Ryuk turned to look at the Merman and he noticed his cultivation.
"Peak of the Cataclysm stage?" he mused to himself before exhaling loudly, the water before him freezing and then thawing as his eyes focused.
"Here..." he said as he flung out Grent's head towards the man, who reached for it and quickly passed it to another guard at the side, who rushed off into the distance with Grent's head.
'He… he truly let me live!?' Grent thought in shock and disbelief as the side of his eyes barely caught the sight of Ryuk's image, covered up by the cloud guards.
He had thought his death was no doubt done—Ryuk would, without a doubt, kill him once they arrived in the Latis Kingdom.
That was why he had telepathically called the soldiers together on their way, to make sure they would seek revenge for him.
But here he was, being rushed off to care, with some bit of life—just enough to make sure he survived the ordeal.
In the end, he had proven to be a man of his words.
But would that save him from his own death that he himself was about to face?
"Listen to me, Merman..." Ryuk said as he addressed the fiery-looking Merman directly.
"I'm not here to cause any trouble."
"And what are you here to cause then? Murder and death!?" the man shot back as Ryuk shook his head before he brought out his device.
In the next instant, an holographic projection appeared in the water.
The hologram projected some sort of map, with a single beaming red light and a green light that didn't seem all that far off from each other.
"As you can see, I'm tracking down one of mine. The red dot. And as you all can see, she's somewhere in these waters."
"I only want to get her and take her back. That's all I want and why I'm here..."
"If you'll allow me, we'll be able to stop the senseless murder, and I'll do what I came here to do and leave peacefully," Ryuk offered to them.
While he could easily rip his scythe through them all—none of them were as strong as he was, and all it would take was a little time.
He had placed himself in their shoes and was quick to learn that they didn't deserve their death, at least not from his hands.
Right now, he might be here for Asteralaxia, but really, he was intruding in their territory and therefore an invader.
If he killed them, that would cement that fact, no matter what his goals were.
If he could stop the senseless death with just a few words, then he felt no need to kill senselessly anymore.
Porion looked at the young man before him, and even though his heart refused to give in, he felt a chill down his spine.
Even though he seemed barely old enough to grow a beard, the boy before him radiated the aura of an Early Stage of the Cataclysm, but what shocked him the most was the sense of danger that still filled his heart.
Even though he was at the Early Cataclysm stage and he himself was at the peak, he still felt his own body quivering, telling him not to confront the figure before him.
And the way he was calm, even though they completely surrounded him…
The plea he had made wasn't one from fear at all. Instead, it was like a calm offer that he didn't mind if they refused.
'Mysterious. Too mysterious…' Porion thought in his heart before his hands tightened, and in the next instant, he raised his trident and slammed the butt of it into the ground.
Instantly, the merman quickly regrouped themselves, as their formation surrounded Ryuk—not pointing at him, but facing his back instead.
"I'll take you up on your offer—but on one condition. You will return with us to our Guardian. Everyone, invader or visitor, must all pay a visit to the Guardian," Porion said as Ryuk's eyes furrowed but then flashed in understanding.
'If I've truly arrived in the Aquatic Race world, then finding Aster will be easier if I have some sort of guide.'
'Whoever the Guardian is, he must be pretty good with the area, and I doubt Aster is the one to stay quietly here. I should be able to get some answers and make my search easier…'
"Fine by me," Ryuk said with a helpless shrug as Porion nodded and they both began their walk.
Ryuk walked on both feet while the rest swam on their huge sharks, and Porion simply used his fish tail.
Since they descended, they continued further and further until they arrived before a large gate that reached up as far as the eye could see—and as wide as the eye could see.
Ryuk watched as the merman swarm forward and then raised up his trident, tapping it on the gate on a random place before deep blue light flashed on its surface, and a gate was revealed.
A small gate guarding a total of three pinholes in the middle.
Porion dipped his trident's sharp fork into these holes, before twisting it up and down. Then, blue light emanated from his trident, swimming into the holes in the gate.
A pulse of blue lights then swarmed forward from the point of contact, outwardly winding to the entirety of the gate as Porion took his trident off the hole of the gate, and then…
GRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUM
The sound of heavy opening resounded as the gate slowly opened up, and Ryuk's eyes furrowed before he shut both of them closed when he felt an incredibly bright source of light—as if the sun had been opened up right in his face—causing him to snap both eyes shut.
But it wasn't long before he opened them again, and his jaw dropped to the ground when he saw what was before him.
"This…!?"
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A/N:
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In and Out_SnowySmoos