The howling was like that of the abyss as two silvery bullets blasted out of the Abyssal Howlers.
The resultant force sent Ryuk tanking backward with speed.
A sharp Ka-cha—the sound of his shoulder bones shattering to pieces—rang out, yet he smiled through the pain as he watched the bullets appear instantaneously before Xyphos, whose eyes widened in shock.
In the next instant, Xyphos reacted, as all of its claws instantly lashed toward the two bullets. But then—
BUUUUUUURRRRSSSST
BUUUUUUUURRRRSSTT
Xyphos' entire arms burst into pieces the moment they came into contact with the bullets, which continued on their path.
One of them lodged straight into its neck, instantly blasting off its entire head, while the other appeared on Xyphos' chest and then—
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
A gigantic hole appeared as the entirety of Xyphos' upper body was blown into nothing, his void-like essence fading into the air.
[Congratulations, Host has successfully eliminated a Knull Wanderer, Xyphos!]
[Rewards: +100,000 EXP!]
In the next instant, Ryuk felt his back slam into a hard scale as Isha instantly appeared behind him, picking him back onto her back, and then—
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
Shockwaves undulated behind her as she shot down through the clouds with horrific speed, flashing forward toward the Last Knull.
When Ryuk saw the ground once more, he observed that it had been completely covered in those huge chains that sought to bind their movement.
But Isha never stopped at all as she opened her maws, blasting Ice Pillars ahead, freezing the chains and slowing them down just enough for her to swiftly weave through them.
When they wrapped around her, her claws moved out and slashed them into pieces before she continued on her way toward Berknul, unperturbed.
[Mana Left: 50]
[Endurance: 20!]
[WARNING! HOST IS IN A CRITICAL STATE!]
[ALL ACTIVE ABILITIES HAVE BEEN SUSPENDED!]
The notification flashed before Ryuk's hazy eyes as he felt himself lose all of his activated skills, his domain unraveling, and his King's Aura dissipating into nothing.
Yet his eyes remained on Verknul, flashing as he located a core at the center of Vekrunlyl's tree-like structure.
Ryuk readied his bullet.
The world seemed to fade away under his focus, leaving just him and his target alone.
The Abyssal Howlers faced their prey before—
HOOOOWWWWWWLL
HOOOOOOWWWWWL
Two howls resounded as the bullets tore out with speed, the same time as about 300 chains instantly wrapped at all over Isha's figure, slamming her body into the ground.
A single chain cut through Ryuk, separating his arm and half his upper body away from him.
BUUUUUUUUURRRSSSSST
Red veins coated Ryuk's eyes from the horrific pain as blood burst out of his lips.
His body collapsed to the side, crashing through the ground and skidding harshly across its surface before finally coming to a stop.
But as a nauseating, evil smirk laid on his lips, he looked forward, finding his shot appearing before Verknul, who now had thousands of abyssal, rotting chains appearing around his body, covering him completely.
"It's futile!" Ryuk called out, and just like he said, the gun ripped through the cocoon of chains covering Verknul before instantly blasting into its body.
For a few moments, nothing happened.
Then, suddenly—
KAAAABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
A terrifying explosion rocked the entire world, reaching into the skies as Verknul's body exploded with a loud bang.
A powerful storm raged through the entire place, blasting Ryuk's body away, slamming him into a mountain as blood burst out of him for the second time.
His body hit the ground face-flat—only to land on Isha's scaled back.
"Here, Isha. Fly." That was the last thing Ryuk could say as a vial appeared in his hand before the world finally descended into pitch darkness, and he fell onto the ground, absolutely battered.
Isha's eyes furrowed at the vial in her hands before she popped open the bottle, downing half of it before pouring the remainder into Ryuk's lips.
Then, with one swift motion, she lifted Ryuk onto her back before soaring into the clouds with speed, disappearing from the area.
Barely a minute after Isha disappeared, three beings appeared.
The crumbling mountains halted in the sky as if gravity had been paused completely, with the air refusing to move an inch and spacetime itself being placed into disarray from the monstrous power oozing from these beings.
Their eyes looked at the devastation carved in front of them, bearing no change in expression, before they turned their gaze to each other, some bit of light flashing in them.
And in the next instant, space rippled around them as they faded into thin air, leaving the destruction as it was.
________
"You're a fool. You know that, right?"
The voice sounded out as the world slowly came into view.
It appeared blurry—very blurry—but then it began settling as he felt control returning to him.
His cognitive ability slowly returned before he felt his arms and legs once more.
A long time passed—one he couldn't quite fathom—before he finally regained full control of his body and the world around him.
Right now, he was in a sitting position, his back resting against the wall.
Then, he turned his face forward, and there, he found a throne room—but with two thrones instead.
On one of them, the Blue-Scaled Ryuk sat. On the other, the Crimson-Scaled Ryuk.
The one who had asked him that question was none other than the Crimson-Scaled Ryuk, whose furrowed eyes were on Ryuk's figure, brimming with anger.
Ryuk also noticed that the Blue-Scaled Ryuk had the same expression—though to a lesser extent compared to the red-scaled one, seemingly of displeasure instead of anger.
"Seems like I'm back here again..." Ryuk muttered out loud as he relaxed his exhausted body, feeling the weirdly intense weakness that covered every part of him.
But then, his eyes flashed open when a powerful air blast rang across the room, and in an instant—
Ryuk's eyes bulged with red veins as he felt a hand wrap around his neck, lifting him up.
The Crimson-scaled Ryuk's eyes flashed with billowing anger.
"I said you're a fool!"