Abyss Draconis

'The first danger...An Environmentally Induced Danger Zone.'

The thought echoed in Ryuk's head as he looked at the floating celestial stones and the bending reality around them.

'Cleaving through with a strike won't work.'

'The explosion of so many blackholes and the unstable reality rules can cause the most devastating damage I've ever seen.'

'The plan is still the same, then. I'll wrap the spacecraft in Void Vortex, absorbing any twisting reality effects away from the ship.'

'But honestly... this looks much worse than it was described...'

"We can still turn back."

"There's another route, 90 degrees east from this path. It'll take a week, but we'll get safely to our destination..." Elder Celine said from the side, but Ryuk shook his head.

"It's fine. The plan remains the same," he said, and an object appeared in his hands.

"I'll send a signal for you to move once I'm done wrapping the ship with Void Aura."

"Then, you just focus on passing through the open path between these rocks," he said to Elder Celine, who nodded.

"Should I join you?" Antares asked from the side, and Ryuk nodded.

"Yes."

"I'll need your help in case of any mishap since I'll be pretty much helpless once I open the Void Vortex."

He stood upright.

"Void, you're coming too," Ryuk said, looking at the Void Panther, who scoffed.

"What? You need me to save your ass now?"

"Yeah, count me out, you goof!" Void said with a huff, but then his eyes widened in shock.

He tried to puff into smoke—but failed—as Ryuk's hand grabbed him by the back of its neck, heaving its legs up the ground with a lift.

"Hey, you! Let me down!" Void shouted.

But a Void vortex materialized right before Ryuk, who flung the lecherous cat through it.

"YOU BITCHLESS BASTARD!!!" Void's scream rang out clearly through the room.

Ryuk's eyebrows quivered.

He tried to hold it in and act unfazed by the accusation, but when he saw the various eyebrows raised at him by the group and Isha giggling in mockery.

He failed, rushing into the vortex after Void.

"JOKE'S ON YOU, YOU LECHEROUS BASTARD, I'VE GOT A—"

The others in the room could only eye each other weirdly.

Antares found himself grinning uncontrollably as he also disappeared into the portal, which closed up after him.

Now, there were just the three women left inside.

"Okay... so we're supposed to pass through this deathtrap, protected by two 'bastards' that could get into a fight at any time?"

"Yeah. Nothing can go wrong..." Rakshasa said, uneasy even at her own words.

Elder Celine, meanwhile, began tapping a new set of holographics.

'His help will be appreciated,' she thought, 'but I've prepared some defense in case things go wrong...'

She issued a new command to the ship, which immediately began remodeling itself—in the space between the exterior and interior—unnoticed by the group.

_________

"Okay, play's over, Void. We focus on the plan now..." Ryuk called out, ceasing their three-minute banter.

"Tch, goof," Void spat as he turned his head with a huff, unknowingly facing the ship's front direction, and the sight ahead made his spine chill.

"So... Um, Ryuk?" he asked, turning to look at Ryuk, who was on one knee with both hands placed on the ship's hull.

"Yes?" Ryuk forced out a reply.

"Can we go over the plan again?"

"Yes?" Ryuk replied half-heartedly while trying to draw the map of whatever they would be facing ahead in his mind.

"So...we'll be coasting through harmless-looking stones... that will mark the end of our lives if we make the slightest collision with one?" he asked.

Ryuk nodded. "Yes."

"And I'm supposed to do what again?"

"You, Void, just need to stand where you are. In case a Void Portal I open erases in any part of the ship."

"You'll have to run over to the location and patch it back up with a temporary vortex."

"And I'll also be sharing your void energy."

Void furrowed his brows, clearly confused—or just scared to death.

Who could blame him, though?

Void was still only a Grade A beast—Calamity Stage.

The fact that he could even stand in the open Void without getting crushed was due to his Void attributes and control.

No one beneath the Eternity Stage should even be standing here, let alone doing this, so his fear made sense. But was it that Ryuk truly needed Void's help?

Actually, no.

He knew he'd be just fine without Void. He didn't need Void's mana since he already had enough Void mana within himself.

And asking Void to patch up any suddenly opened vortex? he also didn't plan for any to suddenly open.

He brought Void along for another reason—to make him face fear.

Fear of death hanging around him.

Fear that he, Ryuk, might not be able to save him.

Void would have to—for the first time—rely on someone who wasn't himself.

That should make for good training.

"Um... can you go over the plan one more time? Just once more..." Void begged.

Antares called from the side, "Don't fret about it, Void. You'll be safe—as long as you're not suddenly sucked into one of those blackholes and crushed into a thread in a second."

"I should be able to save you in two seconds. You just need to resist for one."

Void's expression crumpled. "Wait... is that supposed to comfort me somehow, big guy?"

Antares looked at him. "Aren't you comforted?"

Void slapped a paw over his face.

'How did I get myself into this fucked situation?'

"Okay, we begin!" Ryuk called out the moment his senses fully enveloped the entire spaceship.

'Activate King's Aura,' He ordered in his mind.

SHIMMMMMERRR!

His eyes opened to reveal compelling runic blue patterns, a wild beastly aura surging out from him—but it wasn't just him.

Immediately, a blue runic tattoo appeared on Void's forehead. Antares watched its aura start to rise by a couple of stages.

'Interesting,' he thought, watching the glowing duo.

But more was coming.

From beneath Ryuk's palm, something began surging.

'Activate Void Vortex.'