[It is simple, really.]
[3D is the life dimension, where most life processes, such as breathing and thinking, are made possible.]
[When you’re stuck within a 2D dimension like you are now, then you’re locked into the limitations of the dimension, losing your ability to interact with the higher dimensions like 3D, where normal life processes occur.]
[Your power slows down that process, but not forever, and you will still turn into a frozen sculpture in the end.]
The system explained, but it wasn’t what Ryuk was asking.
"I’m not asking that. I’m asking how?"
"How had she gained more power within the time frame... and I never knew about it?" he mused silently, even though no words came out.
"Besides, why is she so suddenly mad? She was mad at me, not anyone else, so there must have been something I did or said that triggered her anger."
It didn’t take too much thinking before Ryuk was able to piece things together, and quickly enough, he had the exact reason why:
When Isha and Anteris had previously asked him why he needed to remain mostly asleep, he had replied, indirectly, that he was doing it to conserve energy, which was essentially a lie.
But back then, with his discussion with Void, he had agreed that he was running off to somewhere.
That confirmed he wasn’t sleeping to conserve energy but going somewhere in his sleep.
And he had foolishly admitted it and immediately gone back to sleep once more.
Isha was clingy, often finding her peace by being wrapped around Ryuk like the serpent she was.
But since the appearance of the rainbow-haired girl who never allowed anyone to get close to him, that space of hers with him had been temporarily cut off.
She must have been holding it back for days, and when he finally removed the little girl who had been taking her space, he immediately went back to sleep, without a word to her for days.
And just after confirming he wasn’t resting to conserve energy, but for another reason entirely.
It didn’t make sense to be so infuriated over it, as even Void didn’t care, just wanting to come with him.
But to Isha, Ryuk knew it was a lot more complicated than that.
’And truly, it seems like I’ve been neglecting her, too. She awakened two more new abilities, and I never knew about it, only because I never stayed around her to even know it.’
’I might be becoming neglectful,’
[You Have 5 Seconds More Before Permanent Stasis.]
The system notification blinked before him, as Ryuk exhaled.
Even if it was just for five seconds, the absolute quiet was a good thing, and he found himself even a bit reluctant to leave.
Still, he knew he needed to get out, as some of his memories were starting to get cloudy.
He was just about to break free when suddenly,
CRAAACK
Cracks trailed over the entirety of the dimension and then—
SHATTTERRRR
It shattered into nothing like glass, raining down, as the dark Void was once more revealed.
But this time, he stepped out to the scene of a ginormous four-headed Hydra, yes, Isha had grown one more head, trapped within a pink-colored cage that completely held her in place.
She thrashed wildly in the cage, but failed to break it apart, and standing above the cage, her claws reaching downwards while a runic pentagram floated in her palms, was none other than the Succu-Terra, Rakshasa.
It seems she succeeded in trapping Isha, likely causing her to lose the ability to maintain her dimensional skill.
"Not her first time losing control?" Rakshasa asked, turning her gaze to look at Ryuk, who silently floated towards her.
She could sense it wasn’t new to Ryuk, as his face was calm, not that of someone who was going through this for the first time.
"Yes. It’s very rare, though," he agreed, his hands reaching forward towards the cage, where Isha lay entrapped.
His hands hung a few inches before the cage as he closed his eyes, exhaling a bit before both eyes snapped open.
When they did, a brilliant blue was flaring in their depths, a sign of King’s Aura having been activated.
BAAAAAAANG
BAAAAAAAANG
BAAAAAAAAAANG
Isha thrashed around wildly, slamming her head and claws onto the bars and sending cracks through them as Rakshasa’s eyes narrowed in slight disbelief, sweat trailing down the side of her head.
’She’s strong.’
She, a being at the Apocrypha stage, was struggling to hold down a beast at the Eternity stage?
That was a testament to the power of the Frost Hydra beneath her.
But the thrashing didn’t last long.
"Sleep."
The words echoed out like a beautiful lullaby that sent even Rakshasa’s head feeling a bit groggy, although she snapped out of it soon, but not Isha.
With Ryuk’s focus being on her while also activating Kin’s Aura, she wobbled a couple of times, thrashing faintly, before collapsing onto the cage ground.
Her body returned to her smaller humanoid form as Rakshasa’s cage faded off into soft pink motes of light.
Naturally, Ryuk caught her in his arms, and Rakshasa watched as even in slumber, she unconsciously snuggled deeper into him, like he was a flame in a frozen wasteland.
’Even after just trying to get rid of him from her natural predatory state, her body still naturally craves his presence.’
’Just how does he build such firm bonds with the beasts, with such abnormally powerful beasts?’
’It can’t just be that weird skill of his. It’s something deeper,’ Rakshasa mused silently to herself.
She had noticed Ryuk possessed that weird skill of his that made any beast around him subservient to his will once he activated it.
On seeing it, she had gotten an explanation for how he had been able to tame Void and Isha, who both had a potential that seemed somehow out of this world.
Although it had always confused her why he only had two beasts when he could have had more with such a skill.
But now, seeing the scene of Isha coiling to him, she knew it was beyond just that skill.
There was something deeper that she was never aware of, still.
Still, something in her was blooming from the sight of them both.
Something... abnormal.