It was a Dual Axe.
Each half holding two crescent blades shimmering with celestial fire, their edges glowing with the searing intensity of the red energy that had formerly surrounded the gauntlets.
Intricate blood-red patterns blazed within the crimson core of each blade held at their centre, pulsing in a powerful rhythm like a living heart.
It was a weapon that seemed to scream of its ability to easily cleave through nations or legions, declaring its eternal dominion over them.
And when held in the titan of a warrior before him, they further accentuated his awe-inspiring might and power.
"This is my last chance. If I fail to defeat him now, then it all ends..." Ryuk muttered to himself as he heaved.
His eyes slowly closed before they opened again—one crimson, the other blue—both blazing with light.
Calmly, Ryuk raised his hand to the surface, one of his fingers wrapping around the other.
"Domain Expansion: Winter's Solace..."
The instant the words were uttered, a pin-drop silence completely covered the entire room. Even the thrumming energy of the axe was no exception, as reality warped.
The golden throne room shattered into pieces as if its reality had been nothing but a believable illusion, and what replaced it was a snow-white, endless plain.
Hills covered in surreal snow manifested from thin air.
Snowflakes rained from the sky, and an aura of peace and dawning quiet descended onto the area amidst the thickening pressure.
Even the warrior's eyes flashed as he rose upright, locking onto the sight of the snow raining down.
"Snowflakes?" he muttered, his axe hanging in the air.
He stretched out his hand, one of the star-shaped snowflakes falling onto his finger before melting within.
"A long time it's been..." he mused to himself but was immediately alerted by a fearsome energy wave descending close to him, rustling in his opening senses as he turned to face the source—a powerful silvery light that covered Ryuk.
His hair turned frosty white, rapidly elongating behind him as Ryuk once more activated Soveriegn of Eternal Frost, feeling the control over the surrounding frost increase powerfully.
But that wasn't all.
His already sky-reaching aura skyrocketed once more, breaking completely through the roof.
His long hair grew even whiter than snow but then began to flow like mist—constantly shifting between solid and liquid, twisting through the wind.
His skin became translucent, the inside containing glowing ice veins that shimmered with frost-shaped runic lines.
At the center of his chest, a brilliant crystalline core appeared, flaring with powerful silvery light.
From beneath his armpits, two more crystalline hands emerged, both ending in claws, as Ryuk exhaled loudly—a blizzard roaring through the snow-filled world.
[Host's Domain Skill Has Been Activated]
[Ability: Sovereign of Eternal Frost Has Been Activated]
[Ability: Frozen Physique Has Been Activated]
"It's not enough. Not enough," Ryuk muttered.
And then—
VROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
A powerful reverberation rang out as his crystallizing four-armed body began undergoing a new transformation.
Shimmering nanobot veins that had earlier gathered to form a veil now shaped themselves into something more structured—like a long-sleeved shirt that covered Ryuk's body like a cloth, rising straight to his wrists and neck—before another pair of nanobot-rendered fabrics formed beneath him in shape of a trouser that reached to his ankles.
[Ability: Abyssal Nano-Reaper Has Been Activated]
The resulting feat of reactivating both techniques at the same time created a draining force in Ryuk's body that made him feel bloated.
But he forced down the feeling as he turned, he looked at the man, who had re-gripped the axe with renewed focus.
His body leaned forward, a motion revealed his readiness to take-off.
"Are you done yet?" the man asked.
Ryuk's hands slowly reached out toward him, as a total of ten portals opened up five meters away from him, surrounding his body.
That was the signal that set the chaos in motion!
The icy ground fractured into thin lines.
Ryuk felt the force of the enemy pressing against him like an unstoppable tide.
Yet, his eyes closed even through the chaos, as he grounded himself in a brief stillness.
When his eyes reopened, locked onto the gradually approaching figure, his four arms extended outward and then—
CLEEENNNCCCHHHHCLLEEEENNNCCCHHCLEEENNNNCCCHHHCLEEEEENNNCCCHH
All four arms instantly clenched into one another.
[Skill: Frozen Spires Has Been Activated!]
In an instant, massive ice spikes burst forth from Ryuk, rapidly emerging toward the man—whose eyes blazed with intense, unrelenting intent.
And then—
"YAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"
A loud, powerful roar left his lips as incredible veins bulged out of his arms, and his grip on the axe tightened before he cleaved out diagonally, sending a powerful X shape arc toward the approaching ice spikes.
RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
The axe image tore through the ice spikes like they were nothing but brittle air, as the man tore through the explosion, appearing above Ryuk in an instant.
"Your cultivation of Apex Energy is only at the Cataclysm stage."
"Against my Eternity Stage Niagara Barberian Power. Its less than nothing!" The man said with a grin of mockery as his body jerked backward, raising the axe above his head and then—
RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP
Space in the path of the axe was instantly cleaved apart into nothing.
The axe image blasted toward Ryuk, the pressure and gravity so monumental that the ground crumbled from the sheer force.
Against the attack that lusted to cleave him through, Ryuk's hands moved as he waved his palm toward the approaching attack.
In the next instant, one of the Void Vortex
instantly appeared before the path of the powerful slash, the energy disappearing into it. And then—
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
A part of Ryuk's domain to the side was cleaved apart into nothing as the axe image came out from a second Void Vortex, transferred to the other side.
The man's eyes flashed, noticing how Ryuk had diverted his attack, but then grinned even harder as his axe flared with ever more fiery energy and he bore down toward Ryuk with even more speed.
"Cool defence. But let's see how powerful your vortexes really are..." he said, before his lips moved and he chanted:
"Barbarian Order of Niagara: Law Rendering Slash..."
Immediately, a powerful slash—this time, half the length of the previous yet radiating a power wave triple in might—blasted onto Ryuk.
'The Void Vortex would be slashed apart from that. If so..."
His gaze flashed, yet he remained calm as he moved his hands in an instant.
One of the vortexes moved and appeared beneath his feet, and Ryuk fell into it, instantly disappearing from the area—
CLEAAVVVVEEE
KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!