Truly, he had told her he would call after a week.
He had even promised.
But not only had a week passed—a total of three weeks had gone by.
And he never called. Neither did he pick up her calls.
As much as he wanted to argue that it was because he was in slumber—and that if he had been awake, he would have definitely called—Morgaine, or anyone for that matter, would never believe such an excuse.
A person remaining in cultivation for three weeks straight, without consciousness, was unheard of.
But that wasn't the case for Ryuk.
He was made of Nanobots, and once his body began its evolution, his consciousness was completely snuffed out.
He could remain in that state for weeks—or even months afterall, his last evolution had kept him in slumber for six months straight.
But Morgiane didn't understand this.
And that made it feel as if she was the only one who cared about their relationship.
When Morgiane had asked him if he wasn't afraid of losing her, a pang of pain tore through Ryuk's heart.
One could call it fear, or something else, but the only thing that had shaken him more than that moment—was the figure from his last Nightmare.
It was almost as if he had come dangerously close to losing something important.
And that was why he had pushed himself to the limit, speeding up his return to her.
And now, with Morgaine in his arms once more, that pang of fear seemed to settle and soon faded away.
After a long, deep embrace, Morgaine rose from his chest.
Her eyes locked onto his before she leaned forward and kissed him.
Silence followed for a while.
Then, as the kiss ended, Morgiane exhaled.
A puff of snow-white air escaped her lips.
"You've gotten colder," she said with a smile.
But then, her eyes narrowed.
She furrowed her brows as her gaze fixed on Ryuk's forehead.
And in the next instant—her eyes widened in absolute shock.
Her smile faded, replaced by sheer horror.
"You… How?" Morgiane stammered, her voice trembling.
Ryuk frowned, reaching up to touch his forehead. But he felt nothing unusual.
"What?"
"You… You've reached the Cataclysm Stage?!" Morgiane blurted out in disbelief.
The last time she saw Ryuk, he was only at the Initial Stage of the Plane of Dominion.
And now, three weeks later, he had already broken through the entire cultivation base—reaching the Cataclysm Stage?!
Three weeks!
To advance through an entire cultivation base in just three weeks… That was impossible!
It had never been done before. And it should never have been possible.
Cultivation takes years.
And once someone reaches the Cataclysm Stage, their progression slows to a crawl.
At that stage, every cultivator begins nearing their peak potential, making breakthroughs much harder.
Most people at the Cataclysm Stage had spent at least fifty years trying to advance further.
And even then, Morgiane had never heard of anyone reaching the Peak of the Cataclysm Stage—except her monster of a mother, whose power was beyond anything she could comprehend.
"You really were in slumber for three weeks," Morgiane muttered.
This time, she confirmed it for herself.
It was the only logical explanation.
For three weeks straight, Ryuk had remained in cultivation—completely unconscious.
But even then, it shouldn't have been possible.
Cultivation was one thing… but excessive cultivation risked overloading one's internal energy, destroying both body and soul.
Ryuk tilted his head slightly and scanned Morgiane's aura.
A smirk played at his lips.
"Hmmm… You've also reached the Peak of the Dominion Stage," he noted.
"One more step, and you'll enter the Cataclysm Stage."
Her energy had increased substantially since the last time he saw her.
She had moved from the Core Stage to the Peak Stage.
"Tch." Morgiane clicked her tongue in dissatisfaction.
"I was planning to brag about that, and now you've already reached the Cataclysm Stage? You ruined it…" she grumbled, pouting.
Ryuk rolled his eyes but smiled at her antics.
Then his expression softened.
"Hey, Morgiane. I—"
"It's fine now, Ryuk."
She cut him off before he could say more.
"I thought you were ignoring my calls on purpose. But now I see the truth for myself. You've really been training hard…" Morgiane exhaled in relief.
"I don't blame you anymore."
DRIIIIIIIIIIIIING!
DRIIIIIIIIIIIIING!
The sound of ringing filled the room.
Both of them turned toward Ryuk's wrist, where the call was coming from.
On his communicator, the caller ID flashed:
[MadWhite]
[Voice Call]
[Accept] [Reject]
Ryuk brows furrowed.
"One second," he said, rising to his feet to step outside.
But before he could move, he felt a firm grip on his wrist.
He turned, only to see Morgaine holding him back.
She yanked him down, making him sit back beside her.
"Pick it up here. I want to hear it too," she said.
Her eyes left no room for negotiation.
Ryuk could only shrug helplessly as he swiped to accept the call.
MadWhite's voice rang out—taunting, but amused.
"Seems like you're finally out of your cave, Kiddo."
Ryuk smiled wryily.
"I just did."
"It's been three weeks, Ryuk. You said you'd be out in two. Don't tell me you slumbered off like a beast?"
MadWhite chuckled.
Ryuk nodded.
"I did. But I'm back now."
"Good." MadWhite's tone shifted.
"And I'll say this—you woke up at the right time."
Ryuk's eyes narrowed.
"The right time?"
"Porion City's sky is starting to darken with the portal."
"We still don't know when the Knulls will emerge… but it's happening soon."
Morgiane's expression stiffened, but she remained silent.
"How are things going? What about the human soldiers? And the Ten Family Soldiers?" Ryuk asked.
"Three weeks. That's how much time we had, Ryuk."
"It was enough to evacuate the humans from Porion City. Right now, there isn't a single human civilian left in the city. We moved them somewhere safe—Grade B."
"That should at least lessen the casualties when the Knulls attack…"
"Right now, the Human Armies are stationed beneath the portal."
"Trust me, we're armed to the teeth."
"But the Ten Family Soldiers?"
"The only thing they sent… was the media."
"They're out there setting up recording drones and live cameras—preparing to broadcast everything."