A Reaper's Philosophy-Chapter 78: Have Faith

"Night crawlers!" Evgenis exclaimed.

Night crawlers of the Mythical and Ascended realm alike, came out of the darkness, walking on all fours. Their bodies were powerful and as big as cars, easily crashing the skulls of their fallen comrades beneath their feet.

(SKRIIIIIIII)

Thousands of night crawlers screeched into the sky before charging at Grayson and company. Azrael was still stuck in his daze after seeing how powerful his attack was. He quickly came back to his senses and couldn’t help but frown.

"The cloud doesn’t affect them?" Azrael said disappointedly.

"Don’t feel too bad, you’re probably stronger than me now." Grayson said to him. A prideful smile then crept onto Azrael’s face.

{Objective: Kill 10 Ordinary Beasts to familiarize yourself with exousia. (Completed)}

{Physical body being processed.}

"What’s with all these-?" Azrael was about to ask but got cut off.

"Could you two focus!" Evgenis shouted at Grayson and Azrael, but they both could clearly see that she was now a lot more laid back after seeing Azrael’s strength.

"Does this winged goddess speak for you master?" Azrael asked as he drove his sword into the ground.

He then suddenly approached Evgenis, even before she knew it and held her hand, taking her by surprise.

"She’s basically our boss till all this is over." Grayson said to Azrael.

"Alright then." Azrael said now feeling a sensation he had never felt before. He was completely unaware of the physical changes taking place in his body.

"Master, let’s end this quickly and satisfy the winged goddess." Azrael said out loud then leaped toward the beasts. They were now only 30 feet away.

He sent a punch forward at one of the night crawlers, which created a chain effect with the dark cloud, that obliterated hundreds of other beasts and night crawlers behind it. Grayson and Evgenis joined in on the fight; the tide now seemed to have changed.

Even with thousands of beasts attacking them, they did not seem to be at any disadvantage.

"We can win this!’ Evgenis thought to herself.

Suddenly a deafening roar came from the forest. Keeping pressure on everyone, including Grayson and Azrael.

(GGRRRAAAAAAARR!!)

All manner of beasts of the Legendary realm began to creep out of the forest.

"Even night crawlers!" Evgenis exclaimed.

At most, Evgenis could handle two or three Legendary Beasts at the same time.

She reckoned Grayson could do about the same and Azrael could handle five at the very least. Even then, they would still have enough numbers to overwhelm them ten times over.

Just when all hope seemed lost, Grayson suddenly said, "Pull back!"

Grayson then immediately ran to Elda, almost instantly appearing next to her.

"My lady." Azrael said as he bowed slightly at Evgenis’ side.

Despite the chaos around he looked very respectful as he placed his left hand on his chest, and stretched his right hand towards Elda as if giving way. Evgenis then quickly rushed to Elda and Azrael followed behind.

’A tactical retreat is the best thing to do right now. I’m truly impressed by the sheer calmness this and adapt so quickly. He will be...’ Evgenis began to praise Grayson in her head till Grayson suddenly said...

"Elda don’t stop, we will hold them off from here," Grayson said.

"Are you crazy? We need to retreat. This is beyond us!" Evgenis retorted.

"Leave if you want, but we have a job to do!" Grayson said out loud.

"Death." Grayson called out.

Death then ran forward and turned into a 20-foot high dark cloud that covered the entire west side of the city as if planned beforehand.

"What the-!" Evgenis exclaimed.

’How long can you hold this?’ Grayson asked Death telepathically.

’After synching with your injured soul and training with you these past 2 days...? About 10 minutes,’ Death replied.

The army of beasts finally reached them, baring their fangs. However, the moment they touched the dark cloud, their life force was sucked dry almost instantly and their bodies turned to dust.

Hundreds of beasts were quickly killed.

"Incredible!" Evgenis exclaimed, her eyes looking hopeful again.

"If you’re going to run, do it now. This form will only last 10 minutes..." Grayson said.

Suddenly another deafening roar sounded from the forest.

(GRAAAARRRR!!!)

A beast with 4 arms and dark brown scales covering its entire body walked out of the trees. A name highlighted in red appeared in front of it.

{Heavenly Beast: Four-Armed Scaled Caracal Mutant}

"However, if you’re going to stay, protect Elda. Beyond us, no one else stands a chance...just have faith in us." Grayson said then rushed through the dark cloud. Azrael quickly followed behind him.

’Once Death’s cloud transformation time runs out, he will be in a weakened state. He alone wouldn’t be enough to protect Elda then’ Grayson thought to himself.

Grayson was actually taking a gamble, hoping it would pay off. Evgenis watched Grayson and Azrael leave and go take on a Heavenly Beast to protect her city. Not a hint of doubt was seen in Grayson’s eyes, which was exactly what Evgenis needed to see to harden her resolve.

"This is my city; my home. Leaving it to a foreign young man to protect it is disgraceful. There would be no difference between me and the other elders. If it is my time to die today, then I will die protecting my city." Evgenis said decisively, ready to take on any beasts that may threaten the Golden City.

On the city walls stood hundreds of elites, watching the battle. The arrival of a Heavenly Beast caught the attention of many, resulting in every elite within the city to take up arms.

Originally, they were going to leave all the work to the unwanted hosts from Madsus City. It was Evgenis that called them over, but none of them thought they were necessary. Evgenis was an Elder and the strongest host in the city, they never had a say in this matter. However, now that they were there, they intended on utilizing them to the fullest.

Even if they were to run away, they believed their advanced gun turrets would be enough to protect them. They thought they wouldn’t need to lift even a finger. They planned to just sit back, protected within the walls.

However, this was all before the arrival of the Heavenly Beast. The elites of the Golden City stood over the wall, armed, as they watched a young man and a huge figure, clad in black armor all over, charge through an army of beasts to get to the Heavenly Beast.

Grayson and Azrael ran through the army at an incredible speed. With a scythe on his hand, Grayson strategically maneuvered through the beasts. His eyes now glowed with a scarlet hue and nothing in the battlefield escaped his sight. Every one of his moves was calculated.

Although it was during the dark of night, the tiniest movements made by the beasts did not go unnoticed by Grayson. He maneuvered through the beasts, only killing them when absolutely necessary. A majority of the beasts that attacked him were led to attack each other. Each move he made had a purpose, there were no wasted movements.

The goal here was the Four-Armed Scaled Caracal Mutant. Thus, Grayson didn’t want to waste any time killing other beasts. The Heavenly Beast was clearly the leader here, commanding all the other beasts with its superior intelligence.

’If we take down the Heavenly Beast, the other beasts will no longer be a threat.’ Grayson thought as he beheaded a night crawler and burned its insides.

Azrael crushed a beast’s head as he rushed the Heavenly Beast, barehanded, alongside Grayson. However, even with their power, they were still up against thousands of beasts. Even though they were capable of reaching the Heavenly Beast, a normal host would run out of energy fighting through so many beasts long before reaching the Four-Armed Scaled Caracal Mutant.

However, Grayson and Azrael rushed through the army, keeping their momentum. They didn’t seem like they were going to stop. Watching them bravely risk their lives for their city touched the hearts of the elites above the walls. In anyone’s eyes, what Grayson and Azrael were doing was simply suicide.

"Are we just going to let some foreigners fight for our city and just idly watch?" A woman, hovering over the city wall shouted at the top of her lungs.

(NOOOO!!!)

A deafening roar came from the elites above the walls. Everyone understood that the gun turrets wouldn’t be enough to stop a heavenly beast and hold back so many Legendary Beasts. So, the only chance of victory would be to stall the beasts until the protective array was completed.

The soldiers of the Golden City rained down on the beasts with spears in their hands. With their space manipulation skill, most of them easily reached Grayson and Azrael to support them. An incredible spinning force was displayed with each thrust from their spears. The participation of the elites of the Golden City made Grayson and Azrael’s advance much easier.

Before, Grayson had to calculate the next move of dozens of beasts at a time, and Azrael had to deal with swarms of beasts as well. Now that there were more people on the battlefield, the pressure was greatly taken off of them.

With a lot of effort, they had finally reached the Four-Armed Scaled Caracal Mutant and were only a few dozen meters away from it. Azrael leaped 50 feet up into the air, drawing the beast’s attention. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Grayson, who was still on the ground, summoned purple lightning and fire to coat his body. His speed increased tremendously and his muscles were suddenly brimming with a dominating power.

{Tribulation Lightning (active)}

{Hellfire (active)}

In a blink of an eye, Grayson was directly in front of the beast with his fist dug deep through its back, fracturing his hand in the process. He couldn’t go all the way through, but was still able to injure the beast. The beast’s skin was incredibly tough and its muscles were even tougher.

Azrael, who was still in the air, stretched out his hand as he began to descend. The sword that he stuck into the ground began to vibrate then quickly rushed to Azrael’s hand. He gripped the sword tightly between his hands. With gravity on his side, he swiftly sliced down at the beast from head to chest.

Purple blood shot up from the deep cut on the beast’s body. Meanwhile, the entire battlefield went silent. Hosts and beasts alike stopped in their tracks.

"He did it?" Evgenis asked out loud.

The deep cut on the beast then quickly began to close up his wounds and heal. An aura of a Heavenly Beast then radiated from the Four-Armed Scaled Caracal Mutant as it roared to the sky. The aura suppressed every single living being on the battlefield.