The Blue-scaled Ryuk's words were like bombs slamming straight into Ryuk's mind, shaking him to his very core.
He… He was half-dead?
"Your life essence has been halved in the few minutes you used those weapons of yours. If you were supposed to live for 100 years before, now, 50% of it is gone."
Ryuk felt his heart pound violently within him.
"That's the price of using an ungodly weapon. Your life—something you, of all people, should be more worried about!" the Crimson-scaled Ryuk snapped harshly before sitting back on his throne.
"You see, cultivation enhances life force. A being at the Origin Stage, once they break through to the Plane of Ascension, will have their lifespan increased by up to 50 years."
"Take the favourite human race of that world that you love so much, for example. Their natural lifespan is 100 years."
"But once they begin cultivating and reach the Plane of Ascension, 50 more years are added, making their lifespan 150 years."
"If they break through the Plane of Ascension and reach the Plane of Dominion, their lifespan could double to 300 years."
"If they surpass that and reach the Cataclysm Stage, they could live for 500 years."
"And if they reach the Eternal Stage, they might even surpass 1,000 years, making them nearly immortal."
"The same happens to every race, with some capable of harvesting even more years depending on their bloodline purity and the energy they cultivate."
"But you… You are the only exception." The Blue-scaled Ryuk's tone carried absolute certainty, making Ryuk's eyes widen.
"Your total lifespan was set in stone the day your body was ripped from you, leaving you incomplete."
"You can cultivate thanks to your consciousness still being present in your brain and the cultivation veins given to you by the one you call 'Uncle Bob.'"
"But to increase your lifespan through cultivation, you would need your entire body—whole and unbroken. Which, of course, you don't have."
"So when you cultivate, you gain strength, but not life."
"The only way for you to gain life is by increasing your bloodline purity, and that can only be achieved by reclaiming your body."
"Your body contains an immense amount of your bloodline—a truly vast amount, if I may say so myself. If not, it wouldn't have been ripped from you in the first place."
"If you want life, you need to take back your body and reclaim your bloodline."
"If you keep losing your bloodline, you're killing yourself."
"Wait, wait." Ryuk cut them off, a pressing question forming in his mind.
"Tell me… You said my lifespan was set in stone ever since my body was taken. And even though I've cultivated up to the Cataclysm Stage, it hasn't increased at all."
"If that's the case, then how many years do I have to live in the first place?"
The Blue-scaled Ryuk's eyebrows furrowed slightly, a look of reluctance flashing across his face as if debating whether to answer at all.
But before he could answer, the Crimson-scaled Ryuk scoffed and rose to his feet, stepping toward them with an amused smirk.
"You will only live for 50 years!" he declared.
Ryuk's heart sank, but he took a deep breath.
Right now, he was 17.
"But you lost a portion of your bloodline purity because of that stupid gift of yours, effectively halving that time!"
"Because of your foolishness, you now only have 25 years left—if not less!"
The Crimson-scaled Ryuk relished the look of horror on Ryuk's face, savouring it as though it were the finest dish in the world.
"You're bluffing, right?" Ryuk asked, but the other simply scoffed in disdain before returning to his throne.
"He's right," the Blue-scaled Ryuk confirmed, and Ryuk's heart pounded even harder.
"I truly only have 25 years left to live…"
"But don't forget. Your lifespan is tied to your bloodline energy."
"As soon as you reclaim even a single piece of your body, your life essence will soar."
"In fact, when you had your complete body, you were known as 'The Eternal One.' Never dying. Never aging."
"Yeah, keep living in the shadow of his past," the Crimson-scaled Ryuk scoffed, unimpressed.
Ryuk's erratic breathing slowed slightly as he processed everything.
'So I can still extend my life… I just need to get my body parts back. Even one of them, and I won't have to worry about my life essence anymore,' he thought to himself.
"But how? How do I reclaim my body? Where are my body parts?" He asked, realizing it was a question he had never considered before.
The Blue-scaled Ryuk slowly turned his back to him, and in the next instant, he was back on his throne.
"We don't know either. But if there's one thing we do know, it's that there are people out there—people wearing your body parts as their own."
"When you come across them, you will sense it. And you will have to fight to take them back."
"For now, the only thing you can do is make sure you never touch that gun of yours again unless you want your remaining 25 years to be halved even further."
"Also, those Knulls you fought? They were at the Pseudo-Eternal Stage, weren't they?" the Blue-scaled Ryuk asked.
"Well then, you'll soon meet their lord. He should have one of your body parts."
Ryuk's eyes flashed with a brilliant light, but the Crimson-scaled Ryuk scoffed, bringing him back to reality.
"Yeah, right! If I were in your shoes, I'd be thinking about how to survive him first before worrying about reclaiming what's mine."
"You have no idea what's coming for you. No idea at all." The Crimson scaled Ryuk said as a pang of fear filled Ryuk's heart but then the world around him began collapsing as he felt himself being transported away from the realm.
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In and Out_SnowySmoos