"You look pretty pathetic, Ryuk. Running away like a coward. Where are your balls?"
The voice rang in Ryuk's head as he looked in front of him with his one remaining eye, sighing.
It was Isha, and she was busy massaging her back and neck, a satisfied expression on her face, before staring back at Ryuk, still lying belly-flat on the ground.
His heart heaved up and down, making him look like a heaving toad.
Laughter of mockery rang out in Ryuk's head as Isha laughed uncontrollably, but Ryuk didn't pay her any mind. Instead, he concentrated, allowing frost energy to meander out from his Apex Realm and dive underneath his skin where the boils were.
Instantly, strange yellow liquid burst out of Ryuk's boils, some of them hot enough to burn away at his flesh. But with the poison gone, Ryuk's nanobot regeneration got to work, quickly patching away the wound. About an hour later, Ryuk finally felt life return to him. He pushed himself up with his arms, landing on his back instead and heaving out loud.
His gaze now took in the brilliant blue sky before him, the images of tall trees at his line of sight giving him a little peace from the stinging pain that was slowly leaving him.
"Hey, Ryuk, we have to leave..." Isha suddenly said as Ryuk inhaled deeply.
He had barely been able to say those words when he felt a claw grab onto his shoulder and throw him up into the air.
Ryuk felt his body slam onto a solid back. Before he knew it, the world became a blur as Isha sped into the distance at her fastest speed, drawing an eyebrow raise from Ryuk.
"Hey, Isha, what's wrong!?" Ryuk asked, alarmed.
But Isha didn't reply. Her speed increased even more, and when Ryuk turned his head behind her, his face paled.
From a distance of about 200 meters away, Ryuk could see the gigantic serpentine head.
It was pitch black in color, with four crimson eyes at its top. The head alone was so big, 200 Ryuks would have no problem fitting into its maw.
The snake swam forward, seemingly calm, yet Ryuk heard the sounds of venom dropping to the ground.
The sound of the trees getting crushed rang out as Ryuk noted the dark saliva spewing out of the anaconda's lips with every single movement.
"That... That... An Upper Grade B beast!?"
Ryuk thought in horror.
An Upper Grade B beast was already at the level of the Peak Plane of Dominion—yet when Ryuk sensed this beast's aura, it was a hundred times worse than that of the Colossal, even though the Colossal was also at the Peak Stage of the Plane of Dominion.
"This is weird. The beasts are so powerful. How are they so powerful!?"
"Isha, we can't run. We have to hide!" Ryuk called as Isha raced through the distance.
But with the speed of the snake, Ryuk could sense it would catch up to them soon, and right now, it had not noticed them yet.
If it did, and increased its speed, it would be upon them in a flash.
In the next instant, Isha suddenly faded away as Ryuk jumped off her back.
In that very moment, he dove straight into a hole that his eyes picked up on the ground. Quickly, he dived into it, smashing his fist at the side.
But a howl of pain shot through his hand as he felt his bones crack. Ryuk paid it no mind, punching a couple more times—enough for sand to block the entrance.
He stilled his movements, stopping completely and lying down on the ground as if dead, forcing his heart to beat as silently as possible.
Soon, the sound of dragging rang out above him.
Ryuk's heart instantly sank in his chest when he felt the dragging suddenly slow down. The floor above him became heavy, with a steel-like protrusion digging out of the ground, hanging just an inch away from Ryuk's forehead. His face paled.
If that thing moved just an inch more, it would dig straight into his forehead.
But he dared not move.
The sound of heavy sniffing rang out, but then it stopped. The protrusion dragged on the floor and lifted away from Ryuk. The sound of heavy slithering carried further and further down into the distance.
A deep inhale escaped Ryuk's lips as he felt the slithering snake disappear into the distance. But that was when his eyes flashed, and he turned behind him in shock.
In his haste, Ryuk hadn't even paid attention to what could be hiding within the opened ground. He had entered it without thinking—chilled by the fear of being sighted by the Dark Anaconda.
But now, when he looked behind him, he found... nothing.
It was like a dug hole of some sort with an end. But bringing his sight below his feet, even in the darkness, Ryuk could see the clear claw marks that revealed to him that most likely, a beast was the one who had dug this hole into the ground.
He couldn't judge what type of beast it was just from the claw marks alone.
But that was signal enough for him to get his ass out of the beast's abode. Quickly, he dug away the sand he had used to block the entrance. After carefully scanning the area, Ryuk slipped away, soon finding a giant tree with large branches.
With agility akin to a monkey, he quickly climbed up to its top before collapsing onto a branch.
Looking above him, he could barely see the sky because of the giant leaves. Looking below, he couldn't see the ground either—his gaze obstructed by more giant leaves.
Only then did Ryuk inhale loudly and calmly recline against the branch, his chest heaving up and down.
He had managed to survive and get his bearings... for now.
"Activate System Interface."
He ordered as he regained his breathing.