"Be... warned... Isha..."
The growling, hellish voice resounded as Isha turned her head behind the snake’s corpse, finding a figure crouched on the ground.
A figure claded in a weird, shimmering cloak of dark energy with strange scales that rapidly shifted and twisted. A ginormous scythe slowly melded back into the robe, disappearing as the figure rose.
It was none other than Ryuk—who reappeared once again in his previous image, his ripped-out arms and legs having fully regenerated.
"One second of lost concentration. One second of the wrong thought… and your fate would not be much different from the Rattleconda lying dead beneath your feet," Ryuk stated seriously.
Summoning a new set of clothes from his spatial ring, he donned them, replacing the ones that had been torn off.
Isha looked at the severed upper body of the Rattleconda, a cautious flash in her eyes. She understood why the beast had met its end.
Because, just like the beast… she had also misjudged the situation.
She had thought Ryuk was dead—his upper body ripped apart, his remains falling into the poisonous wave below. This reassurance of his death had made the Rattleconda fully focus on her, assuming Ryuk was no longer a threat.
It had begun switching off its domain, diverting its attention to facing Isha—whom it considered the lesser danger.
For just a split second, its focus shifted.
From ’Killing’ Ryuk… to engaging Isha… and deactivating its domain.
That single mistake had given Ryuk the perfect opportunity to strike.
And he never let such a chance slip.
"Many times, you zoned out during the battle..." Ryuk said, walking toward her.
Isha stared down at her feet, feeling a bit of shame, only for Ryuk to lift her chin gently.
"It is absolutely okay to feel fear, Isha."
"The feeling of fear itself is normal. It’s not something that can truly be controlled. But it’s also not important."
"What must be focused on… is how you react to that fear. Your reaction is everything."
"You can feel fear and still charge forward into battle… or you can feel fear and freeze up, waiting for death to encroach upon you."
"So what truly matters is how you respond to fear."
"I want you to act courageously. Either run away or fight back. Don’t let it paralyze you..."
Ryuk’s voice trailed off as Isha nodded.
"Good. Now, come. Let’s check what this Rattleconda was hiding in its cave..."
Ryuk stated as both walked forward toward the pitch-dark cave.
The instant Ryuk stepped inside, he was surprised to sense a strange energy mixed with the poisonous aura lingering in the air.
"Wait, is this…?" he murmured under his breath.
The system completed his thoughts as Ryuk cautiously advanced, Isha following closely behind.
During his battle with the Rattleconda, Ryuk had never sensed even the slightest trace of Void Energy in any of its attacks.
Yet, its cave was brimming with it.
Dark runic lines along the cave walls provided faint illumination for both Ryuk and Isha. Soon, they reached the end of the cave, where two objects lay in wait.
The most eye-catching was a blood-red altar filled with glowing crimson runes.
"What… is that?!" Ryuk asked in shock, staring at the object before him.
A strange, floating entity, surrounded by thick, binding chains.
It was egg-shaped, covered in various glowing runic lines. From its body, an intense surge of Void Energy rolled outward, humming faintly as if alive.
"Return to the Pet World, Isha," Ryuk commanded.
In an instant, Isha faded into thin air, leaving only Ryuk as he stepped forward.
Arriving at the altar, his gaze shifted to a single grimoire-like book resting atop it.
Its title was especially eye-catching:
"Life Replacement Art."
Looking from the book to the chained, humming egg, his eyes widened as his mind quickly pieced everything together.
[Yes, Host. It seems the Rattleconda was trying to gain a new life.]
"And it planned to do that… using its own egg?"
[Correction, Host. This egg does not belong to the Rattleconda.]
Ryuk’s brows furrowed.
"But the egg is in the Rattleconda’s cave. How could it not be its own?"
[It’s simple. The Rattleconda’s elemental affinity is purely Poison Energy. Not a single trace of Void or Shadow Energy was ever sensed from it. But this egg—right before Host—is radiating an immense amount of Void Energy, barely being contained by these Void Chains.]
[If the egg was truly the Rattleconda’s offspring, it would at least have some traces of Poison Energy. But it doesn’t.]
[Clearly, this egg does not belong to the Rattleconda. It more likely belongs to another beast.]
"But that’s insane. Why would the Rattleconda—an apex predator at the Mid Stage of the Cataclysm Plane—try to start a new life all over again?"
"Its power is already enough to be a lord in this first area. Why would it discard everything and start from scratch?"
"Unless..." Ryuk muttered, his mind forming a theory.
"Unless its current body had reached the peak of its evolutionary stage... and it wanted to replace itself with this egg. A fresh start—hoping to break through to an even higher cultivation realm in its next life?"
He turned his gaze deeper into the cave.
Various artifacts, pulsing with Void Energy, lined the area.
[That is most likely true, Host. With these artifact, any beast with Void Energy could rise rapidly in power.]
[And being this strong, other beast would steer clear away from its cave, giving it just enough time to grow in strength, safely hidden in its cave after taking over the egg’s body.]
[This shows this RattleConda is a very intelligent beast with greater plans which may include subduing other beasts with its new body and strength and also bold enough to go through all the danger of that.]
[Unfortunately for it, it met with Host—ending its grand rebirth plan.]
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In and Out_SnowySmoos