"I am glad I could make things right with you," the Old Man said with a smile, and Ryuk gave a reassuring smile.
For once, he had been satisfied with how justice was upheld.
"Trying to force Morgaine into a new relationship and deeming her relationship with him as insignificant was unfair and disrespectful—not just to him, but to Morgaine, and to anyone who was in a relationship."
"A relationship is a conscious decision between two people—and so far, neither has forced the other into it. It shouldn’t make sense to try and separate them simply because one is now perceived to have more value than the other."
He was glad the Dominare family recognized this. Unlike most situations where wrongdoers were said to be punished—only to later escape accountability because of their power—this time was different."
This was the first time he witnessed powerful people being punished.
Even Apocrypha stage beings who held the position of Elders still couldn’t have their powers spare them from punishment by the Dominare family, and that was enough to improve the image of the family in his eyes.
But most importantly, it was enough to let him let go of the skirmish.
"If you’re wondering why you’re held here," the man said as Ryuk raised his gaze to glance at the barrier,
"It’s not because you’re held here for punishment," he said, drawing his attention.
"It is because after you became unconscious, the Chosen One took you to the family hospital, but then, incredible energy waves began rippling off your body uncontrollably, bringing half-ruin to the entire building.
"You became untouchable, your aura growing higher and higher and much worse for anyone to approach."
"That was what prompted me to intervene.
"Bringing you here, and borrowing the restriction formation powers to lower your spilling aura.
"As you can see, it worked very well," the man said with a smile, his gaze faintly turning to the various purplish runic tattoos on Ryuk’s arms.
"Those tattoos of yours hold great power..." he said—not bluffing, but simply stating a simple truth.
Ryuk turned his gaze to the runes, too.
He could feel power within them. Not brute force, since he also felt lighter than a leaf right now.
He just felt them, in ways his mind couldn’t wrap around and therefore found no words for.
"If anyone got hurt during the aura explosion in the hospital building, I’ll take responsibility for it," he said, but the man waved him off.
"That’s nothing to be worried about. None were killed, and those who got hurt should already be back to their various lives now."
"It’s been a month after all," he said with a wave.
’A month, huh? That’s quite some time,’ He thought, and the Grand Elder’s eyes gleamed with light, watching as Ryuk’s feet silently left the ground, floating up into the sky.
He watched him from below silently, a small smile grazing his lips.
Ryuk didn’t need to try and fly; he just needed to want it, and a moment later, he felt the anchor of his legs, his tattoos change.
From trying to anchor him to the ground.
It instead shifts to try and anchor to the surrounding space.
And like that, he was raised up, anchored to the space around him.
"As he rose higher and higher, his gaze lifted, eyes fixed on the restrictive cover above. When he reached just a meter beneath it, his hands slowly extended upward, gently touching its surface."
When it did, a ripple spread over the barrier, and for a second, it became visible.
Golden particles, drifting here and there, symbols eternally interlocking together.
Ryuk noticed as the purple motes of light coming from the tattoo on the back of his palms started to flutter more and more out of the runic lines and float toward the barrier.
They lingered among the golden particles under Ryuk’s watchful gaze, and before long, their purple hue began to shift—slowly turning to gold.
When all the motes were changed to golden, they returned to Ryuk’s tattoos, and for a second, tattoos all around his body changed.
From their purplish color, they imitated the golden motes of light that were the same as the restrictive rune above him, and with just a push, Ryuk found himself phasing through the restrictive cover.
A little more rising and he was completely out of the barrier, his gaze turning to look at the Elder beneath him, whose eyes flashed with clear surprise and even disbelief.
’To think he broke through the Zhenrak Formation with just a touch of his palms. He truly is at the Exignis stage, but for one so young?’ he thought silently to himself, as Ryuk watched two wings made of golden essence appear behind the man, and he flapped once.
When he reappeared, he was right beside Ryuk.
"If I can guess, you’re worried about how your family is doing..."
The Grand Elder said, reading Ryuk’s unvoiced worry with a guess.
"Then, come with me..." he ushered, turning towards a direction and continuing, followed by Ryuk.
It was a lone Ammamoran building, golden in color like the rest.
It had a pretty vast green grassland, standing alone in the widespread settlement before him.
Before this structure, he appeared.
He didn’t need to knock at all, as even from so far away, he could hear it all.
The shuffling of papers, the hushed whispers of fingers tapping on holographs in the air, and the tapping of feet on the gem-glass flooring.
Ryuk turned to the sky, watching the Elder hidden amongst the clouds, who gave him a nod of support.
It was the final straw he needed to break through the various thoughts in his head—the thoughts of his own insecurity, of now being too different to be accepted, but he chased it all away, stepping through the garden.
The various cacophony of sounds continued, even as he reached the door.
His hands reached for the knob at the side, but eventually it got the best of him as his hand recoiled, turning to a fist and then—
KNOCK
KNOCK
KNOCK