[The Apocrypha Stage.]
[This is the next stage after Eternity, and all I could piece together was the formation of the words.]
[The outright cumulative definition of it is: knowledge or power hidden from the known universe,] the system said, as Ryuk paused, taking a seat amongst the shattered rocks.
"Knowledge or power hidden from the known universe," he echoed.
"The known universe?" Ryuk murmured to himself, trying to piece things together.
"Could the known universe an wild worlds like Endearth? Could it only be achieved if one escapes this known universe?"
"Or could there even be a concept of an unknown universe? Could that be the higher worlds Aster was talking about earlier?"
Ryuk whispered these words under his breath but quickly pushed them down and asked the system,
"What of the next two stages after the Apocrypha Stage?"
[After the Apocrypha Stage, there is the Exignis Stage.]
[Not much is also given by the database, except the origin of the word, as I can piece together.]
["Ex" = Beyond, and "Ignis" = Fire, or Light, or Soul.]
[So you could take it to an: the birth of a new form—beyond soul, or beyond being?] the system explained, doubt flickering in its voice.
This ti, Ryuk couldn't quite grasp the aning.
It was a concept too far abstract.
What did the stage an—shedding one's true body, or sothing else?
If one sheds their body, then what do they beco?
Do they even still exist?
Existing without a body?
"And the last one?"
[The last is called the Nullity Stage.]
[Null, in the sense of end.]
"A stage of nullity? Where does one exist in the sense of an end? An end?"
"Does it an they die? Or... cease to exist?"
"Like being neither dead nor alive?" he wondered aloud.
Then his gaze drifted into the distance, his thoughts trailing.
He stared silently for almost three hours before finally speaking again.
"Hey, system, you saw the mory panel, right? That mory of ... with my parents, I assu?"
[Yes.]
"That'Vorgath. That's my father's na. Thath'Vorgath..."
[Theth'Vorgath.]
[It's a combination of three words.]
["That"—which ans that which cannot be nad, or beyond na.]
["Vor"—closest in aning to devourer, or flas of annihilation.]
["Gath"—ans genesis, or... womb?]
"So... The No-Na Devourer Genesis?" Ryuk murmured to himself, piecing the words together.
[Maybe, seems like sothing is incomplete though,] the system replied.
Ryuk furrowed his brows.
"In that mory, my mother said,
____
'But what would they say if they saw you now? What would they say about the strongest of them all?'"
____
"It's like my father is the strongest of the Knulls. And by the way she said it, there wasn't even the slightest doubt at all. It felt like an established law."
"But then she also said,
___
'Oh, Theth'Vorgath... could I have made you softer... and doubted?'"
___
"And Theth'Vorgath also revealed that his council of elders had complained about that."
[It holds so sense, Ryuk. Many males grow softer after having a child. It's a universal concept.]
"Perhaps that was what started the war? Perhaps growing softer made him lose his position as the strongest."
"Or did his council revolt against him for that?"
But then, when I awakened Aetheris, I got that mory too."
"The mory of a group of Knulls asking the dragons,"
____
'Oh, you dragons? Will you really all give away your immortal lives just for a single soul?'
____
"In that scenario, it was like the Knulls were chasing after specifically. My mother is a dragon, and the last scene in that mory is that of the dragons going all out against the Knulls... for ."
"Things get complicated."
"Did Theth'Vorgath's council revolt against him for becoming softer, as the strongest of the Knulls, and try to take away from him?"
"In that sense, it would make sense for the dragons to fight back."
"But if all they wanted to do was punish Theth'Vorgath or try and force him to beco his old self again, then ripping off my old body parts seems like going too far, especially if he was strong enough to slaughter them all."
"Or maybe he wasn't."
"But then again, I've lost almost all of my body parts. It was like what they were after was , myself."
"As if there was sothing special about my body?"
"Perhaps because I was a hybrid between a dragon and a Knull?"
"Things get complicated after that..." Ryuk mused silently, his hand clenching into a trembling fist.
[It's okay, Ryuk. Everything that happened to you—every single piece of information—is present in your mory world. So long as you keep leveling up and growing your energy, you'll unlock each of them one by one, and find more answers,] the system said reassuringly.
Ryuk rose to his feet. "You're right. There's hope."
"So long as I keep growing stronger... then it's only a matter of ti before the whole truth is unveiled."
He stood tall, ready to leave, but then—
"DRIIING!"
"DRIIING!"
The sound of his phone ringing rang out.
It appeared in his hand as he glanced at the screen, or specifically, the number on it, his brows pulling together when he couldn't recognize it.
He picked it up anyway, sliding the call button before placing it to his ear.
"Hello? Who is this?"
Silence hung in the air before a trembling voice whispered:
"Ry... Ryuk?"
His bones turned cold, so cold he stopped moving entirely, as if paralyzed by the sound.
It felt too familiar, awakening mories that numbed him to silence, but he forced them all down, as he asked.
"Morgaine!?"
"Is i—"
"BEEP"
"BEEP"
"BEEP"
The sound of beeping rang out as Ryuk looked down at his device, noticing the call had been cut off before her next words could co through.
There was no doubt about that voice. It was Morgaine's.
But then right after—
"DRIIING!"
"DRIIING!"
The sound of ringing echoed again as Ryuk turned to the device.
The number was different this ti. He swiped to the side.
"Hello?"
"Ryuk, is that you?"
"Aster?" Ryuk asked, recognizing the voice as he heard a sharp inhale from the other side.
"Seems like you're alive."
"Hey, you just ran off for two weeks all of a sudden, no texts, no calls, no visits. What's up?" she asked.
Ryuk's brows furrowed.
A coincidence?
No. Sothing was wrong.
"Hey Aster, can I ask how you suddenly got my number?"
Reviews
All reviews (0)