"This should be quick..." Ryuk muttered to himself as the temperature in the room began dropping by a few degrees.
ROOOOOOOOOOOOAR!
The wolves roared, their sharp claws ripping apart chunks of rock from the ground.
In response, Ryuk raised his right hand, stretching it forwards, and it was quickly encased in ice, forming the shape of an ice claw.
VROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The air where Ryuk had stood was cleaved into nothing by the wolves’ violent attack—but in an instant, Ryuk appeared where the wolves had just been, his right hand gripping the head of one of them.
It trembled and fought back furiously under Ryuk’s iron-like grip.
Then, the ice covering Ryuk’s hand spread toward the wolf’s head, quickly meandering through the rest of its body before swallowing it up completely.
Ryuk clenched his hand.
CREEAAAAAAAK.
Cracks raced across the wolf’s frozen form and in an instant—
SHATTTTTER!
Its entire body exploded into glass-like shards, blasting across the area.
Ryuk turned his head slowly to the remaining wolves, his right eye glowing with a cold, ivory light.
And then—
VROOOOOOOOOOM!
The air warped as he burst forward with speed, spearing directly toward one of the wolves.
It reacted, claws slashing toward Ryuk—but Ryuk’s claws connected first, ripping through the wolf’s chest and continuing through, tearing its entire body apart.
ROOOOAAAAR!
Suddenly, the air behind Ryuk’s neck snapped as a massive wolf’s maw crashed downward toward him.
But—
RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!
The entire head of the wolf was blasted apart, a shockwave of blood spraying to the side as Ryuk’s icy claw tore through its skull, smashing the body aside and leaving a crater.
The wolves’ number was now reduced to two.
But they reacted fiercely and fearlessly, charging toward Ryuk with bared fangs.
Suddenly, pointy ice crystals shifted out from the void behind Ryuk, encasing the entire space entirely.
He raised his hand upwards and then swerved it downwards.
VROOOOOOM!
VROOOOOOM!
VROOOOOOM!
The air exploded as the two wolves had their vision blinded by the sharp explosion of crystal shards.
In an instant, they were pierced through and slammed into the walls before further being impaled by dozens of ice spikes.
By the end, their bodies had been reduced to scraps of fur, blood, and tissue, raining down the walls—until they fizzled into glowing holograms.
"You have successfully passed the C-Ranked Adventurer Test with an excellent score, Ryuk Knull."
"You will now be transported to the B-Ranked Adventurer Test..." the voice echoed beside him.
Ryuk suddenly felt the familiar pull of teleportation as the world around him shifted.
He had yet to take a step before his head jerked to the side, less than a split second after his arrival.
A spear of magma blasted by the side of his face, barely piercing through his face as Ryuk became a phantom of silvery ice light, vanishing between molten boulders scattered across the lava field.
But Then___
He barely had a second before the platform beneath him burst open, and he was thrown roughly into the air.
ROOOOAAAARRRRR!
A powerful roar, brimming with brutal malevolence, rang out.
Ryuk turned his gaze below, finding a massive maw that completely filled his vision.
Grinning, he raised his hand toward the side.
Ice quickly gathered together until it formed a monstrous five-meter-long scythe.
He brought it down with all his might.
RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!
The sound was like tearing paper.
The scythe ripped through the beast’s massive maw, continuing down towards its head and cleaving it cleanly in two.
Ryuk landed on the lava, ice quickly gathering beneath his feet, stabilizing his descent amidst the sound of steam being released.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The entire lava pit shook as the colossal beast collapsed into it.
"Two Catacalysm Stage experts, along with dozens of Dominion Stage experts... for a B-rank test."
"Pretty much an overkill for a Cataclysm Stage expert," Ryuk muttered as he stood at the edge.
Before him, a sea of lava boiled, and from beneath its surface, crimson glowing eyes surfaced—creatures whose bodies resembled crocodiles, except for their jaws, which could open wide enough to swallow three entire adult males.
Behind them, two humanoid crocodile-like figures sat on thrones seemingly forged from cracked ground and molten lava, their disinterested eyes staring at Ryuk from afar.
"This should be interesting."
Ryuk muttered as the lava waves surged and dozens of massive crocs suddenly lunged at him with frightening speed.
"Activate Frozen Physique."
At his command, a pale light surged across the surface of his skin as it quickly crystallized into an armored shell of translucent ice.
RIIIIIIIIP!
RIIIIIIIIP!
Two more arms—one below each of Ryuk’s original arms—burst out in an instant.
Each new hand quickly crystallized, ice gathering and shaping into two more scythes.
Now wielding a total of four arms, all gripping deadly scythes, Ryuk looked at the approaching lava crocs who burst out of the lava, their humongous maw covering the entire space before him.
"Hold tight, Void." He whispered and then,
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
The lava beneath his feet exploded as he surged forward with tremendous speed. All four of his scythes jerked back—then—
RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!
They snapped forward, slashing in unison.
A powerful wave of ice erupted from the swing.
The charging lava crocs were instantly cleaved into two, turned to shards of ice before they landed onto the lava, exploding into shards once they touched the lava pool below.
Becoming a blur, Ryuk weaved through the lava, his body becoming a silvery blur as he delivered slash after slash of all four scythes.
Each slash cleaved the crocs in half.
Red blood sizzled into glowing mist as molten light painted the battlefield.
But then—
VOOOORRRRRM!
An intense sound of something approaching erupted from behind him.
Ryuk spun instantly, cleaving all four scythes behind him—just in time to see a gigantic maw crash down toward all four weapons.
CLAAAAMPPPP!
SHATTTERRRRRR!
In one swift strike, all four of his scythes were clamped tightly on, and they didn’t hold for a single second before they were shattered into nothing.
VROOOOOOOOOOOOM
The air flapped once more, as Ryuk felt the claw slashing towards the side of his head.
CLAAASSSPPP
KAABOOM!