"The information of your existence..." High Scholar Emeris said as both he and Ryuk continued their walk, bypassing many silvery gates and guards, along with multitudes of men and women from their race.
"I received it from a colleague of mine who works at the Sewage. When he informed me of your body being made of some weird nanobots that he thought I would definitely love to see, I had to request for you to be brought into my lab."
"But as a result of my decision, a tiny problem emerged amongst the people," he said, drawing Ryuk's interest.
"Here, we have a King and a Queen, along with a Council of Elders."
"And when a decision—such as whether an object from the Sewage Gate should be brought in—arises, we must request the opinions of the people."
"We do this for every single decision."
"The elders then discuss it, and the King makes the final choice—always siding with the majority of the people."
"Seems like a pretty balanced hierarchy to make everyone feel important," Ryuk said, earning a pleased nod from High Scholar Emeris.
"But when the decision to bring you into the Royal House was brought up, every single one of the people said no," he added, and Ryuk's eyes flashed.
"Not a single person agreed."
"For one, we of the Silverunic race do not allow strangers into our Royal House unless they are of paramount importance—like the King or Queen of another race."
"Only those are welcomed."
"Any other is not allowed to step into the royal home, and even the kings and queens of other races have a limited time by which they can stay."
"We are a race that does not welcome outsiders at all, as any time in our past, we noticed they were usually the ones responsible for the chaos in our homes."
"It was a lesson that cost us an arm before we learned it," he said, and Ryuk nodded.
"But the stakes surrounding you were far too important for me. And therefore, I went to the King and vehemently asked—maybe even ordered—him to bring you in."
"He was reluctant to refuse me, so in the end, he allowed you in. A simple decision, but one that went against all of the decisions of the race."
"It was the first time the King had acted in a way contrary to the ruling of his people and the Council of Elders—who are dearer to him than his own arms."
"He's taking the blame for that right now as we speak, with many of the people still focused on why he would act in such a way. And, of course, they don't know I'm behind it either," he said to Ryuk, who nodded in understanding.
"But of course, if the King would risk the trust of his people for me, he will definitely want to see my end result. He would want to see that the decision of going against his people's wish for once in so long a time... was worth it, won't he?"
"He will," Ryuk responded.
"That's where we're going right now. To the throne room. I want to show you to him."
"Just letting you know beforehand, so you don't find it too sudden," he said, and Ryuk nodded in understanding.
They both soon arrived at a square-like platform with two guards standing to the side, and they both stood on it.
The guards' faces were neutral as they swerved a glass orb by the side, and Ryuk watched as silvery runes rose up across the face of the square, forming a glass-like barrier around them.
Then, the square began descending through the floors, like an elevator.
Even though Ryuk's eyes marveled at the surroundings, his attention was more on the thoughts in his mind.
'A race called the Silverunics.'
'They operate on a democracy-like hierarchy with a King and Queen and a Council of Elders, all run by the decision of the majority.'
'And right now, the majority are not favouring me at all.'
'If anything, they're against me,' Ryuk analysed, piecing together the tiny bits of information he had been informed of by High Scholar Emeris.
'If I fuck up one bit, it will be hard to escape punishment.'
'For one, the people are waiting for one way for the King to redeem his action of not listening to them.'
'What better way than for me to be punished in the face of them all—or worse... be killed,' Ryuk thought to himself.
'But that isn't the most worrying part.'
'The most worrying thing is... I feel weak as fuck.'
'I can't find my Ice Cultivation Veins in me, and I can't find my Void Veins either.'
'I can't feel my Primordial Gate in my consciousness again! It's like I've lost everything!' Ryuk thought, a bit of horror radiating through his entire body, which he hid with a seemingly marvelous expression on his face.
'I don't know how strong these people are.'
'The Cataclysm Stage?'
'The Eternity Stage?'
'I can't sense their power at all. It's like a blindfold over my eyes.'
'The inability to sense someone's cultivation would normally mean they're far beyond me in cultivation, but with me being such a weakling right now... I don't know how true that is.'
'I hate this feeling. This feeling of weakness, and absolute lack of control over my own life,' Ryuk thought, his marvellous expression unchanged as he watched the descending platform slowly come to a stop.
Before him was a long silvery-white balcony that had a middle open space, and about a hundred meters away stood a gigantic 15 meters tall white gate, with silvery runes dancing across its surface.
But what was more startling was the fact that there were about a hundred guards, all standing at a height of 3 meters, holding gigantic swords embedded into the ground beneath them—lined up on each opposite side of the wall until the gate itself.
And at the end of the gate, Ryuk could see a total of two gigantic beings standing at 7 meters in height, wearing full body armor covered in runes, their burning silvery eyes already staring at Ryuk from a distance of 100 meters away, and clearly increasing the pressure on him.
"This Path, Ryuk. The King is just behind that door."