I picked up all three tiny bottles and downed them in a single gulp. The staff froze, jaws agape. Then, from behind the counter, the manager stepped out.
"These poisons…" she said, her voice calm yet sharp, "were potent enough to harm you know who. I suspected your interest in them wasn't... ordinary."
She tilted her head slightly, eyes studying me. "But to think I'd have to warn you not to drink them…"
She was tall and slim, with long black hair cascading over her shoulders. Strikingly beautiful—until my gaze lowered. The entire lower half of her body was that of a snake. Unlike the others, she didn't flinch in my presence. Her voice carried certainty. She seemed like she had a reaper before.
For a long while there was silence. All eyes locked on me.
'You could have told me these poisons worked on even you!' I hissed at Armando telepathically.
'Nothing I couldn't sleep off,' he replied, the dark cloud shifting faintly. 'The beast that brewed them was beheaded for its insolence. Still… I didn't think you'd actually drink them, my king.'
"I don't feel any dif—" I began, but the sentence died in my throat as a searing pain erupted in my rotting heart. My bones ached. My vision blurred. My head spun violently. The tailed Lilith caught me just as my balance faltered.
"Sweat?" I muttered aloud, touching my forehead. My fingers came away wet. "I'm actually sweating…"
The shock settled in.
Since becoming a reaper, I had never sweated. Nothing had ever forced my body to expend enough energy to reach that point. But now—I was drenched.
My body had launched a desperate defense against the invading poisons. The dark cloud surged into overdrive, straining to process them.
"You're an idiot," the tailed Lilith said casually.
"Arrr!""Arrr!" Armando and I groaned in unison, pain shredding through us.
"Grayson!" she shouted, the calm gone from her voice.
It felt like my soul had been set on fire. Even the blood in my body began to harden. I could no longer hold my Asímian form.
I shifted. My true form as a reaper emerged, forced out by pain too great to control.
Taking on a flesh form required precision—concentration, and with agony wracking my very being, there was no room for control.
However, the moment I transformed, I felt my body cooling down. The pain began to ease. The poisons were no longer hostile—they were merging.
New sensations bloomed in my dark cloud. I felt things, elements and microorganisms I'd never even known existed. Eventually, the pain faded entirely.
Two poisons remained within me now: the red and the black. They weren't just lingering—they were fusing with the cloud, becoming part of it. And in doing so, they made it deadlier than either had ever been alone.
'Armando's still in there. Is he okay?' I thought to myself.
"Armando," I called out, but received no answer.
I peered into the dark cloud and there he was—floating inside a dark cocoon, suspended like prey wrapped in silk. The poisons circled him, slow and deliberate.
"Armando," I said again, louder, but still nothing.
'What's wrong with him…?'
My attention then shifted as the staff members of the Herb Haven were now collapsed across the floor, gasping for air. All except the manager and the tailed Lilith—both still standing and watching me closely.
I quickly turned to my human form, seeing that there is no longer any use to pretend that I am Asímian. And with it, the aura of death that had drenched the room began to lift.
Right then, Kitsune stepped through the door.
"Did you take the boy back?" I asked.
"Um… yes," she replied, glancing around at the scene. "He was dying, but I took care of it."
The tailed Lilith looked at her with mild surprise—she'd said something eerily similar to me earlier. Now she seemed unsure of what she had actually done.
I ignored the strangeness for now and focused on the manager.
She hadn't so much as flinched throughout any of this. Even the aura of death hadn't affected her.
I tried reading her—but got nothing. Empty. Still. Too still.
She had treated me fairly well, so I let it go.
"On the house, right?" I said, already walking toward the exit.
Just before stepping out, I paused. I turned back to her.
"How did you know what I was?"
Her expression didn't change. "Many of us have had… encounters with you know who. I more than most—because I'm still alive. I've grown sensitive to his presence."
"I see," I said, and stepped out of the shop.
I assumed she had some sort of connection to Armando. How else could she have gotten her hands on poisons like that?
'Master.'
A voice echoed in my mind.
"Azrael?" I said aloud.
'Yes, Master. I believe I've arrived at the planet Neró.'
"Good. Don't approach yet. Stand by."
I began to feel the life around Asími and searched for anyone who had a lifespan of over 200 years. 'These people have lived long enough.' I thought to myself. I then struck each of them down with the purple lightning at the same time. They all died immediately.
Soon after, I felt a burst of power rising within me, power that made me feel like I could crash this world with the palm of my hand. I then felt the hold Theós has over me lessen slightly. My ability to comprehend became even more broad and the dark cloud felt much more like a part of my body rather than an exterior power. What was even better was, when I grew stronger, so did each of my shadows.
'Azrael, engage the reaper of that planet and make it submit before I get there. You might be strong enough to suppress it now. If it is more than you can handle, retreat then wait for me. I'll take care of it when I get there.' I said to him. "Yes master." He said then immediately flew towards onto the planet.
I then opened a gate with my dark cloud and walked through it. The tailed Lilith and Kitsune followed closely behind. We then appeared right before a crossroad. One of the roads was wide and had low-grade shadows transporting the souls of humans and Asímians towards a dark pit.
The other road was narrow and at the end of it was a bright, blinding light. However, no one was on this road. 'How come I couldn't see the Asímians before? Do all souls end up here or just the ones whose planet I take over?' I began to ask myself.
"H- how are we here? Only the angels and Thanatos should have access to that gate! What's it doing here?" Kitsune said looking at the narrow path. "What do you mean? I have been coming here for thousands of years." The tailed Lilith said to her. "You, just who…are you? Ugh!!" Kitsune said to the tailed Lilith touching her head. She seemed to be in pain trying to remember something.
"This Thanatos seems to have a lot of power in this universe." I said out loud with an expectant smile. 'He too will kneel before me.' I thought to myself then began to walk on the narrow path. "What are you doing?" Kitsune cried out, but I continued to walk onward, not paying her any mind.
"Stop him! Theós will not allow this. Isn't he your reaper? You are *0][*1<{*}>0*][1*." Kitsune tried to say but got cut off by Theós once more. I sensed Theós' presence behind me, so I turned back and saw the tailed Lilith holding Kitsune, who looked like she was having a seizure.
"I turn my back on them and this shit happens." I said out loud then continued to walk towards the golden gate.
Thirtieth step…
Fortieth step…
Fiftieth step…
I felt a strong pressure as I got to the fiftieth step, but not like the pressure I felt last time I was here. When I had to struggle with all my might just to take another step.
'I can keep going.' I thought to myself then kept walking forward.
First step…
Second step…
Third step…
I took a total of 15 more steps, before I could no longer move. As usual, at this point, Theós halted my advance and the pressure suffocated me.
I then turned and began to walk back toward Kitsune and the tailed Lilith. The pressure then gradually reduced the further I got from the golden gate.
'I've come far this time. I've actually made progress. I've only just barely made it past 64 steps and can tell now that I need to go a total of 500 steps to reach the golden gate. Only then will I have a chance to bring down Theós…' I thought to myself expectantly as I approached Kitsune and the tailed Lilith.
"Nothing happened to you!" Kitsune said to me. "Why would anything happen to me?" I asked her.
"Theós doesn't allow any reapers to touch this road. Normally, you wouldn't even be able to see it." She said to me. "I thought you were going to die for sure." she added.
In reality, she wasn't worried about me, but more about Armando. Who was still silent within my dark cloud. "We are both still alive." I said to her to calm her worries.
"Now, let's go to Neró. Azrael is being a little stubborn." I said then opened a gate beneath our feet.