The water’s surface rippled heavily as Ryuk’s head burst from its depths.
The moment he emerged, he felt the golden thread before him, grabbed it, and jerked it, using the force to propel himself into the air and land back on the ship.
He collapsed onto his knees right after, hands clutching his throat as he coughed loudly.
’So, this is what it feels like to almost run out of air underwater?’ he thought, coughing a few more times before finally regaining his composure.
Glancing to the side, he found Orrelith reclining against the wall, arms crossed, her expression suspicious.
"You didn’t die?" she asked.
The question sent Ryuk’s mood plummeting, and his expression dropped further.
"I expected an ’Are you okay? I’m so sorry for my childish action of throwing you out of a ship’s window and almost getting you killed!" he shot back.
But her suspicious expression merely faded to her usual cold one as she barely hummed under her breath before turning and stepping away.
But while she might not display much, thoughts were going through Orrelith’s mind.
’To think an Apocrypha-stage cultivator can survive being swallowed alive by a Middle Exignis-stage Kraken,’ she silently thought.
’Besides, the Kraken’s aura weakened for some reason before it left, and then he bobs up on the water’s surface?’
’It can’t just have retreated for no reason, so something must have happened, and I’m sure he has something to do with it.’ She concluded, reaching the ship’s control area and starting it back up.
"Tch," Ryuk clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction as he rose to his feet.
His attention shifted to the ship, and he hummed softly, noting its sorry state.
Parts of the hull had caved in from the Kraken’s heavy tentacles wrapping around it, while others sizzled, venom still burning their surfaces.
"The ship still moves," he realized as it suddenly picked up speed.
He looked forward to seeing Orrelith standing at the wheel, steering it forward.
’I have no clue what’s happening. She keeps steering the ship left and right as if she has a map.’
’Does she really know what she’s doing, or is she just driving us blindly?’ Ryuk thought suspiciously but then turned his gaze away from her, looking up at the sky.
The crimson hue painting the moon slowly dissipated, giving way to frigid white light that illuminated the sea once more as the billowing waves resumed.
’If we face such a dangerous creature on our path, there’s a chance it only happened because we’re on the right path,’ he reasoned, left with no choice but to trust her lead.
He couldn’t get off the ship now; he’d nearly drowned, and the fear of the sea had settled deeply in his psyche.
Hijacking the ship and tying her up was a viable move that would at least put him in control, but he hadn’t a single clue about their direction or destination.
He might as well leave things to her, since she seemed to know more than he did.
With that, he turned his attention to the sizzling, bent-in walls of the ship.
’If things are left , the ship won’t survive a second Kraken attack in its current dilapidated state.’
’It needs patching, he reasoned, stepping toward a caved-in section.’
His hands reached forward, pressing onto the bent surface, and he commanded,
"Activate Sovereign Rewriting."
Instantly, golden dots of light appeared around Ryuk.
The world shifted into one of bonds.
He could see the ship’s wall, its bonds slightly disordered.
With careful manipulation, his will unfolded, straightening them.
Within seconds, the damaged section was restored, and the ship’s surface was now as good as new.
’I can patch it up with Sovereign Rewriting,’ Ryuk confirmed before turning to the hundreds of damaged areas.
Without wasting time, he got to work.
He touched the sizzling, venom-coated parts, restoring them, and straightened the crumpled walls, returning them to their original form.
He worked silently and wordlessly, but his actions didn’t go unnoticed.
Orrelith glanced back at the ship, watching it slowly return to its previous shape, somehow even sturdier than before.
Ryuk moved from one crack to the next, tying himself to the walls to fix parts high in the air.
He continued quietly until early dawn, when the sun’s rays began filtering from the sky’s edge.
’He’s more reliable than I thought,’ Orrelith mused, a small, amused smile flickering at the corner of her lips.
But her eyes narrowed at the realization, and the smile faded, replaced by an even colder expression.
Ryuk’s backbone cracked as he yawned, a satisfied smile creeping onto his lips.
’Now, it can survive one more attack, he thought, admiring his handiwork, but then felt the sun’s rays on his face.
’To think the fixing would take an entire night, he muttered, stepping toward the bay where Orrelith was steering.
He stood to the side, reclining silently.
She avoided looking again, keeping her gaze cold and fixed on the distance until, after an hour, the awkward silence prompted her to turn and meet his eyes with a cold stare.
"Where are we going?" Ryuk replied.
"You’ll know when we get there," she said curtly, turning back to the sea.
"And when are we going to get there?" he pressed.
"We’ll get there when we get there," she answered, a response that made his expression crumble even further.
’How did that even answer the question?’ he thought, watching her turn her head back into the ship before commenting.
"Nice Work." She said, a comment that made Ryuk feel a warm feeling envelope his chest, but that was quick to dissipate when she continued.
"I didn’t ask you to do it, though," She replied, satisfied to see his expression crumble back.
"Would it hurt you to be positive for once?" Ryuk asked, and she forced out a hmm in reply.
Ryuk said, turning away from her and to the distant sea.
"I didn’t mend the ship for you." He said, drawing a raised eyebrow which Ryuk couldn’t see.
"If it gets attacked by a second Kraken or some other beast, it will get even more damaged and might stop working."
"In such a case, I might end up getting stranded here at sea for devil knows how long,"
"That’s why I fixed it."