Abyss Draconis

Chapter 950: She Returns

Through a glass panel, golden rays of sunlight streamed in, illuminating the face of a figure.

A face smooth as glass and white as snow.

The rays also touched the strands of hair that fell over his face, as white as snow, tousling slightly with every touch of light.

His eyes remained shut, but in the next moment, they slowly opened.

FLICKER

A flicker of blue light shone from the depths of his ocean-blue irises, and every ray of sunlight that touched them had its color changed to blue.

He didn’t blink; instead, his face tilted faintly, turning toward the rays of light that filtered through the glass.

A simple expression rested on his face, one hard to read.

The next moment, he turned away from it and looked down at himself.

Both of his hands were placed over his navel, the rest of his body hidden beneath the sheet.

A special sheet, whose surface occasionally gleamed with light, casting illumination upon the simple white shirt and trousers he wore.

It was almost like the sheet itself had been woven from starlight.

He slowly sat up, then rose from the bed, his gaze turning toward the glass.

Through it, he could see the world:

A world of starlight.

Closer to him were buildings, purple-walled castles that rose high into the violet void above.

They clustered together, each seemingly part of a single grand structure.

The floor was marble, veined with celestial light, reflecting the starlit purple sky above.

It was mesmerizing, and Ryuk quietly turned his gaze up.

The sky stretched wide, a deep purple melting into violet and indigo as countless starlights blinked steadily across the expanse.

Shooting stars carved silver trails through the darkness, lingering for a moment before vanishing into nothing.

It was night, and it felt endless, vast, and mesmerizing.

For a few seconds, he felt quietly lost to the overwhelming beauty of the universe, but soon turned his gaze right back down.

Across the marble floor walked a race of humanoid beings, but quite different, as their entire existence seemed to be made from starlight itself.

They moved across the ground in pairs and groups, while some floated gracefully through the air.

The world was alive with sound.

The bustling and murmur of voices, but beneath it lingered a quiet peace.

He looked beyond the clusters of castles and saw high-rising mountains encircling everything.

Cascading down their surfaces were waterfalls radiating countless colors of light, born from the various crystals that made up the mountains.

Grasses grew across their rocky surfaces, and glowing butterflies flickered among them.

It was a different world.

A world he had never seen before.

He turned away from the view to look at the room he was in.

It was a bedroom with the floor and walls crafted from the same luminous materials as the buildings outside.

Blue starlight silently gleamed across its walls as he stepped forward toward a marble wardrobe at the side.

A mirror rested above the marble table, and it caught his reflection.

It was him, Ryuk.

The red and jade-blue scales that once marked his Knull and Draconic bloodline were gone.

So too were the sharp, angular lines that had once shaped his face.

The face he saw now reminded him of his old self.

The Ryuk, back on Endearth.

It was as if he had reverted to that past version of himself, though his face now held more life and a mature, quiet calm.

Something especially missing from the old Ryuk.

Turning away from it all, he let his gaze fall upon the table, where a few portraits rested in silence.

Picking one up, his blue irises lingered on it.

There were several images of people he had never seen before.

They were all female, but one of them stood out.

A lady with long blue hair and blue eyes.

The illumination from his eyes rose ever so faintly, and he picked up a second image.

The picture was different, filled with other figures, yet the same blue-haired woman appeared once more, her hair now streaked with faint purple.

He picked up a third, and again, the same. Then a fourth, and finally, the last.

This one was of her alone.

Her hair had become a cascade of deep purple, threaded with blinking starlights of countless hues, the same celestial glow flickering within her eyes.

Quietly, his fingers brushed across the glass frame, sliding a strand of her hair in the picture to the side of her face, though the image, of course, remained unchanged.

“Asteralaxia,”

He called out quietly, then turned slightly to see a figure standing at the entrance of the room, holding a few runic books in her hands.

She froze, rooted in shock, as she looked at those blue irises silently gazing at her.

Quietly, Ryuk watched as she took a step back out of the room, gently shutting the door.

The book slipped from her hands as Aster covered her face, cheeks burning red.

BA-DUUMP!

BA-DUUMP!

BA-DUUMP!

She could feel her heart pounding so loudly in her chest, the words echoing loudly in her head with every beat.

He’s awake!

The thought made her ears turn ruby red, but she exhaled softly, forcing away the shyness.

She raised her hands, starlight wrapping around the book and placing it once more in her palms before she pushed open the door again.

“Ryuk…” she called, stepping into the room with renewed conviction, only for it to fade when she found him standing just a few inches away from her.

He had moved, and now so…close

“I… It’s been… You…”

The words came out jumbled and rushed, but they all faded away as she felt herself gently pulled into his embrace.

“I’ve missed you…”

The whisper rang softly in her ears.

Her eyes widened, unable to believe, but after, they turned glassy as she wrapped her arms tightly around him, tears of starlight falling onto his shoulder.

“I’ve… missed you… too. Missed you so… much.”

New Arc Begins and Aster is finally back. Yesssssssiee!