An ear-deafening roar split the air, followed by a mighty storm of energy that dragged Ryuk backward.
He tried to resist but failed, saved only when his body slammed into a tree, pressing him tightly against it and bringing his motion to a halt.
Even as his eyes tried to shut, they widened instead, forced open by the sight before him.
From the depths of the splintering orbs of golden light, waves of brilliance rippled outward, shrouding everything in a thick cloud of smoke.
Shapes began to emerge from that radiance—gigantic draconic creatures whose forms blotted out nearly all space around them, yet strangely cast no shadow.
They came in all forms, ranging across categories both wondrous and terrifying.
There were Beast-Dragons, born from wolves, lions, tigers, and even serpents, their natural ferocity magnified by draconic evolution.
Others were Spirit-Dragons, once ghosts, fae, or elemental beings, now forced into unstable draconic shells that flickered between raw essence and dragonflesh.
The most unnerving were the Insect-Dragons: scorpions, beetles, and centipedes reshaped into draconic nightmares, their carapace-like scales glinting, wings segmented, and countless eyes glowing with alien malice.
And then there were the hybrids, Divine or Undead Dragons: Angels twisted into holy flame-winged monstrosities, and corpses resurrected into skeletal and rotting draconic abominations.
Even though Ryuk himself had seen most of them during the time he spent going around and looking into them, it still shocked him to see all of them congregated before him.
’They reformed. Even with flesh and blood,’ he thought, stunned.
They looked no different from living beings of flesh and skin, yet each radiated an aura that pressed down on his heart like a mountain.
And yet, despite their terrifying presence, every one of them had lowered their heads to the woman, whose hand currently rested on the head of a dragon.
Not just any dragon, the largest of them all, its divine scales constantly shifting colors like living light.
Ryuk’s throat tightened.
If he had to fight with just one of these dragons.
It would be a close call, and he wasn’t even fifty percent certain he would survive it.
Yet here they were, thousands of them, bowing to a single silhouette.
This was power.
True Power!
"Did you feel it unfair?"
The voice cut through the crushing aura, which suddenly lifted from Ryuk’s body.
He looked down, seeing a pink ripple spreading beneath his feet from the woman’s, and it negated the oppressive weight.
"Find what unfair?" he asked.
"To know the end purpose of it all was only to benefit my lineage. To reawaken the dragons bound to the Violin of Meturasa—and to correct the Divine Err."
Her eyes glimmered faintly as her voice pressed deeper.
"All your hard work, climbing level after level to the peak, only for the profits to fall into the hands of someone you do not even know."
"Doesn’t it seem a little... unfair?"
Her words made him frown, his brows knitting together.
He tried to grasp her meaning, but in the end...
"Unfair? That never crossed my mind at all."
She turned slightly, studying him with a curious look.
"You feel no sting?"
"I don’t," Ryuk said firmly. "My purpose in climbing levels has always been to help myself, and it already has."
"Without the system, I wouldn’t even be alive today. I’d have been dead long ago."
It was the system that allowed him to fight and defeat Ignatirus Blade.
If he had failed back then, he would have been killed by the Fallens.
Even if he somehow resisted being killed. Without those Attribute Points, he never would have grown strong to face Zar’kul at all, and only death would have awaited him.
"With it I grew stronger, and faster than most, and accomplished important goals."
"If my leveling helped you to correct a Divine Err of yours, then it’s only a bonus to me."
"Besides, I’ve never liked seeing the dragons treated unfairly."
"Even if this were the outside world and I came upon a garden like this, I would never have just left it alone, and still try to find a way to release them from their binds," he said, and from his words she sensed not the slightest doubt.
"So... no. I find nothing unfair," he finished. "If anything, I feel grateful for the system’s existence, for everything it gave me."
"And for you, for creating it."
"Thank you."
A faint light flickered in her eyes as she watched him bow his head.
She gazed at him for a long moment, then, almost reluctantly, a smile tugged at her lips.
"You’re welcome,"
Ryuk rose upright, exhaling in relief as his gaze swept across the garden.
The draconic beasts had been rebirthed, and the blue lilies had bloomed.
The woman herself stood before him, and Alvarez had ascended just as she had told him.
The dream he had seen had now been recreated, marking a successful end of whatever his mission here ought to be.
"You wish to leave," she said softly, as though reading his thoughts.
While he would definitely miss the peace and that enchanting aura and beauty this garden had.
He couldn’t remain here forever.
He felt the breeze whistle a bit, and he turned to find her a few centimeters away, her hands reaching out.
Ryuk stretched out the Violin he held and passed it back to her.
But then, when she took hold of the Violin, she plucked off one of the five strings and passed it to him.
"Huh?"
Ryuk blinked, confused, but he still accepted it.
The moment it touched his palm, light coalesced.
In barely five seconds, the string exploded with brilliance, blinding him completely.
When his vision cleared, he gasped.
Another violin now rested in his hands—an exact replica of the one she still held.
But unlike hers, this one didn’t feel cold to the touch or foreign.
It felt... his.
Like the difference between holding something borrowed and holding something crafted for him alone.
"The Violin of Meturasa you hold is a lesser version of mine," she said calmly.
"It is weak now, but it can grow stronger."
As her words echoed, she began to rise, her body lifting off the ground, floating higher and higher into the sky.
And as she ascended, so too did the dragons, following her lead. T
hey rose together into the sky, which split into a vast golden-blue vortex above.
Her voice resonated across the garden as she vanished into the light:
"This Garden of Meturasa, from today on, is also yours."
"Within it, the growth of your contracted pets will improve tremendously, no matter their elements. The dragons that once rested here made this possible."
Her presence grew fainter, as she faded completely, but Ryuk picked up on her final words:
"And if one day you ever possess enough power to break through your reality, the doors of the Lineage of Meturasa will be open to you, Ryuk Knull."
_____
A/N:
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In and Out_SnowySmoos