Chapter 78: Kiss of the Reaper
Vivita hesitated for a moment before answering, "It’s not aimless. The Divine Mother Goddess will guide us. Eventually, we will meet the traitor."
"That still sounds aimless to me."
He was only a "luminous saint" with Divine Points, not a devout Divine Mother Goddess Devotee.
Therefore, he didn’t understand divine guidance in the theological sense.
Besides, if they met Kakarim, that should be luck, right? What guidance does the Divine Mother Goddess really provide?
Ashu sat down at the edge of the chasm and looked deep into its depths.
"If we return to the human world from here, will we be able to come back to this same spot next time? Is there some sort of save function... I mean, like a divine mark or something?"
"Yes, there is. Leave it to me," Vivita replied.
Ashu breathed a sigh of relief. It was good there was a save function; otherwise, whether they found Kakarim in one go or had to start over multiple times, it would be unbearable.
The first scenario was unbearable for the body—lying still for so long would be almost like death even if alive.
The second was unbearable mentally—wandering aimlessly in a heavily obscured environment was a serious mental strain.
After resting briefly,
Ashu suggested, "Let’s fly across this chasm."
"Alright, let’s go."
Vivita had spiritual perception talent, allowing her to sense beyond visible range. So, she was ready to leap.
But Ashu had no spiritual perception talent. He could only see about a hundred meters ahead. This chasm was obviously wider than that, so he didn’t have the confidence to jump across. Instead, he activated Flight Magic and slowly flew forward.
The view downward and ahead was extremely limited on this chasm.
Ashu was about to reach the other side of the chasm.
Suddenly,
A sharp arrow shot up from below the chasm toward Ashu in the air.
Ashu saw the arrow’s powerful gust of wind scatter the mist, but it was already too late.
"What!"
He could only forcefully activate his high-speed Flight Magic, moving sideways at nearly the speed of sound, trying to dodge.
However, a second arrow blocked his retreat.
Seeing the two arrows about to trap Ashu with no escape, at the critical moment, a silver arrow shot across the chasm.
It flew between the two arrows, violently breaking and destroying them.
Ashu steadied himself, temporarily escaping danger, but his eyes couldn’t help but look downward.
In the foggy haze below, there was no sign of the attacker at all.
"Damn it!"
Ashu turned his body around and dove straight downward.
It wasn’t that he was bloodthirsty or aggressive; he was simply following the rule Vivita had set at the start—here, it was best to kill every enemy you see.
Otherwise, endless troubles would follow.
The other party had even actively shot arrows at him—that was a huge problem.
As Ashu surged forward at top speed, the visible range of the mist also shifted.
Soon,
He saw a fleeing figure.
"Daring to shoot at me—time to give you a proper shock!"
Ashu thought, immediately charging up Thundering Surge.
Within the chasm of this Netherrealm, violent thunderbolts began to rage through the mist, with rolling thunder echoing deafeningly throughout the gorge.
Ashu, like a thunder god descended to earth, controlled bolts of lightning, fiercely attacking everything around him.
Within less than a kilometer, that fleeing figure was struck by Ashu.
Just one hit—the power of the thunderbolt paralyzed the figure, drastically reducing their speed.
Ashu flew upward, summoning the Holy Shield Knight mid-air, and while in flight, used the Holy Shield Knight to launch a Knight’s Shield Bash!
What happened next:
The massive Holy Shield Knight smashed down like a mountain crushing down onto the attacker walking along the narrow cliff corridor below.
The attacker flipped over, eyes wide with shock.
Ashu observed closely—this attacker was not a Demon but a human!
This person had eyes like stars, a waist as slender as a willow branch, and hips like a full moon.
At the same time, the system sent a prompt.
[Detected life form scoring above 90 points. Bind?]
Hearing the system’s prompt in his mind, Ashu didn’t hesitate and immediately commanded, "Bind!"
Then,
The system transmitted the details:
[Binding successful!]
[Ymir: 95 points]
[Profile: A girl who worships the God of Death, walking for years between the boundary of life and death.]
No sooner said than done.
As Ashu received the system’s notification, the Holy Shield Knight’s Knight’s Shield Bash slammed hard into the cliff wall.
The narrow corridor along the cliff cracked and broke for a hundred meters on the spot.
Ymir, who was standing there, was engulfed by dust and smoke.
At that moment,
The system sent triumphant news!
[Ymir has comprehended: Farewell of Death!]
[Critical Return! Vessel gains: Kiss of the Reaper!]
With the system’s return, a sudden wave of information flooded Ashu’s mind.
All this information was broken down by the system into its simplest form and implanted directly into Ashu’s mind, enough for him to instantly understand and even draw broader conclusions.
This "Kiss of the Reaper" is a tenfold enhanced version of "Farewell of Death." From the information in his mind, "Farewell of Death" allows the caster to survive a lethal blow, remain undead, and instantly teleport behind the attacker for a counterstrike.
"Kiss of the Reaper" was even more sinister: the caster not only becomes immune to death once but can also, after being struck, summon the power of the Grim Reaper to deliver immediate judgment upon the target.
Given that,
Ashu steadied his mind.
Ymir, whom his system had bound, had just comprehended "Farewell of Death" in a critical moment, so she would surely use it against him.
In that case,
he could test the stronger "Kiss of the Reaper" himself.
So, he pretended to be careless but actually hovered in place, activating "Kiss of the Reaper."
Sure enough, before the dust on the cliffside had settled, a nimble black shadow appeared behind Ashu.
Her dark blue hair fluttered in the air, and her cold, star-like eyes locked onto Ashu’s neck.
Her slender, supple waist unleashed an unimaginable force.
"Die!"
Ymir’s pale lips curled slightly, revealing a flash of white teeth.
She seemed to already see Ashu’s death.
Her blue scythe, shaped from Magical Essence, rested on Ashu’s neck and then swept across.
However,
the imagined head did not fall; instead, Ashu was still very much alive in the same spot.
The smile on Ymir’s face instantly froze, and she hurriedly stepped back through the mist.
But the next moment, a deathly force she knew very well surged back at her.
"What?! How is this possible!" Ymir was shocked.
How could this man use the very technique she had just comprehended— and even more skillfully than her?
He had even abandoned manual counterattacks to summon the power of the Grim Reaper to assist!
Alarmed, Ymir quickly looked behind her, only to see a black energy coalesce into a shadowy figure, perfectly mimicking her previous posture, aiming to strike her down!
Even higher-level than her, this black shadow was made entirely of Grim Reaper power. Although not abundant, it reflected the Reaper’s authority, and a single touch would be instantly fatal!
"Hng—"
Just as the scythe of the black shadow was about to touch Ymir, Ashu immediately canceled the skill.
The black shadow vanished like smoke.
Ymir was a high-quality lifeform scoring 95 points. The system had just gifted her a super flashy skill upon binding; there was no way Ashu would kill her.
"Hmm?" Ymir realized, noticing Ashu hadn’t delivered a killing blow.
"Who exactly are you?" Ymir asked.
Her language was surprisingly Atras as well.
"I want to ask you the same— I was just passing through from above. Why did you attack me?" Ashu countered.
"You carry a strong holy aura; you are my hunting target," Ymir said.
"What about her?" Ashu pointed behind Ymir.
Only then did Ymir turn around in panic, only to find Vivita’s cold gray eyes fixed firmly on her.
From the very beginning, if not for Ashu’s subtle glance as a signal, Ymir would have already been reduced to a pile of corpse fragments the moment she first tried to slit Ashu’s throat.
That overwhelming power alone was enough to paralyze Ymir with just a slight intimidation.
"You, you...!"
"She also carries a holy aura. Why didn’t you hunt her?" Ashu asked again.
Looking into Vivita’s icy gaze, Ymir was too frightened to argue back.
"I, I can’t beat her..."
"Then can you beat me?"
"I, I can’t beat you either..."
Ymir’s originally cold expression gradually softened into one of grievance. Ashu felt that if he applied just a little more pressure, she might start to cry.
But according to the system’s profile, she was a girl devoted to the God of Death, one who had walked the boundary between life and death for years.
How could someone like that break down emotionally so easily?
Ashu didn’t approach. He assumed Ymir was pretending to be weak, deliberately setting a trap for a counterattack.
"Vivita, take her ashore and then interrogate her."
Ashu trusted Vivita’s strength. Under absolute power, any pretense or trick was just a paper tiger.
He flew up ahead, while Vivita grabbed Ymir by the back of her neck and lifted her up like a chicken, carrying her across the chasm.
The three of them landed.
Vivita held Ymir down with one hand, and only then did Ashu ask, "Have you heard about a Cardinal who recently betrayed us and turned into a Demon?"
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Ymir’s eyes brightened, and she asked, "Are you here to purge the traitor?"
"I’m asking you. You answer my questions, no counterquestions."
"I haven’t heard of it. The Netherrealm is so vast. You should ask someone else. Can I go now?" Ymir asked.
"Go?" Vivita stood slightly behind Ymir, her eyes full of killing intent.
"You’re a Heresy. Where do you think you’re going?"