A Reaper's Philosophy-Chapter 59: I’ll Take You All On

’I must hurry.’ Axelia thought to herself.

Since Earth wasn’t too far from Evnoia, it only took her half a day to arrive. She quickly flew to Evnoia and arrived a small distance away from the planet, only to see the shadow pawns all blocked by a barrier surrounding it.

"What are you all still doing out here?" Axelia asked a four armed shadow pawn that was close by.

"Cannot... get to... the master." The four armed shadow pawn slowly said to Axelia in a cold and raspy voice.

"Why not?" Axelia asks.

"Not... strong enough... to pass through... barrier. Please... save... master!" The four armed shadow pawn pleaded as it lowered its head in shame.

Axelia then looked around and saw the rest of the shadow pawns all had a look of frustration, not able to even look Axelia in the eyes. They all pleaded the same way.

Before Axelia arrived, all they could do was charge in blindly and get obliterated by the barrier before them. Many died even before the force field touched them.

"Step aside." Axelia said.

The four armed shadow pawn then floated to the side alongside the other shadow pawns and made way for Axelia to pass through. Axelia then flew forward till she was directly in front of the barrier. She then placed her left hand on the barrier as she continued to observe it. Yellow sparks flew outward as she brushed her hand against the barrier.

"Our Monarch’s most powerful shadow. I’ve only sensed her from afar. The presence she is emitting now is on a completely different level. Even Azrael can’t match her. Our Monarch invested quite a lot on her." Terry said out loud from the side feeling a little jealous.

’I want to exchange just a few blows with her to gauge the extent of her power.’ Terry thought to herself as her need for battle began to rise.

Axelia then pushed through the barrier with some effort and quickly made it through to the other side.

As soon as she passed through, a heavy pressure descended upon her and she began to plummet towards the planet. Flesh began to appear all around her body as she continued to plummet.

She then sensed my location, through the connection we shared, and began to direct her decent towards me. She crashed nearby some snowy mountains. Her body was still composing its flesh, and she was completely naked.

She wasted no time to rush towards me as she began to sprint the moment her legs made contact with the ground. She clearly felt a difference in her strength as her body felt much heavier and could no longer run at her top speed.

{...}

{...}

{...}

{Objective: Kill 10 Ordinary Beasts to familiarize yourself with exousia}

{Failiure to complete the objective will result in a penalty!}

{23:59:55}

A couple of messages popped up in front of her, but she didn’t pay them any mind.

She only had one goal, "I need to get to my master!"

She kept up her pace as she continued to feel the connection she shared with me get stronger.

Suddenly, she began to feel a sensation she had never felt before.

’It’s... cold?’ Axelia exclaimed to herself.

She then proceeded to cover herself with her dark cloud.

With her greatest speed, she quickly arrived within the cave I was in within a few minutes. She found me lying on a patch of glowing, grass-like plants, all alone. The tailed Lilith was currently not around.

"Master!" Axelia exclaimed after seeing a hole through my body.

Dried blood could be seen all around me. Axelia then dashed to my side and began to examine my condition.

I showed no signs of movements. My heart only beat once every minute and one wouldn’t even notice me breathing without paying close attention to me.

"He’s barely alive!" Axelia exclaimed alarmingly.

She then proceeded to pour her dark cloud into me. The hole on my body then, very faintly and very slowly, began to heal. For half a day, Axelia was pouring her dark cloud into me without rest. Most of my organs and bone fractures were healed.

"Why won’t it heal completely?" Axelia asked herself out loud, getting more and more worried with each passing second.

"Axelia!" The tailed Lilith exclaimed from behind Axelia as she entered the cave.

"Can you save him?" The tailed Lilith asked expectantly as she quickly appeared beside Axelia.

"I just might be able to, but it will take time. His injury keeps worsening even as I heal it." Axelia said worriedly.

"Save him!" The tailed Lilith said commandingly.

"Yes Mistress." Axelia said respectfully.

Although she was already looking like she was at her limit. She had been pouring her energy into me for half a day. The tailed Lilith stared anxiously then suddenly left the cave. Half an hour later she came back dragging a white cat-like beast that was covered with a weird mix of fur and scales all around its body.

The beast was the size of a city bus and had fangs that were 3-feet long. Its claws were black and razor sharp looking, as though they could cut through diamond like butter.

Although the beast was dead it still gave off a powerful aura that made even Axelia’s skin crawl, making her wonder what kind of existence the beast was when it was still alive.

{Mythical Beast: Scaled Caracal}

A name, highlighted in green, appeared above the beast.

"Wh-what is that?" Axelia asked the tailed Lilith.

"Food." The tailed Lilith said, feeling breathless.

She then threw the beast next to Axelia. The tailed Lilith walked towards the beast and began to pull on one of its legs, attempting to rip it off. After a few seconds of struggling, the beast’s leg finally yanked off its body. She then conjured a dagger and proceeded to skillfully cut the skin off.

"This beast had abnormal vitality and a healing power as well. Eat it and it should restore your strength." The tailed Lilith said to Axelia as she put the skinned leg in front of Axelia’s face.

Axelia then began to vigorously bite on the leg. It was just as the tailed Lilith said, as soon as Axelia swallowed the meat, she began to feel a strange power improving her body.

"Drink its blood. Life force is mostly concentrated in the blood. Recovery should be much faster then." The tailed Lilith said then dragged the beast, by the head, and placed its neck above Axelia.

She then slit its neck and blood started flowing out. Axelia raised her head and opened her mouth wide in order to drink every last drop of the beast’s blood.

A strong life force then began to rejuvenate Axelia. She soon began to look more lively and her healing process continued swiftly for the rest of the day. By the end of the day, she had finished eating the entire beast.

{5 seconds...}

{4 seconds...}

{3 seconds...}

{2 seconds...}

{1 second...}

{Time limit reached!}

{The system has gifted you with a body. You have failed to pay the debt.}

{You have failed to comprehend exousia.}

{Preparing penalty...}

{You must prove your worth as a host.}

{Transporting host to penalty zone.}

A series of messages appeared in front of Axelia as she continued to heal me.

"Lilith, I think something’s wro-..." Axelia began to say before being teleported away.

"Axelia!" The tailed Lilith screamed out. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"-ng." Axelia finished to say, but then surprisingly found herself in a completely different location by the end of her sentence.

{Penalty in progress.}

{Prove your worth as a host.}

{Primary Objective: Survive for the next 24h!}

{Secondary Objective: Kill 100 Ordinary Beasts to familiarize yourself with exousia}

New messages began to pop up in front of Axelia. She now found herself in the middle of a thick jungle not sure of how she got there.

’Did these messages ever mention a penalty before?’ Axelia asked herself.

(Snap!)

A twig suddenly snapped behind Axelia. It was only now, she noticed that she was not alone in that jungle, and was in fact surrounded. Glowing yellow eyes, filled with murderous intent, could be seen behind the thick trees and within the bushes.

Massive black wolves, with holes on their backs, began to come out from behind the trees. Thick white smoke continuously flowed out of the holes in their backs, giving them a more threatening look.

{Ordinary Beast: White-Smoked Grey Wolf} *highlighted in grey*

{Ascended Beast: White-Smoked Black Wolf} *highlighted in yellow*

{Ordinary Beast: ...}

{Ascended Beast: ...}

{...}

{...}

Numerous wolves, of different types, continued to come out baring their fangs on Axelia.

"Shit!" Axelia said out loud.

Although she was surrounded by enemies, her worry didn’t stem from the wolves before her, but from the pressure she could sense from whatever else was lurking in the jungle.

She couldn’t tell from what specific direction the overwhelming pressure came from. The pressure felt like it was coming from all sides, but she was certain that it was but only one being exerting this pressure.

Axelia then quickly jumped up in between the trees and stood on top of a branch to get a view of the landscape. An ocean of trees stretched out as far as the eye could see. Something seemed to be moving in the far distance as trees collapsed in every direction and dust clouds rose to the air.

"What is that?" Axelia asked herself.

Suddenly, a black wolf appeared above Axelia and swung down its claws at her. She quickly raised her hands to defend, but was inevitably struck down back to the ground with an incredible force.

She slowly got back up as thick, black blood dripped down to the ground. Deep scratches could be seein in her hands. Her flesh was ripped open, leaving her bones exposed. Numerous wolves growled at her, ready to pounce and feast on her flesh.

"Alright then. Come at me, I’ll take you all on!" Axelia shouted as she conjured a dagger on each hand.