Chapter 490: A New Way Forward The explosion shook the skeleton’s entire body and even affected its soul, making it slump against the rocky wall. The lance was still pinning it there, the ethereal weapon glowing a bit. But the Grim Reaper began to grin, or at least what looked like a grin with its damn skeletal body. The jaw moved in a way that suggested amusement and it made Azel’s eyes twitch. "I see... so you can target souls like how Reapers do." It said as it coughed. Wisps of bloody mist escaped from its mouth, an impossible thing for a skeleton to produce. Its weapon began glowing from where it had fallen on the ground several meters away. Azel raised his bone sword up, taking a defensive stance. His muscles tensed. "You planned on using this path to get to the castle right?" The Reaper asked, its voice echoing strangely. The weapon shot past all of them. It flew over their heads in a blur, ignoring Azel completely, and instead went for the ground to the right that was extending to the path they needed to follow. The weapon hit the ground and cracks began forming, spreading all around like a spiderweb across stone. The sound of breaking earth filled the air. "Reap." The Grim Reaper said, using the last of its power for this single attack before it died. The ground in a whole two hundred meter radius... vanished. As far as Azel’s eyes could see, the only path that they wanted to use to follow the Sea of Souls was gone. The black grass, the stone, everything. It left behind a massive crater filled with writhing darkness. He wondered how the reaper had even managed it. That much power from a dying enemy shouldn’t have been possible. The Reaper detonated completely, its bones scattering into ash that blew away on a wind that didn’t exist. [You have killed a Rank 3 Grim Reaper] [Ding] [You have been given a new side mission: Kill 5 Grim Reapers of the Underworld] [Reward: ???] Azel swallowed as he looked at where the path used to be. Upon peering into the darkness of the crater, he could see that there were things writhing underneath. Multiple shapes moving in the shadows below. [Darkness Harvester, Rank 2] [Darkness Harvester, Rank 2] [Darkness Harvester, Rank 2] The notifications kept appearing in his vision. There had to be at least w hundreds of them down there, maybe more. The system kept identifying new ones. ’No way.’ He thought, his jaw tightening. He could manage one or so but these monsters could jump from body to body. And for that whole length without blessings from the goddesses, it was asking for death with open arms. They’d possess him before he made it halfway across. Irielle returned her lance to her hand. The weapon flew back from the wall where it had pinned the Reaper and materialized in her grip with a flash of light. She looked at the destroyed path with anger burning in her green eyes. "That damn thing..." She gritted her teeth, her knuckles white around the lance shaft. Her Master had worked so hard and nearly gotten taken over by a shadow for this path only for this... skeleton... this nutrition deprived skeleton, to come and ruin all that hard work. Azel approached where the Reaper had died, his boots crunching on the black stone. He looked at the black robe that it wore and the badge too. Both items had survived the detonation somehow, just lying there on the ground like they’d been carefully placed. A screen appeared in his vision. [Item Name: Reaper’s Cloak] [Item Rank: B] [Item Description: A cloak worn by a Grim reaper and can serve as a form of identification alongside their badge and Reaper Weapon, this cloak can hide the Life presence of the Reapers making them indistinguishable from that of the Dead as long as it is worn. That feature of the cloak is usually used to sneak up on unsuspecting souls that need to be judged] ’Ah?’ He thought, reading the description carefully. If the cloak could reduce life presence... then they could use the Settlement route instead to reach the castle. Though that would only work if some Reapers looked like humans. If everyone looked like skeletons then it wouldn’t work out at all. They’d be spotted immediately and surrounded. He looked over to the badge next, picking it up. The metal was cold in his palm. [Item Name: Reaper’s Badge] [Item Rank: B] [Item Description: A badge that shows the Grim Reaper’s rank, it is directly linked to the Reaper weapon so upon getting this badge... One can hold the weapons of reapers, however the weapon and badge can only be used after the original dies] ’Another situation pointing in the right direction again...’ He thought as he looked at the girls watching him. The system was practically handing him the solution on a silver platter. Then in a flash he donned the cloak of the Grim Reaper as well as the badge, pinning it to his chest. There was a feeling that followed it immediately. Like his whole existence was being suppressed. He couldn’t feel his mana or aura properly but he could use it. The power was still there flowing through his veins except that it was just muted somehow. "I can’t sense you Master." Irielle said, her eyes widening as she stared at him. She took a step forward and squinted. "I can’t feel you either." Mira added, taking a step closer and reaching out like she wanted to confirm he was still there. "It’s like you don’t exist. I see... this is how the Grim Reaper must feel after wearing that." Azel raised his hand and the weapon that had destroyed the place came flying into his palm. It shot through the air and he caught it smoothly. He held onto it by the handle. It was a weird sickle with a long curved blade that gleamed in the dim light. ’Veyra would have a field day with this...’ He thought, imagining her reaction to the weapon. She loved unusual weapons but he could manage. Sickles weren’t that different from swords in some ways. The weight distribution was just different. He tried viewing the stats. [The Authority of the Underworld prevents you from analyzing this weapon] ’Huh?’ He thought, frowning at the notification. But then he used Aurum Hand on it anyway, pouring golden light into the weapon. The enhancement magic flowed through the metal. The sickle began evolving under the golden glow. It became sleeker but sharper as well with a better handle that fit his grip perfectly. The blade took on a darker sheen. ’Whatever.’ "Since we can no longer take that path... we’ll just kill some more of these things and impersonate them." Azel suggested, looking at his companions. Irielle was the first one to speak. "Master... I think that’s a wonderful idea, if it stops us from being detected but then again but at the same time, where will we get more of these beings from Master? It’s not like they’ll come to us." She said, gesturing at the empty landscape around them. There was nothing but black grass and a crater for miles. However over the distance, a few Grim Reapers were already flying in their direction. Their black robes fluttering as they moved through the air toward the commotion. They must have sensed the death of their captain. Azel grinned. "Alright... stand here, I’ll take them out swiftly." He said. Since he wore the cloak, he could finally sense them properly. Their auras were clear to him now like beacons in the darkness. They were quite weaker than the one he just killed... Probably Rank 4s at best which made them an easy target. With that, Azel sank into the shadows. The darkness swallowed him whole like he’d fallen through the ground. Gwendolyn followed beside him in her ghostly form, her translucent body flickering. "You look hot in those clothes though..." She said, floating alongside him in the shadow realm. Her cheeks were slightly pink. ’I know.’ Azel thought as he sank into the shadow completely, disappearing from view. Mira stood there stunned, watching the spot where he’d vanished. ’Since when did he have the shadow affinity...?’ She thought but didn’t have much time to dwell on it. The Reapers were getting closer. The three landed in front of them with heavy thuds. Their boots hit the black stone and they straightened up, looking around. There were two men that looked exactly like humans, except their faces were deathly pale like corpses, they looked completely drained of color. The third one looked like a white goblin with sharp teeth and red eyes that glowed. One of the human-looking ones scanned the area quickly. He looked at the women standing there, then at the ash pile that used to be the Captain. His eyes widened. "Living beings in the underworld...? Killed a Rank 3 Reaper Captain?" He asked, his voice uncertain and fearful. His hand trembled slightly. He was merely a Rank 4 so these people could probably kill him as well. The Captain had been stronger than him and he’d died. He raised his hand to his badge to activate the Report function, his fingers fumbling with it. There was a flash of shadow behind him. On the right corner of his view, someone in a reaper cloak appeared. It materialized from nothing, stepping out of the darkness itself. It was their Captain’s reaper cloak to be precise... He recognized it. His hand squeezed the badge but he only realized that his hand hadn’t even squeezed. Him and the two teammates of his had their heads completely severed from their bodies in that single instant... The blade had been too fast to see. Three heads hit the ground with dull thuds. Blood sprayed from the stumps of their necks, black blood mixing with the stone. Azel stood there holding the sickle. More black blood dripped from the curved blade onto the ground. He looked back at the bodies. "Reap." The moment he uttered that word, the dead bodies turned into black wisps of energy. They flowed into his Reaper Weapon like smoke being pulled into a vacuum, spiraling inward. [You have charged ??? with +222 Death Force] [Kill More Hellspawn or Grim Reapers to charge your weapon completely] ’Strange...’ He thought. The weapon felt a lot lighter in his hand now, like it weighed almost nothing. The balance had changed completely. ’So charging this Reaper Weapon will do what...?’ Apparently he couldn’t check it out. Every time he tried to analyze the weapon, the same notification blocked him. The Authority of the Underworld was preventing it. He turned to the girls who were looking at the cloaks and badges scattered on the ground where the bodies had been... The items had survived while the corpses were consumed. "Alright, put those cloaks on and the badges too. We’ll act like a Squad, hopefully they won’t be able to tell us out." Azel said, walking over to collect the items. He picked up one cloak and shook it out. "Also how did those human reapers look again?" He hadn’t been able to get a good look at their faces before he killed them. It had happened too fast. One second they were standing, the next their heads were rolling. "They were pale... very pale like Vampires from horror novels." Mira pointed out, crouching down to examine one of the cloaks more closely. She held it up to the light. Suddenly a can of powder appeared in his hand from his inventory. White makeup powder that he’d bought ages ago for some reason. "Alright, rub this first." He would need to re-route the whole thing and start from a small settlement instead of following the Soul Sea directly. The shortcut was gone and they’d have to take the long way through Reaper territory now. Mira grabbed it from his hand while positioning herself behind a big rock with Rene. The boy followed her obediently, his eyes still wide from watching the fight. "I’ll apply the powder to me and Rene, don’t peek." She gave him a glare first, her eyes warning him not to try anything. Her expression was serious. Then she began taking off the new clothes she was wearing, disappearing behind the rock. As for Irielle, she immediately let her regular cloak fall and got naked without any hesitation or shame. She didn’t even blink. "Heyyy~ Let me have some too~" She said cheerfully as she ran over to them, completely unbothered by her nudity. Her green eyes were bright. Azel turned away quickly. He was more focused on the map anyway. He pulled it up in his vision and touched a point that wasn’t that far from where they were. The closest Reaper Settlement known as the Grayside. It was marked with a small icon on the map. Maybe two days away on foot if they kept a steady pace. ’That’s where we’re heading... The Grayside... Fuck it sounds shady.’ Azel thought.