Exactly 270 meters away from Ryuk, there were a couple of towering buildings where Several Fallen experts could be seen standing in twos and threes.
They all had one thing in common: they were looking at standing atop each of the buildings, gazing down at the scene of Ryuk and Elder Nogara from above.
On one of these buildings stood two Fallen experts.
"Ahhh, so that is the boy. The one in a relationship with the Chosen One?" The voice came from a lady Fallen, her hands reclining on the railings as she looked at the scene beneath her.
"He should be..." the masculine voice echoed from the side, coming from a golden-haired elder.
"Hmmmmm, but didn’t the family only ask for him to be intimidated away from her?"
"Why are we going so far as to sentence him to death, and shouldn’t this be the family’s first meeting with him?" she asked with furrowed eyebrows.
The male Fallen elder shrugged his shoulders.
"For some reason, we have been unable to find him for the past two weeks, but Elder Nogara discovered the Being Storage Ring that Morgaine was wearing."
"We hypothesize he was being kept within the ring, although we have no idea why."
"The family’s initial plan was simply to try and scare him away from the Chosen One."
"It would have been easier if he were the one who backed off from her, enabling the family to assign a proper partner from another family’s Chosen eventually."
"He seems to have eventually exited now, but looking at the foot imprint on Nogara’s chest—"
The lady’s eyes narrowed, disbelief in her gaze as she looked at Elder Nogara’s chest and saw the foot imprint mark.
"So the threat didn’t go down well..." she muttered to herself, eyeing Ryuk.
But then, both of their bodies froze as they watched the young man slowly turn his head toward them, and his usual poker face gradually changed into a deep frown.
"Wha...? Don’t tell me he can hear us from that far away?" the female elder asked, her hand slipping off the railing in shock.
Even the male elder had his eyebrows furrowed, but then, he was not in doubt...
"He can."
"Well, at least Nogara will be ending him right now."
"Doesn’t matter if he knows the secret. It’s too late.." the elder said coldly and uncaringly, eyeing Ryuk back without a flinch.
———
"So, that’s what is happening, huh?" Ryuk muttered to himself.
Having activated Skyvein Lattice, he could clearly hear all conversations happening around 300 meters from him, and he had been able to eavesdrop on the elders and hear everything they said.
’So, now that Morgaine has been chosen as Fallen. They feel me unworthy of her, and are trying to replace me...’ he thought.
Now, it made more sense why Sephraim Initiate Blythe had said—
———
"That little girl... I really hope she’s just your sister, and nothing more..."
———
’Now, it all makes sense...’
’Unworthy, huh...’ Ryuk thought to himself, and for a few seconds, it all began disappearing from his heart.
The world around him grew so frigid that the air blowing across a thousand kilometers suddenly stopped altogether. The sudden change was impossible for anyone to ignore, as they all turned to look at him.
"I’ll end him now," Elder Nogara muttered to himself as the dark tattoo on his arm floated off his hand and slowly melded into the air above him, soon wrapping together.
CRACKLEEEE—
"Fall!"
The sound of crackling rang out as pitch-black lightning descended from the high heavens, slamming down onto Elder Nogara with unmatched rage.
When they reached the top of his arms, they paused before wrapping together.
The void splintered, space shattering into nothing, and a tiny black hole slithered out as the dark lightning quickly began merging to form a gigantic ball of dark lightning.
———
"He’s sacrificing part of his Fallen Tattoos for his first attack!?"
"And isn’t that... the Dark Angel Sphere Art!?"
———
Murmurs erupted all around from Elder Nogara’s brewing attack, and even the Eternity guards, all standing around, felt their skin peeling off from the mere aura of the attack.
But they all held their ground, bearing the pain with clenched teeth, while making sure the area was locked down to prevent his escape.
A smile of victory appeared on Elder Nogara’s lips as his gaze turned to look at Ryuk, whose head remained down, eyes staring at the Choosen in his hands.
’Just because you carry the Chosen One won’t spare you, boy.’
’The attack recognizes those with the Dominare Fallen Bloodline, and hence, only you will be dying!’ he thought to himself as he finally completed the attack and then—
KAABOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
He took a single step forward, the entire ground beneath him sinking into an unending abyss.
His body lunged forward like a loosed bow, faint blood rushing from his lips from how much strain he placed on his body, and then—
RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!
Space was blown into nothing as the gigantic ball of dark lightning was hurled toward Ryuk.
Black holes surged all around the ball as the attack raced forward with enough power to completely erase even an Apocrypha-stage being.
’It’s not personal, kid. It’s just business...’
"Dominare Fallen Art: Dark Angel Sphere."
———
While the entire world spiraled into unending chaos, the various Elders holding their breath as they looked in horror at him, wondering if he would be outright erased from existence or if he would resist the attack.
Endlessly rippling black holes surging forward toward him, and yet Ryuk remained motionless, as if oblivious to it all.
Only one word was echoing in his head.
"Unworthy..."
"Unworthy..."
"Unworthy..."
It was like a broken cassette, chipping again and again and again, each one leading to his beating heart, slowing down its tempo.
The world completely quieted down, all emotions drowned out, and eventually, only one emotion remained within him.
Rage.
"Hey system," he called, but he didn’t need to explain more when the notification panel flashed.
[Congratulations, Host.]
[The special skill fusion of Host’s most powerful techniques—Draconic Overlord, and True Art: Frostborne Calamity Frost Dragon—has been completed!]
[The combined fusion of these skills has led to the birth of a new skill—Beyonder Dragon.]
[Does Host wish to see the skill panel of the new skill? The host must know there are...]
"Activate Beyonder Dragon."