The air became thick with their collective resentment, and they began to speak, their voices overlapping and merging into an eerie, otherworldly chorus.
“Why… why did you take everything from me? My family… my life… all gone because of you!” one soul wailed, its voice trembling with grief.
“I trusted you! I thought you were my savior… But you betrayed me, cut me down like an animal!” Another soul’s words hissed like venom, its face a twisted mask of hatred.
“You… you left me to rot… to suffer… to die alone!” A third soul’s voice was barely a whisper, filled with the loneliness of a forgotten life. “Why? Why couldn’t you show mercy? Why couldn’t you let me live?”
More voices joined in, rising to a fevered pitch, their pain and anger coiling through the room like a swarm of locusts:
“Curse you! Curse you for eternity!”
“Your hands are stained with the blood of the innocent! Do you feel nothing?”
“You played with us like toys, threw us aside when we no longer served you!”
“We will never forgive you! Never!”
As their resentments poured forth, some of the souls sobbed, while others snarled with rage. Their faces, grotesque and skeletal, twisted as they pressed closer, their hands clawing at Ryuk’s form, but never quite able to touch him.
The air itself seemed to thicken with their despair and wrath, the ghost’s presence amplifying their fury as it loomed overhead like a judge, watching this pitiful parade of the damned.
( ฯ໐นr ŞinŞ คrē thēir ŞinŞ. ฯ໐น คrē ¢นrŞē໓ คŞ thēฯ คrē… )
Yet despite the chaos, Ryuk remained unfazed, his eyes narrowing only slightly as he observed the souls attempting to bind him with their resentment. His mind flickered with memories of his past, but none of it caused even the faintest tremor of remorse, inquiring, ‘are they from a previous timeline?’
From Ryuk’s perspective, he considered that it wasn’t an illusion but some ability to summon souls. But for him, it was confusing since he hadn’t killed many people in this life, except for those in Ardoros or a few here and there indirectly.
[ No host, these souls are mostly from that soul orb consisting of 10,000 of them, as well as others like Devereaux members, Dariants, and humans whom you have killed included. ] (*chapter 14)
“I see…” Ryuk murmured quietly, understanding that due to him extracting these souls from the soul orb, they had redirected their resentment towards him, thinking he was their murderer, but not caring a bit, he released a surge of energy, instantly throwing back all the souls that had stretched their hands towards him, breaking their translucent bodies in the process, as he firmly declared, “But your cries mean nothing to me.”
The souls recoiled as if his words struck them harder than any weapon ever could, the intense pressure emerging from his body also throwing away the black liquid near his feet, while the energy emitting from him kept increasing.
“Your deaths were your fate. Your suffering, your destiny. If I hadn’t killed you, the world itself would have devoured you eventually. You were weak. That was your sin.”
With a voice that was both icy and remote, he pierced through the mourning cries like a knife, stepping closer to the ghost that awaited, the ghost observing how the souls gradually retreated as it remained in position, looking at Ryuk inching forward with each deliberate stride.
“But why?” one last soul rasped, its eyes hollow and lifeless, searching Ryuk for any sign of compassion. “Why did you do it?”
Ryuk’s gaze shifted down toward it, his expression unmoved. “Because I could.”
SWOOSH
Within a second, an intense pressure enveloped the surroundings as if a tsunami had surged out of Ryuk’s body, instantly pouring down in the form of orange ether. The ghost brought its hand forward as it felt the energy descending violently against its own, trying to cut through it with the scythe. It was able to erase the energy for a few meters, but Ryuk’s figure had already arrived just a few inches away from him as he declared, “Aren’t you made of energy?”
With those words, Ryuk lifted his hands, just like how the ghost did a moment ago. His fingers directly touched its forehead, stopping at just middle of the forehead. Before, with a glint passing through his amber eyes, he calmly informed, “It’s your bad luck; the energy conversion theory doesn’t apply to me.”
( ຟhคt iŞ thē ๓ēคຖiຖງ ໐f thiŞ hน๓ค—AAARRRGHHHHHHH!!! )
[….Oh, so he can at least scream in a normal tone (~_~;) ]
With Ryuk’s touch, his ability nullified the surrounding energy, including the ghost which was made from the ominous energy, causing its body to start vanishing as it began to break into several pieces, cracking as it started to turn into ash.
( Aaarggghhhh…)
And within a few seconds, the ghost’s whole body disappeared.
[ It’s dead (´-﹏-`;) ]
‘What’s happening with this place?’ Ryuk noticed the darkness that had begun to fade away moments earlier was turning to ash, swirling around him. As the ashes settled, he saw that the walls being unveiled were those of the library’s top floor. Most striking were the cracks appearing on the surfaces of the walls and shelves, including the books.
[ Host, the building is crumbling due to the aftereffect of your energy leakage; most likely, it will be destroyed in a few minutes.]
‘Scan all the books in this place.’ After hearing the words, Ryuk turned to face the center of the room, where the darkness had faded away.
There, the floor had cracked, and a book rested on a platform in the middle. As he approached it, the moment he grasped the book, the entire room began to shake violently before suddenly collapsing.
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Present…
Unable to control her fury, Yao Lian looked down briefly before raising her head. With her eyes wide and fixed on the heavens, she screamed at the top of her lungs, “Damn you….! Rui Ke!!!!”
“What?” Ryuk appeared behind the two, observing them until Yao Lian called out his name loudly, prompting him to turn his attention towards the library, which was in utter disarray, as though an asteroid had struck.
‘?!’
“Huh? What have you done to the library?!” Yao Lian, her frustration palpable, pointed towards the library with an exasperated finger, her teeth clenched as she glared at the man, which only heightened her irritation.
“I didn’t do anything,” Ryuk shook his head before turning towards Esme as he inquired, “What are you doing here?”
“Just miss—” Before Esme could complete her words, Yao Lian once again interrupted, yelling,”Don’t change the topic! Tell me why you did this to the library!”
Yao lian moved before stretching her hand to grab this man’s collar, but even before doing so, she felt her heart skip a bit as a chill ran down her spine.
badump
As soon as her gaze locked onto Ryuk’s, a wave of overwhelming fear surged through her heart, his eyes brimming with killing intent and oppressive force as he looked down on her.
Know your place, Yao Lian,” Ryuk firmly warned. He was first confused about why the Tenebri bloodline had reacted that way, and then he encountered a ghost that had resurfaced some of his bad memories. His mood wasn’t good enough to entertain her words, so he added, “I will repeat myself: I didn’t break this library.
[ LIAR!! I saw you break it; I am a witness to the event..! ]
‘Shut up.’
[ No! Truth can’t be suppressed; it will prevail—ERROR! ]
