Beyond

Ryu slowly stood from his platform. With the way the nine platforms were angled and designed, the nine of them were already positioned as the vanguard. There was no choice in the matter nor did Galkos give them any time to prepare. But, it was clear that they all were ready for this. Maybe the only one who hadn't expected things to begin so soon was Ryu himself. 

But, right then, an overwhelming pressure that made Ryu's brow crease descended. In fact, he could sense with a single look that it wasn't just him that experienced this. Whether it was the youth from the Ignis Clan or the third and final non-Martial God member who seemed to be from the Viridi Clan, each of them had also experienced a sudden bump in this pressure, an added pressure that was very clearly not given to the Martial Gods.