The sight before Rakhasa—the closest thing she could compare it to—was a simple object.
The candle flame.
It burns gently—soft, golden, dancing.
Incredibly beautiful to the eyes.
The type of beauty that whispers to the fingers, "Come closer, more closer," like a lover’s breath. Yet the moment one touched it—
That feeling of danger, mingled with allure.
It was what she felt when she looked at the being that stepped out before her.
A being that stood at a regal height of seven meters, not bulky, nor gaunt, but perfectly balanced.
Clothes had been burned off him, revealing his torso, smooth and sharp, with each muscle defined with perfect clarity.
Broad shoulders with loose arms—one of them gripping the wall and leaving nothing but cracks, while the other hung loosely at his side.
Yet each muscle was more than clearly defined, ending in claws whose nails glowed with a bright purple energy.
Streaks across his arm ran down to his shoulder—unique, undulating purple runic lines that danced across his arm’s entire length, glowing with dots of purple light.
The smooth, scaled texture continued down to a thinner waist.
But below that were legs thick with solid definition—not human legs, but bent at their ends, looking like those of a wolf’s, ending not in feet with five toes, but rather three instead.
Each one ended in long, sickle-like nails that glowed with the same bright purple energy and were covered in the same violet-colored runes.
His neck was smoothly covered in those same crimson scales, shining with a light that seemed metallic, reflecting shades of deep red and faint purple.
His head was bowed, but then slowly tilted upward, revealing a face of almost unearthly loveliness.
Jawline sharp, lips thin and defined, with eyes still shut.
His hair was the same white color, flailing around him, while his two horns extended even higher and, at their ends, danced a mixture of purple and golden energy.
Around his head was a halo—bizarre, thorn-like—made of spines that rested atop his hair and oozed with an aura of eerie loyalty.
It was a being of almost devilish beauty, yet radiating with an incredible amount of danger just from simply standing there, even though he made no move.
The air was silent—yet thick and suffocating—and then...
RRRIIIPPPPLLLEEE
A ripple of light folded downward into the tent, as his two eyes slowly flared open.
Both were slitted, like those of a serpentine creature.
The left eye was blue in color—reptilian. The right was crimson, also serpentine.
What was chilling to see, though, was that those eyes—
They held no sign of familiarity at all as they looked at her. As if they looked at everything—and nothing.
"Tell me..." The voice was incredibly deep, yet flowed smoothly, as he slowly rose up from his crouched position, standing upright to face Rakhasa.
"How do I look now, Rakhasa?" he asked, as he noticed her expression shifting once, then twice.
"Monstrous, no?" he asked with a smile—a smile that didn’t seem like a smile—as Ryuk turned to look at his claws, now glowing with purple energy and covered in demonic red scales.
It reminded him of just one person. The red-scaled Ryuk in his Mind Space.
The one who represented the Knull bloodline. And quickly, he watched a system notification flash.
[You’ve Awakened Your Knull Bloodline.]
[Or more of... delayed it?] It asked, and Ryuk nodded faintly.
He had felt the transformation had been coming for a long time, but had pressed it down, delayed it ever since—even resisted the feverish urge to morph.
He had kept it quiet from the system too, until he could no longer hold it back in.
[Congratulations, Ryuk, on officially becoming a Knull,] the system said, and he didn’t know whether to be happy or sad.
But he waited for Rakhasa’s words.
"You... you look different," she said. And she noticed Ryuk looking at himself the same way she had in surprise just moments ago.
"Is this the first time you’ve morphed into this... different form?" she asked, as Ryuk smiled.
"You mean to say, into this monstrous form. But yes, this is the first time. Even though, I’ve always felt like I could have done this many weeks ago..."
"I never did... because I was—" Ryuk said, pausing, but Rakhasa completed it.
"Afraid... of how you will be viewed once you reveal your true form?" she asked, and he sighed.
"Yes. And even without revealing it yet, things are starting to seem as if they’ll spiral into hell soon. Now that it’s revealed, I wonder how long I can keep it a secret."
"But whatever comes with this, I’ll gladly accept. And I won’t deny my monstrousness... no longer."
"I don’t believe any more people should be labeled as monsters just because of how they look. And soon, I’ll be seeing it. I’ll be seeing all their expressions when they realize what I truly am."
"Don’t do that... You’ll lose it all. Just remain in your form." Rakhsa pleaded silently, her eyes flashing with some buried memories, but it was but a fleeting moment.
"But now, I understand... You might at least understand a bit—or you could potentially understand—what it means to be judged as one," she said, as she floated forward, appearing before him.
Her hands shook faintly, but she stretched them out, finally touching the scales on his face.
They faltered a bit, but regained their confidence, sliding down Ryuk’s chin.
"It’s the first time I’ve ever felt so much familiarity from a form..." she muttered.
But then, the notification suddenly flashed before Ryuk’s gaze.
[Pierce Her Neck!]
’Huh?’
[Use your right claw, and pierce her neck, right now!] the system said, and Ryuk’s eyes ignited with sudden brilliance—and then suddenly—
PSSSTTT
The sound of something piercing rang out as Rakhasa’s hand immediately halted.
She recoiled at the sting in the side of her neck as her hands reached for it only to feel Ryuk’s hands, and that was when she realized in disbelief.
Ryuk had dug his claws fully into her neck.
Before she could react—
[Activate your Beast Sovereign Skill. Now!] the system said, and he simply obeyed, activating his Beast Sovereign skill.
Immediately, his eyes turned blazing blue from the activation, and then a bizarre current rang through his hands, dispersing into his claws before he felt them pass into Rakhasa.
Her eyes lit up in a deep blue color—the same as that of Ryuk—before, instantly, changes began to take place.