Ruri made a bold entrance that looked so cool that everyone automatically thought she was more powerful than Seth.

Even Seth, himself, thought that Ruri was more powerful given her nonchalant attitude but Zeel knew the reality was much different.

At first, everyone in Universe Zero was taught to do something the right way and then learned to do it the 'cool way'.

However, the Akasha Race were amongst the few species that learned to do things the 'Cool Way' before they learned to do it the right way…

And the cooler they looked doing something, the lesser skilled they actually were.

So while everyone admired Ruri's unique entrance and cool statement, Zeel knew that Ruri was just blowing hot air from the moment she arrived.

Ruri craned her neck back and forth to take in the magnificence of Seth's Death Dimension but she seemed less than impressed given the lazy look on her face.

'My Dimensions are better,' Ruri thought smugly, the arrogance rippling off her body was so potent that everyone felt it.

"How?" Zeel mumbled surprised that his teammate was somehow still alive.

Zeel was certain that everyone he knew died from the training except for Ciara whose whereabouts remain a mystery to this day.

Still, Zeel had another matter to pay attention to.

Both Zeel and Alice were desperately infusing Elizabeth's body with their Divine-Energy in hopes of prolonging her life just a couple of minutes longer.

Veins of disgusting darkness were slowly eating away at Elizabeth's body and her breath grew more and more shallow by the second.

Being infected with death should have immediately killed her but Elizabeth was fighting against Death with all the will she had remaining.

Ruri could feel the slight desperation radiating off Zeel's body and directed a slightly surprised gaze in his direction.

She had not seen Zeel in hundreds of years and looking at him now, Ruri noted that the difference between back then and now were as different as night and day.

"Back on the Nameless Planet, you never lost your cool even once," Ruri said impressed and continued "It is refreshing to see your face with a hint of worry after so long,"

"How are you alive?" Zeel asked confused, still exhausting his energy reserves into Elizabeth's dying body.

"Akashas can never drink the blood of a species superior to our own or we will be automatically become 'Mated' to that individual.

When you gave me your blood, we became bonded by Akasha customs but that still wasn't going to prevent me from dying.

However, Homo-Superior blood is a powerful thing and it altered my body microseconds after consuming it.

If there is one thing your people were great at, it was the Survival-Equation that was programmed into their genetic structures," Ruri said laughing since the Homo-Superiors were truly paranoid.

If she hadn't consumed Zeel's blood and got access to the 'Survival Equation', Ruri wouldn't have believed that Homo-Superiors were that paranoid.

Zeel was especially paranoid since his Survival-Equation was enhanced beyond the normal Homo-Superior equation.

Ruri continued her story after noticing Zeel's impatient gaze. Still, Ruri was a bit spiteful so she made her voice a bit slower.

"At the last moment, before my death, the Survival-Equation kicked in and my body drifted out of the Mirror Dimension, through the Blood Dimension, and into the Shadow Dimension…

The Survival-Equation tore apart my soul, mind, and body so I could adapt to every environment even at the cost of losing myself in the process.

Sometimes, I wanted to die more than anything else but the Survival-Equation was just too powerful.

The Shadow-Dimension terrified me for years… probably more than years since time works differently in that Dimension.

I spent many years in loneliness and fear… wishing to die every day but being unable to… Until you held the God-Syphon in your hands and our 'mate-bond' was completed with the awakening of your emotions.

I eventually fought to become the Ruler of that Dimension through cowardly means but I didn't care. I just wanted to exit the Dimension but I couldn't do that without your permission.

The problem was – you didn't know I was alive and trapped until you summoned me to this Plane.

So here I am, wondering if I should kick you in the balls or slit your throat…"

Ruri finished her story and stared at Zee both gratefully and a bit blamingly for not realizing that she was trapped in abyssal-darkness for hundreds of years.

Seth also listened to Ruri's story as he gathered the Death-Energy of his Dimension to recover his injuries.

It was a convincing story, though Zeel and Seth could tell that Ruri was bullshitting since Ruling A Dimension was not a feat that could be so casually gained.

Even as the Ruler or God of a Dimension, there was no way that Ruri fit the description of an all-powerful being.

As if sensing Seth's thoughts, Ruri directed an interesting gaze in his direction.

Seeing that Ruri was finally paying attention to him, Seth spoke with the authority of a God that was trying to woo a Goddess.

"You can leave now, Ruler, and I will not pursue this matter… but if you remain here, you must know that the only outcome is death alongside The Crawford spawn,"

Seth's voice was three-points demanding, three-points domineering, and four-points hopeful that Ruri would actually take his advice.

Ruri examined Seth closely, frowning her brow in frustration as her shadow engulfed her and she was teleported to Zeel's side.

[Shadow Travel]

[Shadow Travel]was Ruri's main ability to traverse great distances to anywhere that had a shadow, which was basically everywhere.

*bang*

*bang*

Zeel felt two brain shakes before he realized that Ruri was directing the third punch in his direction and he ducked hastily.

The attack was expected but Zeel had misjudged the timing of Ruri's violent mindset kicking in.

"You asshole!" Ruri yelled angrily "You couldn't just die yourself? Now, you fucking called me to die with you?"

Zeel shrugged as a reply, not bothering to raise his gaze from Elizabeth's body to grace Ruri with some respectable attention necessary for talking.

The next moment, Zeel felt a Shadow-Knife pressed against his throat but even that didn't cause him any discomfort.

"Give me a reason I shouldn't join that useless Death God and slit your throat here and now," Ruri asked, completely serious about killing Zeel and exiting this Dimension.

Zeel smiled a bit and pushed Ruri's knife away from his throat, raising his head and looking into Ruri's eyes with a playful gaze that showed he knew she was pretending.

"You drank my blood and Homo-Superior blood contains genetic code that makes us loyal to our Family unit above all…

In some ways, you are also a part of my family now, so you can't do anything to me," Zeel stated dismissively.

"Are you so sure about that?" Ruri asked, pressing the knife against Zeel's throat a bit harder, drawing a drop of blood.

"Oh, I am sure," Zeel replied, laughing a bit in reminisce "If a Homo-Superior could betray their family, I would have killed my parent's years ago,"

Alice's Divine-Energy faltered at Zeel's reason while Seth only shrugged as if it was natural to attempt to murder your parents.

*bang*

Zeel felt another hit in the face and grew a bit annoyed but he didn't show it since Ruri had the tendency to overreact sometimes.

"You just have to keep him occupied for a while and my trump card will be ready to go," Zeel stated, feeling both angry and relieved that Ruri had shown up when she did.

"You want me to fight against an Elder God?" Ruri asked, bursting out into a fit of laughter since Zeel was brazenly asking her to go die for him without hesitation.

'I forgot how shameless he was,' Ruri thought, smiling a bit at her random old memories.

[Shadow Travel]

With her shadows engulfing her once more, Ruri teleported to a couple of feet in front of Seth with a battle-hardened look on her face.

If Zeel died, Ruri would forever remain trapped in her Shadow-Dimension so she had no choice but to fight.

"A turtle without a shell… A Dimensional Ruler without her Dimension… you would throw your life away for a man who knows nothing about you?" Seth asked disappointed that Ruri had chosen death.

"I drank of a Homo-Superiors blood and learned of many things that I would have otherwise remained blinded to…" Ruri explained to Seth as black armor wiggled onto her body from the shadows on the ground.

"The Akasha are known for our charm and the ability to manipulate the essence of Beings but…" Ruri paused and looked at Seth smugly "We didn't know that everything could be seen as technology,"

Ruri rubbed the shadow necklace around her neck and the small inky pearl at the center flashed for a moment, bringing with it the darkening of everything with the Death Dimension.

"I am the Ruler of A Dimension but I was never a conventional Ruler," Ruri explained, her shadows spreading further and further into Seth's Death Dimension like an infection.

The ground trembled as Seth urged his Death Dimension to fight against the encroaching darkness of Shadows.

Shadows were dark and Death was dark so both Seth and Ruri had limited dominion over darkness.

Hence, their battle would only come down to a difference of comprehension of their respective Dimensions, and Seth obviously had the advantage given they were in his Dimension.

"As an Akasha, when I sat upon the throne, I wanted to secure my home before venturing elsewhere but then I started thinking like a Homo-Superior after a couple of years…

I asked: 'How can I protect this Dimension and the source of my power'… The answer was so obvious that I felt dumb to not recognize it sooner…

All you have to do is clone the Dimension like a normal person, compress it into a ball, and then take a couple of those balls without you everywhere you go…

Of course, a couple million people had to die in experimental phases but the sacrifices were necessary for my greatness," Ruri stated, showing off inky-pearl within the necklace around her neck.

Ruri also brushed her fingers over the two similar bracelets that appeared on her wrists. Currently, Ruri had three Shadow Dimensions compressed into balls like ornaments on display.

"I am not the Ruler of A Shadow Dimension… I am The Ruler of Twenty Shadow Dimensions and COUNTING!" Ruri stated, yelling the last word as a declaration of her power.

For the first time since putting the absurd idea of cloning Dimensions into practice, Ruri was prepared to test the power of three Shadow Dimensions against an Elder God.

"If it is Death you want… it is death you will get," Seth said a bit sadly, blurring and rushing forward.

Ruri similarly blurred and rushed forward to commence the battle between Dimension Rulers.

*BBBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!*