Far away from the expanse of the Sanctum, which surrounded a continent belonging to the Demon Queen Morana known as Malevolia, existed a huge land mass called Titanora.
In the middle of Titanora, which appeared from above as a land filled with rocks, rubble, and broken architectures fallen on the ground, while the forests rooted themselves above the now crumbled land, existed the capital city.
Once the most advanced city on the whole continent, it was now turned into a piece of rubble, appearing the same as all the remaining land on Titanora, bearing marks of intense battle.
But the scenario changes as one moves deeper into the capital city, where stood five onyx black ships of humongous architectures with each having glimmering metallic exterior in Gaia’s rays.
Several cloaked figures, wearing black trench coats fluttering in the air stood surrounding a mansion. The number of individuals seemed to be more than 150.
Each figure’s body shrouded in a dense aura, creating an intense pressure around a mile of the whole place, proving the resilience of each individual.
Inside the mansion, surrounded by these figures, a sharp sound accompanied by a shockwave threw the whole place into chaos.
BOOOOM!
SWISH
The shockwave instantly passed through the mana-infused walls of the mansion, scattering throughout the capital city, which was now filled with broken buildings and injured individuals trying to find shelter for themselves.
“I-Is it starting again?” a soldier gritted his teeth in anger and frustration, his eyes looking in the direction of the mansion, which was now surrounded by those cloaked men, who were not giving any opening for them to enter.
….
“Young man, what’s with this lacking strength?” Valhale’s feelings were slightly confused, with one eyebrow raised as he looked at the young man whose punch was just gripped inside his claws.
Ryuk, whose punch was just blocked while creating an intense shockwave, looked at the old man with a white mustache, firmly maintaining his posture in the middle of the whole room where six cloaked figures were surrounding them for safety measures.
“I already told you, I am on Epic Rank,” Ryuk reiterated, informing about his strength being at the peak Epic rank.
“No, it’s not the strength but the compatibility,” Valhale loosened his grip before slowly retreating his hand and folding it behind his back.
“Yes, I know,” Until now, there were several individuals, including Drishti herself, but none of them found that small uncomfortable feeling Ryuk was experiencing since waking up.
Of course, he was experienced inside an adult body since his previous life, but the boost in his strength and then coma had left a completely different impact on his subconscious mind, which was felt at a molecular level, making his own body feel foreign.
But that small error was detected by the man in front of him, showing the expertise and strength possessed by this old man, even though he was suppressed to Epic rank by Drishti, indirectly making her the strongest one in this place right now.
“Hm, fine, I will teach you,” Valhale looked at the black-suited young man wearing a black mask, appearing nothing more than an average human.
However, Valhale could feel his hand slightly trembling due to the aftereffect of that punch.
It was clear that this young man wasn’t just any random average human.
‘…Is it her?’ Ryuk glanced at the woman busy throwing coins here and there, which were caught by the silhouette jumping with utmost precision, predicting every movement. Understanding that it could only be Drishti who asked Valhale to train him.
“Woof…Woof!”
“Woah, aren’t you faster than him, kiddo?”
‘….’ Ryuk heard Drishti’s words and turned to observe Mae’s movement, which was indeed fast and precise, though it was hyperbole compared to his speed.
But seeing Mae’s obsession with money, he felt satisfied that Drishti would handle her.
He needed twins for predictions but also wanted to make sure that they didn’t feel isolated with him.
“By the way, why are you wearing a mask? Remove it,” Valhale suggested, his eyes glancing at his granddaughter, who seemed to be glaring at him for some reason.
“…Fine,” Ryuk brought his hand near his face to remove the mask, holding it as he slid it halfway down.
“Stop there, don’t remove it,” Valhale halted him the moment his eyes caught a glimpse of the face hidden underneath, instantly understanding the reason for his granddaughter to fall for this young man.
“Grandpa, shouldn’t it be enough for now?” Esme approached both of them, accompanied by Sam, whose mouth was agape, without blinking as he looked at the young man, who also noticed his gaze and smiled.
‘Is he a high-ranking Incubus?’ Sam instantly tried to collect his thoughts, already feeling overwhelmed due to that face, which was definitely not safe to be near.
SWISH
thud
Suddenly, a figure materialized inside the hall, swiftly kneeling before informing, “Liege, we have detected a fleet of three battleships entering the radars of our ships.”
“….Did you identify them?” Ryuk inquired, looking at the knelt figure.
“Yes, they are support sent from Ardoros against the upcoming attack from Malevolia,” the man informed with a composed demeanor.
The news about the declaration of war from the Demon continent’s side had prompted the backups from Ardoros to arrive according to the zonal treaty.
“Which family are they?” Ryuk inquired, understanding that there are already fewer people in the Devereaux family, making them not send anyone to this place, leaving only the other three families.
Also, among them, Tenebri should already be excluded due to them not having their own army, and for a Demon continent movement, it was impossible for Amrantha Tenebri herself to make a move.
That leaves two families: Riantain and Abernathy.
“They are from—” the knelt man tried to inform but was interrupted by a soft, womanly voice, which resonated throughout the whole hall.
“A very familiar friend of yours is coming here, Ryuk.”
‘….’ Hearing Drishti’s voice, Ryuk turned his gaze towards the head of the throne, where a woman sat with a smile and two teasingly narrowed eyes, holding an amusement only known to her, looking back at him.
“I don’t understand your meaning, Lady Drishti?” Ryuk inquired, trying to decipher the meaning behind her words, though he was not sure about it.
“Hm, yes, it’s been more than eleven years. You must have forgotten about that friend of yours,” Drishti slowly rose from her seat, moving towards the masked young man looking at her in confusion. Finding this a good opportunity to reveal something interesting, she approached him.
Approaching while being followed by Mae, who was carrying a pile of platinum coins in her folded hand, placed near her chest to hold that many coins, Drishti halted and reminded the young man who stood composed without showing any reaction, making her take initiative, “Edward Abernathy.”
‘….’
Drishti’s smile widened as her eyes caught that small movement in the young man’s pupil, the slight contraction evident of reaction, but it wasn’t enough.
“Edward Abernathy is the one who is coming here,” Drishti completed her words.
‘…Edward, huh,’ Ryuk reminded of the very familiar figure who was too much of a linked individual with his past life, someone who kept coming after him yet only to get defeated.
“Why do you think I knew him?” Ryuk inquired, not paying attention to the news about that favored son of heaven coming here, placing it as second priority.
“Heh, weren’t you the one who cut his hands off?” Drishti amusingly said, finding this a very interesting opportunity where both of these intriguing individuals were going to meet soon.
First, a young man who awakened the Abernathy Bloodline at just the age of eleven, prompting ripples to fill Ardoros, the reason being the strength of God’s bloodline.
Second, a young man who was the most talented one until the age of eleven but fell into a coma for five years, proving to be a disappointment until he awakened and shook the whole Devereaux Expanse.
And coincidentally, both of these young men were acquaintances of Heindal—a place which was proving more mysterious by giving birth to prodigies.
‘…So, she was also one of them,’ Ryuk didn’t let his emotions get the better of himself.
Though the situation was indeed tough due to the arrival of his archenemy but it was also fitting for a warm welcome.
Twelve years ago, from the mouth of Wang, he came to know about the existence of Ardoros and the outside world, accompanied by many details related to the things which were now coming true.
And at that time, the System had warned him about the presence of Seven figures observing him, though without *Shunya*, he was nothing at that time in front of the individuals around whom today he stood, prompting him to not delve further about them.
It was indeed a loss for him to not know the identity of those seven people, among whom four were from Ardoros and three were far stronger.
But at that time, his instinct only warned him not to delve further into it.
Now, he at least identified that among one of those four, Drishti Devereaux was the one watching him at that time.
“Were you keeping an eye on me for a long time?” Ryuk inquired with slight confusion, since there wasn’t any reason for her to do so, due to knowing about her such unique personality.
“What? Of course not. That day was special because you did create trouble for us,” Drishti informed while passing a dimensional pouch to Mae for placing her coins inside it.
“…Was it due to Edward?” Ryuk inquired, though there were still many doubts inside his mind regarding the presence of Edward or any heroines on the Heindal Continent.
Of course, he could guess that the major reason was Heaven or world will, but there needed some logical answers regarding the incident which threw them into a single place, if we remove the fact that he was also the reason for that.
His Faith was made to attract all of them to a single place, always intentionally or unintentionally getting entangled with him.
“Yes, he is special,” Drishti informed the black-masked man about the facts, which were known to very few people, but seeing the young man’s same demeanor, she added further, “But you are interesting.”
Her meaning was clear: She preferred interesting things instead of special ones.
Since she had already seen too many special things until this day of her life.
“….I see,” Ryuk nodded, not finding her words in the wrong sense since it was expected of her to be aligned towards her interest and also Son of Heaven being special.
“Though, we were really surprised when you detected our presence that day.”
‘!?!’
Suddenly, Drishti’s words instantly broke the calm demeanor of Ryuk, whose eyes slightly trembled before calming down, understanding how he was seen through that day.
“Oh, now you gave a reaction,” Drishti’s eyes, which not once blinked, kept trying to see a single movement from the young man, finally catching the sight of his fist clenching and then relaxing.
Drishti’s smile faded as she closed the distance between them, her cold amber eyes locking with the young man’s calmer gaze.
With parted lips, she leaned in until they were mere inches apart, her voice dripping with threat as she said, “It’s fortunate you didn’t push to learn more about us back then or I would have lost such an interesting man like you.”
Let me Clarify this, System is strong but it isn’t omniscient or else wouldn’t it had made Ryuk overpowered ina single stroke?
So, it has limit but large enough to considered limitless, though whenever it use certain feature then that is derived from other System or Nexus Grid, like it’s Detection or Appraisal Skill, which causes stronger beings to feel being watched.
But, I clarify that, those beings cannot detect System or its presence, neither things manipulated by it’s own energy (Will further go deep in future chap)
