Abyss Draconis

Silence continued, the only sensation being the ripples of energy surging throughout the entire Void as the spacecraft raced forward at incredible speed.

But soon enough, Ryuk began to notice it.

The density of the rocks was starting to reduce greatly. In time, there was nothing but scattered stones around—no bending gravity, no distortions.

After holding out for five more hours, they finally exited the chaotic zone.

"Phew, finally out.." Void said, exhaling in relief as its paw collapsed to its side.

But Ryuk's eyes flickered when he noticed something ahead.

There seemed to be a sort of darkened barrier, perfectly blended with the surrounding Void.

It blended so perfectly that even with his sharp senses, he could barely see it.

"Is... Is that—?" he began, but then, shock overtook his face as the Void vortex instantly flared across the surface of the ship.

A moment later, it recoiled and collapsed around the figures of Ryuk, Antares, and the Technoguards, pulling them all off the spacecraft in a blur of movement.

An instant later, they reappeared inside the ship.

BOOOOOOOOOM!

"What is..."

"Brace for impact!" Elder Celine's shocked and panicked voice rang throughout the entire ship.

A second later—

BAAAMMMMMM!

It felt like slamming into a body of water, as a blinding ray of Void light faintly enveloped everyone in the room.

A soft foam-like material burst out from the walls, and within a second, the interior shifted into a padded environment.

They were all sent flying chaotically across the ship, bodies spinning uncontrollably before it all finally came to a stop after a few moments...

"It stopped... is everybody okay?" Elder Celine called out as she regained her footing, having been lucky enough to be sitting on a couch that had suddenly inflated from the wall.

A figure soon came crashing down from the ceiling, slamming into the floor with a helpless thud...

It was none other than Void, the panther's entire body splayed awkwardly across the ground like a splattered watermelon.

Its eyeballs could be seen spiraling within their sockets as it rose shakily on its four legs, spinning around like a drunken cat.

Antares jumped off the wall, landing softly with Isha held safely in his arms.

He gently lowered her to the ground.

But then, everyone turned to the side, towards a rather awkward sight.

There was one more person in the room, imprinted directly into the wall couch.

Except... the person had two additional arms protruding from the sides, along with two extra legs, making the figure resemble a strange two-legged, four-limbed creature.

They could all see Rakshasa. But then, they heard a muffled groan.

"Get... off... me!" a voice forced out.

Rakshasa's rolling eyeballs finally stopped.

"Huh?" she looked around, only now noticing the strange gazes aimed her way.

She quickly realized something was wrong.

"Where's Ryuk?" she asked, and followed everyone's frozen gaze, staring beneath her.

There, embedded under her, were the imprints of two additional legs and two hands right above her own.

A chill ran down her spine, and she jerked off the wall, hiding behind Isha.

Tch.

A displeased click of the tongue was the first sound they heard as Ryuk groaned at the edge of the couch.

After trying three times, his hand finally gripped the edge, and he pulled himself out.

"AHHHH—"

"AAHHHH—"

"AHHHHHH—"

The loud sound of heavy exhaling filled the room as Ryuk caught his breath, then rolled off the wall, landing on both feet.

"Oh, oh, oh. Someone got crushed into the wall, hmm?"

"Hahahahahaha!"

The boisterous laughter came from none other than Void, who immediately earned Ryuk's unforgiving glare.

The next instant, Void vanished off the ship, sent back into the Pet space.

"Sorry..." Rakshasa said between suppressed laughter and awkward apology, glancing at Ryuk, whose face was now red as a tomato.

He opened his lips to say something but paused, eyes caught on the strange floating holograph directly in front of him.

Everyone followed his gaze and was met with a flickering holographic projection showing a bizarre image.

Elder Celine immediately moved back to the center of the room, tapping a control holograph to deactivate the soft wall padding before attention turned back to the footage, which should have shown the outside of the Void.

But it was like they had completely entered an entirely new universe.

There were hundreds of gigantic spaceships—some with sleek designs like their own, others as massive as miniature stars.

Some were in such alien shapes that they defied any known classification.

The muffled silence was gone. Now, the air was filled with loud honking noises and shouts from other beings across this station.

Ryuk's gaze quickly swept the area, noticing some ships descending into the atmosphere of nearby planets scattered across this part of the Void.

But he still couldn't help but ask—

"Just where are we?"

"The Refilling Dimensional Port," Elder Celine answered as all attention turned to her.

She calmly tapped a couple of holographic symbols, and soon a gigantic map appeared in the air.

"All our travels until now were within the normal Void. But along the path, we were destined to cross the First EiD."

"But we only needed to pass the Eid because our actual goal was to break through the Interdimensional Void Barrier."

"A Void barrier? Was it that thing we slammed into just now?" Antares asked, and she nodded.

"Yes. That was the reason for the turbulence."

"I could have given a warning, but I didn't expect it to appear right after the EiD Zone. I thought we'd travel for a few more hours before reaching it."

"I'm sorry..." she said softly, but Rakshasa shrugged it off.

"It's fine. At least everyone's okay. Could've been much worse," she consoled, and everyone quietly agreed in their hearts.

Truly, no one had been hurt—and even Ryuk had only been squished into a wall.

It very well could have been worse.

"Behind the Dimensional Barrier lies our first stop on this journey—the Refilling Dimensional Point." She continued with renewed vigor.

"It's a location where all space routes from every direction converge. As the name suggests: 'Refill.'"

"Whether it's stocking up on resources, buying food, refueling power sources, or repairing damaged ships—this is the quick-stop hub for all traveling races," she explained.

Only now did everything make sense to them as they looked again at the thousands of floating ships.

"We'll also need to stock up on our supplies and power sources. The ship also suffered a bit of damage from the crash into the dimensional barrier."

"It's minor, but better to fix it..." she announced as she began steering the ship toward one of the planets nearby.