DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!
The sound of the elevator opening up resounded as Ryuk stepped back down into the large hall. The moment he stepped out, his brain began thinking of his next moves.
That was when he felt presences covering the entrance to the Quest Hall—none other than the three guards he had seen before.
"Stop!"
"We need you to show us your Lower Partner ID," they ordered.
But suddenly, they saw Ryuk’s motion pause in the air and then begin to fade away into nothing.
"An afterimage!?"
In the next instant, they all turned their heads behind them, but when they spotted Ryuk, he was already seventy meters away.
They barely had time to react before he vanished entirely from their sight.
"Just who is that bastard, and why does he give me so many goosebumps?" one of the guards muttered, furrowing his brows as he stared toward the direction where Ryuk had disappeared.
But then, a new figure soon caught their gaze.
They raised their hands, trying to stop Arthur, but suddenly, he too faded into thin air, disappearing into nothing.
"What the hell!?"
---
"High-Grade Interdimensional Gates—Point X."
Ryuk mused under his breath as he moved through the academy grounds, trying to wrap his head around the map and find the best route to his destination.
But he soon felt a magnifying presence behind him, and he furrowed his brows as he looked over his shoulder.
"What are you doing, Arthur?" Ryuk asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Coming with you."
"Why?"
It had been helpful for Arthur to assist him in tracking down Morgaine’s location and getting him out of trouble with those guards, but that was where Ryuk had expected his involvement to end.
They weren’t really that close for Arthur to follow him into a Pseudo-Lord Ranked Portal—that was far too much unnecessary trouble.
"You won’t be able to get out of the academy with brute power. The only way to get in or out is either through a teleporter or through an authorized quest jet—which I have," Arthur said.
Ryuk’s sharp gaze turned toward the air in the distance, where something large roared toward them. Moments later, a jet appeared beside them, hovering a few inches in the air.
"Even if you somehow get out of the Psionic Barriersurrounding teh academy, the High-Grade Interdimensional Gates are an entire force on their own."
"They are responsible for keeping the gates in check, even Lord-Ranked ones, and they hold the greatest concentration of Cataclysm Stage Officials—probably in the entire world.
"You won’t just be allowed to waltz in without any sort of identification card. In whatever way you manage to get in, you’ll no doubt be delayed a lot, which is something you wouldn’t want…
"So I have to come with you if you have any chance of success."
"Why?" Ryuk repeated his earlier question.
Arthur was helping him a lot—far too much. Ryuk knew he wasn’t close enough to him to deserve all this assistance.
So why? Why was Arthur helping him?
"If I remember correctly, you saved me at the last second from that Titan’s final attack. I haven’t had a chance to repay that debt yet."
"And also, it’s just me being helpful to one of my own race," Arthur replied as the hatch to the jet opened up, sweeping white gas out into the air.
Arthur stepped in before turning his head back, finding Ryuk still standing outside.
"Hey, you coming or what? We don’t exactly have much time, do we?" Arthur asked.
Ryuk’s furrowed brows settled, and he climbed up.
Truly, Arthur was acting suspiciously—almost like a magnet.
But if he wanted to get to Morgaine fast, Arthur’s help was needed.
’I’ll just put that aside for now. I’ll find out what he wants soon enough…’ Ryuk thought to himself before climbing in after him.
The jet hatch closed up, and in the next instant, a fiery blaze of purple energy erupted forth before quickly dissipating into the distance as the jet pierced through the air at Mach 7—easily ripping through the sound barrier seven times. And it wasn’t even stopping yet.
---
Two Hours Later…
"You see what I’m saying?"
A voice resounded through the pilot room, where two people could be seen—one sitting down and maneuvering the jet, while the other stood beside him, his brows furrowed as he stared down at the countless individuals below.
"It’s an entire army..." Ryuk replied with an exhale as he observed the scene beneath him.
The ground was littered with so many individuals they looked like ants, coming from various races. But if there was one jaw-dropping fact about them…
It was the fact that they were all at the Cataclysm Stage.
Thousands of Cataclysm Stage Experts gathered in one are!
It was like looking down at an army of Grade A Beasts.
Such a sight would no doubt instill fear into the hearts of anyone who saw them.
"Good thing we took the jet, or do you think you’d have been able to get through the crowd?" Arthur asked with a smirk.
Surprisingly, it was a question that Ryuk entertained.
’Would I have been able to get through an army of Cataclysm Stage experts?’
He asked himself, furrowing his brows, a small light shining in his eyes from the challenge.
But he soon toned it down.
"Maybe I can. But it’ll take a lot of time—a time I don’t think I have right now. In the end, coming with Arthur was the best decision," Ryuk mused to himself.
The jet rapidly continued forward, and soon, they sighted an area where they could land.
Immediately, Arthur maneuvered the jet downward, landing on the port before they both got out.
The moment they stepped out, they were faced with a woman who was at the Cataclysm Stage. She greeted Arthur with a smile, showing Ryuk that they likely knew each other.
But then, she furrowed her brows at Ryuk.
"Back so quickly, Arthur? Didn’t you just leave the F-Gates a day or two ago?" the lady asked with a smile, pulling Arthur into a bear hug.
That was when she noticed Ryuk standing behind him.
"And who’s the new guy?"
"Oh, just a new Lower Partner of mine," Arthur replied casually.
"More importantly Jasmine, we’re here for an important backup mission for the one undertaking the Lord-Ranked Gate of the DrocGoblins," Arthur said, passing Jasmine his card.
She viewed it with furrowed brows before nodding.
"I’ll give you permission, but be careful. It’s a Pseudo-Lord Ranked Portal, after all..." she said as she led both Arthur and Ryuk toward a particular gate in the distance.
’Hang on, Morgaine.’