"Have you seen the stream, Elder Celine?" The voice rang out through an icy throne room, where sat a figure on a throne, eyes looking at a holographic panel that was flickering before her gaze.
All of a sudden, the temperature dropped by a couple of hundred degrees, and emerging from the void was none other than a tall, white-haired woman, seemingly exiting from the Void to stand before the woman sitting on the throne.
"What stream?" she asked, but then raised her gaze to the holographic panel flashing in front of Queen Snowardo.
Her eyes and brow furrowed as she watched the footage, shock radiating in her crystallized blue gem of eyes.
The footage showed a video where a horned individual, whose face she couldn’t clearly see—faced an army of Knulls on his own.
But what surprised her the most was his action of killing a Knull King solo.
That was something even she herself couldn’t pull off—unless she went all out. And going all out would no doubt have its repercussions.
"When...?"
"When did this happen?" Elder Celine asked as Queen Snowardo responded.
"Just a couple of hours ago. According to my reports, both wars have already been stopped. And we have once more won the Sixth Knull Invasion."
"It’s safe to say he was the one responsible for that, as he had ordered all of the Eternity Guard experts fighting in Zone A to leave for Grade C and help out, while he himself faced this Knull army alone."
"And truly, he had done just that, ensuring both war victories."
"What’s scary isn’t the fact he got rid of a Knull King. It’s how easy he makes it look. He doesn’t seem like he’s being pushed to his limits at all," Queen Snowardo observed, as Elder Celine’s gaze furrowed.
But then, the temperature suddenly plummeted by another hundred degrees as a new figure appeared in the room.
It was a young lady, about the age of 18.
Snow-white skin—the clearest of white—was her complexion, and she stood about a height of 1.6 meters.
Clad in a white gown that held a hoodie, within the hoodie, one could see a young, innocent face with some parts of her cheek holding silvery-blue scales that flashed with blue runes in them.
The lady’s eyes were as cold as ice—no, even colder—and they scanned the two individuals in the room who turned their gaze to her.
Her cold gaze moved past them, settling on the image projected in the footage.
A deep light flashed in her eyes as she walked forward, raising her hand to the air and tapping on the replay button.
And once more, she watched the fight with the horned young man. Her eyes flashed in confusion.
But when the video finished, she played it once more, and then once more, and then once more.
It finally drew the attention of Queen Snowardo and Elder Celine, who turned their furrowed eyebrows toward her.
It’s the first time they had seen her place so much interest in something, or be so attracted to something to play it more than once.
"What’s wrong?"
"Know him from somewhere..." Elder Celine couldn’t help but ask, turning to look at the girl, who finally turned her gaze from the footage before turning to the side and whispering:
"Familiar."
"I’m curious, though. If there were such a strong expert in the world, why is he only coming out now? What family owns him..." Queen Snowardo said in suspicion.
"Or perhaps, he was never here to begin with. Or one of the fallen Eternity experts kept in slumber for many years..." Elder Celine added in, but then—
STEP
STEP
STEP
Footsteps.
Immediately, all three—Isha, Elder Celine, and Queen Snowardo—all rose to their feet, gazes snapping to the entrance of the hall.
They didn’t hear the sound of those footsteps.
They felt it—deep within their existence.
It was a feeling of absolute power making its way toward them, and they didn’t even dare move an inch, as it was already before them before they could make any thoughts.
All they could do was watch as the steps eventually came to rest before the closed gates of the throne room.
Then,
KNOCK
KNOCK
KNOCK
The sound of three knockings resounded as Queen Snowardo watched the flickering of runes on the throne room gates.
But then, she reigned down the feeling of caution in her heart before she responded.
"Come in."
GRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMM—
Immediately, the sound of the silvery white throne room gates being pushed from both sides rang out, and stepping in was a peculiar figure.
A peculiar young man, dressed in a simple white shirt and trousers, stood at an exceptional height of 2.1 meters.
His eyes were a blue rotating vortex, held in a face that seemed to have been crafted by perfection itself.
Most eye-catching were those two horns of his—golden dots of light flickering at their tips—as he calmly stepped into the room.
His eyes looked at each of them in the room, who stared back at him in silence.
It scraped past Queen Snowardo and Elder Celine before it turned to the third figure in the room.
For a second, they watched his eyes change from a normal expression to one of absolute shock upon looking at the little lady, who also eyed him with the same shock in her eyes.
But then watched the shock receding before a cold breath escaped his lips and he called out:
"Been a long time, Isha." His voice rang out through the throne room, and immediately, eyes flashed in shock as the trio remained rooted in their spot.
That voice.
They could feel it somewhere within their bones, oozing with an incredible amount of familiarity.
And the one to snap out of her shock first was none other than Isha, who took a step forward and silently blinked out of existence with a step, appearing a meter before Ryuk, her eyes staring up at him.
"Ry... Ryuk?" she struggled to say, but felt her answer when he took a step forward, covering the remaining distance appearing before her while spreading both arms apart.
"Come here, you little thing..."