"What the hell? I was just standing here, breathing. What’s this got to do with me!?"
[Feminine-looking kid, looking barely a day past puberty. Hahaha! That’s a good one!] The system mocked as a vein ripened out of Ryuk’s forehead.
"Hey, you piece of sh—" he was about to curse out when the cold words rang out once more.
"You’ve touched me twice now..." Orrelith said, as the group paused, watching her hair slowly begin rising againts gravity, dots of golden light trailing around her figure.
Her actions were minimal, but the incredible aura that followed was as if a god had descended upon them.
The group’s face changed massively, as even Mason and Gus slowly retreated backwards, a step at a time.
Orrelith turned, face masked in an absolute cold expression, and she uttered a sentence that resonated within Grozque’s soul:
"When next you touch me, I’ll be cleaving off your head."
It wasn’t a threat.
No, far from it, as Grozque’s hands unconsciously reached for his throat, both of his knees collapsing all in a second.
"Ahhhhh..."
"Ahhhh..."
"Ahhhh," he breathed like one who had just been spared by a death from the guillotine—an action that surprised Ryuk.
But before more could be said, Orrelith continued into the portal, disappearing within.
The gate began wavering right after, trying to close behind her, and Ryuk immediately followed within, the gate slamming shut with a loud bang before it slowly began withdrawing back into the ground.
The duo, Mason and Gus, who stood away, watched the scene, their eyebrows furrowed in unease.
True to her words, Orrelith had left, and the young Foreigner Archguard had followed her within.
It was an unwise move—but it was true to the Orrelith they knew.
Angels from the Dragnar family were the incarnation of firm and unyielding. If they decided on something, then only death could stop them.
After her disappearance, Grozque finally felt the pressure fade—but the memories were still fresh in his head.
When she had spoken of cleaving his head, he had seen it.
A scene of his head being instantly cleaved off. And the horror and helplessness had been enough to make him collapse to his knees.
’She’s a monster... A monster!’
Even though she was only a stage above him in cultivation.
The power in her words wasn’t something he could currently bear.
But when he turned to look at the gate withdrawing into the runes, a cold, wicked smile appeared on his lips.
’An Awakening Ritual on Nihility? The only one it could possibly try to awaken is that of an Ancient Nihility, and that Gate will lead right to that entity.’
’Both of them are as good as dead,’ he thought, the anger and rage he felt slowly receding.
What use was bearing a grudge against someone already dead?
With that, he simply turned to look at the ship she had left behind.
"Let’s leave," he said curtly to Mason and Gus, who stared at the dimming runes on the floor one last time before scurrying after him.
Soon, the trio were onboard the ship, leaving the desolate world behind—along with two of their group.
___________
It was a familiar sensation, one he had felt so many times that it had almost become natural.
The sensation of falling through a wormhole.
His eyes were wide open, but he saw nothing.
His ears twitched, but there was no sound—not even the one of him moving through the Void.
But eventually, the world began to clear up.
It was like the ending of a tunnel beneath, and he fell into it.
The sudden rays were more than blinding, and then—
BAAAAAAAAANNNG!
He slammed into the ground, blasting a humanoid-shaped hole into the oddly soft surface.
The world spun around for a couple of moments before finally coming to a stop.
He saw the sun shining right above his face, and when he took a breath of the air—
"Ahhh," he exhaled in relief.
Unlike the putrid smell of Nihility, this air was so fresh, it reminded him of Endearth.
His hands reached upwards, grabbing the edge of the ground and pulling himself out.
"Now, where am I?" he muttered thoughtfully, eyes scanning across the scene around him.
For one, he was in quite a peculiar place.
Before him was an unending expanse of blue sea.
Unending—because Ryuk couldn’t see the end.
The sound of waves lapping against the shore could be heard so clearly, the feeling made his caution begin to fade into thin air.
He turned away from the sea to look behind, and there was an island.
An island of various trees, spanning high into the air.
Right now, Ryuk was standing on the periphery, between the island and the sea.
Honestly, it wasn’t a bad place at all. It was the perfect place for someone seeking a vacation.
But then, his eyes suddenly furrowed.
’No, this doesn’t feel right.’
’There were rituals, dead bodies, and blood energy being drained... and the source of all that is a peaceful sea island?’ Ryuk muttered in faint disbelief, but he was quick to realize another truth.
’Something is weird.’
He stared beneath him, looking at his feet, and after silently staring at them for 30 seconds, Ryuk’s eyes flashed in disbelief.
’No way...’ he thought, exerting strength beneath his feet and jumping into the air.
He didn’t jump very high at all.
Only about 100 meters into the air, and when he tried to hold the surrounding space onto himself—
BAAANG!
His legs slammed back into the sand as he collapsed onto his butt.
"What the—"
Immediately, Ryuk rose, exerting even more strength and jumping high into the air again.
Even with the increased strength, he still only reached 100 meters before violently being drawn back down.
He collapsed onto his butt once more.
He tried one more time.
"What the hell?"
And then he tried again.
"What the hell?"
And again.
"What the hell?"
And again.
"What the hell?"
Until the words echoed in his head.
"For how long did you plan on keeping that up?"