Chapter 452 Grim Reaper (1)
Chapter 452 Grim Reaper (1)
A few moments ago.
Ashton's vision was blurry. It felt as if a massive dark cloud had wrapped around him, leaving only a small window for him to gaze through.
'I feel like shit...'
There wasn't an ounce of strength in his body. His body was still under control, but he couldn't feel a thing: no emotions, no pain, nothing. Strangely enough, Ashton couldn't even hear Astaroth's voice, even though he knew the bastard was speaking something.
'Is this how death feels like?' Ashton thought, 'I never thought it would feel so... empty.'
At that moment, Ashton had no recollection of what was happening. It wasn't until he saw Celeste that he remembered the fight and how the Draconian destroyed all of them.
Even all of his summons together weren't enough to stop him. In the end, only Celeste was left standing. But Ashton knew it was only a moment of time before she joined the rest.
As Ashton turned his gaze sideways, he saw Anna peacefully sleeping.
'I have to... do something...'
At the same time, something presented itself before him. At some distance, a scythe was waiting for him.
"So you fear death?" A voice echoed in the darkness.
"Couldn't think of a cringier question, could you?"
"..."
"I don't," Ashton replied, "death can have me when I want it to, when it earns the right to claim me. Not before that. Not. Yet."
Even in his pitiful state, his voice was quite bold.
"You are an amusing one," The voice replied, "death shall be by your side, one with your shadow. However, do not mistake it as your ally, for it shall have you when you least expect it."
With those words, the darkness in front of Ashton was absorbed within him. The surge was the power he felt was unforgettable. It was addicting. It was enticing. He had never tasted death like this before, and he wanted more. A lot... more.
***
Back in the present.
The moment Ashton appeared before him, Draconian knew the circumstances had changed. He was no longer the predator but the prey. The only thing on his head was to run away while he still had the chance. Unfortunately, the undead had already surrounded him.
Seeing no way out, Draconian once again unleashed a fire attack on them. Ashton didn't move; the flames passed through him and hit his summons.
The summons were destroyed again; however, they regenerated as soon as they fell. Draconian tried retreating into the chamber, only to be confronted by an overwhelming amount of skeleton soldiers.
The more skeletons Draconian destroyed, the fiercer the rest of them got. Moreover, using his fiery breath continuously was not an option. Whenever the breath was used, it needed some time to recover completely.
If abused frequently, the flame within the Draconian would eventually die down, and so will he, as a Draconian's flame was like a human's heart. In simple words, whenever the Draconian used his flames, he essentially used his life force as fuel.
Leading the charge, Ashton tapped the scythe on the ground, and black smoke enveloped everyone in the chamber.
[Grim Reaper Exclusive skill: Death's Domain has been activated.]<.com> pan(da-n0vel.c)om
[All allied undead will receive a 150% increase in their stats, and the effectiveness of their skill is increased by 100%]
[Enemies within Death's Domain will lose 1% of their HP every second, and their stats will be drastically reduced.]
Draconian became enraged and began smashing everyone. But whether he broke the skeleton, burned them, or ate them, like the summons, the skeletons kept regenerating over and over.
Within moments, Draconian found himself pinned to the ground as the skeletons kept attacking his joints and parts that were not entirely covered by the scales.
The Draconian was being devoured alive, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. In his final act of desperation, Draconian tried blasting everyone away as they swallowed him.
The fire began accumulating in his mouth as the Draconian aimed for the cave's ceiling. If he wasn't going to make it out of the gave, no one was either. A powerful blast would have been sufficient to take down the entire cave, turning it into a grave for him and his enemies.
However, seconds before he could unleash the deadly attack, Ashton's gaunty face appeared in front, and he forcefully shut his mouth.
No matter how hard the Draconian struggled to free himself, he couldn't do a thing. The skeletons and the undead had weakened him beyond limits. The was nothing Draconian could do but stare at Ashton with his fearful eyes.
"You have caused quite a ruckus," Ashton whispered in his ears, "now be a good lad and die before I hunt you down in hell and kill you all over again."
Draconian tried to hold his breath back, but it was too late. With no way out, the fire he had amassed rebounded towards his torso. Ashton could see a massive ball of fire making its way down to Draconian's stomach before exploding.
Following a loud bang, Draconian's innards were splattered across the room. Ashton, his summons and the skeletons were all drenched in blood and tiny bits of Draconian's flesh.
Only the bastard's head remained intact as Ashton kept holding on to it till the explosion to ensure the fire had no other way out of Draconian's body.
"And so... it ends," Ashton mumbled as he fell to his knees.
Grim Reaper's time was up, and Ashton was back to being his original self; the scythe mysteriously returned to his inventory, waiting to be called by the Grim Reaper again in his time of need.
The resurrected skeletons simultaneously turned to dust as Ashton didn't own most of them. As for his summons, they stayed back, greedily staring at the Draconian's head.
Anyone who ate it would receive a tremendous amount of power. But Ashton wouldn't let such a precious thing go to waste and immediately placed the head inside his inventory.
Someday, Ashton would resurrect the Draconian to do his bidding, but for now, the Draconian's place was inside his inventory.
[Where the hell have you been!?]
"Have you gone blind or what?" Ashton yelled, "I was here the entire time."
[No, you weren't. Your heartbeat, your breathing, everything stopped! But I couldn't take control of your body for some reason!]
"We'll... talk about it later," Ashton mumbled as he noticed something on his information tab.
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One of the User's classes has been forcefully changed.
[Undead] --> [Grim Reaper (Partial)]
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