CHAPTER 69: BLACK FIELDS RAID [V]

Soul Reapers weren’t powerful monsters. At least, not if you had some way to protect your soul.

Without such protection, though, their scythes didn’t cut flesh.

They cut essence.

One slash, and your heart’s flame went out forever.

They weren’t living things anymore — just emotionless husks.

Already dead, and therefore fearless.

The only real way to kill them was with magic because it disrupted their incorporeal forms.

But there was a problem.

There weren’t three.

There weren’t ten.

There were hundreds.

Lucius stood at the back of the party, his arm folded, expression unreadable.

Of course he could contain all of them with a single twist of space, or pin them down with wooden roots drawn from nothing.

That would end the fight in seconds.

But where was the fun in showing overwhelming power this early?

No. This was entertainment.

And besides... watching these fools panic was a reward in itself.

"What are you guys being scared for?" Grimm scoffed, twirling his spear with exaggerated flair.

His grin was too wide, too smug. "They’re just a bunch of ghosts."

"There’s a limit to being stupid," Cyrus growled, pulling his younger brother back by the shoulder.

His golden eyes glared sharp enough to cut. "Can you not see? These are Grim Reapers."

"Grim Reapers, Shrim Sheepers," Grimm said with a snort. "They’ll go down by my hands."

Matthias stepped forward, short swords flashing into existence.

Shadows leaked along the blades, curling like black fire.

He gave a wicked grin. "I agree with him. Since our captain—" his eyes flicked to Lucius, his tone dripping with venom "is apparently useless."

Lucius merely smirked.

That was enough to make Matthias grit his teeth harder.

And then, with a reckless roar, Matthias and Grimm charged forward.

The Soul Reapers had been drifting in eerie silence until that moment.

Then, as one, their heads snapped toward the two Awakeners.

The sound was like a hundred vertebrae cracking in unison.

The sight was worse.

A hundred blank, hollow faces turning at the exact same time.

Creepy as fuck.

[@VoidLover: Bro this is straight outta a horror movie]

[@CryptDad: NOOOPE. Shut it down. Burn it all]

[@SleepParalysis: That collective head snap?? I’m never sleeping again]

[@GoreFiend: This is more unsettling than actual gore 💀]

[@KoiPond: My spine just left the building]

Matthias slowed to a halt, his bravado cracking.

Grimm, however, only grinned wider and pressed forward. "See? Nothing to worry ab—!"

The first Reaper drifted toward him, scythe raised high. Grimm thrust his spear forward, his movements quick and precise.

The blade cut through the ghostly body, scattering its essence into thin air.

"Hah!" he barked, and went on a spree.

One Reaper.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Each one dispersed under his spear, and for a moment, he looked unstoppable.

Until the sixth raised its sickle and brought it down in a blur.

Grimm’s eyes widened too late.

[@DeathWish: Ohhhh he’s cooked.]

[@CookKing: Let him cook 🔥🔥🔥]

[@PanSeared: Soul flambé incoming]

[@UnholyOven: Stick a fork in him, he’s done]

[@WorstTake: NGL he deserves it for being illiterate]

The blade never landed.

With a flash of shadow, Matthias appeared, his twin swords locking against the Reaper’s scythe.

Sparks of corrupted energy scattered as the two forces clashed.

"Pay attention, dumbass," Matthias snarled. He shoved the Reaper back.

But the victory was short-lived.

The hundred voices of the dead screamed in unison, high and keening, like glass breaking inside one’s skull.

And then they all moved forward at once.

Like a tide of death.

The brown-haired woman with glasses didn’t waste a second.

She raised her rifle, the long barrel humming as mana flowed into its core.

Her eyes sharpened, her focus absolute.

She fired.

The bullet burst midair, unraveling into a glowing lattice of arcane lines.

It spread wide, collapsing downward over the swarm.

The Soul Reapers screeched as the net hit them, pinning half the horde against the ground.

Their forms writhed and hissed under the restraint.

"Bullseye," she murmured, blowing the steam curling from her rifle’s muzzle.

"That’s a soul net. They won’t be able to get you."

Relief flickered across Grimm’s face, but another voice shattered it instantly.

"What about us?"

A scarred awakener — the one with vertical marks carved down both eyes tightened his grip on his baton.

His expression was grim, his knuckles white.

The Reapers that hadn’t been caught in the net were drifting closer, their scythes raised, their eyeless sockets glowing with hunger.

He swallowed.

Hard.

The brown-haired woman reloaded with a sharp click. "Then we fight."

Her rifle snapped up again, spitting mana rounds one after another.

Each bullet pierced through a Reaper’s torso, dispersing fragments of its soul into nothingness.

Meanwhile, Grimm had shaken off his brush with death.

He broke loose from Matthias’s covering stance and hurled himself back into combat, his spear glowing faintly with enchantment.

He struck at one Reaper, then another, his strikes swift but reckless.

One Reaper dodged his first slash, ducked under his second, then brought its scythe downward in a clean arc.

Grimm growled, pouring mana into his weapon.

His spear shone, covered with rippling magical energy, and he blocked the attack with a shower of sparks.

The force still sent him flying backward.

CRASH!

For the third time today, Grimm’s body slammed into stone. This time, however, the impact didn’t stop there.

His body tore through the wall like paper.

Dust billowed and rock cracked.

And then light spilled out from the hole.

Not just light.

Radiance.

Beautiful radiance...

The other side of the wall glimmered with countless glowing crystals.

Blue, green, violet — they pulsed like captured stars.

The entire hidden chamber glittered like a dragon’s hoard.

The fighting noise fell away from Lucius’s ears.

His lips curled, his hands nearly rising into the air in sheer praise.

’Ahhh...’ His heart sang. ’Wealth. Pure, glittering wealth.’

The Soul Reapers screeched again, but in that instant, Lucius decided the battle was over.

With a casual wave, torrents of spatial energy tore through the dungeon.

The reapers didn’t even have time to scream properly before vanishing, their essence folded neatly into oblivion.

Lucius adjusted his coat, smoothed his cuffs, and stepped lightly into the crystal chamber.

For once, his smirk wasn’t fake. It was genuine.

’I’m rich.’