"I think we can slow down now, Elder Celine," the words rang out through the pilot room of the spaceship, as Elder Celine’s hand moved over a holograph and slowly dragged it down, in turn reducing its speed.
Then, se switched the control mode to autopilot before tapping on a different hologram that changed the setting of the room from a pilot control area to a living-room-like space.
She was the first to collapse onto a nearby sofa, her spiraling heartbeat slowly returning to a serene rhythm.
When Ryuk looked around the room, he realized he was perhaps the slowest.
Everyone else had already settled in.
Even Isha had changed into her human form and was sprawled comfortably on one of the couches.
Antares had disappeared into his room, most likely to take a bath and get rid of the scanty clothing on him.
That just left Ryuk standing... and eventually, he also took a seat at the side, waiting for them all to catch their breath.
They had all been imprisoned, faced with the reality that they could never escape and would rot to their death, only to be released.
And just when they thought they were free, a flaming arrow had come their way, and the ship’s AI had warned them to brace for destruction.
The aura of that moment alone was enough to make them all believe they would die.
Yet that certain death was thwarted, and now, after moving at full speed for three hours straight, they had escaped far enough to get a breathing space.
The range of emotions they’d experienced without pause was enough to knock the very air from their lungs—and that explained the exhaustion.
Ryuk himself relaxed onto a sofa.
Even though his heartbeat wasn’t thundering like the rest, he had been at the center of all this chaos.
His hand moved to the side of the sofa, spread from him, only for it to rest on something soft.
He raised an eyebrow at that, turning to look
"What the!?" he said, yanking his hand back in shock.
An action that caused giggles to ring through the room.
The person beside him was none other than the rainbow-haired girl he had saved.
And the soft thing he touched?
None other than her bubbly cheeks.
"Keep piling it up, Void..." Ryuk growled, eyes shifting to the Void Pnather now perched on his shoulder.
The girl wasn’t there when he sat down, and now she suddenly was? It was no doubt the handiwork of Void.
"I’m just thinking it’s a little... impromptu, Ryuk," Void slithered from his right shoulder to the left. f(r)eew(e)bnovel.(c)o(m)
"What is it now, Void?"
"Back there, in that dungeon of a prison—where those wretched souls were kept," Void began, his voice thick with mischief, as Elder Celine and Akasha’s eyebrows twitched at his words.
A place where wretched souls are kept?
Were they supposed to be one of those wretched souls?
"We were just seconds from escaping, and all of a sudden, you went, ’Do you hear that?’ like a true madman... and suddenly disappeared!"
"Next thing we saw, you were slicing open prison cages and letting out all the prisoners—while carrying one of them in your hands."
"I thought you were planning to use them as some form of scapegoat, but now that we’re here, I’m wondering..."
"Why did you free them if they weren’t going to be of use to you?"
"Could you have turned... good, Ryuk? which will be really, "Ewww" by the way."
"And what’s with the rainbow girl? A lost daughter from some forsaken secret concubine of yours?" he added with a sinister smirk, whispering into Ryuk’s ears like a little demon.
But it didn’t get to be demonic for long when Ryuk’s palm suddenly shot out, grabbing onto Void’s neck and squeezing tightly!
"HE’S GOIN...G...TO KI...LL... ack, ack... MEEEEEEEEE!!!"
Void screamed out for help, but none of them came to his rescue, giving Ryuk full freedom to wring the lecherous cat around.
"You lecherous piece of shit! I asked you to stay by my side and wake me up at the slightest disturbance!"
"And I wake up... in chains, you lecherous shit!"
"That’s what I get for trusting a lecherous rodent, huh!?" Ryuk shouted, wringing the panther even faster.
"I—I NEVER LEFT YOUR SIDE!!" Void screamed, and Ryuk paused a bit, turning to Isha, who slowly shook her head.
"KYYYYYAAAAAHHHH!!" Void screamed again when he felt the grip tighten around his neck, its life being wriggled out of him.
"You lying, lecherous piece of shit!!!" Ryuk growled, shaking the gasping neck even more violently.
"But to be fair," Rakshasa said softly, causing Ryuk to halt his grip a little, "there was almost nothing we could’ve done to stop that from happening."
"It was... inevitable."
"What do you mean?" Ryuk asked.
"We had just finished refueling from our previous point, gotten all the resources we needed for the rest of the journey.
Elder Celine was even able to navigate more of the map and found a couple of routes to the planetary port."
"Everything was peaceful... going well—when suddenly, everything was reduced to pitch darkness. Even the spaceship itself."
Rakshasa’s voice drew Ryuk’s full attention.
"From the darkness, it seemed like some sort of Domain Expansion was activated, plunging everything into silence—even halting motion."
"When next we opened our eyes, the ship had been hijacked... and we were all bound in chains."
"Antares tried to fight back—but he was subdued by the one they called their Boss. He was at the Exignis Stage, so there was nothing we could do."
"Even you were bound close to me, and there was nothing I could’ve done to wake you up, and Void was just as helpless as the rest of us, too."
Ryuk narrowed his eyes, looking back at Void, who smiled pleadingly.
In the end, he decided to let it go.
The panther instantly puffed away, collapsing on its back, coughing chaotically upon release, hand gripping its throat as it wheezed in pain.
’Hmph, ’ Ryuk hmphed in satisfaction before he turned back to Rakshasa.
"Explain to me exactly what happened..." He said, and in a couple of minutes, he was up to date with everything that had happened during his slumber.
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In and Out_SnowySmoos