"Hey! Stop fucking around, Void! Focus on the mission! You’re supposed to act as support!"
Ryuk’s loud shout echoed across the ruined landscape of ice and snow, the sound nearly drowned by the thunderous stampede of hooves.
It came from none other than an alien race, around 500 in number, marching toward them like a living tidal wave.
They were a terrifying mix of man and horse.
From the waist up, they looked humanoid—muscular males.
But below that were the long, galloping bodies of horses with blazing, flaming hooves.
What was mind-numbing was the fact that every single one of them was at the Cataclysm stage!
500 Cataclysm-stage half-man, half-horse monstrosities charging toward a group of three: one humanoid, one Void cat, and one Frost Wyvern.
But even worse?
Behind the trio was a massive avalanche of ice, rushing toward them with such overwhelming power that it fractured space as it poured down.
A brutal fury, seeking to bury them whole.
One look at it all, and it was safe to say—they were completely fucked!
On the ground was Ryuk, racing forward at an incredible speed.
Sweat dripped down the side of his face, and just above him, about 50 meters up, flew a massive Frost Wyvern.
Its enormous body cast long shadows on the ground below, and atop the Wyvern sat three bizarre runic portals where a cat occasionally popped out, repeatedly, each time its massive claws dripping with dark blood.
"Wut!?" Void shouted as he popped out from the vortex again, looking down at Ryuk, who was running for his life.
"I said, stop fucking around and wait as a support!" Ryuk screamed back.
Void scoffed loudly.
"Don’t sweat it, Ryuk. I got this!"
"Nah, you ain’t got this!"
"If that avalanche catches up, we’ll get buried, and it’ll take days to dig out. This gate has a trial period. We won’t make it if we stop running!" he shouted as Void shot back.
"Oh yeah? Then can’t you see we’re running toward a stampede of 500 Centaurs?! I’m trying to carve a path so we can break through!"
"Your plan is suicidal, and we’re running toward our death, too!" Void roared back.
Ryuk clamped his forehead. "Shut it, Void. What the fuck!? Just focus on the plan and wait for my signal!" Ryuky roared back as the three vortexes before Void disappeared, and he helplessly sat down atop the Frost Wyvern’s neck...
’Tch...’
’So this is what an anomaly ruin gate is like. Now I’m regretting signing up for it...’ Ryuk thought, grinding his teeth.
The situation was really bad. But the last thing he could do now was stop.
If he did, the avalanche would catch up and bury him alive.
There was also an army racing toward him, one willing to ignore the avalanche.
And Ryuk knew exactly why—they wanted to drag him down with them, since only he was bound by the gate’s trial time.
He couldn’t afford to waste too much time fighting through them.
His only choice was...
’We need to teleport behind them. A massive long-range teleportation to carry us through.’
’But they’re spread out too wide. We’ll still have attacks blasting at us...so we need to defend against that too."
"We have a total of 10 seconds to resume running once we teleport."
’I just need to get closer to them to make the teleportation work properly,’ Ryuk thought as he increased his speed again.
The stampede of the warriors grew louder.
They raised their massive, 3-meter-long flaming spears into the air and began hurling them toward Ryuk.
He weaved through them with incredible agility, but when those spears landed on the ground, they left fiery abysses in their wake, revealing the horrid power contained within.
Just like Ryuk, Isha too was targeted, as Flaming arrows blanketed the air, but she demonstrated jaw-dropping aerial maneuvers as she easily dodged the flaming spears.
They were getting closer... and closer... until finally, Ryuk roared in his mind:
’Activate King’s Aura!’
Instantly, a burning blue tattoo appeared in his eyes—and the same for Isha and Void—as they felt their strength jump by an extra 50%.
"Hey Void! Now absorb all my mana and create the most massive Void Vortex you’ve ever pulled off!"
"Make it reach the end of the armies!"
" No way in hell it can reach the end!" Void roared back.
The end of the army wasn’t even in visible range. How in hell was he supposed to open a portal where he couldn’t even see?
"Just do it! And put your last drop of energy into it!" Ryuk shouted back.
Void exhaled as its eyes focused.
It was the first time he had received such an impossible task from Ryuk, and he knew well whether they lived or died might just be on his paws.
No, it was on his paws.
Immediately, a dark runic tattoo on its forehead lit up as it stretched both its claws forward.
Another rune tattoo appeared in both of Void’s eyes as he held one hand straight, the other spinning in a circle.
Immediately, a dark vortex began manifesting itself from a few meters before Void, expanding larger and larger, but at the same time, a second Vortex suddenly appeared just a few kilometers ahead of them, amongst the far end of the approaching army.
And then another vortex appeared far, far behind—still amidst the stampeding army—as Void pushed farther and farther, trying to make the Void reach its limit.
Ryuk’s eyes narrowed as he saw the end portal slowly shifting further back amongst the Centaur army, but then it stopped, unable to advance further.
He could feel Void’s aura flickering.
"That’s it... I’m fully spent!" Void shouted down below as Ryuk’s eyebrows knitted in worry before an idea flashed in his head
"What the hell? This all the fuel you got?"
"No way you’re this weak, Void!" Ryuk roared.
Void instantly snapped his tired eyes open, turning to glare below.
"You think I’m weak!? You really think I—Void—am weak!?" It roared in disbelief only to earn Ryuk’s unimpressed and taunting scoff.
"Watch this, goof!" he screamed, grinding his teeth as he forced out even more of the Void energy within its core.
Ryuk’s eyes flared brilliantly as he watched the end vortex that had stopped moving shift farther, just enough to almost reach the end of the army.
"How’s that, goof!?" Void roared out—but in the next second, he collapsed, sliding down from Isha’s back and falling.
PIIIIEEERRRCCCCCEE
A powerful flaming spear lunged for Void’s free-falling body, but just before it could pierce through.
BOOOOOOOOOM
The ground beneath Ryuk’s feet cracked into pieces as he soared into the air, grabbing Void before the spear tore through him and placing him back in the Pet World.
He appeared directly beside Isha just a second later as he ordered...
"We go in. Now, Isha!"