[True, and that’s what makes it even sadder.]
The system said, dishing out an absolute comeback, and Ryuk’s expression plummeted.
[Hurricane Energy doesn’t just let you poof out techniques just because you can feel them.]
’I can poof out a Void Vortex though?’
[Yes. But that’s because you have a Void Grimoire, which is present in your Echo Library. You already have the source energy of Void Vortex, which is Void Apex Energy. That’s why you can "poof" it.]
[Throne Shift is a Knullic skill that uses Abyssal Energy.]
[Do you have an Abyssal Energy Grimoire in your Echo Library?] the system asked, which finally helped him grasp the logic.
’So I need an Abyssal Energy source to activate an Abyssal Energy skill, huh?’
[Yes... fool.] It said, not forgetting to slam him once more.
’Tsk. This is more complicated than I thought.’
[It is. And that’s why maybe you should have thought twice before flushing your Knull bloodline.]
It rubbed, to which Ryuk merely shrugged off.
’What’s gone is gone. No need to regret.’
’Not like I regret having two all-knowing entities who I suspect were harboring something evil gone from my soul space.’
’What I need, on the other hand, is an Abyssal Energy source,’ he muttered to himself, his mind drifting to who could possess Abyssal Energy here in Ammamora.
But he didn’t have to think twice before it occurred to him.
’Oh... those assassins. They used some dark energy with an aura similar to Abyssal Energy. And I just happened to spare one of them back then...’
He remembered the assassin he had kept alive.
In an instant, he ordered:
’Open Void Rift.’
And immediately, a rift opened right beneath Ryuk’s toes—and he stepped into it, disappearing into thin air a moment later.
_____________
Darkness trailed for a moment, but when it cleared, he was back in a familiar space.
Yet not even a millisecond had passed before—
CLAAAANNNGGGG!
The sound of heavy chains clanking echoed around him.
He turned to his surroundings, only to find gigantic dark chains lurking all around him, oozing with an ominous energy—and then:
"DEATH LOCK!"
The voice boomed from all around the enclosed space.
RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!
The Void around Ryuk compressed unbearably tight, and in an instant, the hanging chains silently folded inward, converging on Ryuk.
He was instantly bound.
Rounds and rounds of dark chains wrapped around his body. His arms were locked down, his neck wound tightly, and before he could even react—
SHRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!
The sharp sound of space being sliced rang out.
When he looked forward—just an inch from his face—he saw it.
The glinting, razor-sharp aura of a sickle-like blade hovered near his nose.
It was so sharp that a thin line quietly opened on Ryuk’s skin—and from it, milky-white blood began to trail down.
He had been cut merely by the weapon’s aura.
And the one holding the blade?
The dark elf assassin—eyes blazing with crimson, face twisted with pure murder.
Silence reigned between them. One locked down, the other armed.
Yet the one who spoke first was... shocking.
"I... I’m just here to ask if I could borrow some Abyssal Energy," Ryuk said casually, "Like the ones those Knulls use?"
The elf’s eyebrows twitched.
"Or maybe if you’ve got an Abyssal Energy Core or something?" Ryuk added, only for the sickle to press even closer, now steadily resting on his skin.
"Half a millisecond, and my blade’ll slice through your brain, kid," the elf growled. "Might be a good time to start begging for mercy. Or capitalizing on the fact you’re young, and should be spared..."
Ryuk scoffed in disdain at the hypocrisy.
"The Elfie princess you tried to assassinate was young, but you still tried to kill her."
"She’s 24," the elf snapped back, and Ryuk’s expression dropped.
’I... I thought she was 16 or something?’
"And the first rule of an Occult Guard: never get your feelings involved."
"It was an Occult mission—to assassinate a princess of the royal family. I signed up for it."
"Did they tell you whether the person you’d guard was young or not when you accepted your mission?" the elf asked in return.
"Hey! Don’t lump us in the same shoes," Ryuk barked.
"You’re a killer. I’m a guard. An ArchGuard."
"We don’t do the same thing."
"You’re new to all this obviously...Your foolishness can be excused," the assassin said before shrugging it off, his blade now pressing tighter to Ryuk’s skin.
"Now tell me. Who are you? Where am I? And more importantly—how do I get out of here?"
Ryuk stared back at him with drooping eyes.
"At least look at me if you’re expecting an answer," he muttered.
The dark elf raised an eyebrow.
"I am looking at you, you piece of—"
He paused.
His eyes widened.
’His voice... it came from behind me!’ he realized, shock overtaking him.
And in an instant, the Ryuk bound in chains began to shimmer.
It faded.
The elf snapped his head backward—only to find another Ryuk seated leisurely on a dark floating platform across the void.
"I... How!?" the elf gasped.
Ryuk sat casually, unbothered.
Yet what horrified the assassin was that the chains that were supposed to be binding him were still there. Still floating, untouched. Still wrapped in the same shape.
They hadn’t been cut or broken.
Yet Ryuk had escaped.
He had just... phased out of them?
’He’s fast. Horrifyingly fast,’ the realization occurred to him, but it didn’t bring relief.
It only brought even more fear and horror, causing him to tighten his grip on the blade.
An act that didn’t escape Ryuk’s notice.
"Even when you had me in chains," Ryuk said, "you still couldn’t cleave that blade through me."
"You think now that I’m free... You have a chance at all?"
"Tch. Don’t get cocky, kid!"
"Whatever," Ryuk shrugged. "I already got what I came for anyway..."
He turned his eyes toward his tattoos, watching them now blacken.
’Wait... isn’t that my Abyssal Energy!? How did he—!?’