Sifa had noticed and gone on guard as soon as the clothes on his body began to "boil." When Kardashian's spikes of flesh shot toward him, his skin abruptly took on a steel-black sheen. In the blink of an eye, he became a man of iron, letting the fleshy spikes strike his body in a shower of sparks and ear-piercing scraping sounds.
This was an Iron-blooded Knight's Steel Body!
"This is why I didn't tell you."
Without any hurry, Sifa slipped on the River Styx Ring. Using the item's high standing in the Death Pathway, he suppressed Kardashian, a Gatekeeper, making her tremble uncontrollably and retract her spikes. Inch by inch, she bent at the waist, unable to do anything else.
Sifa shrugged and said, "Think about it. You originally came to kill me, and back then, I wasn't capable of speaking to you as an equal."
"If I told you your teacher was already dead, who would guarantee my safety? Even with an oath, you would have torn up our agreement, wouldn't you?"
"So it wasn't that I didn't want to tell you. I didn't dare, and I couldn't."
"Besides, your teacher's current condition can't simply be described as 'dead.' I've already asked Celeste to avoid killing him if possible. If you really want to do something for your teacher, you'd be better off helping me find the container Abrio might be sealed in."
"That's all I wanted to say. What you choose to do next is up to you."
With that, Sifa took off the River Styx Ring, releasing the suppression its high standing exerted on Kardashian, while preparing himself for her retaliation.
Kardashian had expended some spirituality and physical strength resisting the River Styx Ring's suppression. Now, she panted softly as she slowly straightened.
Various emotions flickered