"I... I never thought of it that way," the Beyonder Dragon manifestation whispered to herself with faintly creased eyebrows.
She couldn’t understand why Ryuk would allow himself to be subjected to Odette’s whims and not complain at all.
One of the hypotheses she had was that the defeat must have watered down any hope he had in trying to ever go against her; it was the only thing she could think of.
But now, with his words, things were much deeper than she imagined.
"You talked about her being the only Nihil, and the energy possibly being the only thing in this universe," she suddenly said, as Ryuk turned to her.
"Are you just interested in possessing a unique Abyssal energy... or your true goal is to kill her, to make sure you’re the only one in the universe to possess Nihil Energy?"
"The latter, judging from how you said it, seemed to me to be more the case..." she said, studying Ryuk, whose lips parted slightly, and he asked.
"What’s the deal about the throne?" he suddenly asked, pointing to the throne she sat on.
"The last time I came here, I didn’t find a throne around, or did I miss it?" he asked, watching as she turned to the throne, her fingers brushing against its large armrest.
"Let me ask you something, Ryuk,"
"You once possessed the Knull and a Jade Dragon Draconic bloodline, and now you have a Beyonder Dragon. What would you say are the things you love about the latter better than both bloodlines?"
"Not a goal or reason, but something related to its strength."
Ryuk thought about it for a while before answering.
"Its boost in strength, and the strength itself," Ryuk said, and she smiled.
"Care to explain further..."
"The Beyonder Dragon bloodline has the greatest boost in strength I have ever known."
"When I fought Odette, my base strength — let’s say we try to put it in numbers — was 10,000. But with the Beyonder Dragon skill activated, the number moved up to 50,000."
"This boost in strength, I greatly enjoy, because when I had the Knull and Dragon bloodlines, I had to activate about three to four body transformation skills to reach a significant boost in strength."
"Doing that places a very great strain on the body,"
"And the strength — the pure brute force of the Beyonder Dragon bloodline — is also something I greatly enjoy."
"Its simple ability to force the entire world to perform a single command of mine, like Halt! — is one of its strengths, and it’s great."
And truthfully, those were the things Ryuk loved about the Beyonder Dragon skill.
Even if it was just one skill, it was doing something more than important, and it had a simple, unique skill that was easy to comprehend.
The Beyonder Command.
He loved its simplicity and its effect in battle.
"Well then," she said, reclining back on the throne.
"What if I told you that the Beyonder Dragon bloodline’s strongest point isn’t those two things you mentioned?" she said, watching his eyebrows crease a bit.
"Anytime you get into your Beyonder Dragon form, a total of six shards slip out and float around your head, don’t they?" she asked, and Ryuk nodded.
That did happen.
"Those six shards aren’t for decorative purposes. They’re the Six Divine Seals in the Beyonder bloodline."
"Six things which make the Beyonder Dragon bloodline a greatly feared one."
One of those seals is the Sigil of White Flames that you awakened from your fight with Odette. Its awakening resulted in the throne that you currently see," she said, and he gave a small, "Oh."
"The truth is, the throne is only a tiny manifestation of the true thing."
"There will be a person sitting on this throne soon, once you fully understand what the Sigil of White Flames is."
"Wait, wait. Did you just say a person?" he asked, his brows creasing in faint displeasure once more.
"What, you only want me around?" she taunted, and Ryuk shrugged.
"I don’t know. I’d rather prefer only a single person berating me than two," he muttered, the memories of the two previous bloodline manifestations once more crossing his thoughts.
"The one who appears on the throne is formed from your understanding of the Sigil."
"In a way, you’re the one who brings it to life, so berating and all that most likely would never happen — unless you birthed it with emotions of arrogance and pride."
"Something which, suffice to say, isn’t a sickness you’re afflicted with." She added, and he grinned.
"Did someone just compliment me?" he said with a slick smile, although her expression was as neutral as ever.
He could only shrug helplessly, collapsing onto the ground a moment later, while wondering:
"I need to get out of here soon. I fell unconscious too fast and left that Zaffre Kraken free. I wonder what that thing is doing to me now, strangling me to death?" he wondered to himself.
"It’s not," her words resounded as Ryuk turned to her.
"Oh, I forgot you can see the outside world of me," he said, watching the singular golden runes appear in her eyes.
"Then, what is currently happening?"
"Iris woke up and came into the lab," she said, and Ryuk’s eyes widened.
"WHAT!?"
He had been so absorbed in the lab that he forgot he left Iris was sleeping just a glass wall away from it.
"Don’t tell me," he said, jumping to his feet, but quickly enough she cut him short.
"I would be more worried about the Zaffre Kraken than about the God’s Child."
"Huh?" he said, but just then, his spirit form began fading out from the space, a sign of his spirit now being able to return.
All he could do was give a look at the Beyonder Dragon manifestation who, at the last second before he could leave, moved her lips silently.
Although no words came out, he could clearly hear them just before he completely disappeared from the space.