Abyss Draconis

"And how many Ability Upgrade cards do I currently have?" Ryuk asked as the notification blinked.

[Ability Upgrade Cards: 120]

[Special Skill Evolution Cards: 2]

"Wow, that's a lot..." Ryuk mused as the panel flickered again.

[Yes. You seldom used them, after all.]

"Sounds Fair." Ryuk mused. He truly doesn't use his Ability upgrade cards that much.

A dumb move since they can help boost his skill and make it more powerful. He's usually more or less focused on cultivating and levelling up more.

But at least, he's figured that out now, and could be more conscious of it in the future.

"Upgrade Abyssal Clone to Level 20," he ordered.

[Congratulations! The host has used 19 Ability Upgrade Cards.]

[True Skill: Abyssal Clones – Twin Thrones of the Abyss has been leveled up to Level 20.]

Just tell me the cooldown time now.'

[Cooldown: 5 seconds.]

Ryuk nodded.

"Good. If she taps me more than once... I'll be back five seconds later. That's better than twelve hours," he thought, his gaze drifting to the window.

In the next instant, he blinked, appearing before it, just before a void vortex spiraled forth, swallowing him whole and leaving the room silent once more.

_______

VROOOOOM

The air flapped as a winged figure sliced through the clouds like a mirage, leaving not even the slightest ripple in his path.

It was Ryuk.

He had already exited the Eclipsed Citadel and was now soaring out of Grade B, heading toward Grade C.

His hair whipped around due to the intense breeze.

Beneath him, buildings and forests blurred by, the landscape weaving like a painted stream of motion.

[You don't use your Frost Element to fly often. In fact, this might be the first time.] The system panel suddenly flashed, drawing his attention.

[What's wrong? Sick of going in and out of wormholes?] It teased as Ryuk grinned a bit.

"No, I'm not sick of using Void Vortex. I just wanted to see Endearth once more... from above." He replied.

Even now, gliding casually, his speed was easily Mach 300+.

And he wasn't even trying.

It showed just how far he had come from his previous power levels.

[You're done, Ryuk. Your goals here are complete.] The system flashed as Ryuk exhaled.

"Yes. I know that now. Still feels... unbelievable."

From the time he was young, he'd always dreamed of the day Endearth would be free from the Knulls.

Even as a child, clueless about the outside world or what he truly was, he had dreamed of freedom, as the Old Scrap hunters described it, as a nightmare.

He had always wanted to be the one to banish that nightmare off.

An ordinary child's dream of a hero, one could say.

When Uncle Bob died, this dream had ingrained itself even deeper, and he'd sworn to himself to chase down that Bird Knull through the skies and cleave off its neck.

And then he had moved to Grade B, saw how humans were oppressed... and made another vow: to free humanity from the shackles of the Ten Families.

He learned more after that.

Found out his body had been stolen by his people... and made another goal—to retrieve it."

But now... every single one of those goals he had has been achieved.

[How do you feel? Liberated?] the system asked.

Ryuk flew in silence for a long minute before exhaling.

"Honestly... I'd love for things to end here."

"I think the little Ryuk in Grade E would've returned home after all the chaos—to settle down, to rest."

"After all, what I told Old Jack back then was that I'd remove the core of that Knull Bird, sell it to him for big money, then become one of those old Scrap Hunters, exaggerating the tales of their childhood."

[How foolishly simple you were, back then.] The system said as Ryuk chuckled.

"I can't argue that."

"But..."

"There's no home anymore."

"Maybe I could've lied to myself, said it was still home if it hadn't been destroyed... but now the people of Grade E are gone. Grade E itself no longer exists."

"Home... is still very far away," he muttered.

[So, the goal now... is to return home?]

Ryuk faintly nodded.

"Yes. I got another clue from the last Memory."

"The Dragons and the Knulls fought, after my father, Theth' Vorgath, was imprisoned in that artifact... for 'growing soft' or something."

"But I don't know who won. The Knulls are still around, and I haven't seen a single dragon. So, that... kind of says it all."

"But... something tells me they're still alive."

"I want to go back. To the Dragon Homeland."

"I want to meet her."

[But what if they lost? Fully lost. Wiped out? Then what?]

Ryuk's hand clenched subconsciously, frost streaming from his left eye as the air around him froze, only to fade away as he slowly relaxed his fist.

"Then... I'll visit the Knulls."

"According to Zar'kul, my body parts were scattered among the seven. I've retrieved my skeletal system from him."

"I've already killed the 7th Calamity—Zar'kul—but there are six more."

"And when I've reclaimed my entire body... the Knulls will suffer the same fate as the Dragons."

"Wiped out from existence. Never to be seen or heard of... ever again."

[That's quite the conviction.]

[If the Knulls wiped out Dragons—an Upper Race—you think you can do it alone?]

[Especially when Zar'kul mentioned there's someone among them who has the same, or even greater, potential than you?]

"You mean the one with Hurricane Energy or something?"

[Yes.]

"I don't know how I'll do it."

"When I left Grade E, my only goal was to find Morne and kill it. I thought it was only as strong as an A-grade Beast, remember?"

"But then, I ended up fighting Zar'kul, who was more than ten times stronger."

"The battle was hell. I almost died. But in the end... I won."

"I don't know how I'll defeat an entire evil race... just like the old me didn't know he'd fight someone like Zar'kul."

"But I am confident—when the time comes... I'll give the Knulls a battle."

"A legendary battle. One that if it doesn't wipe them out... it'll be a scar they'll never heal from."