It was a transformation.
And the first thing that happened was her horns.
All four crimson horns, glowing with crimson runic lines, suddenly began straightening—and then, Ryuk watched as they burrowed back into the side of her head.
Soon, nothing was left but an opened slit as a sign of their retreat before even that soon closed, leaving just a tiny scar.
What followed was her unhinged jaw, and he watched as the skin across her face began growing, and her long tongue began wrapping back into her mouth. Her cheeks soon grew in, and it all shut closed—the only sign of the maw being her rosy pink lips.
Her huge, sickle-like claws all began recoiling, returning to finger-sized ones, and her clawy hands returned to humanoid ones.
The same thing happened to her feet, which returned to normal. The undulating dark tattoos strewn over her body retreated back into her skin, which moved from its repulsive, dusty ash color to a simple glowing brown.
In an instant, Raksha had moved from her devilish succubus form into a more humanoid form, as the transformation finished, and Ryuk removed her claws from her neck, watching as she soared down into the lava waterfall below.
But before she could reach far, he appeared below, catching her into his arms as she rested her head by his heart, seemingly deep in unconsciousness.
"What did we do?" Ryuk asked the system, which replied:
[As I told you before. She’s not a Succubus. She’s a Mutated Beast—a race called Succuterra.]
[The only reason why she has only her succubus form is the same reason all beasts have only their beast forms, even at their highest power: lack of safety.]
[A mutated beast will only change to a humanoid form based on the safety level she feels in her environment. Her inability to appear humanoid and simply be stuck in her succubus form is because she had never felt safe all her life.]
[When she saw your form, she, for a few seconds, experienced that feeling of trust and safety, and she lowered her guard.]
[That was a perfect moment for her to shift into her human form. But to do that will require her to be in that state for quite a long period until she learns how to shift to human form naturally.]
[But with your Beast Sovereign skill, you took advantage of the set conditions and simply fastened her human form change with your own beastly essence, giving her a humanoid form.]
The system said, as Ryuk’s alarmed expression faded away.
But then he looked at the claw marks on her neck and noticed... they looked fresh, even though they didn’t ooze blood.
"She’s gone silent, though?" he asked.
[No. You speed-ran her transformation, which must have caused quite a bit of internal shock from all her other parts withdrawing inward.]
[It must have been exhausting and enough to send her to slumber. She just needs her rest and will be fine.] The system notified, as Ryuk nodded, before his gaze turned, looking at the side of her loose garments, and he noticed the Unsealing card that peeked out.
"Time to leave... I bet Antares should also be wrapping things up by now, too..." he muttered to himself before his body immediately began reverting back to its normal human form.
He donned a simpler new garment, also buying a robe to cover Raksha’s revealing form before he took her in his arms and moved toward the cave exit.
"HUUUUU!"A deep exhale echoed through the forge tunnel, which was completely lit in raging flames—yet sitting down was the gargantuan Antares, who heaved a bit as he looked at the anvil before him and then looked at the objects lying on top.
"Finally. I forged it all..."Antares said, his voice bearing triumph and filled with vigor, contrary to his sweaty body, as he looked at the forged obejcts before him.
Two sets: one was a pair of red-colored gauntlets ensnared with various runic lines, while the other was a pair of huge axes, also glowing with the same red runic lines, their edges made of some wood-like object that glowed with green runic lines, radiating a life aura.
His hand reached out as he tried to pick the object up, when it paused as he felt the presence, and he turned his head to find Ryuk hovering above the flames.
"Seems like you’re done?"Ryuk’s voice echoed out as Antares nodded.
But then his gaze shifted when he noticed the new presence in Ryuk’s hands.
"You found someone below?" he asked, as Ryuk gave a subtle nod before he moved to the anvil, looking at what Antares had forged.
"Pack it up. You’ll have all the time in the world to look at them once we get back home..." he said to him, as Antares nodded, returning the gauntlets and axe into his storage ring before they both headed toward the elevator.
"Did anybody come down while I was gone?" Ryuk asked as Antares shook his head.
"None."
"Good," he replied before they both got to the teleporter, and it made a DING sound, shutting close after it began weaving them up.
It continued for quite a long while before—
DIIIIING!
The sound was made once more as the elevator opened up. But the instant that happened—
Ryuk and Antares were faced with the scene of the entire room lit in pressure, and its case?
Armored Guards.
Yes, guards—the majority holding spears whose ends crackled with powerful energy, while some held plasma rifles and firearms—all pointed directly towards both Ryuk and Antares.
"Lay down the hostage you have in your hands and GO DOWN ON YOUR KNEES!"A loud shout came from the distance as Ryuk turned his gaze to look up into the end of the hall, and there, lying on the floor, with the majority of his body covered in deep, dark robes, with a gloved hand that held a gun as long as 2 meters in true length.
It was a sniper—one that seemed quite special from the various runic inscriptions it held, and the amount of danger it radiated, and its end pointed directly at Ryuk, a red dot of light settling on Ryuk’s forehead, but then, he asked:
"The hostage?"