The massive gate creaked open, releasing a low, echoing groan that rippled through the depths of the water like a slow, ancient breath awakening from slumber.
A blinding light flooded out from within, so intense Ryuk instinctively shut both eyes tight.
For a moment, it felt like the sun itself had descended into the sea and kissed his very face.
But when he slowly opened them again, adjusting to the glow—his breath hitched.
What lay before him... shattered everything he thought he knew about the ocean's bottom.
"A... city?" he muttered aloud.
No, not just a city.
The city.
LANTIS!
It stretched on forever.
Massive domes of glass shimmered with neon blue and violet hues, casting an ethereal glow across the water like the Aurora Borealis caught in a bubble.
Towering spires of coral and obsidian danced in between the domes, their tops spiralling like helixes toward the ocean's surface, defying all logic of architecture.
Schools of fish with crystal-like scales zipped by in synchronized formation, their trails lighting up briefly in streaks of blue.
Giant manta rays, their wings carrying bioluminescent patterns, glided peacefully over wide roads paved with glistening sea-stone.
Mermen swam freely—some armoured, some dressed in elegant robes that flowed like ink in water.
Massive sharks swam lazily beside them, unbothered, docile... and most shocking of all... tamed!
Behind them, humanoid figures with fish-like scales—but unlike the mermen, they moved without tails.
Their bodies were lean, eyes glowing faintly with the familiar blue energy, their long hair drifting behind them like silk.
"The Aquataris," Porion said calmly beside him, noticing Ryuk's questioning eyes.
"They're like us, but... born of both sea and surface. They don't need tails to swim."
"Oh," Ryuk replied, eyes flashing.
They were just like Grent.
But then he noticed something peculiar. There were a lot more Aquataris with humanoid legs compared to the ones with fish tails.
As they moved deeper into the city, Ryuk noticed intricate carvings etched into every wall and pillar—scenes of battles, alliances, strange gods with kelp-like hair and finned crowns.
His eye lingered on one in particular—a mural of a glowing figure with a red crystal heart standing atop the ruins of a sunken warship, arms raised as sea creatures bowed.
"History?" Ryuk asked softly.
"A prophecy," Porion answered, his tone unusually distant.
Ryuk said nothing, simply taking in the detail, memorizing it.
The roads curved in strange patterns—some sloped upward into vertical tunnels of water that coiled like vines, others dipped into glowing caverns where creatures he'd never imagined scurried about.
Large circular hubs pulsed at intersections—public portals, as Ryuk watched aquatic people beamed in and out like ripples vanishing in still water.
Above them, floating islands of stone levitated by energy shone like tiny moons, housing elite towers or what looked like aquariums, gardens, and palaces.
And at the centre of it all, towering higher than anything else in sight—stood a colossal palace of silver, layered with translucent barriers and guarded by dozens of armoured figures. Tridents crossed, eyes glowing beneath ornate helmets.
Porion gestured toward it, his expression unreadable. "The Guardian resides there."
Ryuk's eyes narrowed.
"So... that's where we're going."
And yet, despite the beauty, the lights, and the unspoken reverence of Lantis—
He couldn't help but feel eyes on him.
Watching.
Judging.
Waiting, ever since he had stepped through the gate.
Beneath the calm currents and radiant glow, there was tension—like a note held too long in a song about to break.
But Ryuk showed nothing.
He wasn't here to fight.
He was here for her.
Asteralaxia.
And if this city held even the faintest trace of her...
He would find it.
No matter how deep he had to go.
They moved slowly.
Not because of fatigue.
But because every eye in Atlantis had turned to watch them.
Ryuk walked beside Porion through a great avenue of light.
The path, paved with a gleaming substance that pulsed faintly beneath their feet like the beat of a living thing, stretched all the way to the colossal structure ahead.
The Guardian's Hall.
It loomed like a sleeping god at the heart of the city—its arched walls made of crystallized stone, its gates taller than any tower Ryuk had seen above or below the surface.
Veins of glowing energy ran through it like a heartbeat, pulsing rhythmically, illuminating carved runes of an ancient language no human tongue could pronounce.
But it wasn't the Hall that made his steps careful.
It was the people.
Atlantis had slowed.
Mermen halted mid-swim.
The Aquataris stopped their silent gliding.
Traders paused by their coral stalls.
Guards shifted their stances, tridents drawn ever so slightly closer to their chests.
Eyes—thousands of them—watched him.
Some wide with awe.
Others narrowed with suspicion.
A few with something colder… fear.
"Why are they staring?" Ryuk whispered without looking at Porion.
"You're human," Porion answered, keeping his gaze ahead.
"It's not every day we get a human walking through the gates. Especially one escorted by the Gate Soldiers..." Porion replied, but in his heart, he felt compelled to add:
'...And walking on both feet instead of having been tied up with chains.'
As they walked, the water thickened—not literally, but emotionally. Like swimming through tension. Whispers slipped through the currents, too muffled to understand, but clear in tone. Caution. Worry. Rumors already being born.
Ryuk said nothing.
Porion, too, remained silent, until they finally arrived at the foot of the Guardian's Hall.
Two massive armoured figures stood before the gates, neither moving nor acknowledging them. They were built like mountains—eyes hidden behind masks, skin like smooth obsidian.
Their tridents radiated power Ryuk could feel from here.
Porion stopped.
"This is as far as I go."
Ryuk turned to him.
"You're all not coming in?"
"I wasn't summoned."
"And I was?"
Porion offered a tight nod. "Something inside that Hall wants to meet you. Don't lie. Don't bluff. Speak your truth, or the Hall itself might reject you."
Ryuk glanced at the towering gates, then back at the watching people still frozen behind him.
"I wasn't planning on lying anyway."
He stepped forward.
The guards did not move.
But the gates did.
With a low hum—deeper than anything he'd heard underwater—they parted slowly, opening like the jaws of a beast ready to judge whether to devour or accept.
Inside, a tunnel of glowing sapphire light stretched forward.
Ryuk took one last breath—and stepped through.
The gates closed behind him.
The whispers of Atlantis faded.
Now, only the voice of the deep remained.