Around 10 minutes after where we left off, Diana and her fellow friends were now engaged in a battle against the ‘Reaper’, a monster that would hunt down any who dared to try and leave the withered forest.

And so to say, this guy was no pushover!

“…Kuh.”

Here’s how the formation went: Rei and the golem would be the aggro keeper, attacking the reaper head on to keep its attention on them. Meanwhile, Diana would run around the guy as she attacked with her magic. And lastly, Crystal was standing farther away, shooting her [Phantom Blade] when the chance arises.

But, even under this intense fire, the reaper was still standing strong. Even worse, its attacks were getting faster! Whether that was it getting agitated or it getting desperate, she didn’t know, but the increased attack speed was getting deadly!

*Fools…DIE*

“Kya!?”

Suddenly, the reaper held its magic scythe up, and swung it around, knocking Diana back! She was able to soften the landing by creating some slime, but that single attack still took out a pretty good chunk of her HP.

Also, it was also quite saddening that she couldn’t use her [Slime] based attacks, since the invisible around it would just repel it back, or even shoot it back at her. So, she’s been using her [Stray Cat] bubbles to cause damage.

“…Diana.”

“I’m fine! Keep attacking it!”

Using the chance, she charged herself up, and sent a strong punch at the thing! Seriously, she could even see ripples shooting out from the impact!

The reaper only flinched from the strike, but Crystal quickly followed it up with a set of [Phantom Blades], finally breaking through the barrier and stabbing right into the reaper’s body!

*MERE MORTALS. [CONFINE]!*

*Vuuu!?*

Suddenly, a stream of dark ‘tentacles?’ came out of the ground and coiled around the golem’s rocky body. Would’ve been a deadly moment, but it’s a golem, so it just discarded its body and rebuilt itself, which seems to have caught the guy off-guard.

Which was then rewarded with several exploding bubbles from Diana, a strong punch from Rei, and several more [Phantom Blades] from Crystal.

*YOUR FOOLISH ENDEAVORS WILL NOT BRING ANYTHING*

“Let’s proof that, shall we!?”

The reaper probably said that because it was getting desperate, which only served to make Diana even more pumped up to take him down.

Now that the barrier was broken, Diana sent a large [Corrosive Slime Wave] to slow its movement, and also deal some damage from the corrosion, but that plan failed since the reaper simply re-casted the barrier and repelled the incoming slime.

*I AM IMMORTAL. I CANNOT BE DEFEATED*

Not like anyone cared, as Rei sent a full *Ora, ora, ora, ora, ora, ora* at the reaper. It didn’t deal much damage, but it was a good tactic to slow the reaper down, which then Crystal used to cast her [Shadow Bind] and seal its movement for a bit.

*FADE INTO DARKNESS! [DEATH TO ALL]*

[Death to All], a skill that caused a black mist to ooze out of the reaper’s body. Anything that comes into contact with it, will quickly degrade and die. It was a deadly insta-kill spell!

Sadly, they’ve dealt with this spell before(the reaper started the battle with this spell), so Rei and golem quickly stepped away, whilst Diana created a large wall of slime around the reaper, trapping the black mist inside.

Of course, since the black mist was touching the slime, the slime was also getting destroyed, but Diana immediately just added more and more layers of slime to back it up, so no worries~

*YOU’RE MORTALS, HOW!?*

“Hey~, that’s what Ronan The Accuser said before he died!”

“…?”

I guess even if her memories are falling apart, references will just keep coming eh?

Anyways, the black mist was now gone, and the reaper was on its cooldown time! It’s the perfect time for an all-out attack!

“Let’s do this everyone!”

A volley of explosive bubbles, a full assault from Rei, the golem’s rocky minigun attack, and Crystal’s powerful [Phantom Blades] all launched at ones, easily breaking through the barrier again, and dealing some juicy damage!

*D…DAMN…MORTALS!!!!*

“Woah, it’s angry now~”

Seemingly fed up from all the damage it’s taken, the reaper sheds its initial skin, and exposes its ethereal true form, a pure materialisation of mana!

“It’s kinda pretty!”

“Don’t get distracted. The end is near.”

Now that its skin(and cloak) was no more, the ‘Reaper’ was now completely exposed, which means no more extensive defence!

*FDEA AYWA YUO IBELCEIM!! TIHS IS TEH EDN!! {DVOEANTAITS]!i!i*

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!!!!*

“REI!!!”

With that word jumble, the large figure of mana shined tremendously and exploded with intense force, swallowing Rei and the golem up, and sending Diana and Crystal flying back!

“…I’m, Fine.”

“Thank God~…”

Thankfully, Rei being Rei, although half of her entire body was literally blown apart, she was quickly healing back to her original state. And the golem, well, his core was near unbreakable, so he’s also fine, but his mana seems to have run out.

*%@$$&##%@&%&^$%#@%^#^^%&#^$@&^%&%&#%$@&*%^%*

Oof~, it seems like the ‘Reaper’ was truly broken now! It seems like, whatever that attack was, took out quite a lot from the guy. And now, he was just a broken jumble of pure mana, flickering and spinning as it tried its best to retain its ethereal form.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“Well, who wants to do the last hit? Crystal?”

“Hmm…Do you mind?”

“Nope! Go ahead~!”

“…Un.”

“Alright!”

Let’s make this ending flashy!

“[Phantom Blade: Death Cleave]!!”

Above her, an enormous [Phantom Blade], probably around the size of a cargo truck appeared, and slashed the wriggling mana monstrosity apart! It ‘wailed?’ out one last time, before it broke apart and disappeared into the air.

With this, the battle with the reaper, was over!

[Enemy haS BeEn sLAin? Ga!nEd #%@$ ExpErIEncE}

*&%^@#&%!#*

…Or, so she thought, but nope! Just as the pure collage of mana was dissipating, it suddenly merged back together, this time looking more jumbled and messed up than before!

“Seems like it isn’t over yet~…”

“Seems like it.”

“…Agreed.”

And everyone was on a consensus about one thing:

It’s time, for the second round!

First up, a nice serving of several [Phantom Blades] to serve as breakfast, but to their surprise, once the blades hit the thing, they disappeared! No, they didn’t just disappear, they melted down back to mana and got sucked in!

“How about this!?”

To follow up, Diana shot out some explosive bubbles, and they did hit and explode, but did it even take any damage?

And Rei also tried punching the damn thing too, but her fists only ended up passing through the thing!

*%$#@$*^%%@*

“Wha-!?”

Before Crystal could even react, the ground under her suddenly shined, before it exploded with intense might, swallowing up everyone in the battlefield.

So to say, they weren’t in the best of situations right now. That explosion took out an enormous amount of Crystal’s HP. She wasn’t quite dead yet, but even one claw from a nearby zombie could probably kill her.

Diana was…nowhere to be seen. The only one capable to fight was probably Rei, but even she was having trouble, since her MP was close to emptying out, and when her mana’s out, regeneration would not be possible. I.e., death.

“Woo~! I’m falling~”

“W…Wha…?”

But, well, the reason why Diana was nowhere to be seen, was because she was in the sky, and she was falling down, really quickly!

Using a technique she recently invented(with the help of Rei), she found out that she could turn herself into a slime, and then [Slime Cannon] herself into the distance, leaving behind quite a bit of slime in her place.

It was a technique that was quite costly to her MP, since it took out 40%, but it’s good enough to secure her safety!

Although, that means she’s naked, again. Not that she minded it anyways.

Gotta get some more clothes after this

Anyways, softening her landing with her slime form, she reverted back to human form and quickly met up with Crystal, who was weakly lying down on the scorched ground.

“Crystal, you okay?”

“I’m…fine. Just…try and…kill it.”

“Hmm…”

Now, how to defeat this thing? Her explosive bubbles don’t seem to work. She tried shooting a [Slime Cannon] at it, but it just got sucked in, and Rei’s fists could only pass through the collage of pure mana.

…It seems, they were only left with one choice…The Joestar’s special family technique.

When everything falls apart, and the end is nowhere in sight, the one choice to take is:

“Run away~!”

“W-Wah!?”

“…Let’s, go.”

Created some large Dogoos to carry Crystal, she turned towards the green plains on the outside, and ran as fast as her legs could take her! Rei quickly picked the golem core up and followed in suit!

*$%#@*^!#$*

The pure mass of mana ‘shouted’ in ‘anger?’ as it watched Diana and co escape into the green grassy plains waiting outside of the withered forest. It would’ve loved to kill them, but it couldn’t move now, so it save the killing for another day.

The escap-, I mean, ‘Tactical Retreat’ was a complete success!

After they made sure that they were nowhere near that damned withered forest anymore, Diana gently placed Crystal down on the grass and applied her [Slime Mending] on her. Well, she also applied some on herself too, since her HP did also take one hella beating.

“Phew…We’re alive!!”

Well, they’re alive, but this kinda feels a bit disappointing for her…Since, ya know, Diana did just go and fight that monstrous enemy with her friends, and they came out without any Exp or rewards.

They did just come out alive, so I guess that’s already plenty enough, but she couldn’t shake off that feeling of dissatisfaction.

In fact, everyone on her team was also feeling quite bumped out about it, Crystal especially. Even the golem core shined slightly dimmer than usual.

And so, with that lingering taste of defeat, the big trio lied down and slept for the day.

It’s still noon, but whatever, they were tired

…………………

Far up in the mountains, where the storm never ceases, and the snow never fades, a single wooden cottage could be seen, standing in the midst of it all.

Inside, a fireplace had been lit. The flames flickering and dancing as the embers rose into the air. The soft crackles of the falling firewood filled the atmosphere, breaking through the silence that hung in the air.

And inside that exact house, the sight of a single boy could be seen, casually sleeping on his bed like it’s nobody’s business.

“Huah…I’m so tired…”

He yawned as he complained so, despite having just slept for, like, 10 hours, as he rolled over and dug his face into the pillow he loved to the end of his life.

Well, he should be up and going right now, since the kingdom did just send him a mission to accomplish, but…Sleep sounded so much better than working~

“*Knock, knock* Uh…Master? Are…Are you s-still inside?”

“Muu…Who is it…?”

And just as he was about to trail into his dream world again-!, he could hear someone knocking from the outside. From that frail voice that man had, it was probably his student who had gone to train under him.

‘What was his name again…?’

“I-It’s Ilgua M-Master! P-Please let m-me in!”

Ah, right. Ilgua, that young boy who had somehow managed to climb up all the way here on his own, and begged him to teach him the ways to master the art of battle.

“The door’s not locked…Just, huah…come in already…”

“T-Thank you very much!!”

With that said and done, the door opened, and in came a young boy, most likely in his early 18’s. He looked like any normal boy from the kingdom, aspiring to become someone special. But, the embers that burned in his eyes initially interested him.

As for what and why he wanted to learn under him…Who knows, he didn’t listen.

“Huah…Just, wait there, I’ll get you a drink or something…”

“A-Ah! No need! I have my own!”

“Riiight…Go and sit down…”

At least that’s one thing he liked about this boy. Unlike a certain king who gave him requests after requests, this boy would come to him prepared, with his own food and drinks, and his energy stocked up.

Which is needed, since training in this environment can get quite tiring. Heck, even trying to hike this thing without any further help was near suicidal.

“Umm…Master, can…can I ask something?”

“Hmm…? What is it…?”

“I…Lately, I’ve been having this feeling of…danger, somehow. As if, something ominous had just happened…”

‘Something ominous, he says…’ He thought over it for a bit. Ilgua, this boy, he’s been training under him for…around 5 months now? And he’s gotten a pretty good grasp at his capabilities.

Though he might not look like it, this boy had a power that was pretty similar to that of [Clairvoyance]. It doesn’t let him look into the future or the past or whatnot, but it does give him a warning in advance about some danger, and if he’d say anything, that’s quite a useful ability.

“…Care to describe?” His eyes shone golden, Ilgua now knowing that his master had gotten serious.

“I’ve been hearing wails and screams about something in my dreams, and this large hooded figure that-“

“Ah, never mind, it’s just the reaper.”

Or…so he thought. But, nope. As soon as he heard what the ‘monster’ in his dreams looked like the ‘Reaper’, his eyes lost the golden shine it just had, and he immediately dropped back onto his lovely pillow.

“E-Eh!? T-The ‘Reaper’!?”

“Ou…Why’re you so surprised…?”

‘Of course I am!!’ He retorted silently in his heart, knowing that something as petty as the ‘Reaper’ won’t be enough to deter this legendary man(Boy?) sleeping before him.

Well, either that, or he’s just so lazy that it’s not registered to him yet.

Knowing his master, it was probably the latter.

“Besides…Someone’s already took it down…”

“…Eh? EH!? S-Seriously!? Who was it!? Isn’t the reaper immortal!? Is that person a god!?”

“Don’t be so loud~…”

Ah, and here comes the other annoying side of this kid. Once he gets excited on something, he gets way over the top about it, and it becomes an interrogation. Well, having some enthusiasm like this in his long life wasn’t that bad either.

“Don’t ask so many at the same time…”

“Ah…s-sorry.”

“Huah…I don’t know who exactly ‘beat’ it, but…she’s one of a kind.”

Yes, whoever this girl is, who went up against the reaper and managed to break it down into its purest form, was strong. Not, battle-wise. In comparison to the other two girls who fought alongside her, she was way weaker, but her soul…It was, a sight to behold.

A sight to behold, because even he, a master who had power people could only dream of, couldn’t even look into that girl’s soul.

That’s because of her [Soul Conqueror] title btw

“’She’? So it’s a female? Is she human? Elf!? A monster!? A dragon even!?”

“Hua~, stop asking…”

“S-Sorry…”

“As for race…I’m not too sure…She looks like a human, but she also seems to be a slime…she fights like a monster…but acts like a human…”

Truth be told, he only knew one thing about her:

“But-“ His eyes shone gold once more.

“-She’s not a being of this world.”