three Planes, they would each get one while the last would fall into the hands of a young woman who seemed all alone.