One would have expected him to sink, but the surface of the water had turned to liquid glass, strong enough to support Ryuk’s weight.
Circular ripples spread with every step he took.
The waves around him splashed powerfully, and a sudden explosion of golden light, mingled with dark, venomous liquid spraying into the air, drew his attention.
High above, eight massive tentacles writhed and lashed around wildly in the sky, but that wasn’t all.
Colossal worms extended from a golden-haired figure standing atop one of the golden worms, engaged in a fierce battle of threads and tentacles.
This figure was none other than Orrelith, her hands spread wide.
Slits had opened in her palms, each birthing three enormous golden worms with gaping maws lined with rows of sharp fangs.
They lunged and twisted toward the approaching tentacles, gripping and ripping them apart with a single bite, venomous liquids raining down from the sky.
Though it seems she held the upper hand and that too with ease, Ryuk’s thoughts differ.
The more tentacles were served, the more new ones were quick to grow-two for each severed tentacle.
Worse still, the tentacle’s strength and aura grew even more powerful with each regrowth.
Soon enough she was being forced to evade, her golden worms frantically lashing out at the Kraken’s limbs but it has little effect in keeping things at bay.
"So, it’s like a gigantic octopus, with tentacles strong enough to latch onto anything and melt it into nothing," Ryuk muttered, standing far from the battle, observing like an outsider.
"Trying to sever the annoying tentacles might seem smart, but really, the Kraken’s the only one who gains from it," he reasoned.
"Two more tentacles replace every severed one, and their power grows with each cut. Sooner or later, they’ll be too strong to sever, and the attacker will be caught in their grasp, melted by the venomous poison."
His gaze drifted from the chaotic tentacles and the increasingly dire explosion, diving deeper into the water instead.
"The Kraken is an intelligent beast. Knowing its tentacular ability, it keeps them out to attack while hiding its head deep underwater."
"But like any beast, it reveals its strength while concealing its weakness, making it easier to defeat," Ryuk muttered.
A moment later, the water’s surface rippled backward, unleashing a tsunami that surged into the distance.
Ryuk vanished from where he stood, moving with blinding speed.
The force carried him deeper into the water as he pierced toward where he sensed the Kraken’s head was buried.
The Kraken seemed to sense him, as eighteen tentacles flashed toward Ryuk, their edges shifting into sharp blades that cleanly sliced through space itself.
But he had observed Orrelith’s difficulty in handling them and learned from it.
Instead of severing them with his claws, he weaved through them like a ghost, dodging with precision while rapidly closing the distance.
Air began to leave his lungs due to the three-minute underwater rule of this realm, but his eyes remained focused on its aim, fixed beneath him.
He could sense himself nearing a loudly beating heart.
The tentacles lashed faster, but it did nothing but confirm more to work that his plan was succeeding.
Unable to grab him, the Kraken formed a gigantic wall made of tentacles around its head, while five more tentacles unfurled in a typical defense-and-attack formation.
Not only did it shield itself with tentacles, but it also kept five free to skewer its enemy.
Ryuk, however, having seen through the facade, remained unfazed.
His hands reached forward, a Void Grimoire slipping from the void and landing in his grasp.
The page fluttered open to an image of a vortex, and a moment later—
"Void Vortex," he thought as the sharp end of a tentacle flashed toward his forehead.
Ryuk didn’t dodge, letting it stop an inch from piercing his veins before his figure blinked, reappearing to the side.
With a single slash, he cleanly severed the tentacle.
As it fell, two more sprouted instantly from the point, heading for him.
But before they could reach Ryuk with his hands holding the severed tentacle, vanished into a conjured Void Vortex.
The two new tentacles struck nothing, their focus thrown into disarray as they looked around, realizing their prey was nowhere to be found.
When Ryuk reappeared, he stood on a slimy head, the sharp end of a tentacle in his hands.
His eyes locked onto a single pitch-black eye, brimming with shock.
It had encased itself in a wall of tentacles to block its prey, yet he now stood atop its head, holding its half-severed but sharp end of its own tentacle.
It reacted instantly, its nearest tentacles speeding toward Ryuk’s frame attempting to skewer him through, but a gentle whisper echoed.
"Go to sleep."
The words pierced the Kraken’s soul—the first it could hear and understand beyond the usual screams of horror its preys elicited when it feeds on them.
So soothing were they that, for a moment, its rapidly advancing tentacles halted, its eyes slowly drifting closed.
But those closing eyes widened in shock when a sound reached it.
PUUUUCCCHIIII
The squelching pierce of its slimy flesh.
The sharp end of the tentacle Ryuk held had been thrust through the space above its head, plunging straight into its brain, the blade tearing out from behind.
Its eyes remained wide in shock, darkness clouding them, but the last thing it saw was that blue gaze—so warm, filled with such love, it doubted they belonged to its killer.
Its intent to launch a final attack faded, caught in the beauty of those shimmering blue eyes.
"You fought well. Go to sleep now," the voice echoed once more, as he slowly floated away up above, away from it.
Those beautiful eyes slowly faded away, being covered by the darkness that swallowed its vision.
"How surreal of an evil..." was the final thought in the Kraken’s mind as it took its last breath and sank into the depths of the forsaken sea.