BOOOOM
A sudden, immense force exploded outward, not at all affecting Ryuk and Antares inside the car as the vehicle took to the sky, soaring forward toward the approaching waves.
While it was mid-air, the car’s exterior began to change.
The sleek panels folded downward, revealing gill-like vents along the sides.
The wheels tucked in and rotated, replaced by turbine-like thrusters.
The front of the car narrowed, taking on a sharper, more predatory profile that reminded Ryuk of Sharks.
The once ground-bound machine had shifted into an amphibious mode, hovering inches above the water’s surface before finally—splash!
The VelociNova sliced through the water like a blade. There was no drag, no resistance.
Just along the rear, a cool, silent burn of energy propelled the vehicle forward. When Ryuk pressed down on the acceleration pad, his hands gripping the wheel tightly—
The vehicle moved forward with even more speed, skimming across the sea like a phantom bullet.
"In your world, do you have a beast that can run excellently on water as well as on land?" Ryuk asked, turning his gaze to Antares whose gaze was currently glinting with the spark of amusement and something deeper.
"No. We barbarians live among the mountains, far from the seas. We don’t come across sea creatures much, and we certainly do not tame them enough to ride them across the sea..." Antares replied, still awestruck.
Ryuk grinned before saying:
"Then welcome to Endearth."
GRUUUUUUUUUUUMMMM
The air shifted forward with a renewed surge of speed, blasting waves behind it, but Ryuk soon slowed to a soft cruise, leaving the car in assisted autodrive mode.
He brought out his device right after
DRIIIING
DRIIIING
The sound of ringing echoed as he looked at the number, then swerved the glowing call button on the screen to the right.
"Hello, Aster," he greeted first, and the voice came in smoothly.
"Ryuk. Good to hear your voice. Do you remember the plan?" she asked.
"Yes. I’m currently en route."
"Good."
"Where are you now, though? At the Main Organization base in Grade A, or your penthouse in Grade B?" he asked.
"Grade B. But not in my house."
"There’s another one of our bases that we’ve set up in Grade B. Come there. And don’t worry. I’ll send you the location now. Looking forward to seeing you soon..." she said before the call ended.
About fifteen seconds later—
Ryuk felt a buzz and looked down as his device blinked to life. The interface card icons lit up across the screen before the AI updated.
[Sent Map Location Has Been Confirmed.]
[Accessing... Complete.]
[Recharting Map on Screen!] it declared.
Beside the wheel, Ryuk watched as a 2D map quickly appeared, showing a pulsing red dot and a steady green one.
The red dot was his current location. The green dot was the direction Aster had sent him.
Without hesitation, he accelerated and began moving toward the destination.
_______
"We don’t know who he is. He could be a danger to Endearth and that’s a possibility we cannot ignore!"
"If we allow him amongst a party that includes the most powerful elites of Endearth—then it’s like sending a Knull King into our midst, except one definately much stronger!"
Inside a large hall where a central table stretched over five meters long, high-profile individuals dressed in dark official suits sat around the round table. A heated conversation was currently underway.
"Knull King or not! We all saw what he did. We all saw the footage."
"He faced thousands of Knulls alone and defeated the Knull King. We saw his act of support for the Ascension Line warriors before taking off."
"And according to the Peakwave Star, he is the one who brought her into our association in the first place. He is Ryuk—Madwhite’s personal intern, and 40% of all of us here already know him." A pointed-ear woman, likely an elf, projected with conviction.
Then, a sharp voice cut through the room.
"Peakwave Aster herself cannot be fully trusted. For so long, everyone at this table has doubted her origin. It’s obvious she’s alien. Her loyalty has no reason to be bound to us, and this might be part of their deeper plot." Another, man with short dark hair voiced out suspiciously.
"She can’t be trusted!?"
"Have you all forgotten The Starweave Organization has done much, not only helping the evacuation process of areas susceptible to the Knull’s endergement but also helping Endearth’s Eternity stage experts connect to each other and have access to ongoing, latest information better than any other group on Endearth."
"They’ve reduced the casualty rate of the war by 35%, just through the quality of their intelligence alone."
"And even with all of that, you still think she’s untrustworthy?"
"When will she be trusted, then?"
"When she dies fighting the Knull Army? Or when she gives her last breath defending our land?"
"Is that when you’ll finally accept that she’s on our side?" another family leader asked—a blue-haired man with scales over his face, clearly from the aquatic races.
"Peakwave Aster is on our side. There’s no doubt about that," came a calm, composed voice. It belonged to the man seated at the head of the table.
It was none other than Sir Alexander—MadWhite’s father and the strongest human on Endearth.
"We’ve listened to her words, and we’ve trusted the intel she’s provided. That information has saved entire zones from destruction. The footage of the alien battle clearly shows Ryuk, the one she named as the Supreme Wave of their organization."
"We all know she only listens to that kid in the first place."
"And if we remember who that kid is, we’ll remember that when the second Knull invasion came, he was the one intercepting, dealing with the 3 pseudo-Knulls before they could unleash chaos on the battlefield, and fighting them all on his own."
"And not only that—when the first Knull war came and the humans were sent forward as meat shields, he once more had already descended into the fray and fought them all alone, as we later came to learn."
"That truth can no longer be denied."
"Ryuk has always been fighting at the frontlines. He looks different now with this new form, but his absence, which had been our major suspicion, has been explained by Peak Wave Aster quite satisfactorily too, and as for Ryuk himself."
"His actions match every record we have of the Ryuk logged in our archives."
"And if he is the one, then he has every right—not only to be at the Commemoration Party—but to stand before the world and deliver the speech."
"After all, he’s the one who Endearthians now look up to... as a beacon of hope."
"But..."