CHAPTER 769: UNFAMILIAR AWAKENING

"Oh."

The faint gasp of surprise left the Nihil Woman’s lips as she watched the battered young man slowly raise his shaky hand, clenching his fingers together before reaching forth towards her.

The fist hovered an inch from her nose, trembling—until it finally dropped.

And the moment it dropped...

Ryuk’s aura dropped completely as well.

That was when she finally sensed his true aura level.

"Perfection Apocrypha Stage!?" she muttered, bewildered.

"You’re only at the Apocrypha Stage!?"

She was at the Null Stage.

A stage twice beyond Apocrypha.

And yet—she had drawn her weapon... to face someone only at the Apocrypha Stage!?

The realization brought her such disbelief that, for a long moment, she simply stood there in silence, eyes fixed on him as he lay drowning in his pool of blood.

His life aura waned with every passing second, and eventually, she sighed, her weapons disappeared from her grasp, and she rose to her feet.

One hand reached down and grabbed Ryuk’s unconscious body from the ground.

Then, with a rumble, the abyss beneath them shook as she burst upward, rocketing toward the mountain above.

__________

Ryuk had accepted it: his death was inevitable, and as a precaution:

He had held onto the abyssal chains, hoping that, when this body died, he would reawaken within his main body—back in the Snowardo ship.

Yet when he opened his eyes, it wasn’t to the cold metal walls of an aircraft.

No flickering monitors, nor his pets or companions rushing to his side.

Instead, he woke to dim lighting, cast from a single blue candle burning quietly nearby.

He blinked.

No windows.

The room resembled an ancient cave, walls etched with glowing runic inscriptions—symbols he couldn’t comprehend.

There was a small table, a futon to the side, and a couple of stacked stone slabs.

He was lying on a suspended platform—primitive, rectangular, and supported by thick stone pillars.

A mattress sat on top, and by the way his body was positioned, it almost felt like... someone had tucked him in.

"Where am I?" he asked himself, rising to sit—but pain flared instantly, and he clenched his teeth.

Looking down, he noticed he wore no clothes, enabling him to see the white bandages tightly wrapped around his chest.

He reached toward them with one hand, but upon touch, flinched, as pain shot through his ribs.

"You shouldn’t do that..."

The voice echoed from the cave’s entrance. Ryuk turned.

She stood there, dressed in a more casual outfit —a pitch-dark robe, its hoodie unworn behind her neck.

It revealed her bewitching face bathed in soft blue light from the lighting, and that familiar grin.

His instincts kicked in.

’Activate Beyonder Dragon,’ he commanded mentally.

But what followed—

BLEEEERRRRGGGGHH!!

Blood burst from Ryuk’s lips, white blood soaking the bandages, as he slammed back into the bed, writhing in agony.

VROOOM

The air faintly shifted, and two fingers tapped gently on his forehead.

[Beyonder Dragon Skill Deactivated.]

[Host is advised NOT to activate any Technique due to severe bodily and soul injury.]

The system’s notification blinked before his eyes as her hand pulled away, then she sat calmly beside him on the bed.

"Your incomplete soul was further injured during your struggle," she said softly.

"If you stubbornly activate any technique, your soul will burn out before you can even—"

"What do you want from me?" Ryuk cut in, voice low but sharp.

She turned and looked directly into his eyes—purple and black irises shimmering under the candlelight.

Then... she grinned.

"How did you know I wanted something from you?" she asked. "Do I look beyond being a kind person?"

He nodded.

"The only reason to keep someone who tried to kill you alive... is either naïve stupidity—which I think at a thousand-plus years, you should be far beyond—or you want something from me."

"Something important enough for you to take the risk."

She narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Risk of what?"

"Of me making a second attempt on your life," he said.

She burst into laughter.

It was the kind of laugh that danced on the edge—part feminine melody, part wicked cackle.

"You wouldn’t be a threat to my life even if you were five times stronger than when you collapsed," she said matter-of-factly, after her laughter receded.

"Let alone now—when you can’t even move a finger."

"Don’t try to switch the narrative, young man."

"You’re the one at risk here... having me this close, when you can’t even move a finger."

Her hands moved gently, landing on his bandaged chest.

Her fingers slowly lengthened—sharp, claw-like—and slid upward past his neck.

She watched him with an amused grin as his gaze remained unwavering.

"Don’t worry," she whispered, claws lightly scraping his skin. "I don’t plan on killing you anymore..."

"And why is that?" Ryuk asked.

A chill crawled down his spine as her claws cradled the side of his jaw.

He looked into her eyes and found his answers.

Lust.

Not mild or gentle, but deeply burning, monstrous lust.

It raged in her eyes like a storm, growing stronger with every second.

And he finally confirmed when he saw the faint pink hue of a blush across her cheek.

"Don’t... Don’t tell me you’re that desperate to sleep with a boy who just turned 18?" he said, inhaling silently in relief when he saw her claws halt, then slowly retracted.

"...You’re 18?" she asked.

She asked, and he nodded—thrice.

"Well, even better," the woman said with a slight smile. "I’m guessing you haven’t been... tainted yet, then."

"I have," Ryuk replied back.

"Oh really?" She asked amusedly.

"Yes. I’ve slept with..." he said, pausing and his eyes seeming to count the number before he completed.

"Exactly 17 women by now." He said, only to watch her giggle.

"You say that and yet blush so hard from a simple touch?" She asked, her fingers sliding downwards, farther and farther from his chest, and watching as his face grew even more red.

"An 18-year-old who has slept with 17 women can’t radiate such a cute naiveness, can he?"