Sitting in the middle of the now destroyed room, full of corpses, Mrit tried to evolve Pat’s skeleton using the same technique he used on Rick.

“Sun’s Embrace!”

Soon, the aura of the sun covered Pat’s skeleton. The skeleton didn’t turn into dust but endured the effects of the Sun’s Embrace. Watching from afar, Rick, who saw the miracle happening in front of me, was left stunned as it left his skeletal jaw open, hanging in the air.

“… That’s what happened to me?”

Witnessing the miracle happening in front of him, Rick got shocked, but something else stunned him more.

‘That’s divine light. How can he…’

The aura of the sun enveloping Pat’s skeleton felt awfully similar to the divine light of the Goddess that he saw mostly in the church.

Feeling Rick’s doubts, Mrit then looked at Rick and spoke.

“I know what you thinking right now. You also think this is the divine light, right?”

Mrit’s voice pulled Rick out of his thinking. But all he could do is stare down as what he saw witnessed and felt moments ago never let him question Mrit hastily again. He felt fear against Mrit’s powers.

“You know, I will not eat you or kill you. I can feel that you have doubts regarding my powers through our connections.”

“But even I cannot clear your doubts right now. You have seen my memories, right?”

“… Yes.” Rick replied, though in a low voice.

“Then you know that I never had this power of the sun, nor do I have this power before.”

Nod!

Rick nodded back as he felt it might anger Mrit if he didn’t speak back. Looking at Rick answering him, Mrit felt relieved as he thought that the way he acted earlier might let Rick become someone who will just follow him and not consider him more than his controller. Mrit then continued to speak further.

“I got this power here in this world just some days ago. So even I know little about this power or anything related to it. ”

Mrit said so to Rick as he then looked down at the symbol of the sun on his hand.

The symbol of the sun shining brightly while emitting the aura of the sun is a mystery even for Mrit, as he had never heard of a power related to the sun back on earth.

“In our world, there was nothing related to the power of the sun. Some healers could use divine power, but that solely worked on the religious faith one had in the gods of our world. The healer or any awakened can also harness the power of faith if the faith is directed toward them. ”

“There were gods? Not a single one like our Goddess?”

Rick asked Mrit as his interest got piqued. From the day he was born, the people taught him that the Goddess is the ultimate truth. That she is everything and her orders are absolute. So hearing from Mrit that there were gods, not a single god like theirs, is something that stunned him as the heroes never shared this with them.

“There were. But it depends. Some religion had their own principles, some preached about humanity, some about the words of god, and some preached about the world, the soul, karma, and a human’s duty. ”

“There were many out there as a vast diversity existed on earth. Everyone followed their faith, but after the day of the apocalypse, the faith in god, no matter what religion one belonged to, decreased. People got powers, and they thought of themselves as gods. And from there, the destruction of humanity started.”

Many people who awakened and got some best class slowly started to act like they were gods. They openly flaunted their god complex, as they acted all high and mighty in the name of protecting some people. The government at that time was forced to listen to them as the awakened were essential to protect the countries they belong to.

Slowly, humans created guilds, then cults, and then came the age of war. An age where humans sided with devils and attacked each other for their own benefit, and slowly, humanity faced the real apocalypse.

Remembering those hypocritical maniacs, Mrit felt rage inside him rising, but he dispersed his thoughts as he had to concentrate on what he is doing now.

“… But then, what about you?”

Rick suddenly asked, confusing Mrit.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean… were you not a god?”

Recalling the memories of Mrit, Rick felt that the power Mrit had was not in the domain of humanity or the ‘devils’ he saw. It was something beyond that.

“Well, you are not wrong, I guess? If I see my status window now, I find I was a god. But don’t you think a person like me who became a puppet of the system, obeying its orders by killing every human on earth, would be a god?”

Mrit laughed, not at Rick but at himself as he got reminded of the horrible atrocities he did on his fellow humans just because he wanted to be free of the body of death. The wounds he inflicted on them still haunt him, so Rick’s question about him being a God made him feel even more bitter.

“I was not a god. I was lower than a devil that killed to get liberated from the power of death.”

Hearing his reply, Rick didn’t speak anymore as he felt that prying on the matter more won’t do any good.

After a while, the same prompt for evolution that appeared at the time of Rick’s evolution appeared before Mrit.

“It’s done. Now, time for placing his soul into the skeleton.”

Clicking yes in the system, Mrit tried to find Pat’s soul in the collection of souls inside him, just when something happened.

“Wait a minute, where is his soul?”

Pat’s soul was nowhere to be found. Inside the power of death, there was no trace of Pat’s soul. While he tried to find Pat’s soul inside him suddenly, Rick’s body shined brightly and levitated and suddenly, a strange energy came out of him and then passed through Mrit and then entered the skeleton.

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“What the…”

The

The light around Rick gradually subsided, and the skeleton of Pat trembled lightly. Mrit, who felt the energy flowing through him, felt weird.

‘What… was that?’

The energy that flowed through his body was not something he had ever experienced. So he was speechless, as he didn’t know how to describe what had happened just now.

“Do you know what just happened?”

Turning to Rick, Mrit thought of getting the answer from Rick, as he was the one from which the energy appeared.

“I… don’t know.”

But Rick was also clueless as he didn’t know what has just happened. He just looked at Mrit, hoping that he might answer him, but even Mrit didn’t have an answer.

“Don’t look at me. I too can’t give you an answer.”

While the two just stared at each other, Pat’s skeleton, who was kneeling, then slowly got up. His bones too got refined and his skeletal grew a bit taller.

Having life within its eye socket, Pat who gained consciousness then looked at Mrit in front of him and then at the skeleton standing behind Mrit.

“Where am… I? And who are you and who’s that skeleton?”

An inch taller than Mrit, Pat stood face to face with Mrit and spoke his first words after dying. Same as Rick, Pat too inquired about where he was now and who both of the people, well one skeleton, were in front of him.

“Hah!! Rick, tell him everything and meet me at the cabin of this man, well, head. I will be there.”

Mrit, who already had enough of explaining everything to everyone today, then exited the room with the head of the captain, leaving the two skeletons Rick and Pat behind.

Left behind in the room, Pat, who looked at Rick, then spoke.

“Who the hell was that? And... Rick?”

With confused eyes, Pat stared at Rick, at which Rick too sighed like Mrit and spoke.

“… Yeah, it’s me, Rick. Your one and only childhood friend, gorilla.”

“What?”

Pat, who heard Rick’s voice coming from a skeleton, shouted with a shocked expression on his skeletal face. Hearing his friend’s voice from the mouth of a skeleton will sure seem unimaginable to anyone.

“What the hell? Did that nasty childhood friend of mine really turn into a skeleton? Well, he was scary from the start, so him being a skeleton suits him more. But then, what will I say to his parents?!”

Hearing his rambling, an invisible vein popped on Rick’s skull.

“Yeah? And look at yourself, you piece of shit. How can a brute, gorilla like you have a skeleton this weak?”

“Come again?”

Looking down, Pat found his now skeleton legs on the ground, all thin, full of calcium.

“AHHH!! Where are my muscles?!”

Instead of getting shocked by looking at his bones, he was shocked because he couldn’t find his muscles. Rick, who heard him, slammed his forehead in disbelief.

“That’s what you are shocked about? Hey, gorilla, we are now dead. Do you get it in your skull?”

“What? Then how are we talking now?”

Rick then tried to distract Pat as he knew Pat would go on rambling about how his gross muscles were gone now and how they all are talking when they are supposed to be dead. Instead, he just dropped everything on Mrit.

“I don’t know. It was that guy who just went out that made us like this.”

“Him? Is he a magician or something?”

Pat, who got to know that Mrit was the one who made them like this, then asked Rick. He had heard of magicians using magic to revive a dead person, but he never heard of reviving a skeleton. Seeing themselves in this skeletal body, alive and talking, he just couldn’t get a grasp on anything. He never heard of something like this.

“… No. He is not just some mere magician.”

Looking at the way Mrit went out, Rick remembered the memories of Mrit he saw. No way in hell can a being like him would just be a mere magician.

“He is something I cannot explain lightly, but…”

Coming near Pat and putting his hand on his shoulder, Rick then spoke with a voice filled with confidence.

“We will be more than better with him than with anyone else.”

“How… are you so sure?”

Pat, who felt Rick’s confidence in his voice, then questioned. From a long time living with Rick, he knows Rick wouldn’t say something like this so easily.

“I know what you are thinking. How can I trust him that easily, right? So…”

Rick then placed his hand on the place where Pat’s soul resided and then a black aura appeared out of nowhere and passed onto Pat and slowly reached the center of the chest.

“See for yourself, and then decide.”

“W-What are you…”

Before he could speak any further, his consciousness now dived into the memories that Rick saw.

***

“Uff... finally some relief.”

Mrit who entered the cabin where the captain was working then plopped down on the chair.

“What are these? Paperworks?”

In front of him, he saw many papers and documents stacked upon each other, making a tower out of it.

“He is really a hardworking guy, I give him that. Now, let’s keep them aside for now.”

*Thud*

Carefully sliding the pile of paper to the side of the table, Mrit then put the head of the captain on the table.

“Now, what should I do with this?”

Mrit’s eyes and the dead captain’s eyes met each other as their faces reflected in each other’s pupils. On one end, it was the reflection of the face of a dead head and, on the other, a smiling, curious face.

“Though I know you were good, but you were like that advisor, too. Knowing what is wrong and right, you still supported the wrong.”

Placing his palm upon his head, the dark sun then shined as the aura of death entered the dead head of the captain, carrying the captain’s soul with it.

“Your punishment would be to live like this. Now, open your eyes, my new servant.”

The head glowed black a little as the soul then placed itself inside the head. The aura of death then gets back inside Mrit while the head started to tremble a little. The lifeless eyes of the head then slowly moved as they gained shine in them.

“*Cough* Argh!”

The head then shouted in pain as it slowly gained life within it. After a few seconds, the pain subsided as the eyes of the head then fell upon Mrit.

“Rise and shineee.”

“Y-You!! Guards!! Where are you all? The invader is here!!”

Mrit welcomed the captain with a sleazy grin while the captain at once realized Mrit from his voice and face. Not much time has passed since he saw Mrit, so he perfectly kept his memories and his hate towards Mrit.

Yelling loudly, the head, or rather the captain, tried to call the guards to his cabin as he saw Mrit after regaining consciousness, sitting carelessly in his cabin.

Mrit, who saw the futile attempt of the captain, looked at the captain with a grin on his face.

“Do you even know what situation you are in right now?”

Sliding his chair near the table, Mrit then came face to face with the head of the captain. The captain, who got startled by Mrit, again tried to shout but before he could do that, Mrit suddenly lifted his head.

“Wha-”

This time he got shocked but more than that, he felt confused as he felt weird about how Mrit lifted him. While Mrit lifted him by holding his neck, he didn’t feel any pain or any sensation down his neck.

‘Why didn’t I feel anything when he lifted me?’

The captain thought this to himself. From his perspective, it looked like Mrit had picked up a ball rather than him.

“What, confused? Then let me show it to you, your new form.”

Standing up, he then walked near the sofa table, which had a glass top. Then, he bends down while holding the head of the captain and looked at the reflection in the glass.

“So, all clear, captain? This is how you will look. Isn’t this cool?”

The image in the glass reflected a devilish smile on Mrit’s face while a devastated look appeared on the captain’s.

“H-How... i-is this possible?”

A grave shock overtook him as he saw the reflection of his head on Mrit’s arm in the glass, acting the way he was doing. The impossible thing he now is seeing in the glass made him think he was now dead and in the underworld.

“H-Hahaha!! I-I am dead, right? Y-You are the grim reaper w-who is here to take my soul.”

The captain, now devoid of any common sense, laughed and talked nonsense. His mind couldn’t accept the things he saw and thought that he is in hell with the grim reaper being Mrit.

Looking at the captain’s suffering, Mrit smiled. He turned the head in his hold towards him and looked straight into the captain’s eyes.

“You are completely wrong. You are alive, as well as a mortal. Well, kinda, but still. This is your punishment.”

“A-Ahh...”

“You will live like this from now on. You will have your intelligence but cannot act. You will have a head but not a body to move. You will be like this, forever.”

Mrit stated the punishment of the captain, which in turn made the captain’s head tremble in fear of Mrit.

“W-Why?”

Looking at Mrit’s eyes, the captain spoke, asking as to why he had to go through this ‘punishment’. Why does he have to suffer like this?

“Why you ask?”

With a disappointed gaze, Mrit looked down at him. Feeling a heavy pressure falling on him, the captain gulped. Mrit then placed his left hand on the head’s forehead and the aura of death slowly enveloped the head.

“See it for yourself, your deed for which you are punished.”

***