Abyss Draconis

Five more ice spears instantly materialized behind Ryuk, who conjured a Vortex on their sharp tips, and the end vortex to appear directly on Morne's body.

Instantly, his hands swiped forward, sending all the spears into the vortex, disappearing only to appear on the opened vortex before Morne, and then

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIP

RIIIIIIIIIIIIP

RIIIIIIIIIIIIP

...

Five more impalements nailed into the bird knull, its blood splattering downward towards Ryuk, who activated Void Legs, the abyssal claw of a leg latching to the edge of the earth before—

BOOOOOOOM

The earth beneath it shook heavily as he burst through the raining blood, activating Void claws while slashing towards the neck of the impaled bird. But then—

CAAAWWWWWW

The impaled Morne suddenly released an eardrum-bursting sound and then—

He noticed a black ink energy dispersed out of it and shot to the side, just as he appeared before it, and his claws cleaved smoothly through its neck.

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP

A severed head shot into the sky, amidst trailing dark blood—but then it all turned to nothing but ashes as Ryuk paused and turned to the side.

Only to find a new Morne standing there, its head still intact, while its severed head faded into ashes before it reached the earth.

'It cloned itself at the last second…' he thought, stunned.

Then he turned to the new Morne, whose lips parted as a ball of energy began forming.

'You won't use the same move twice...'

As Ryuk surged forward toward it, his motion was abruptly stopped by a strange sensation.

"This? A domain?!" he muttered, startled. But he didn't pause.

In an instant, he appeared beneath Morne and pushed outward towards its heart.

But he couldn't help but notice the ever-cautious bird didn't try to block at all.

At the last instant, Ryuk shifted the punch target from its heart to its stomach instead—

BAAAAAAANNNNGGGG

A deafening explosion erupted—but it didn't come from Morne.

Instead, Ryuk was sent flying downward, crashing into the earth.

And this time, he didn't get back up even after five seconds passed.

Morne slowly floated down, eyes locked on Ryuk, who remained embedded in the ground as the dust slowly dispersed.

His lips parted, dry blood spilling easily.

But what drew the eye most was the gigantic gouge on his stomach, almost severing his torso from his waist.

For the first time, Ryuk finally realized just how heavy each of his full-powered punches truly was, and the realization made his lips widen into a dark grin.

"Satisfying.." he muttered, before his hands clawed into the ground behind him.

His nanobots began piecing together, albeit slowly, repairing the wound until it disappeared, but not without leaving behind a scar.

Ryuk's eyes lifted skyward, where he saw the floating Morne—and behind it, a halo.

The halo of a pitch-black moon, radiating abyssal energy—the same object reflected in its eyes as it looked down on Ryuk, before it slowly opened its maw.

In an instant:

RIIIIIIIIIIIIP

A ball shot out so fast, it was there before Ryuk could blink, and then—

KAABOOOOOM

It slammed into him as he crossed both hands, his feet dragged along the landscape, his teeth grinding together to resist the scorching energy.

But then, his gaze sharpened when he noticed five more of these balls already shooting toward him.

RIIIIIIIIIIPP

RIIIIIIIIIIP

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIP

...

In a flash, ice coated his hands, shielding him from the scorching abyssal energy, and he conjured a Void Vortex behind him.

He vanished into it, dodging the incoming spheres, and reappeared on the side.

'Its domain negates distance. Its attacks appear directly in front of me the moment they are conjured. If it summons larger attacks, I won't be able to keep up.'

'What's worse, attacking it is suicide. If I punch it, I blast a hole through myself instead.'

"A domain that renders distance useless for it while redirecting 100% of any attack back to the attacker..."

Ryuk thought grimly as he watched ten more of those energy spheres sneak out of the void, surrounding him.

But they weren't faster than him, raising his right hand and curling his fingers together.

'The best way to fight a domain... is to unleash a domain.'

"Domain Expansion...Winter's Solace."

In an instant, the ball of energy meandering toward Ryuk seemed to freeze in midair by some mysterious force, and Morne's abyssal moon gaze flickered in disbelief.

It could feel its control over its attack slipping, but it just wasn't the attacks.

Then, the world went silent.

KAA-CHA

The sound was like ice and space shattering.

And true to the sound, the darkness of its domain rapidly unraveled as the reality shattered into nothing, giving way to a new expanse.

A snow-white, endless plain with surreal hills manifesting from thin air.

Snowflakes rained from the sky, enveloped in cracks before they touched the ground.

Yet they only added a sense of serene beauty, as peace and tranquility flooded the world.

The floating abyssal balls in the air were encased in ice as the snowflakes fell onto them, cracks quickly spreading across the entire sphere.

Then, the cracks enveloped the snowflakes themselves before both disintegrated into steamy silver ashes.

Morne observed in disbelief as Ryuk's domain covered 60% of the entire world, leaving only a small part around it where its domain still existed.

It was safe to say it had lost the battle of domains before it even began.

But a domain wasn't its strongest point.

In an instant, abyssal wings ripped out from its back, expanding into seven total.

Then three of them tore into gigantic claws—dark, jagged talons—and in the next heartbeat:

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP

Space was shredded apart as Morne blasted forward toward Ryuk.

It had chosen to engage in close combat instead, and Ryuk didn't back down.

His hands moved to the side, frost covering his palms until they formed massive claws.

The ground beneath him shattered into pieces as he burst forward with brutal force, charging toward the Knull bird with power.

But this time, something was different.

Vastly different...

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A/N:

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In and Out_SnowySmoos