Abyss Draconis

Nihility...

A world dark.

A world scarred.

The ship tore through the black atmosphere, but what painted it was a crimson hue — one whose source was none other than the crimson red moon that hung right in the center of the world, casting the color of blood onto the dark landscape below.

Still, the dark spacecraft descended onto the ground with no problem, and soon enough, the hatch opened.

They all began stepping out, including Ryuk, whose gaze first went upward toward the crimson moon in the sky.

It was a full moon of deep, pulsing red, and the entire world below was coated in its eerie glow.

He sniffed the air, and his nose scrunched up slightly as a panel flashed before his eyes.

[Warning: Large Presence of Toxic Poisoning Detected in the Airspace]

[Effects: Irrelevant to the Host's health, but prolonged exposure may lead to lung irritation.]

Turning his gaze away, he looked down at the ground beneath him.

It was rocky and hard, and with narrowed eyes, he noticed the dark, shadow-like steam that escaped the ground like mist.

The aura was haunting in nature, and there wasn't even the faintest sign of life around them.

"Truly a nice place to abduct people and never be discovered," he muttered under his breath, turning back to the group, just in time to see Orraniel stretch her hand toward the gigantic ship.

A beam of light emanated… and what followed made Ryuk's hair stand on end.

"What the hell...?"

From Orraniel's outstretched palm, a slit suddenly appeared, and from within that slit, something suddenly burst forth.

A gigantic maw from what seemed like a worm-like creature emerged and wrapped around the ship, just like a python swallowing prey.

It happened incredibly fast, the entire ship vanishing in a single gulp before the strange creature violently withdrew itself back into the slit in her palm.

It closed right after, but still left Golden fluid dripping down from it.

And when it the hardened earth, the dark steam surrounding it was instantly erased, followed by a sizzling scorch on the ground itself before the fluid dispersed completely.

"Is that some sort of storage ring?" Ryuk couldn't help but wonder.

But his attention was pulled back by the sound of a throat being cleared.

"Hmm-hmm," Grozque warmed his throat, drawing the attention of the group before turning to the side and stretching out his palm.

From within it, a holograph emerged.

"The total number of people deployed on this mission is fifteen. We were split into three groups, each consisting of five ArchGuards."

"This is done for good reason — Nihility has three main directional paths, rather than the normal four," he explained.

Ryuk glanced around him.

'That's weird. There's an east, north, west, and south around me, and the guy says there are three?'

"The first group has taken the North. The second took the West. We've been assigned to take the South, which is…"

He paused, and the holograph of a gigantic compass appeared in the air. Th#is# is a sa*m@pl+e f^rom* My V^i#r!t%u$al^ Lib-r@a@ry E&m%p+ir^e. Re$a!d^ the r@est on M&-$V-L*E+M*P*YR^.

The staff in its center spun around.

Ryuk noticed something odd: it didn't seem to be able to move toward the East, confirming Grozque's words.

It only rotated along North, West, and South before finally pausing directly on the path labeled South.

It was the path on Ryuk's right, and the group turned toward it.

"Our mission is simple. We continue down South as far as we can, until we arrive at the edge of Nihility."

"Also, Nihility doesn't loop — since it's broken. If we walk far enough, we'll reach the edge of space," Grozque said as the compass and holograph disappeared.

"If we find anything amiss, we investigate. If we find nothing, we report that we found nothing and return to Ammora."

"It's as simple as that. Let's get going."

The group began moving, but Grozque stopped when he noticed no footsteps behind him.

He turned, only to find Ryuk still standing there.

"What is it now, Ryuk? Don't tell me you're already growing cold feet," Grozque said with a devilish grin.

But Ryuk shook his head.

"No. The ground isn't cold. I just can't be the only one thinking — since we're just going to be walking south anyway, why withdraw the ship?" he asked.

The group raised an eyebrow.

"It's faster than walking. It can fly high in the air, which offers a little more comfort. Instead of wasting energy marching forward, the ship feels more reasonable," he deduced aloud.

Grozque turned to Orraniel, who simply shook her head once.

"The ship belongs to Orraniel," Grozque replied.

"And the deal was for it to get us to Nihility — not within Nihility."

Ryuk's eyebrows twisted slightly.

'She can't be that stingy… can she?'

"Besides," Grozque continued, "being in the ship, up in the air, might make us miss important clues that walking on the ground could reveal."

"The enemies might be lurking underground, hidden within random mountains, or may have left behind footsteps or signs of their presence."

"We wouldn't be able to see those if we were floating in the comfort of a ship."

"Also, it would be harder to react to surprise attacks."

"Staying in the ship makes us more vulnerable instead," he explained — something he couldn't help but find reasonable... a bit.

"So... no ship. We use our legs and spread out our senses for any clues," Grozque concluded as they all began releasing their divine senses to sweep the surrounding terrain.

It was like a cultivation radar, something Ryuk also possessed — when he still had access to his full cultivation.

But he no longer did, and Hurricane Energy doesn't come with a Divine Sense Passive skill.

For that reason, Grozque began eyeing him, noticing Ryuk didn't unleash his divine sense.

"I don't have a divine sense," He eventually admitted.

The man raised an eyebrow.

Even those at the Eternity Stage possessed a divine sense, and Grozque could tell Ryuk was at least at the Apochrypha Stage.

Still… it was an opportunity to finally jab the arrogant kid's prideful nose.

"So you're saying you're useless even on a simple radar aspect of the mission, huh?" Grozque asked with a grin.