Ryuk turned towards Diana with a smile and inquired, "By the way, you know right, How good you smell?"
"W-what!?" Her cheeks blushed crimson, caught off guard by his words and genuine smile. She stumbled backward, unknowingly activating a concealed trigger in the snow beneath her.
TICK
A faint sound reached Ryuk's ears, making his gaze turn towards the spot where Diana stood– precisely where he wanted her.
BOOM
'!?'
Without warning, a sound reverberated through the air.
"AHHHhhhh.....!!!", The ground beneath Diana crumbled away, her startled scream echoing briefly before fading into the depths.
Ryuk, still wearing his same smile, knelt to peer into the hole that had swallowed her.
Calmly looking in the dark hole while waiting for Diana to hit the floor,' Hope, I don't have to wait for too long
BANG!
Suddenly, a sharp sound echoed, signaling her impact with the ground.
'Finally!', Satisfied that his calculated method to measure the depth had worked, Ryuk stood up, stretched leisurely, and confidently took a step forward.
With an angelic smile, he leaped into the hole while in a standing position.
.....
Inside the hole, reaching some depth before a white ground and a person standing above a small pit formed due to impact came into view.
"Aghhh... it hurts," Diana slowly lifted her body while trying to balance herself, hitting the ground from such height had left a subtle amount of damage on her.
SWISH
Suddenly, a breeze sound reached her ears, which were already ringing from her impact with the ground. Slowly, her eyes turned upward to see the source of the sound.
BOOM!
Ryuk landed, causing an impact accompanied by another sound, slowly rising before clearing dust from his clothes and turning to search for his live measuring tool.
"Diana, where are you?" He called out, moving some steps forward while observing the location.
"You did it knowingly, didn't you?" Diana, already thrown on the ground and now flattened by Ryuk's weight slowly lifted once again, proving her resilience
But seeing his actions of acting ignorant, her face twitched.
'I guess heroines have Heaven's halo.' Seeing Diana's stumbling body, hardly supported herself but still in a single piece. Ryuk felt satisfied that his speculation about her was one hundred percent correct.
Seeing how, even after falling from a height equivalent to a five-story building, Diana survived and withstood his momentum, expected from a heroine.
It was also the reason why instead of jumping directly into an unknown hole, he gave her this chance— a pretty smart move to check any danger beforehand.
Of course, he was sure that heaven would never let something happen to its favored daughter.
"Diana, are you fine?!" Ryuk sprinted towards her before supporting her by the shoulder.
Seeing him acting like this, Diana gritted her teeth, already understanding that she was being played.
"Why are you doing this?" Her gaze turned downward, feeling somewhat irritated. Clenching her fist, her eyes looking at the ground slowly become wet, feeling overwhelmed.
'Neither we talked that much, so why?' She couldn't understand the reason behind his actions, if it was some enmity or something, then it was understandable but...
Ryuk, seeing her eyes welling up, sighed, averting his gaze as he revealed crucial information, "Mother told me that you needed help in realizing something."
'?!'
Diana's eyes widened, slowly turning towards Ryuk, who kept averting his gaze while supporting her, his height playing a crucial role in avoiding eye contact. "Lady Alisia did?"
She understood that three years ago, her request for help from Alisia about the Awakening Riantain bloodline, which was declined on the pretext that she was not prepared, now seemed to be fulfilled.
'And here I doubted him,' gritting her teeth, she removed her hand from his shoulder, not wanting to burden him more. She added, "It's fine, I can endure this much."
With those words, Diana moved forward with determination, determined not to appear weak and ever doubt him while feeling grateful for Ryuk's help.
'So, she believed me,' seeing her stumbling figure, Ryuk scratched his chin, not being able to tell her the truth, that he just wanted to measure the depth by pushing her.
"No." Turning his gaze down, Ryuk realized it was the only obstacle blocking him until now.
Yes, even after living for twelve years in this world, he never once killed someone—a very amusing situation for a future Crown Prince, but his past life became a hurdle in his path.
Looking at him for a moment, Diana changed her mind and directly grabbed his hand, slightly confusing him before pulling towards the end of the tunnel.
tap tap
The only thing visible to Ryuk was the footsteps of his and Diana's, while being pulled by her.
His mind somehow knew what he was about to witness, but still, he wanted to let everything happen.
"See for yourself." Diana's stopped causing Ryuk to stumble before stopping at the end of a cliff, which was at the end of the passage they came out.
Drip
Before he could balance himself, a small sound reached his ears, causing him to slowly lift his gaze.
His amber pupils reflected a scenery of a lake, painted in crimson red, while thousands of dead bodies laid forming a mountain, exuding a rotten smell.
Thud
"Blergh!" Clenching his stomach, Ryuk fell on the ground, his pupils moving rapidly, and his mind replaying the overwhelming scene that assaulted his senses.
He felt his intestines turning upside down. Even in his past life, he had heard about wars and saw dead bodies after someone's demise, but right now, the vivid scene in front of him was just too much.
'Damn it!' Gritting his teeth, he closed his eyes to calm himself down.
Diana, seeing him on his knees with closed eyes, turned towards the direction where a huge area and another entrance, similar to the one they came from, were visible on the opposite side of the peak.
The corpses lay in a pit, but due to the sheer number, their bodies reached a height that made them clearly visible face to face.
"You stay here; I will be back within some moments." Diana directly jumped from the cliff, leaving Ryuk behind.
SPLASH
On landing, the blood reaching to her knees drenched her due to force of jump, but it seemed to have not much effect on her.
She slowly made her way towards the direction of the flowing blood.
An enormous gate made of stone, filled with runes, greeted her back.
Diana approached the gate before noticing the familiarity with inscriptions etched on it—the small details that made her remember a very familiar figure.
"What is this, Diana?" Ryuk arrived beside Diana, looking at her.
His body was unstained by the surrounding blood.
Suddenly hearing Ryuk's voice, Diana's gaze turned cold.
Slowly turning towards him, a smile formed on her face, seeing him naively looking at her, totally unaware of what was going to happen within some moments.
SWOOSH
A sword slowly materialized in Diana's hand. Slowly unsheathing it, she spoke, "Open the door, Ryuk. I will give you backup if something attacked."
Hearing such words and seeing the unsheathed sword, Ryuk narrowed his gaze before shaking his head, dismissing the thought that just passed his mind.
Slowly moving towards the door, he placed his hands on it and pushed.
SWISH
'!?'
Suddenly, a sound reached his ears accompanied by a sharp force on his back, causing him to turn his eyes, but it was too late.
SCHLKT
"Kughh!?" Ryuk's eyes widened, feeling Diana's sword directly piercing through his back and coming out of his chest, causing blood to gush out of his mouth.
"Aghh... D-diana?" His amber eyes reflected Diana holding the sword before kicking him and setting free from the sword.
Thud
His body fell to the ground, amber eyes starting to lose their color, breath slowly fading into oblivion.
Standing while looking down on the now lying body of Ryuk Von Selvius, Diana felt nothing but rage boiling up, and with this, a last heartbeat from a dying heart reached her.
thump...