The crushing pressure that had assaulted him in the beginning, almost crushing him, had now been congealed by him into a dot and returned straight into the eyes.
A terrifying explosion completely devoured the entire eyes, instantly blasting them into dust.
What followed was a painful cry, as three of the eyes in the space around him were instantly destroyed.
The only one spared was the eye right below him, and Ryuk turned his attention to it.
"YOU..." The roar came, but a calm voice instantly silenced it.
"You were the one who tried to test me first," he said, looking at the eye unperturbed.
"All I did was return it." His tone was unruffled, but only silence followed after his words, contrary to what he expected.
Still, he continued.
"For your question—"
"I KNOW...WHAT YOU...ARE, DRAGON!"
It said in a high-pitched voice, sending another long, ringing tone through Ryuk’s soul.
"WHAT...DO YOU...WANT!?"
It barked impatiently, and in reply, Ryuk stretched out his hand, a runic symbol of a blue circle conjuring in the air before him.
"THAT..." The words came, silent for a while.
"A...BEAST CONTRACT...SEAL!?"
"YOU...WISH TO HAVE ME BECOME...A SLAVE OF YOURS!?"
Its voice was filled with disbelief, followed by a rage that made the entire realm start quivering all around.
Before things escalated, he spoke.
"None of the beasts I have contracted up until now are slaves of mine."
"IF THEY’RE...NOT YOUR SLAVES. WHAT...ARE THEY?" it asked, skeptical.
"YOUR EQUALS?"
"Equal?" Ryuk mirrored the confusion.
It was the first time he had heard of such a concept.
"I do not think of them as my equals, but more as a family.
"To be cared for and protected. And in return, I get people with whom I embark on this long journey, and who also protect and care for me."
"YOU...MUST BE FOOLISH...TO THINK...I...WILL BELIEVE THE WORDS OF A BEAST-TAMING DRAGON!"
It shot back at him, and Ryuk shrugged his shoulders.
"That makes sense, I’d be skeptical too," he said with a silent nod. But following that, his hand suddenly moved downward with the seal following his palm as he faced it down to the eye below him.
"But...I didn’t come here to be told no," Ryuk replied.
A moment later, his outstretched hand folded its claws into his palm, drawing forth drops of blood.
"YOU CANNOT...FORCE A BEING LIKE ME...TO A CONTRACT WITHOUT MY...WILL!"
The voice roared out loud, but Ryuk’s expression didn’t change.
He continued, digging the claws deeper, until an entire pool of blood had been formed, magically hanging all around him.
When he had bonded with Isha, he had used a total of three drops of his blood essence, as recommended by the system.
When he bonded with Void, he hadn’t needed blood essence because Void was already out of his egg, and it trusted him already.
But the creature before him was one only a step lower in strength than he.
To bond with it, it was no surprise that it would be harder to bind, but he wasn’t worried.
With an entire pool of blood flowing around him, he began the chant.
"Sanguis meus, vita nova. Ovum hoc, spiritu meo animetur. Fiat voluntas mea."
"Sanguis meus, vita nova. Ovum hoc, spiritu meo animetur. Fiat voluntas mea."
"Sanguis meus, vita nova. Ovum hoc, spiritu meo animetur. Fiat voluntas mea."
"Sanguis meus, vita nova. Ovum hoc, spiritu meo animetur. Fiat voluntas mea."
"Sanguis meus, vita nova. Ovum hoc, spiritu meo animetur. Fiat voluntas mea."
The endless chant continued, reverberating louder and louder, as the drop of blood all around him began congealing together to form a giant sphere of blood.
The runic seal he conjured instantly moved into the sphere, becoming one with it, and with terrifying speed, it buzzed forward with power toward the single eye.
"FUCCCK OFF!"
The loud roar boomed through the entirety of space, and the entire void crumbled into itself.
A powerful explosion appeared in the pathway of the descending sphere of blood, swallowing it in its chaos, but it was futile.
The blood sphere smashed straight through the explosion, half of it immediately destroyed, but the remaining half managed to enter the eye.What followed was a fiery, angry roar that shattered the entirety of space all around like glass.
He felt a powerful drag that even his Beyonder Dragon form couldn’t shake off, but when he opened his eyes in the next instant,
He was surprised to find himself back in the lab, crouched on his knees with his hands still resting against the creature.
But now, it was twitching its tentacles violently, as a circular blue rune burned on its forehead.
Ryuk rose, watching it twitch, obviously trying to resist, but in the end, the runic circle completely spread over its entire tentacles, and soon enough, its twitching completely stopped, leaving it motionless, as the runic seal disappeared into it.
All of a sudden—
FLICCKKEERR
A brilliant flicker of light shone through the lab as all four of its eyes opened up.
One of them was responsible for shining the light, the creature’s irises dotted by shimmering blue and purple over dark pupils.
But Ryuk’s brow creased when he saw the remaining eyes dripping with blue blood, cracks spreading within them.
"You..." The words rang out straight into Ryuk’s mind, followed by a sickening, mocking laughter.
"Tsk. So much... Family!" it said mockingly, but right after a notification panel flashed before him,
[Congratulations, Host has successfully contracted a new pet: A Zaffre Kraken!]
[System Attunement for the Pet’s skills has begun and will be completed in a couple of hours.]
The second those words were uttered, Ryuk exhaled in a bit of relief, and he turned back to his seat.
For a second, a flicker of light coalesced in his palms, and he threw it into the air, toward the Zaffre Kraken, whose tentacles flickered with speed, instantly grabbing at the object.
It stared at it—and beheld a triangular glass tube.
One look and it could instantly tell what it was.
"A High-Grade Healing Serum?"