Chapter 151
Chapter 151
"Arthur Bilgart, your time of death had long since passed and that is something ’Death’ doesn’t allow . "
With terrifying death aura around it and a chilling voice that would make anyone fearful, the Grim Reaper slashed its scythe in the air and created what seemed to be a small dimension that enveloped the whole cave .
Unfortunately for the black mage, it was too late for him to escape by the time the weird dimension was created . The only thing he could do was desperately bang his staff on the transparent barrier but to no avail, his attacks were totally ineffective .
’This is not good . ’
Arthur glanced around him but his Sixth Sense couldn’t penetrate the dimension . If it was a barrier, his sense could have spread easily but a dimension is a whole other thing . Zodiak’s books mentioned that whoever or whatever could create dimensions should not be messed with as they either have unique abilities or strong attainment in Spatial Laws .
Just from looking at the ’???’ from the appraisal and feeling the aura emanating from this Reaper, Arthur knew he has no choice but to fight seriously but he was confused on why a Grim Reaper would suddenly attack him after saying that .
"Why don’t you explain yourself . I don’t want to die without knowing why . . . . "
Arthur suspiciously asked the Grim Reaper whilst circulating the Dark Anguish Technique and activated the defense layer from The Dark Star Strengthening technique . He wanted to buy some time to prepare himself and also get some answers .
"You should know, better than anyone, why I’m here, and if you are purposely acting dumb then let me explain . Arthur Bilgart, death at the age of 32 by suicide . You have cheated death and lived more than your designated lifespan and that is not something easily forgotten . "
"Designated lifespan? Bullshit, I died when I killed myself and was reincarnated and to begin with, who are you to judge how much I’m going to live!"
The Grim Reaper wasn’t angered by the unpolite attitude of Arthur, he just stared at him for a while before calmly replying with his usual chilling tone .
"I’m but an emissary . . . a messenger but it is not the same thing for what designated your lifespan . Fate is an entity that hates anyone who betrays or cheats it and it is exactly my duty to eliminate whoever bites more than he could chew . "
Still not understanding what was said, Arthur tried processing all the new things that was just said about Fate or whatever it is but he still couldn’t comprehend how does that have anything to do with him . He died and born again! He even had a totally different Race! How is it unfair?
Even if it was unfair, he’ll never submit, his life has finally become better after meeting Lucy and marrying her, having a cute daughter and lovely wife, what else could he wish besides that? He’s not going to let his life end because of some idiotic thing called ’Fate’ that thinks it can decide who lives and who dies .
"Fate . . . is it? If it really exists, I would really love to kill it with my bare hands, after all, isn’t it the one responsible for all the miseries I experienced, all the suffering I had to go through, but I’m sure I am not the only one who thinks like this . "
"*chuckle* Kill it? You are far too weak, Arthur Bilgart . Even with an enigmatic Race like yours, it would take you forever to even have the qualifications to meet it, much less beat it . You say your life was full of miseries but you are not the only one, neither were you the first or the last one to suffer .
Of course, some suffer more than the others but even if you blame ’Fate’ it isn’t going to change anything, you decided what to do and every action led to another . Fate may decide how you die and when but it doesn’t decide what you do in your life . "
"Whatever . . . . . and what does a Grim Reaper have to do with ’Fate’? Aren’t you related to the dark side?"
It took the Grim Reaper a couple of seconds to understand what Arthur meant by the dark side, it kept the nonchalant attitude and chuckled again before responding"
"It’s complicated so let’s start, after all, this world is quite aggressive . "
Although he said ’let’s start’, the Grim Reaper just stood there and stared at Arthur without moving an inch . Arthur thought maybe it was a trap but at second thought, a Grim Reaper wouldn’t do that as after experiencing his scythe, he didn’t seem to be the tricky type .
Since the enemy is not attacking and there is still time, Arthur didn’t hesitate as he took out a large body of a silver wolf and immediately possessed it . What followed was a torrent of notifications and a pressure pressing on his mind . Arthur was forced to activate [Pain Immunity] due to the intense pain he was experiencing but even with the skill activated, he still felt an invisible burden .
You activated [Solid Max Lv]: Your defense is increased by 15%
You activated [Wind Charmer Max Lv]: You Agility is increased by 10%
You activated [Extreme Poison Fangs Max Lv]: Your attacks now contain a deadly poison that deals 5% of the user’s attack every second .
You activated [Deadly Stare]: Your eyes permanently cause a debuff to any targets the user looks at: -10% movement speed, -15% attack speed .
. . .
You activated [Transmutation]: +25% stats, +20% damage received (10 minutes) .
The large silver wolf transformed into a green lightning beast with a domineering aura and a fierce appearance .
"You achieved such strength in a short amount of time . . . that’s applaudable so come at me with all you’ve got, you’ll die an honorable death and come to know how big the difference between us actually is . "
When all passives were activated, Arthur vanished and teleported behind the Grim Reaper, which still stood there motionlessly . The green lightning beast was merciless as the sharp long claws were slashed at the back of the Grim Reaper .
*Cannot damage! 0 . Phy . Atk*
Albeit shocked by the notifications, Arthur bit down with his lightning fangs and poured all his poison and endless Natural Lightning inside of the Grim Reaper’s bones but the same notifications popped up again .
As he was close to the enemy and felt the deathly aura around him, Arthur was momentarily shocked and was unable to make a reasonable decision after seeing both of attacks dealing nothing .
Each second was longer than the other, at the spur of the moment, Arthur teleported away from the Grim Reaper before not before spitting two large fireballs .
*Cannot damage! 0 M . Atk*
*Cannot damage! 0 M . Atk*
Arthur stared at the Grim Reaper whilst crouching the wolf’s body and taking a defensive stance . The enemy didn’t attack but it wasn’t injured too, it was unscathed from even the ancient flame which is something Arthur never saw . Even the Gods in the Underworld would be damaged by his flames so witnessing this sight, he was truly in shock .
"Do you understand now? I cannot be injured, neither can I die, I’m a Grim Reaper, I take lives and not the other way around, that’s my purpose . "
The Grim Reaper started approaching Arthur with its scythe held horizontally, ready to slash at any moment .
’What honorable death? It’s just one-sided!’
Arthur cursed the Reaper as it was not a fight, he could do nothing but back away from the enemy but even that simple tactic was useless as he was met with the Dimension’s wall after retreating a dozen of meters .
It was only one exchange but Arthur knew he can’t win, it was obvious from the second he activated that appraisal and it was later ascertained when he dealt no damage, not with his flames nor his claws and fangs which would kill a God if they are touched by them .
With no way out and zero chance of winning, Arthur’s focus shifted to the surroundings until it landed on the black mage, who was scared stiff and fearfully looking at the Grim Reaper while trying not to grab his attention and be killed alongside Arthur .
’Maybe . . . . ’
A reckless idea crossed his mind, it was suicidal but in such a desperate situation, it was better to try it than dying without resisting .
The book of the damned appeared in front of Arthur, growled at it and the black book flashed a second before rushed straight at the Grim Reaper . Once it was close enough, the Death Golem and the rotten hand came out of the book and attacked the Reaper at the same time .
The golem smashed its fist at the Reaper while the rotten hand stabbed the Golem and poured all the saved energy to it .
’Bang!!!’
An explosive sound rang out in the silent and dark cave but nothing happened to the Grim Reaper . His dark tattered robe and his bones were still intact . However, the state of the golem was not so good, the hand it used to punch the Reaper was gone as it shattered the moment it touched its target .
Following its master’s orders, the death Golem swung its second fist but this time the fist transformed into a sharp drill that was spinning and emitting a dark fog that swirled around it . With no hesitation, the drill stabbed the skull head of the Reaper .
’Dang Dang Dang Dang . . ’
The sound was similar to a drill but no matter how fast it spun, it couldn’t penetrate the skull or deal any damage, it was as if it was cutting an unpenetrable unique metal . A few seconds passed and the drill showed signs of breaking but the Grim Reaper was not that patient, it swung its scythe just one time and it was enough to cut the death golem in two and immediately kill it .
Fortunately, the rotten hand was a bit lucky as it was not in the scythe’s range but it still received a bit of damage as a small blade wound appeared in one of the rotten fingers . Black blood leaked out of the injury but it was soon stopped as the rotten hand performed a weird gesture and pointed at the Grim Reaper .
"You also have a real specter hand . . . . that is rare to see in such a place, nonetheless, it’s useless against me . "
As he said that, the Grim Reaper raised its free hand and the palm made of bones was suddenly clenched . All that was done was clenching a hand but this simple action managed to extinguish the rotten hand and make it turn blurry until it vanished .
When the rotten hand disappeared, the Grim Reaper turned his attention to Arthur but the lightning wolf was no longer there . It looked around for signs of Arthur but there were no wolves around and it is impossible to escape from its dimension .
With its two creepy eyes, the Grim Reaper turned its head and stared at the black mage, who had long since lost his composed behavior and was freaking out, especially when the Grim Reaper started looking at him .
Arthur grasped the opportunity and diverted the Grim Reaper’s attention just for a couple of seconds just to possess the black mage . He didn’t completely possess him, he’s just hiding there without controlling the body . Since the black mage is weaker than him, doing such a thing is easy and he doesn’t have to resort to a skill that spends Mental Power .
Since the Grim Reaper came for him then there is a chance he won’t kill the black mage as he’s not its target and maybe he’s not allowed to kill someone who didn’t reach the end of his lifespan yet .
"I see . . . . it’s a clever trick, especially since your Race is unique but . . . . you forgot that Grim Reapers reap souls and not bodies . "
The long gray scythe was swung down at the black mage, it easily passed through his body and was precisely aimed at Arthur’s soul .
Since he was dormant inside the black mage’s body, leaving it would take a bit more time than usual, Arthur could only take control of the black mage’s body and immediately use [Faster Than Death] to teleport away .
It was a close call but the risk he took was futile as a small part of his soul was grabbed by the tip of the scythe .
"A soul fitting of its owner . . . . truly!"
The Grim Reaper stopped marching slowly and charged at Arthur while stretching his free hand and clenching it again as he pointed it at Arthur .
Arthur was going to teleport away yet again but a gravitational force pressed against him from all directions, crushing his bones and almost turning him into minced meat .
If not for abandoning the black mage’s body at the last second, he would have died . Seeing the black mage turn into nothingness, Arthur knew that the Reaper didn’t care about the black mage which disappointed him and made him feel a bit helpless .
At such a crucial moment, where the black mage’s body was crushed and Arthur hurriedly left it, the Grim Reaper smoothly switched his rushing path and swung his Scythe at where Arthur was at .
The scythe was like death itself at it approached Arthur centimeter by centimeter and he could only watch helplessly as he does not have enough time to use [Faster than Death], plus, shields or barrier are useless against it as it can pass through them easily .
The gap was shortening centimeter by centimeter, the scythe already passed his chest and was about to rip his soul out of his consciousness . Just when the end was coming, the chains around Arthur’s souls tightened, not letting the scythe take more portions of it . It’s as if it was claiming property of the soul and not letting the invader take what belongs to it .
’Clack Clack Clack . . . ’
The chains wrapped around the bright light which is Arthur’s souls and it totally deflected the gray scythe and forcefully pushed it out of his consciousness . Arthur did nothing but the Grim Reaper was sent flying until he crashed into the invisible wall of the dimension .
it sustained no damage but the Reaper was surprised by what just happened . The Grim Reaper’s eyes stopped pulsating and became devoid of any light, the skeletal figure remained motionless as it stared at Arthur .
"No wonder ’Fate’ personally ordered your death . . . . . . but this makes it much more interesting . "
With a final chuckle, the Grim Reaper launched itself at Arthur, who was bending on one knee and panting . His soul just clashed with that deadly scythe, the clash alone made his body tremble and feel extremely heavy .
Arthur teleported further away and threw a large Void Orb at the incoming Grim Reaper, who had an unbelievable speed . Arthur could only see a gray shadow charge at him, if not for his fast reactions, he would have died many times already .
Surprisingly, the gray shadow didn’t dive straight into the Void Orb, instead, it avoided it and then slashed at Arthur . He wasn’t able to fully see what happened but he knew for sure that the Grim Reaper avoided the Void Orb which only meant one thing, it didn’t want to be hit by it as maybe Void Magic is deadly for it .
It’s to be expected since Void Magic can hurt anyone even its own user . Truthfully, Arthur didn’t expect this, it was a Grim Reaper that can’t die, what’s there to be afraid of?
With a bit of self-gained hope, Arthur jumped back and fired as many Void Orbs as he possibly can . Just as he expected, although the orbs were fast, they were easily dodged by the incoming doom .
Expecting such a situation, Arthur activated the Void Orbs and made them explode into countless devouring mouths that launched themselves at the gray shadow .
"Arthur Bilgart, you really are a unique existence . . . . but you can’t beat Death . "
The Grim Reaper appeared before Arthur and stretched its hand toward his chest, planning to rip his soul with its bare hand . The hand was very close to his chest when all of a sudden, the Grim Reaper was pushed backward by a terrifying force .
Arthur only managed to react when the Grim Reaper was pushed more than a dozen meters . An illusory green palm and a blue blob of light soon emerged from a crack in the dimension and floated next to Arthur .
Their appearance was soon followed by thick plant vines appearing from the ground and wrapping themselves around the Grim Reaper without letting him have the room to breathe .
"This is your chance, use that arrow of yours . "