"You're finally awake..."
The words, which sounded feminine, were the first thing Ryuk could hear as he slowly opened his eyes.
His senses emerged, scanning the place he was in—a frozen room with a large bed at its center where he was laid.
Slowly sitting up, Ryuk was faced with the sight of two beings.
One was a female, seemingly in her early twenties, with a peculiar feature—none other than the long snake tail that trailed down the seat she was on, frosty white scales present on her cheeks.
Beside her was a Frost Wyvern, which Ryuk found familiar without a doubt.
It was none other than Isha herself, seemingly fascinated with her claws, which she kept rubbing together.
Soon, she turned her attention to the sitting Ryuk and waved three of her claws at him.
"You..." Ryuk asked, furrowing his gaze at the lady Nagas as his memories flashed before he continued.
"You're Seraphis. The Nagas girl in the Top Ten Rankings." He finally remembered where he had seen her face before.
The lady before him was none other than the Nagas who had introduced herself to him when he first revealed Isha to the Academy during the Apex Energy Class.
She had seemingly aged more, looking a lot more mature.
Her tail, which Ryuk remembered to be 1.5 meters in length, had now reached 2 meters, even though it was coiled beneath her.
"It's surprising you still have such a good memory of an event that happened nearly two years ago..." Seraphis remarked, rising to her tail as she flashed to Ryuk's side in a blink.
Her eyes scrutinized him under Ryuk's steady gaze before she finally rose upright.
"Your energy has settled back, and your body is fully healed. You should technically be able to stand on your feet now..." she examined as Ryuk turned his gaze back to Isha.
'How did we get here, Isha?' he asked her telepathically.
"Well, while you were unconscious in the snowy plains, I went out and found the Nagas Plain. I originally wanted to tell you about them, but then, you rushed off to that golden girl of yours, and I never got the chance."
"So after the battle, I decided to bring you here instead..." Isha stated, but Ryuk's gaze remained on her.
"Oh, don't worry about them. The Nagas won't hurt us. They've kept us company for close to a week now, after all," Isha assured him.
Ryuk's eyes flashed as he unconsciously muttered, "A week has passed?"
"Yes, it has. Time moves fast these days..." Seraphis confirmed as Ryuk sat at the edge of the bed, placing his feet on the ground.
It was warm to the touch at first—a little too warm—with sizzling sounds being released as steam escaped.
But soon, it dispersed as Ryuk's unnaturally cold body temperature slowly adapted to the warmth, and he rose to his feet.
His hands reached for the white cloth he had on, and he ripped it in one swift motion.
Another white shirt instantly appeared on him before the cloth he wore could be ripped apart completely, ensuring that no one in the room could see his naked body unless they deliberately pierced their gaze through his clothes.
In an instant, Ryuk had changed from his patient's wear to more durable attire before he moved toward the door and opened it, finding a long hallway before him.
Isha followed after him, the same for Seraphis, whose speed seemed almost unreal as she zipped beside him in a second.
"Are you already planning on leaving?" Seraphis asked.
Ryuk nodded. "Yes, I am. Thanks for everything."
"That's quite abrupt, you know?" A voice suddenly resounded as Ryuk turned his gaze upwards to the ceiling.
He easily pierced through it, finding another room where a female figure sat upon a snowy white throne.
Ryuk only stared at her for a while, his eyes furrowed before he ignored her and continued on his way.
But then, the space he stepped into suddenly shifted. T
he air around him rippled, and he felt a faint sense of void dilation.
In an instant, he was standing in a completely different place—an icy throne room where a mature female Nagas sat upon a grand throne.
She was a refined woman, seemingly in her early thirties, with a silvery crown on her head.
Its peak bore the insignia of a roaring snake with two long fangs, and her eyes glowed an icy white, brimming with ethereal light.
Her tail wrapped beneath her until it formed small steps below, and her long, snow-white hair flowed behind her as though gravity no longer affected it.
[A Nagas at the Pseudo-Eternal Stage has been discovered!]
[Host must exercise caution!]
The system's notification flashed before Ryuk's gaze.
"Mother..." The call came from Seraphis by his side as Ryuk furrowed his eyebrows before inhaling deeply.
"My greetings to the Queen of the Nagas..." he said with a princely bow, which seemed to take the Nagas Queen by surprise for a moment.
But then, a small tug appeared at her lips instead.
"Both of your greetings are acknowledged."
"However, I must say, I expected quite a bit more arrogance from one who managed to conquer three Knulls at the Pseudo-Eternal Stage all by himself and strong enough to return to his peak after just a week of recovery..." the Nagas Queen remarked.
Ryuk watched as Seraphis blitzed behind her mother, her head bowed silently.
'Back to my peak? I am far from my peak!' Ryuk thought, still feeling a faint ache in his heart.
He knew well that he had lost half his life just in that battle. He was anything but at his peak right now.
"Paying greetings to the Queen of the Nagas is not a sign of the lack of arrogance. A greeting itself is but an act of courtesy."
"And I am very surprised to learn that you knew I was the one behind the defeat of the three Pseudo-Ranked Knulls."
"I'm pretty sure I sensed no presence throughout the duration of the battle."