"Ahhh, Isha..."
Ryuk’s voice, in his Nano-Umbral Reaper form, was incredibly thick and husky, further striking fear into Isha’s heart.
Unconsciously, she bowed to the ground before him, her head lowered, eyes closed.
Right now, Ryuk himself was teetering on the edges of sanity and insanity.
The NanoUmbral Reaper took a great toll on his mind, but he managed to reign himself in.
His increased intelligence made the power easier to control compared to when he had used it against Ignatius, where he had felt as if he were being possessed by an external entity.
Stretching out his right claw, Ryuk gently placed it on Isha’s forehead and closed his eyes.
Faintly, he felt the connection deepen with every second, and soon, he could find Isha’s raging thoughts.
From her rage, he sensed the image of her lifting him onto her back and racing away, as they both fled from the Dark Anaconda they had encountered upon arrival.
He also saw images of himself being slapped away by the Colossal Titan and sent tumbling to the ground.
Ryuk could feel her pain, and the realization of it made hot lava spew even more from his lava-filled face. But it wasn’t from tears—it was from anger.
Not towards Isha, but towards himself.
Isha’s rage had first sparked because she had seen Ryuk smacked away by the Colossal, because to her, Ryuk was a god!
A king that couldn’t be defeated! One whose strength was limitless.
But Isha had watched his battle with the Colossal. She had seen how he had fallen and barely won the fight.
After that battle, Isha’s faith in him had waned. Her delusion had been brought to light.
Ryuk wasn’t a god, nor was he undefeatable. He could still be beaten. She no longer felt safe.
The feeling of disappointment had welled up in Isha—a feeling she had misdirected as hatred towards him, which Ryuk hadn’t paid much attention to.
Not because he didn’t care how she felt, but because he knew well that in life, there were times when you win, times when you’re defeated, and times when you have no choice but to run and try living to see the next day.
The world was big, and he knew well he was far from being strong enough to ignore the law of survival.
But for Isha?
She had the ultimate belief that as long as he existed, she would always be safe.
She would never have to run, for there would always be someone who could fight everything and remain undefeated.
The fact that Ryuk couldn’t do much against the Colossal Titan had planted that doubt, her feeling of security fading away.
And what had truly twisted her mind, the true source of her rage, was the fact that she had reacted to her instincts and fled from the Dark Anaconda.
Thinking about it, it was the first time Isha had run away from something. And she had had no choice but to do that, due to her weakness.
Her instincts screamed that the Dark Anaconda could kill her, and she had reacted, choosing to run.
Only when she had gotten to safety had she remembered her action of retreat—running away like a coward.
That was how Isha saw their retreat.
She had seen herself as a coward instead of a survivor.
Ryuk wasn’t much bothered by the fact that he ran away in battle, because he knew well that survival was more important than pride.
He might have run today, but a few weeks from now, he would be fighting that Anaconda and killing it.
In the end, as long as he ran and managed to survive, he would always be the winner.
But Isha didn’t see the world that way.
The term coward was what she had instantly identified herself as, and to get rid of that feeling, she had called for a challenge in the dark of night and fought.
Bloodlust had clouded her, blinding her from the feeling of loss, and the only way she felt it could be settled was through battle.
In the end, she had done nothing but cause trouble for Ryuk and get herself severely wounded. But can she be blamed?
Can Ryuk still remain mad after learning why?
"Buy 1 Full Energy and Injury Rejuvenating Pill," Ryuk ordered in his head as he slowly took his claws off Isha’s forehead.
[1 Rejuvenating and Injury Pill Found!]
[Description: Will instantly heal all of Host’s Pet’s injuries and energy, setting them back to 100% in less than a second!]
[Price: 7,000 Purchase Points!]
The system notification appeared as Ryuk chose to buy it.
[Purchase Points Left: 8,000]
"Here, Isha," he called, as a small ice cube appeared in Ryuk’s hand. He threw it into Isha’s open maw.
Immediately, a blue light appeared all over Isha, and with surprise, she watched as the wound lines on her body began melding, covering up completely and leaving no scars.
Not long after, her wings, which had been torn apart, began regrowing anew.
In less than three seconds, Ryuk watched Isha’s battered figure instantly morph until she regained her normal form. Her aura had somehow vastly increased, even more than before, and Isha, too, could sense it.
After this small battle, she had somehow managed to grow stronger, even though she hadn’t devoured any of the beasts she had fought.
Looking at Isha, now fully recovered and at 100% fighting capability, Ryuk grinned as he turned behind sighting a horde of close to a thousand beasts surrounding both his figure and that of Isha.
They had been able to easily recognize both of them as the major threat, and now, they were gathered over them.
This number of beasts would have been enough to make Ryuk’s heart quake, but now, in his Umbral Reaper mode, fear wasn’t an existing emotion at all.
Instead, he felt excitement and desire—a twisted desire to see more blood flow.
"Come with me, Isha..."
"Come with me, and let’s rid ourselves of our weakness... together."