Abyss Draconis

Chapter 956: To The Stellar Prism

Through a glass panel, golden rays of sunlight streamed in, illuminating two figures on a bed.

One of them was Ryuk, elbows pressed into the mattress, hands gently propping up his head.

Wrapped around him like a boa constrictor to a tree was a lady with purple hair, none other than Asteralaxia.

She seemed deeply asleep, but the moment one of Ryuk’s fingers reached out and slid over the tip of her nose, she shook slightly… then hugged him even tighter.

His finger reached out again, sliding a second time, slower and more deliberate.

She paused, her brows quivering, then one of her eyes slowly blinked open.

The first thing she saw was the golden light, half blocked by Ryuk’s face, painting the white of his skin with a warm glow that made his expression look even softer.

Then she saw him looking down at her, amused, just short of giggling, like he had been waiting for her to wake up.

“What?” she forced out, her voice low and rough from sleep.

He tilted his head slightly, letting the sunlight fall directly on her face again, playful without saying a word.

She winced at the sudden brightness, but in the next instant, a realization struck her.

“Wait, it is already morning!?”

She shot upright like a startled rabbit.

“How did I?” she whispered, eyes widening.

She was never the type to sleep until morning.

Even though the clan required most students to return to their quarters at night, Stellis did not exactly need long hours of rest.

Their bodies were built differently.

Especially her.

She normally barely slept at all, yet she had slept long enough for the sunlight to be right over her.

That alone made her chest tighten in mild panic.

She rushed over to her study table, packing up the runic books, and that was when it hit her again.

“Tsk, I did not even do the homework,” she muttered, slapping her forehead.

She quickly stuffed the books away, combed her hair with frantic gestures that barely fixed anything, then sprinted toward the door.

Before leaving, she froze, spun around, ran back, jumped over Ryuk, kissed him, and whispered:

“I will be back soon.”

Then she dashed out again.

The door closed, leaving Ryuk alone.

He rose from the bed and moved to the window, watching the purple blur of her figure flash across the grounds.

He grinned before musing quietly:

“Dummy,”

He had woken earlier and seen Stellis’s experts walking around with runic books in hand.

He remembered Aster bringing similar books back the previous day.

Most likely, he thought, she was meant to join them in their classes, and he was right.

His gaze shifted from the ground to the far distance.

Near the horizon of the waterfall stood a massive prism-shaped structure, its surface etched with runes and streaked with flowing starlight that pulsed in slow waves.

“Stella Prism,” he whispered.

That was the place where he had been summoned to meet her, Lord Stella.

He turned back to the room.

There was little to do besides the bed, which he finished in under three minutes, smoothing the sheets with casual ease.

He opened the door and stepped out, walking through the quiet corridor toward the stairs.

Almost all the students had gone to classes, so the residence was unusually silent, the air still and cool.

He crossed the academy grounds, walking over a bridge, then through a garden filled with multicolored flowers that glimmered like starlight caught inside petals.

When his hand brushed over them, sparkles of light rose and wove around him before floating into the sky in soft, drifting motions.

He continued walking, stepping out of the garden and onto a mountainous path that twisted upwards.

The terrain was rocky and uneven, but Ryuk’s steps remained steady.

He slowed a bit, adjusting to the incline, but did not trip even once.

The morning wind brushed against him and carried faint scents of flowers and starlight dust.

Soon, he reached another bridge.

Beneath it was only deep darkness, sprinkled with blinking motes of purple far below, creating the illusion of a star-filled void beneath him.

“I wonder what is down there,” he murmured, but kept walking.

He crossed the entire length of the bridge and reached the end of the path.

Before him lay the prism’s base, with a staircase of three thousand short steps rising all the way to the entrance.

He placed his foot on the first step, paused for a breath, then resumed climbing.

Unhurried as always, he walked the entire three thousand, taking nearly an hour.

At the top, he turned around.

From here, the entire Stellis clan grounds spread out clearly beneath him, glowing with morning starlight.

The gardens shimmered, the starlit towers gleamed, and the waterfall cast tiny rainbow arcs into the air.

He turned back to face the enormous starlight door rising a hundred meters high, its surface rippling faintly like a living veil.

Pressing both hands against it, starlight bloomed across the door’s surface, forming intricate lines that pulsed outward, and it slowly pushed open with a deep, low hum.

A flurry of starlight washed over his face as he stepped inside.

When the lights faded, Ryuk looked around and found himself in a void.

A void overflowing with shimmering starlight stretching out infinitely, soft and silent.

And he was not alone.

At the center of the void was a single seat, and Ryuk walked to it, taking his place.

He lifted his head slightly.

Hanging above him like celestial phantoms were seven distinct beings.

Only one was familiar. Lord Stella.

Four of her eyes were open instead of two, each containing a swirling galaxy filled with celestial bodies.

“Interesting,” Ryuk murmured, his voice echoing through the void.

“He walked the entire length of the distance, never once running or flying.”

One of the Seven Lords spoke.

Ryuk turned to face him.

This lord looked humanoid, but his body was made of pure silver, like living liquid glass.

He had no eyes and no expression, only a smooth mask for a face.

“I find it interesting when someone takes their time with things,” the being continued, the quicksilver of his face shifting and forming the pattern of a flowing stream.

SCOOOOFF!

A loud, disdainful scoff cut through the space right after those words.

“He is a monster.”