‘…..’ Hearing Regina’s words, Drishti turned her gaze to observe the members of the Abernathy family still frozen in their places before turning her eyes back towards Regina. Exhaling, she said, “I will do it now.”
As Drishti was about to lift her fingers to snap, a black fluid unnoticed by her seeped out from beneath the black-masked man’s feet, infusing into the body of the lying blonde man.
‘Activate it at the right time,’ Ryuk inwardly commanded to the system, aware of Edward’s potential to adapt to his Grimoire prompting him to set a specific timer for the ability to take effect, knowing that prolonged exposure could lead to immunity.
[Trust me! <(￣︶￣)>]
snap
“EDWARD!” As time resumed, a voice called out beside Ryuk, who turned to see the man standing with widened eyes, his pupils trembling, and gritted teeth displaying a build-up of anger from a moment ago.
SWOOSH
Things suddenly took an ugly turn as the man’s body started to get shrouded in green light, burning rapidly. His eyes lost their white, replaced entirely by a green glow.
CRACKLE
The air around him crackled with energy, and the ground beneath his feet began to sizzle and break.
“YOU ALL ARE MONSTERS!”
As Ryuk stood there, hearing the words from the man’s mouth, he noticed Regina passing beside him, slowly approaching the man.
tap tap
Her movements were deliberate, her gaze fixed on the sight before them, as if assessing the threat.
‘System, what is happening with him?’ Ryuk inquired, his thoughts racing as he observed the man’s upper layer of skin shredding to reveal an intense green light within, burning away the outer layer of his body.
The transformation was grotesque, the smell of burnt flesh mingling with the ozone-like scent of raw energy.
[Host, he is burning his life force.]
‘….’
“I respect your decision”
CLANK!
Regina, not paying attention to anything else, kept her gaze fixed on the man in front, shrouded in a green aura. Her body instantly disappeared, arriving in front of the man whose sword collided with her unsheathed one.
SWISH!
Standing there at a visible rate, Ryuk’s eyes caught sight of Regina’s figure shooting from beside him, instantly thrown as a light streak of pure emerald pushed her back, taking her with its direction.
CLANK!
CRACKLE!
TING!
Several sounds filled the place, Ryuk’s eyes fixed on a humanoid figure burning in green light colliding with another one shrouded in white energy, which was definitely not mana.
‘How much longer?’ Ryuk inquired, not wanting to enter the battle since he had other matters to attend to.
[At this rate, approximately 7 minutes before he exhausts his life force]
“Ry..uk, you ba..stard!”
‘Ah, here we go again,’ thought Ryuk, turning his eyes downward where Edward slowly tried to rise himself, two footprints embedded on his back proving that Regina intentionally used mana to increase her weight.
“Are you fine, Edward?” Already covering his upper skin with amethyst Ether to guard himself from any surprise attack, Ryuk looked down on the man whose frustration was visible from his trembling body.
“W..hy?” Edward gritted his teeth, inquiring the reason for Ryuk to go to such lengths when he never even met this man before.
Maybe there could be chances of him being jealous of Abernathy bloodline, but it was not possible.
Even with all the power, he was on the ground in a broken state, and the man who made him this humiliated was standing calmly.
BAM
Ryuk gave him a head-to-shoe kick, causing it to stop on Edward’s face without showing any aftereffect of movement in neck muscles.
“As expected, your face really becomes stronger,” he remarked, kicking Edward only to test the effectiveness of his adapting ability from the reference of some moments ago when Regina kept hitting his face.
And miraculously, instead of bursting or turning into a blood mist, Edward’s face withstood that attack.
DRIP
“Cough!….Yo..u Bas—” Vomiting a mouthful of blood due to the kick colliding with his face carrying imbued ether, which got infused within his broken body, Edward tried to curse yet was interrupted.
“I can let you go from here, Alive,” Ryuk proposed, resting his hand in his pants pocket, appearing as if the whole battle until now was one-sided.
But in reality, the balance was shifting in Edward’s favor.
Esme was exhausted, Regina was also getting pushed back by that man, Drishti seemed to lose her patience, indirectly prompting Ryuk to realize that she was also having problems while dealing with those sitting on upper levels, trying to protect Edward.
Indeed, there were several eyes on Titanora right now.
‘How many, System?’ Ryuk inquired, reconfirming the numbers.
[Host, it’s more than 13]
[Five of them seemed to be trying to force their ways.]
‘Will they be able to see it?’ Hearing the information, Ryuk inquired.
[Who do you think I am, Host?]
“You think I would believe you!” Edward protested, feeling the humiliation which was just too much for him to bear, getting crushed by some woman and now being pressed down by this man.
‘….’ Ryuk, looking down at Edward, knew that unlike that man, he wasn’t strong enough to burn his life force, something which needed ultimate sacrifice, so at least there weren’t any chances of Edward overwhelming him yet.
Life force burning doesn’t just cost life but also the pain borne from the soul, which cries while breaking the bond that kept it joined with the body.—the ultimate pain.
Bam!
“Kughh! —thud.” Getting a hit on his ribs, Edward flung to a distance before falling on his back, his eyes falling on the masked man looking down at him, with two amber orbs eyeing him as if he were the prey.
“Decide, Edward.” Gazing down at him, Ryuk firmly stated, giving a last chance.
‘…Fucker,’ Edward wasn’t in the right state of mind, seeing how much of a cheater and cunning this man was who attacked him like a coward.
If it wasn’t for his dissected hand.
If it wasn’t for this whole army of powerhouses with this man.
If it wasn’t for that woman battling strongest among them.
If it wasn’t for Drishti Devereaux being on his side.
Edward was sure he would have won.
“You still find excuses, don’t you?”
‘Huh?’ Edward snapped out of his thoughts, hearing the words of the black-masked man, causing him to look at the man, instantly forming a visible grin on his face as he said, “Huh, do you really think you could have defeated me?”
Edward didn’t care that this man just guessed his thoughts, since it was the truth.
This man was nothing in front of him.
SWOOSH!
“Hehe, are you going to kill me now?” Edward, seeing a sword materializing inside Ryuk’s hand, understood that now, to remove someone superior like him, this man was going to kill him in his weakest state.
“No,” Ryuk said, looking down at the smiling figure of Edward, clearly revealing his thoughts through that expression, before Ryuk turned his gaze towards the sky, which was filled with several sparks produced by the collision of Regina and that man, his eyes turning cold. “I use resources because it saves my time, not because I am unable to achieve results without them.”
WHOOSH!
A pure orange aura started to move out of Ryuk’s palm, passing into the sword in his hand, energy flowing through the sword as if it were a part of it, instantly shrouding it in an orange hue.
Lying down, Edward’s pupils reflected Ryuk’s hand forming an arc with the sword in hand towards the direction of the battle, his smile vanishing as only a few words remained in his ears.
“I told you, Edward, after this day, you will beg for nightmares.”
SLICE
