Chapter 493: No Laws [II] "Do you think Papa will be alright...?" Rene asked as they ran through the streets in the direction of that specific stall. "I think Master..." What followed was an explosion. An explosion that consumed the Reaper’s Rest in its entirety. It was a black explosion that ripped it apart and destroyed multiple buildings that were close by as well. The shockwave blew out windows across three entire blocks... Glass shattered and rained down on the streets and people screamed as debris flew in every direction. "Will be just fine." This explosion caused alarm and several reapers dashed across the road in the direction of the Rest to find out what was happening. Screams filled the air and people were running everywhere, trampling over each other. Chaos spreading through the settlement like wildfire consuming dry wood. Irielle finally found those two bastards with her eyes and she wasted no time. They were about ten meters away from her but she didn’t care. Distance meant nothing to her. ’Should I use my Reaper weapon or not?’ She thought. The Reaper weapons could be stored inside the badges. They had decided to keep theirs in them while Azel had left his own out to look intimidating. He had said keeping it outside would establish dominance and he hadn’t been completely wrong since most of the Reapers were afraid of his weapon. Instead her lance materialized in her hand like she was a ghost. The ethereal weapon shimmered into existence with a soft glow. "I’m going ahead! If any Reaper dares to attack you then you kill them." Irielle said and shot forward like an arrow released from a bow. She carved through several people on the street effortlessly. Her lance moved through them like they were made of paper. Some were Reapers who had gossiped about her master and insulted his looks, calling him a fool for coming to the Grayside. Some were merchants that had planned to buy their clothes from the auction to sell off later for profit and others were just in her way. She cut through all of them immediately. Her lance moved like lightning striking the ground. Bodies fell left and right and blood sprayed across the cobblestones. She landed in front of the two men. They weren’t humans... they were just like the other Underworld monsters that existed in this place. One looked like a twisted goblin with yellow eyes and sharp teeth. The other some kind of reptilian creature with scales covering his body. "Repeat what you said..." Irielle said, her voice ice cold like winter itself. The first one who had called her Master dumb as well as saying that she looked like she would be good in bed took a step back. His eyes went wide with fear and recognition as he knew he was dead. "W-we don’t know what you mean..." She immediately stabbed her lance forward with explosive speed. He was impaled right in the crotch. The lance’s head pinned him to the wall behind him and he coughed out blood. Black blood splattered across the stone surface and his mouth opened in a silent scream. Any other person that was around fled, scattering like rats abandoning a sinking ship. The second one wanted to do so as well but Irielle’s gaze made him rooted in place. Her green eyes burned with pure rage. The first one yelped helplessly however she looked at him without mercy. There was no sympathy in her gaze. "My master is not dumb..." She said as she kicked the end of her spear. It jammed deeper into him and the monster yelped out even more, his screams echoing and bouncing off the walls. "And you have no right to even utter that about me... Only my Master will decide whether I am good on his bed or not, take that to your grave." And with that, the lance let off the ethereal explosion. His body turned into several pieces. Chunks of flesh and bone scattered across the ground and painted the walls red with his blood. She reached into her badge and brought out her reaper weapon which was a dagger. It was small and curved like a crescent moon. "Reap." She said and the particles of his body turned into black smoke, snaking into the weapon completely. The Death Force counter ticked up by one. She turned to the second one who took several steps back, stumbling over his own feet in his panic. "You had plans for Rene right?" She asked while approaching him slowly. "You disgust me..." She cocked her fist back and punched him right across the face with all her strength. The force stayed in place for a moment and then exploded his head into complete mush. Brain matter and skull fragments sprayed everywhere across the road. His body crumpled to the ground then she raised the weapon up and reaped him as well before looking over at Mira. She was currently fighting off several Reapers while defending Rene as well. Three of them surrounded her with weapons drawn and ready. Rene was behind her, his eyes wide with fear and his small hands gripping her cloak. Irielle immediately retrieved her lance and got into the fight. Her weapon flashed through the air and another Reaper went down with his throat cut open. ... "Wh... Why?" The Reaper gasped out his final words as blood poured from his mouth. "Reap." The body that had its neck slashed through was turned into black smoke and became Death force that charged Azel’s reaper weapon. He let out a small sigh as he looked at it... It felt really amazing to use. "And that’s the last of them." He said, looking around at the destruction. With that, he had gotten the half charge back. The Reaper’s Rest was about fifteen floors high since it had five hundred rooms and the initial blast had managed to take down a lot of them. Entire floors had collapsed into rubble, walls had crumbled and people who had stayed in those rooms had died so he simply reaped their souls as they died and did the rest, finishing off the survivors one by one as they tried to crawl away from the wreckage. He slowly walked out of the remains of the building. Smoke rose from the ruins in thick black columns and fire crackled somewhere deep in the debris, consuming what was left. He saw Mira, Irielle and Rene running in his direction. They were covered in blood but unharmed which was good. "Alright, Stage three. Irielle, you’re on again." He said calmly. She nodded as an ethereal feeling began spreading through all of them. It started from her body and washed over each person like a wave then before the eyes of everyone watching in the street, they became invisible. Their forms faded from sight completely as if they had never existed. "What?! Invisible?! Find them!!!" "The Rank 3 destroyed the Reaper’s rest! We won’t let them rest!" "Find them!!!" "Search every building!" "Check the gates!" Reapers were running everywhere, searching frantically through the streets and alleys. But they were looking in the wrong places... checking buildings that were empty, however they were long gone. ... "So this is the gate leading to the path we’re heading to?" Irielle asked as they approached it. She had no problems sharing this invisibility around though it was a bit draining on her mana. It wasn’t anything that she couldn’t handle though. Her mana reserves were deep enough for this. The gate in question looked abandoned though it was sealed shut. Rusted metal bars crossed over the opening and chains hung from the handles. Dust covered everything. "We can phase through right...?" Azel asked as they approached it carefully. The place was still in a frenzy behind them but nobody had come here yet. This gate was forgotten. Even if they did come, they were currently invisible so the people wouldn’t even see anything. They were safe for now. "Yes Master." She said as they walked through the gate without breaking stride. They went through the other side, passing through solid metal like it wasn’t there at all. Immediately they got to the other side, it was obvious that the air changed. It became colder and more oppressive like the atmosphere itself was trying to push them back. She dispelled the skill and they became visible again. "I apologize Master." Irielle said as she took a deep breath, her chest heaving from the exertion. "Phasing through thick objects while handling multiple people at once is draining..." "You did very well. I’ll reward you properly with what you want when we get to the Citadel." He said, making her stand straight with a salute. "Yes master!" ’What I want, huh?’ She thought to herself. She really didn’t know what she wanted from him but she did know that she wanted to be together with her Master. That was enough for her. "Let’s go before those crazies get here." Azel said and they began sprinting down the path ahead of them. The landscape changed immediately once they crossed the threshold. Gone were the buildings and streets of the Grayside. Now it was just barren wasteland stretching in every direction meaning it was black stone and ash as far as the eye could see. It was called Undead Path because it was a winding path filled with undead monsters. To be called an Undead in Underworld terminology meant that they were monsters that could not be killed so one could say they were immortal. They would just keep coming back no matter how many times you destroyed them but the monsters here were weak, at least a majority which is why he wasn’t bothered. Up ahead, Azel sighted something moving in the darkness. It was a Skeleton and it slowly creaked in their direction. Its bones rattled with each step it took toward them. He raised a Reaper weapon and used a very small amount of the Death force to trigger an explosion. The explosion completely destroyed the skeleton into nothing but bits. Bone fragments scattered across the black stone in every direction. "Reap." He said however there was nothing to reap. Like he expected, Reap didn’t work on these things. The ashes of the skeleton or whatever remained began pulling back together. Reforming the skeleton piece by piece like a puzzle assembling itself. By that time, they had run past it and there was no point in fighting something that couldn’t die permanently. "So we can’t reap the monsters we kill here?" Mira asked as she held onto Rene tightly. She had wanted to fill up her Reaper weapon more. "No, we need to keep moving." Azel said, not slowing down his pace. "Also we need to rehearse the questions since we’re heading to a Citadel." "I understand..." Mira said and bit her lip hard. "I hope we’ll be able to stop this... Mother and Father will be worried sick." Her family was probably terrified right now. The whole Empire was under attack from the sky soshe hoped that they survived. "We will, don’t worry." Irielle said, keeping pace beside her easily. "I also want to see the world safe, except mine ended from the Demon Lord rather than the King of the Underworld." The two girls continued talking while Azel was on the shop again, ready to waste his FP on whatever he needed. ’I need answers to the questions and a way to conceal our Life force without the cloaks.’ He thought seriously. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢 He had a bad feeling about going up ahead without this preparation. The Citadel would be different from the Grayside. He scrolled through the shop interface but didn’t see anything about it in the normal inventory, there were no items for disguising life force permanently and no premade answers for Reaper interrogations. When he had lost hope and even considered attacking or infiltrating the Citadel instead of going through the front gate like normal, a notification appeared in his vision. [You have received a new store function to help with your Calamity] [Ding] [Item Customization is now available] [Create an item that’s restricted to the limits of your own imagination and see if you have the FP to purchase it] ’Oh?’ He thought, reading the notification again carefully. ’The System shines on me, huh?’ This was exactly what he needed at the perfect timing too. Just then, the ground in front of them began quaking violently. A massive skeleton decided to protrude out of the ground. It rose up and up, easily twenty feet tall with massive proportions. It had a sword made of bone in one hand and a shield in the other. Both weapons were the size of a person. Azel went up ahead with his reaper weapon raised. "I’ll clear a path." He said, utilizing more Death force as he carved the massive skeleton in literal halves with one strike. The two pieces fell to the ground with heavy thuds. The earth shook from the impact and cracks spread from where they landed. "Now focus... We’re going to be running for a while." "Yes Master!" "Okay papa." Rene said, holding tighter to Mira’s neck. As for Mira, she sighed deeply. ’I trust you...’