"We're here..." Aster called out as Ryuk got off the bike, taking off his helmet, his dual irises scanning the environment.
It was an endless desert, with sand so hot that he felt his skin sizzle continuously, steam rising from the intense heat.
"Just where in hell is this place?" he muttered under his breath, gazing at the endless peak of sand stretching as far as the eyes could see.
"I think it's called the Shahara Desert on the map or something?" Aster said, her footsteps crunching through the sand as she arrived beside Ryuk, who turned his gaze to her, his eyes flashing when he saw the device in her hand which she was staring at.
"You have a communication device?" Ryuk asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Of course. And I don't have to throw it away because I'm not being chased for my life..." Aster replied, placing extra emphasis toward the last part of her words as Ryuk rolled his eyes.
"I don't seem to be running for my life, do I?"
"Yes, you are. You threw your device away so it couldn't be tracked. That's part of running away," Aster said, stopping to look at Ryuk to further stress her point.
As he looked into those blue irises that only seemed to stretch the point further, he could only give in at the end.
"I guess you're right..." he said, drawing a satisfied smirk on Aster's face before she resumed walking.
"So, you're afraid of death, huh?" Aster poked, as Ryuk rolled his eyes.
"Who in the world can claim not to be afraid of death?"
"The Knulls aren't," Aster said with a shrug, drawing a pause from Ryuk.
"Huh?"
"The Knulls. They're not afraid of death. At least, I've never seen one that is before—except for you," Aster said, as Ryuk scoffed.
"Yeah, right. Keep rubbing it on me."
"I'm just stating fact. You're a weird Knull," Aster said, but she only drew silence from Ryuk, who simply continued his work, ignoring her.
But then he took about six more steps, and when he took the seventh—
BAAADDDUUUUUMP
His heart skyrocketed within his chest as his eyes widened in shock.
He felt a powerful pulse ripple through his body, momentarily turning the world colourless.
Ryuk instantly took back his leg and retreated three steps in shock.
Only then did he feel the sensation disappear, but still, his heart was thudding loudly in fear.
"There's something ahead. Something powerful!" Ryuk said as he turned to Asteralaxia, but only saw her holding a neutral expression.
"Yeah, I know. That's why I brought you here."
"What?"
"You remember when I said I'm done with my seclusion and the next level isn't something I can reach by simple meditation? Seems like to reach the next level, I have to face one troublesome creature here."
"Hey, you told me you had a place for me to lie low. And this?" Ryuk said, looking at the endless desert and whatever was in the distance making his heart surge.
"This isn't some peaceful place to lie low."
"Who said anything about peaceful? Lie-low means don't get seen by others, no? You won't get seen here," Asteralaxia said, but then watched as Ryuk turned his back.
"Yeah. I'm out," he said, turning away.
But just before he could, he felt his shoulder grabbed by Aster as she tried to look into his eyes.
"Don't turn back," she said, but watched as Ryuk slipped his shoulder from her grasp before he turned back and kept walking.
"You know, Aster. The Apex energy here is really hot. And did I mention I don't like the sun? This is a bad place to lie low. I'll find a better place..."
"Oops. And you did it," Aster said with a sad sigh, causing Ryuk to pause mid-step and turn to her.
"Did what?"
"I told you not to turn your back against the Ruin Guardian, and you did."
"The Ruin what?" he asked but then quieted down as he looked at the world—and found it had changed into a colorless, white and grey state.
The golden sun had turned a dull white, and the blue clouds had become a pale grey.
The golden sand had turned black, and even Aster had become white and black—including him.
"Wait. I've felt this before. This is the Ashra Dimension!" Ryuk called out, as he was about to turn to Aster—when his gaze snapped down to his chest and his eyes widened in shock.
A black staff was hovering mere inches away from him, held by a short figure covered in dirty dreadlocks, their body obscured by darkness.
"Namurga Murta!"
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM
An incredibly powerful explosion burst out as Ryuk felt a colossal force slam into his chest before he could react.
He was unceremoniously tossed backwards with immense speed, leaving nothing but a trail of grey liquid in the air as he crashed into the sand multiple times, before forcing himself to stop his motion—something he found surprisingly harder than normal.
The next instant, as he finally came to a halt, his right knee gave way, and he collapsed onto the ground.
BLEEEERRGGGGGGGHHHHH
A wave of grey liquid splashed out of Ryuk's lips as his eyes flashed in shock.
Looking at his chest, he saw a colossal hole—and from within, he could faintly see his still-beating heart bubbling.
He had barely been able to shift his heart to the side at the last second—or else it would've been blown apart by the force, and he would have most likely died not long after.
'I... I almost died!?'
The words echoed in Ryuk's mind, the horror in his eyes slowly turning into something else.
Anger.
Furiously blazing anger.
In the next instant, he raised up his head, a pitch darkness that completely blinded the light in them, as his teeth clenched madly in his jaw before he forced out
"YOU WILL PAY WITH YOUR DEATH!"
------
A/N:
If you're enjoying the novel, consider voting the novel with Golden Tickets and Power stones. It helps I, the author, with visibility on the NovelFire app.
In and Out_SnowySmoos