"I can’t move."
The realization hit him, but it never stopped him.
From beneath the water, Ryuk’s gaze remained fixed on the sky where he had left them.
Iris was in the hands of the rainbow-haired female, who slowly took back her outstretched palm.
Her rainbow hair lit up in shimmering colors, and the same phenomenon occurred with Iris, her hair flaring brightly in response.
The female lowered her eyes, meeting Ryuk’s gaze through the sea. Her expression hardly shifted.
But then she noticed his gaze slide away from her, toward Iris in her arms.
It was as if Iris could feel his gaze too.
She turned back, her eyes locking into his, but he noticed something had changed.
For one, her eyes had become cold, almost aloof.
"Goodbye."
The word echoed in Ryuk’s mind.
He could only watch as the female turned away, carrying Iris back into the ship, and they vanished inside.
Now, only the two males remained along with Zaffree.
Her mind still reeled, unable to keep up with what had just happened.
But her reasoning snapped back when one of the males suddenly blurred forward, his hand reaching for her neck.
Her eyes widened.
She found herself trapped under a face so oppressive that it paralyzed her body, preventing her from getting out of the way.
His hand was just about to close around her throat when—
"Get back,"
In an instant, she vanished, fading into thin air, and the rainbow-covered hand closed on nothing but her afterimage.
The male narrowed his eyes, then shifted his gaze back toward the sea, where Zaffree had reappeared beside Ryuk.
A sneer twisted his lips before he pulled back his hand, turning toward the cross-starship and disappearing inside.
The vessel sealed shut, then began to spin at tremendous speed.
The sheer rotation tore space apart, forming a gigantic vortex.
The ship slipped through, vanishing into the distortion before the space healed back to normal.
The world’s tempo resumed as though nothing had happened.
Only two witnesses remained, Ryuk, still lying motionless, and Zaffree, who could not comprehend how she had been saved, only that she had suddenly appeared beside him underwater.
An old memory resurfaces in Ryuk’s mind after the cross-shaped ship left with Iris:
_______
"God races aren’t like us."
"They don’t think like us, nor do they follow our sense of reason."
"The same is true for the girl in your arms. When her family comes, they won’t understand you—even if you can speak with them."
"They’re like a tame beast that suddenly turns wild. No matter how well you once communicated with them, it all becomes meaningless once they enter that state."
________
[You should have gotten that girl out of your hands, like Odette warned. See what it caused in the end.]
The system panel blinked, but instead of regret, a faint smile tugged at Ryuk’s lips.
"If I had thrown her out into the Void. I would have been worried about what eventually became of her fate."
"Now, I at least know she’s been safely reunited with her own... it was worth it."
"Ryuk!"
"Ryuk!"
"Are you okay?"
The voice sounded distant. He blinked and saw Zaffree’s hanging tentacles, eyes glassy as he looked at his broken state.
It was the first time she had ever seen him like this. His skin was pale, ghostly white, his once-mighty body shriveled as though all his blood had been drained.
And worse, there was a hole in his chest, exposing the faintly beating organ inside.
"Hey, Zaffree." His voice reached her telepathically as the world around him dimmed.
"Take me back to the lab. Don’t worry... I’ll get better."
Tentacles wrapped around him instantly as Zaffree sped back.
’Hey, system?’
[Yes.]
"Begin all possible evolution procedures once Zaffree gets me in the lab."
It was his final order before his consciousness completely slipped away.
The moment Zaffree reached the lab, she laid him down.
Her expression was lost, as she didn’t know what to do.
There was no healing serum, and he had no healing ability.
But then, a slit opened beneath Ryuk’s neck, a second mouth, and the voice echoed in her ears.
"Leave the lab, Zaffre."
"He will only grow stronger after this evolution. But you, on the other hand, will be blown to dust when the energy wave descends in ten seconds."
The Voice...it was nothing like Ryuk’s.
Suddenly, a powerful aura burst out of him, like a dam breaking.
The force of it was enough to send her skidding backward, her skin burning as though seared alive.
"Leave...Now!"
The Voice came again, and this time she had no doubt left.
She rushed out, shutting the glass between the lab and the other room and activating its protective features.
CRAAAACCCCKKKK—!
Cracks spread across the protective glass, golden flames erupting on its surface.
"What is this?" Zaffree whispered in shock as more flames blazed, devouring the lab faster than the glass could withstand.
The realization struck her.
’It won’t hold.’
She bolted for the elevator, fleeing upward.
Three seconds later, she burst into open water, swimming as fast as she could.
Exactly ten seconds after she escaped—
KAAAAAAAAABOOOOOOOOOM!!!
The entire bunker detonated, a colossal explosion blasting upward in a towering mushroom of seawater.
Waves of monstrous force surged outward, slamming against Zaffree.
She barely managed to control them, letting the currents hurl her further away until she crashed onto the shore of a nearby island.
Gasping, she turned back.
The mushroom cloud of energy still burned, golden light throbbing at its core.
And from within... she could feel it clearly.
A familiar aura.
One that only grew stronger, stronger, and even stronger with every passing second.
Her heart skipped a beat.
"It’s him... Ryuk.
He’s growing more powerful.
So this is his... evolution?"
_____
A/N:
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In and Out_SnowySmoos