CRACKLE
Suddenly, a sound reverberated throughout the room.
The liquid in the container began to boil, acting vigorously with bubbles forming.
Fluid started to drain away at a rapid pace, as if being absorbed by the individual standing within it.
CRACK
Another sound echoed throughout the room, the sharp intensity revealing the source of this sound: the mana-infused glass, which now bore a spiderweb-like structure above it.
BOOM!
In a moment, the reflection of the huge container changed from drying at a rapid rate to being destroyed into several pieces, with a few glass shards embedded on the edges of its frame, all captured by Maya’s eyes.
The explosion produced a small shockwave, which was absorbed by the walls infused with Ether sourced from the energy crystal above the spire.
SWISH
Slowly, a figure started to descend from the platform, where now only laid a broken container, arriving in front of Maya’s widened eyes.
“Where is the other one?” Ryuk, seeing only one of them, stretched his hand to take the clothes while observing his surroundings.
His eyes were a deep shade of amber. Even though his bloodline was not present within him, the glow inside those orbs seemed not to fade in the least.
‘So, they have technology here.’ Observing everything, along with the machines, he realized how backward Heindal was in terms of technology.
From Ryuk’s perspective, it was like jumping from a historical fantasy world to a sci-fi one.
But it was not as if he didn’t understand anything here.
After all, at the end of the day, machines or computers are nothing but non-living objects communicating in binary codes, which technically is nothing more than a play of electrons and atoms inside a semiconductor.
One just needed to know how to translate those languages, find a faster medium for those binary codes, and discover a way to utilize mana as a form of energy to achieve better results.
Of course, Ryuk was curious.
“….Yes, Father. Exactly. She went to bring—” Maya began, lifting her gaze from the thing that had been bothering her from the moment it became vivid from the container, only to meet Ryuk’s gaze but was interrupted mid-sentence.
“Don’t use ‘Father.’ Call me anything else,” Ryuk corrected Maya, buttoning his shirt after he had put on his pants and clothes, indicating his discomfort with being referred to in that manner.
“Daddy?” Maya calmly observed him, her expression composed without any facial response, which Ryuk knew too well.
Understanding that at the end of the day, these were just mere dolls, more like AI trying to learn things, Ryuk, not wanting to waste his time, stated, “Call me whatever you want, just give me the list.”
Ryuk referred to the command he had issued four years ago, instructing all four Mayas to monitor every Flagbearer who ventured outside Ardoros, as well as compile a list of individuals who harboured hatred towards him.
“That is with the other Maya. She will be coming soon with the measuring tool,” Maya nodded, informing him about the reason for absence of the other one.
‘Their overenthusiasm is dangerous,’ it didn’t go unnoticed by Ryuk when Maya was looking at his thing all the time, which he could understand being curiosity, but now it was getting overboard.
Turning towards the broken glass container, he approached it before picking up a hand-sized piece and exerted force.
Crack
It shattered and also confirmed another of Ryuk’s doubts.
‘System, has my strength decreased?’ the moment he came outside, he felt his body, even though at 〖EPIC〗 Rank after his foundation being healed, but he could feel some minor differences in his strength.
[Host, unlike the energy core, which can be healed and filled again with energy, foundation destruction also severed veins, muscle tendons, and give fatal blow to nervous system.]
[While I repaired it with new replacements, but in the process, you lost some amount of strength, which can be recovered by doing physical training.]
‘Hmm,’ Ryuk turned his gaze upward, watching the ceiling of this place.
“Maya, come after bringing the list to the top floor of this place,” without wasting any time here, Ryuk moved out of the room, directly moving upward through the staircase leading above.
The width of this whole place was huge, stair’s steps were more than hundreds, his own body size seemed small in respect to the length both walls were from each other.
In the middle, while moving upward, he passed through various rooms on each floor.
Unlike a mere black stone tower, except for the basement he just came out of, other floors were shimmering in white light reflected from Marbles, he could notice illuminating big rooms on each floor.
….
‘What is he doing here?’ One of the servants noticed a familiar figure who had been brought here five years ago in a broken state, accompanied by that coward, causing a surge of hatred that had been sleeping for a decade to once again rise at that time.
“Stop there.” Without wasting his time, the man stopped Ryuk, already aware of the story of the mere eleven-year-old boy killing two 〖LEGENDARY〗 ranked powerhouses.
Of course, it would have earned their respect only if that boy were not now considered crippled trash.
Yes, everyone was aware that no one could survive after going through a bloodline’s retaliation or drawback, but this boy survived and fell into a coma.
Everyone left inside this Spire, which belonged to Alisia Devereaux, was angry with her.
She betrayed their trust and acted cowardly by running away from the Heir Battle.
They might not do anything to her, since she was now at 〖ZENITH〗 Level, something held by few in the Devereaux family.
But what about this trash in front of him, a cripple who awakened at the time when his mother was not here to babysit him, a moment to settle all their scores.
After all, who would believe that after five years, a man came out of a coma and looked this healthy?
If he killed this boy now and blamed it on natural death in a coma, no one would know.
‘Is that Mother’s room?’ Ryuk, not paying attention to the man possessing 〖EPIC〗 Rank in front of him, kept his eye focused on the room on that floor.
Unlike the others he had seen so far, this one looked much more luxurious and had ether-infused doors, tightly locked by runic inscriptions.
Due to his Awakened Soul gaze, he could clearly see through all the magical circles and enforcement cast on that metal door.
“…Hey, You Bastard!” The man’s anger surged, seeing himself being ignored by a cripple.
Moving his hand towards the young man, he tried to grab his collar, but before he could react…
BANG!
His body was pressed against the same door, his face gripped inside claws that seemed harder than metal—rigid and unshakeable.
“Kughh!…L-lv–ve m-e.”
The man struggled frantically, flailing his legs and arms as he was lifted off the ground, his back rubbing against the surface, by Ryuk’s grip on his face.
He attempted to hold onto Ryuk’s wrist while being pinned against the door.
Ignoring the man, Ryuk remained focused on something inside the room.
Bam! Bam!
In an attempt to free himself, the man punched the door as the grip on him tightened rapidly.
“Ugh!”
His face turned crimson and his eyes began to tear up as he peered through a gap.
At that moment, his life flashed before his eyes.
Not only was his face being crushed between fingers, but the force pushing him towards the door was strong enough to break his bones.
‘N-no, please, I don’t want to D-die ‘
