He was sent flying straight into the cold water, sending forth a ripple as his hands hurriedly reached for the eye mask he wore, pulling it off his face.
"Hey!" he screamed, glaring at the window where a golden gaze bobbed up.
It was none other than Orrelith, her face ablaze with a fiery expression, and to Ryuk’s faint astonishment, a pink hue dusted her cheeks.
"Hey, what was that for?" he shouted, feeling the injustice.
"What were you doing in my room?" she retorted coldly as Ryuk’s eyebrows rose.
"What? You asked me to pick the one I liked," he said, one eyebrow arched.
"You chose the wrong one!"
"Wrong one? Tch, you could’ve said that before..." Ryuk thought in disbelief, his teeth grinding as he glared at Orrelith, whose expression remained unapologetic.
But then, his head snapped away from her, his gaze dropping downward—not to himself, but beneath him.
GRUUUUUUUM
GRUUUUUUUM
Ryuk heard the sound, distinct from the crashing sea waves, emanating from below.
"Hey, are you okay?" Orrelith asked suspiciously, but she received no reply.
Ryuk spread his hands to the sides, parting the water as he tried to elevate himself.
His eyes locked onto the source of the sound, but it was dark—too dark for an unknown reason.
It was a full moon. It should never have been this dark.
He glanced upward, noticing the pale white moon in the sky beginning to shift, its hue turning into an ominous red.
The sudden transformation startled not only Ryuk but also Orrelith, who turned her head toward the sky with suspicion.
"The billowing sea waves... they’ve stopped," she muttered, noting the crashing waves had fallen into an eerie silence.
"Hey, get out of the water!" she called to Ryuk, whose brows furrowed.
He could feel it—something moved beneath him, silent and unseen in the darkness.
He tried to fly upward, but a strange law in this realm held him back.
In the end, he could only turn to Orrelith.
"Can you give me a hand?" he asked, reaching out.
A slit opened in her palm, and the head of a worm emerged.
Instead of its usual colossal form, it took the shape of a rope, descending toward him.
Ryuk grabbed it when it was within arm’s reach, and he was slowly lifted upward when suddenly—
GRUUUUUUUUUUUUM
The heavy sound roared again, and this time it was lloud enough for even Orrelith to hear.
Ryuk’s head snapped to the side just in time to see a colossal maw stretching toward him.
"Wh..."
CLAAAAAAAMMMMPPPP
Orrelith’s eyes widened in shock as a gigantic, snake-like creature snapped up Ryuk’s figure, swallowing him in one gulp before burrowing back into the water.
She stood frozen for a second, staring at the half-severed thread dangling where Ryuk should have been.
It had happened too fast for her to react.
Instinctively, she tried leaping from the window frame to pursue the creature, but the entire ship tilted violently, sending her skidding off her feet and slamming into the wall.
ROOOOOOOOAAAAAARRRRRRRR
A deafening roar sent cracks splintering through the ship as something relentlessly slammed into it.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
An entire section of the ship was blasted into oblivion as a golden fist smashed through it.
Orrelith burst out, her golden worm piercing forward into the sky with incredible force, lifting her into the air with blinding speed.
Golden threads formed around her, and she landed on them, using them as a platform to remain levitating.
She stood exactly ninety meters above the ship, and only now could she see it: tentacles, each as large as the ship itself, wrapped around it, oozing poisonous liquid that melted the hull.
"A Kraken!?" she muttered in shock.
But in the next instant, a tentacle slipped out of the space behind her, hurtling toward her with enough force to tear open a black hole around her figure.
RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIPLLLLEEE!
---------
It was fast. One moment, Ryuk was being pulled up by the thread, aiming to return to the ship.
The next, he was here, in this gloomy, putrid world of darkness.
"I got swallowed?" he muttered in faint disbelief, cautiously turning his head upward.
It was a slimy world, venomous liquid dripping from every corner. The sheer sliminess confirmed what had happened.
Suddenly, a notification flashed.
[An Ancient Bestial Creature, A Kraken, has swallowed the Host!]
[Quest Issued: Defeat A Kraken!]
[Rewards: ???]
"A bestial creature, huh?" Ryuk muttered, his cautious expression peeling away into a disappointed sigh.
"Just when I thought things would remain peaceful for some time."
CRACK
CRACK
The sound of bones cracking echoed as Ryuk tilted his head sideways, loosening his stiff joints.
Rising upright, he remained silent for a while quelling his rapidly beating heart before whispering,
"Activate King’s Aura!"
FLIICCCKKEERR
From the squirming darkness within the depths of the ancient creature, a flame appeared—blue in color, a tiny spark illuminating this gloomy world.
Then—
FLAAARRREEE
It burst forth with power, banishing the darkness and flooding the space with light.
Ryuk’s grin faded into a cold, distant gaze, the look of someone seemingly beyond this world.
GRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUM
He heard the howl of resistance from outside, the world around him squirming as the creature’s walls began to close in.
A torrent of venomous liquid poured from every direction, like a venomous tide surging to dissolve him.
Silently, he raised his hands.
"Activate Beyonder Dragon."
A subtle transformation shimmered as white scales escaped the boundaries of his skin, aligning perfectly.
His hands shifted into claws, soon covered in a purple light and then spinned his hand in one circle revolution around him, inches before the venom could touch him.
RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP
A dronning sound was what followed as the entire world around him was spotted into two like a pipe severed by a sharp blade.
The venomous liquid heading for him spilled back into the sea as the crimson Moon once more shone its ominous light on his figure.
A foot covered in purple tattoos and shimmering white scales gently stepped onto the water surface.