Abyss Draconis

Both of the people sitting on the sofa had turned to him.

The golden-haired woman who rested her head on the man's shoulder was none other than the Half-Fallen One.

The sight of her made Ryuk feel a fiery energy burst through his heart as a deep wave of anger began rising, but then it disappeared, replaced with disbelief when he saw who she was resting on.

The one who had called him by a name only a few knew he even had—and he was none other than...

"Blind Jack?" Ryuk called in disbelief, his legs automatically moving toward him.

But then he brought himself to a stop as he looked at the Half-Fallen One, a storm of conflicting emotions warping his expression.

"You shouldn't be here. You shouldn't be with her of all people..." he said.

In an instant, a black hole spiraled out of Ryuk uncontrollably, and the entire building where they stood began to tremble from a sudden power.

But then, Blind Jack blinked—appeared before Ryuk—and placed his palm gently on Ryuk's shoulder.

"Come with me... and I'll explain it all, Bloody Mutt."

"NO!" Ryuk shot back, yanking his shoulder from Jack's grasp.

"Explain it now!"

"Explain how you're with the one who tried to murder me."

His eyes turned into revolving black holes as the top of the building blew apart.

The ground beneath them shattered under the pressure of his overwhelming aura.

The Half-Fallen One was sent retreating backward from the immense wave of energy, her wings widening, golden aura flaring in resistance to the force, but she couldn't stop herself from being repeatedly driven back.

The only one who remained standing was Blind Jack, whose gaze locked into Ryuk's spiraling eyes.

It was clear they wouldn't give an inch if they received no explanation.

He let out a long breath.

"The Half-Fallen One... is my wife," he said, stunning Ryuk into a frozen stupor.

"And she never tried to kill you. It was all part of my ploy."

The billowing aura faded as quickly as it had come, and the cold wind from the broken rooftop continued to whip through the building.

Ryuk stood silently before Blind Jack.

For a moment, he tried to deny his existence.

Perhaps the person before him was not Blind Jack.

He looked too neat, too composed—far removed from the scrawny core-seller who once helped him escape from Grade E.

But then... There was no denying it. This really was Blind Jack.

Besides, Ryuk had eventually heard of Jack's identity after arriving here, one of the five fallen geniuses of the Fallen family who disappeared fifty years ago.

And now here he was, declaring the one who had once tried to kill him as his wife—and claiming it had all been a ploy.

STEP

STEP

STEP

The sound of rushing footsteps echoed from below as Ryuk looked down and saw the Fallen armies rapidly advancing due to the chaos.

But then, Jack's voice reached him first.

"If you can just come with me, I can explain everything better. Trust me..." he said, reaching a hand forward toward Ryuk.

Ryuk stared at it suspiciously but didn't take it, slowly levitating off the ground.

"Come with me..." He ordered, before bursting into the sky and vanishing into the distance without another word.

Without wasting a second, Blind Jack followed after his afterimage, both becoming bolts of blue and gold that rapidly disappeared across the horizon.

"They're leaving. Quickly, after them!" a voice echoed from the Fallen Soldiers as they prepared to chase the fleeing beams.

But then, a command rang out, halting them in their tracks.

"Leave both alone. And call the Builders to fix the destroyed building..." she said.

The Fallen auras nodded their heads before quickly disappearing.

A few seconds after they were gone, Morgaine finally burst through the aura lock on the door of the room, stepping into an utterly chaotic scene.

"What happened? Where is Father?" she asked.

The Half-Fallen One looked into the sky where they had both vanished.

"He'll be returning soon..." she said to Morgaine, whose gaze sharpened as she looked in the same direction.

'Either dead or alive...'

______

Ryuk soared through the air, but not for long, as he soon arrived above a vast blue sea.

He landed on its surface, and ice quickly rippled forth from his touch, completely solidifying the area beneath him for about a kilometer in radius.

Not long after, another figure descended behind him.

"Blind Jack, I know, was a Core Buyer in Grade E, running a business of gathering cores from hunters and paying them for it," Ryuk's voice rang out first as he slowly turned toward the man before him.

"He helped me with a card that allowed me to leave the prison called Grade E and venture into the outside world—all for the sake of making me accomplish my goal to avenge his old friend and my uncle."

"But when I reached Grade B, I learned Blind Jack is actually one of the lost geniuses of the Fallen Angels—one who had been presumed dead for decades."

"And now, after I woke up... he's somehow become the husband of the Half-Fallen One. A lady who, at first, seemed like she wanted nothing but to see me grow."

"And just when I trusted her, she turned on me... and tried to end my life."

"So tell me, Jack... which of these versions of Old Jack should I believe?"

"Which one is true?"

His voice held a tightly controlled blend of rage and restraint.

Blind Jack's features tightened for a moment before he responded.

"I'll let you decide that for yourself..." he said.

Then Ryuk watched as his humanoid form began to peel away, revealing a bizarre creature he had seen once before.

It was a humanoid being of gold and black, with a singular eye that stretched across his face, gleaming with ancient, divine light, but most eyecatching was his grin.

A grin that seemed imprinted into his existence.

And this image... was none other than the same creature Ryuk had faced during the Adventurer's test.

"I am a True Fallen..."