"That's true..." Ryuk muttered beneath his breath.
He still hadn't named his second pet, and that just went to show how much more time he needed with it.
"Well, what do you think of Voidy, um? Cool name, since it's as dark as the void, and it also uses a Void Portal teleportation ability..." Morgaine suggested.
Ryuk's eyes flashed with light.
"Voidy, huh?" He mused but then shook his head.
"That sounds girly."
"Void! That is perfect!" he said, his brilliant eyes flashing as Morgaine rolled her eyes.
"What do you say, buddy? Void, huh?" Ryuk asked, lifting the Void Kitten up like a baby.
His fingers vibrated as he scratched its armpit, causing it to release a gurgling purring sound.
[Congratulations, Host has successfully named his new pet, Void]
[Rewards:
1. System Shop Integration of Void's attributes will now begin!
2. Host's bond with Void has successfully doubled.]
The notification flashed in front of Ryuk as he nodded in satisfaction.
'Good,' Ryuk mused to himself, lying back on his bed as Void nestled on the pillow, its tiny side pressing against his cheek.
Silence eventually covered the room, and as peace descended, the light naturally dimmed.
The rhythm of the illumination slowed, until the moonlight was the brightest source in the cozy bedroom.
Ryuk felt a body wrap around him like a snake, and he could only roll his eyes at first when he felt hot breath on the side of his face.
But then, his expression changed into a small smile when he saw Morgaine had truly dozed off.
No that she was trying to be a clingy Isha.
The silence of the room and its coziness eventually made his eyelids grow heavy. Just as he was about to drift off, his eyes flickered open—because the instant he closed them, he saw it.
A shadowy hand, stretching out from where its owner's face should have been.
A sudden jerk of fear coursed through him, his body vibrating intensely.
His heartbeat spiked, pounding hard against his ribs, and the sudden movement startled Morgaine awake.
She furrowed her eyebrows upon sensing his pounding heart, then opened her eyes to see cold air leaving Ryuk's lips—more than usual.
"What's wrong?" Morgaine asked.
Ryuk exhaled before forcing a reassuring smile.
"It's fine. Now, shoo away, go to sleep," he said, pulling her closer into his embrace.
She didn't refuse, and soon her breathing became slow and rhythmic as she drifted off once more.
Hours passed. The stars brightened, marking the darkest hour of the night.
Yet Ryuk's eyes remained open.
He only closed them when Morgaine stirred, because every time he shut them, all he saw was the horror of that nightmarish figure.
"I'm not strong enough. I need more strength. More Power to face the fears..."
________
In a world as dark as the deepest abyss…
There was no sky—only an endless, crushing void, stretching infinitely in all directions.
No stars.
No moons.
Not even the illusion of distant light.
The very concept of illumination seemed to have been erased, devoured by a darkness so absolute it felt alive, pressing down like gravity.
The ground beneath was not soil, nor stone, but a surface that seemed solid yet shifted beneath the feet, as if refusing to be truly real.
Cracks laced through its abyssal expanse, pulsing with a darkness so deep that it was visible even in the void itself—the last traces of energy from long-forgotten worlds.
Here, in this forsaken land, nothing was dead.
Because nothing had ever truly been alive.
Towering above the forsaken landscape were the Dark Castles.
Monolithic structures of blackened voidstone, their jagged spires reached high, yet were consumed by the endless night above, making them seem without end.
A single glance would make one doubt they had ever been built at all.
Rather, it felt as if they had grown out from the Abyss itself.
Their surfaces shifted and rippled like the ground beneath them, seeming to slip in and out of existence at will.
All bore gaping maws instead of doors, as if they devoured anything that dared to enter.
Others had unmoving figures carved into their exteriors, barely distinguishable from the walls they were fused with—watching.
But then, there were the true horrors of this place.
The creatures.
They lurked in the open, yet somehow remained hidden.
Beings of abyssal corruption, their bodies flickered between form and formlessness, dark energy rolling off them like dying flames—yet never truly fading.
They seemed no different from mutated beasts, except for the slight distinguishable features that warped them into something far worse.
Some had elongated limbs that dragged across the blackened ground, while others were eyeless, yet aware.
And for their bodies… the darkness pulsated like flames.
Not heat. Not light.
But something else entirely.
Something that dissolved sanity upon prolonged exposure.
Abyssal Energy.
They did not move at all, yet the moment one gazed at the blackened ground, they would see millions of these flickering, unblinking eyes staring back at them.
And in the heart of this darkness…
There was a castle—twice as large and twice as dark as the others.
Yet unlike the others, which bore gaping maws for doors, this one had gates.
Pitch-black iron, lined with intricate carvings of crimson, as if painted with fresh blood.
It was the only castle with a color other than darkness.
Then, before the gates, a humongous figure emerged.
Towering at nearly twelve meters in height, its form was shrouded in abyssal energy.
If one looked closely, they would notice something off—of its five monstrous fingers, two were missing, severed cleanly, yet still oozing with intense, writhing abyssal power.
The figure raised its massive palm to the gates.
A ripple of energy emanated from its touch, spreading through it.
Then—
DROOOOOOOOOOOOOONE!
A deep, droning sound rang out as the gates creaked open, revealing nothing but pitch-blackness beyond. The towering figure stepped in.
Within, a chamber stood—one it had walked into countless times before.
Then—
BOOOOOOOM!
It was the sound of a knee crashing to the ground.