A mismatched pair of light, red and blue, flashed through the world, and slowly, he felt the darkened ceiling above settle into an image of one focal point before his gaze.
His hand clutched his head, feeling a wave of headache assaulting his brain, which he tried to shake off by shaking his head.
The voice rang out to Ryuk from the side, and his body automatically tensed. However, he could sense the familiarity in the voice. Turning his head, he found the bearded man with a smoke stick in hand, taking gentle puffs while his bloodshot eyes stared at him blankly.
This was none other than Old Jack, the one with whom Ryuk had previously made a deal of cores.
"I sensed the strange ash in the air and a brilliant flash of light coming from your side of the settlement. I could guess something was wrong. That's how I found you, buried on top of the hill," Old Jack narrated before Ryuk could ask. Slowly, the memories of the day came rushing back, and Ryuk's hand clenched automatically.
"That said, it has been close to a week now that you've been unconscious. That must—"
Old Jack's voice was automatically cut off by Ryuk's words, causing the man to turn and look at him.
Currently, Ryuk's hands were folded into fists, his teeth gnashing together.
To his reaction, Old Jack stared for a long moment before taking a long puff of his smoke and exhaling loudly.
"Old Bob was a good man," Jack finally said. "And I'd say he managed to leave a legacy behind him. That's something many here don't get to achieve before their passing."
Old Jack's words caused Ryuk's tightly clenched hands to relax slightly. What Jack had said made a lot of sense.
Many people died here in Sector E—either lost to mutated creatures or some petty fight. The world mocked their deaths, and no one remembered their names. Most people in Sector E were banished here, after all. Who cared if they lived or died?
But the same couldn't be said for Uncle Bob. The man had left Ryuk—a legacy that would make his name known and never forgotten.
One could say Uncle Bob had achieved something that the majority here could never dream of before their deaths.
The sound of metal clanking suddenly resonated, drawing Ryuk's attention. Old Jack was pouring a drink into two metallic cups. He walked toward Ryuk and offered one.
"Here," Jack said, passing the cup filled with purple liquid.
"A toast to Old Bob," he added, clinking his cup with Ryuk's before downing it in one go.
Ryuk curiously stared at the purple liquid before downing it as well. Instantly, his face twisted, the cup slipping from his hands as it felt like lava was being poured down his throat.
A fit of coughing escaped Ryuk's lips as he scratched at his burning throat, trying to ease the pain. But as the heat subsided, something else caught his attention. His eyes widened as he stared at his left arm.
The arm, which had been severed by the Enhanced Mutated Rat, was now back to normal—its white skin clear and glowing as it had been previously.
"I guess Old Bob managed to patch up your arm. A work of art, I'd say," Old Jack remarked, staring at Ryuk's arm in amazement.
While an arm could be replaced with robotics, replicating skin on a mechanical arm was impossible. It was always obvious when a hand was artificial, its metallic parts betraying its true nature.
Yet now, Ryuk's arm bore no such signs. It was as if his arm had regrown entirely, but Jack knew well that it was mechanical. In fact, it wasn't just Ryuk's arm that was metallic.
A small hum escaped Ryuk's lips as he inspected his arm. He knew Uncle Bob hadn't managed to patch it up before everything exploded. When he had been knocked out, his arm had still been severed.
It was almost as if his arm had regrown itself.
"So, uh," Old Jack suddenly spoke, drawing Ryuk's gaze.
"What do you plan on doing now, with Old Bob gone?"
The question made Ryuk's eyes flash with determination as he sat upright on the metallic bed.
"When I arrived back at the place after you passed me the money, I saw a huge dark bird flying into the sky," Ryuk began.
"From its aura, it's safe to say it was the one that burned down the entire settlement and killed Uncle Bob."
Ryuk's eyes darkened as he recalled the scene. He had seen everything reduced to ashes, and he could sense that the ashes were linked to the bird. When Uncle Bob had died, he had turned to ash as well. It wasn't hard to identify the bird as the culprit.
"Uncle Bob called it a Knull," Ryuk said, his tone sharp.
"And I intend to chase it to the ends of the world and sever its head."