The one who wishes for death more than anyone else... Was none other than the [Grim Reaper] himself. - Lilith Encantado
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Several minutes passed by as the flickering green flame in the skeleton's orbit began to grow increasingly dimmer. The crazed creature thrashed around madly, trying to loosen the ominous sword that pinned its skull to the cold, stony floor. Painful shrieks echoed through the chamber as its ever fading life force slowly, but surely trickled out of the bony vessel that had imprisoned it for years, and would've undoubtedly continued to do so... Had today not happened.
Finally knowing how futile its struggles were, the creature stopped, something similar to a smile graced it skull. It had lived for too long, reaped far too many lives to remember. Vague memories of who it once was flashed through its mind, memories that had long been forgotten, burried deep within its subconscious, or so it thought. It was too much, the despair, the sadness, and the heart-rending pain that clawed at its stilled heart. It wanted to weep, but its vessel rendered that simple act of grief forever lost to it.
"Why are you crying...?" A gentle voice sounded, dragging its attention away from those painful memories and back to the present. The creature, [Death], turned the flaming green orbs that were its eyes towards its soon to-be killer, a young woman in her teen, at least that was what her appearance suggested.
Black, silk-like hair that fell loosely on her shoulders. Blazing golden eyes that brought both fear and admiration to the on-looker. And facial features that shouldn't have appeared on anyone beside the [Goddess Of Beauty] herself. Coupled with that lithe body, the young woman looked so gentle, so innocent that just the thoughts of her hurting a fly seemed unlikely. But Death knew better than to judge someone based on their appearance.
And even if it did, the sword that embedded its skull simply displled any notions of her being just a normal, naive, young woman who somehow stumbled her way down to the lowest level of the [Demon Suppressing Pagoda]. Death stared at the young woman in confusion, wondering how she could make out what expression its skeletal face was making. Peharps a skill that allowed one to read the facial expression of skeletons really existed? Although it didn't know why someone would be so free as to learn such an useless skill, that didn't mean it couldn't happen.
Living beings were hard to understand after all. For all it knew, the young woman could have some weird fetishes for skeletons. But it didn't ask, nor did it speak up. A skill like that was just interesting enough to rouse its attention, but clearly not enough to keep its interest.
As silence descended, the two incredibly powerful beings leisurely spent their time having a staring contest, a comical sight one might say. Finally, unable to endure its escaping life force, Death mouthed a small 'thank you' before it skeletal body shattered, turning into white dust. Unbeknownst to it, the happy expression it had as death approached left the woman uncomfortable, wondering if she had done the right thing by killing it.
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Achievement Unlocked! The Grim Reaper Become what you kill. As the slayer of [Death], you're entitled to recieve its power and become the new [Death]. Due to your nature as an Outsider, debuffs and abnormal status accompanied this title won't have an effect on you. In turn, the power you recieved will also be greatly weakened.
Lilith stared at the blue notification floating gently before her. Unlike her usual self, which would have no doubt jumped in joy at the opportunity to get stronger, she was currently frowing. Killing Death left a bad taste in her mouth, especially when she knew of its past. Death wasn't always [Death], once upon a time, it was a young girl who wanted nothing more than to help others. It was this mind-set that turned her into the hideous monstrosity she was, forever bound by her vessel and destiny as one of the [Four Horsemen].
Peharps, she could have helped it. Lilith knew of a few ways to reverse curses and the likes, but those took time, time she didn't have. Not to mention, she didn't know whether they'd really work or not. And so, as if to lessen her guilt, she softly slapped her pale cheeks, reminding herself that no matter how real they might appear, these beings were still NPCs, merely a collection of words and numbers, coded by humans to look and act the way they did.
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And like that, she felt as if she had relieved herself of a huge burden, though Lilith knew this was only a temporary solution as this feeling of guilt would just return bigger and stronger than before... It always did.
Letting out a tired sigh, Lilith's frown deepened as she reached out for her sword, which had been covered in the unholy ashes, remains of the being known as Death. Even in this state, the [Death Energy] couldn't hide the ominous aura given off by her sword, [Dawnbringer]. Forged from mostly demonic materials and body parts of an [Outer God], the name was the result of her tasteless humour, or what she thought was humour anyway.
As she shook the ashes off Dawnbringer, a dreadful aura exploded outward, ghastly screams and cries of men, women, even children echoed, begging for mercy they knew they wouldn't get. Phantom of an organic mess, smashed and kept together by unknown forces. Atop of it all was the upper body of Death, now had a more organic feel to them, its flaming green eyes replaced by glowing dark red orbs, in which madness and insanity dwelled deep within.
This was Dawnbringer's truest form. A half organic, half metallic parasite. Its presence so vile that it corrupted the very fabric of the world around it. Untrue to its heroic name, this longsword brought anything but dawn. And Lilith had no doubt that whoever dared set their eyes on her baby for too long would be driven mad by the raging storm of death and destruction held inside. Unless of course, they were vastly stronger than her or were allowed to wield Dawnbringer at her command.
Smiling at her baby, Lilith wiped off the remaining ashes and began to loot, searching for anything that might help in the upcoming fight. She was very near her target, she could feel it. The being whose life she needed to end was only a floor away. Unbeknownst to the young Queen, a wretched grin, one which would undoubtedly give children nightmares for years, had etched itself on her otherwise beautiful face.
Lilith's hands unconsciously tightened on Dawnbringer's handle, her nervousness and fear blown cleanly away by the baleful aura of the sword. "Thank you." She said, feeling thankful at the sword's attempt to calm her down. Courage reignited, she walked up to the beautifully decorated door hidden behind Death's throne. Her thoughts drifted back to the being she was sent to kill, [Father Time] Chronos, the unofficial titled strongest boss of [Infernum]. The same monster that single-handedly slaughtered a legion of high level Outsiders.
It wasn't surprising that her father knew of Chronos too. In fact, most people in the world knew him. As [Infernum] had almost the exact same laws of physics as the real world, humanity started experimenting things they would never even consider in reality. If something went wrong, they could simply redo it all. Dead scientists? No problem, all dead Outsiders resurrected after all.
Destroyed worlds? Not a problem, they could simply move to a new planet.
Basically, there were no true consequences here. Thus the government could do whatever the hell they wanted, as long as they didn't disrupt the game for everyone else. It was for these reasons that the game grew in fame so fast, companies and cooperations also had their staffs test stuff that would normally be deemed illegal to do in real life. And her father's was one of such companies. Hell, she heard the old bastard even had an entire in-game empire to play with.
Since this was the case, he must've known who Chronos was. Yet he still sent her to kill him. Lilith knew the bet was just a huge joke, killing Chronos alone was a faraway dream that she'd most probably never succesfully do, even if given years to prepare and level up, much less a meager 15 days. Worst yet, she was one of the few who played in [Everyone Dies Mode], meaning she couldn't revive after death, her character would be erased, making her chances of winning lower than 0%. But giving up wasn't her style.
Clenching the door handle, Lilith took in a deep, long breath to stable herself and pushed open the reinforced steel door. Glowing magical runes appeared one after another, activated by the same golden mana coursing through her veins. Sounds of working machines sounded along, opening the door for her. Behind it, blinding neon green light flashed, causing Lilith to close her eyes in pain. So here she was. The end of her journey. The final boss room of the Demon Supressing Pagoda where the monstrosity whose name struck fear into the hearts of all, NPCs and Outsiders alike, resided.
"So what do think the odds of me winning are?" Lilith asked nervously, her question was rewarded with the humming of her sword as the poor thing trembled in fear. So turned out even Outer Gods could feel fear. "Good to know."