Global Disaster: I Will Slay Gods In This Second Chance!-Chapter 96: Reaper

After leaving the meeting room, Zold’s eyes were unclear, seemingly lost in his thoughts. He walked quietly, and the noise around him didn’t seem to enter his ears. He only snapped out of his trance when a familiar voice called out to him.

"Captain Starks."

Zold raised his head, a natural frown appearing on his face. But once he saw who it was, his expression eased, and he nodded slightly. "It’s you."

In front of him stood a curly white-haired man, with a pair of pupils shining like two pale moons. He wore a pair of thin, rectangular-framed glasses, making him appear unassuming.

Arima showed a smile. "Captain Starks, It’s been a while."

Zold nodded. "Do you need anything?"

"Well, I do have a request." Arima hesitated slightly, but seeing Zold’s brows crease, he clarified his intentions. "I want to fight you, Captain Starks. I asked Ms. Shiho where I can find you, and she told me that you’ll be busy with a mission after today."

Zold was silent, his eyes staring straight into Arima.

For once, Arima had felt Zold look at him seriously. He clenched his hands slightly, waiting for Zold’s response. He had a gut feeling that if he missed this chance, he would regret it for his entire life.

After a brief pause, Zold nodded and replied.

"Lead the way."

Arima’s hand loosened, and he met Zold’s eyes. He nodded and turned around, walking towards the training facilities. Zold followed a step behind him. Now that a match was decided, the two of them knew that any words were unnecessary.

When they reached the training facility, Arima grabbed a silver spear, turning his gaze to the center of the room, where Zold stood with his arms crossed, taking no weapon from the side.

Arima frowned, but then shook his head. It was because, with a weapon or not, his eyes still saw the same clear face. His talent made it so that anyone else weaker than him appeared like creatures made of black threads.

Ever since the calamity started, he had been effectively blinded, and there were only two people whom he could see clearly. The first one was the Chairman, Nagito. The second one was Zold.

He walked to the opposite side of the room, his thoughts stirring.

Did the lack of threads mean that he can’t kill them no matter what? Why? Because of their talent, or their superior strength that overwhelmed him? Arima couldn’t believe the latter as possible, even if she wanted to.

Soon, Arima arrived on the opposite side of the room. He met Zold’s gaze and raised his spear with one arm. The moment their eyes met, the match had begun, and a blur shot towards the other.

Woosh!

It was Arima who had taken the first move. He raised his spear, swinging it towards Zold. His swift and precise movements showed that he had long entered the path of a Martial Artist.

Zold stepped aside, effortlessly dodging his attack. But Arima didn’t relent, and he swung his spear in a flurry. Even if there were no ’threads of death’, he had long memorized when threads usually appeared.

Every living being shared a commonality. Death. Most of the time, they can all be killed the same way. Arima swung his spear with grace and precision, targeting all possible areas where Zold’s weakness lay.

Woosh! Woosh!

But as if they were not on the same dimension at all, Zold dodged every single attack, showing no panic in his movements. Even his expression remained clear, like an ice that would never melt.

Arima took a step back, bringing back his spear, and activated a skill. This skill was called Death Vision. It could momentarily freeze an enemy, making them see the vision of their death.

But to his surprise, Zold was unaffected, stepping in front of him. Zold slowly raised his hand and then punched within a distance of an inch. All this happened in a few seconds, but Arima didn’t react.

It wasn’t because he can’t, but because he wanted to see... to feel.

Feel, what?

When this thought crossed Arima’s mind, he suddenly found himself pressed against the wall, blood leaking out from his lips. His organs were all on the brink of failing, and his bones were all shattered.

"Ghk!"

He choked, blood spilling out onto his uniform.

’... Huh?’

But his eyes were unclear, as if he couldn’t understand what had just happened. He could only remember being hit, but he didn’t remember anything else. Arima raised his gaze, looking at Zold with a complex expression.

"... How?"

Zold raised his brows. "Are you giving up?"

Arima understood what he meant, closing his mouth. He took a deep breath and grabbed his spear, which had fallen from his hands. Then, he stood up once more, ignoring the pain coursing through him.

"Come." Zold nodded. "Specials usually have a limit-breaking skill. Use it."

Arima looked at Zold in surprise. "... You fought Specials other than me before?"

But Zold didn’t answer him, only looking at him with a meaningful smile.

’No, maybe... he’s a Special himself?’

Arima gazed at Zold with a complex expression. But then, he frowned and quickly cleared his mind. Whether Zold was a Special or not didn’t matter. But Zold was right, he had one more skill that he hadn’t... or never used before.

’So it came to this...’

He took a deep breath and finally activated his last skill.

It was called Reaper.

For a brief moment, his eyes would become death itself.

Woosh!

This time, Arima was surprisingly much faster than before. He instantly arrived in front of Zold, taking less than a second. But the difference this time was that he had a large grin on his face, while his pale eyes had turned incredibly dark at some point.

Finally, he saw it!

’I can... see it!’

’Zold Stark’s threads of death...!’

Threads of death emerged from Zold’s body. But they were incredibly thin and minuscule, and if he didn’t have exceptional visual acuity, he wouldn’t have noticed them.

Arima wasted no time and quickly swung his spear, striking those threads of death. He didn’t seem to care if he killed Zold or not, wanting to see the end of this match.

Woosh!

Those threads were instantly cut by his spear. It’s over... but just as he thought of his, his eyes widened in disbelief. Thousands of threads of death suddenly emerged from Zold’s body, covering the man’s figure entirely.

’Impossible!’

"You still need to practice your expression path a bit more," Zold said calmly. "Once you reach a certain level, weakness is just something you can use to fool your enemies.

Arima didn’t stop, swinging his spear once more.

A snapping sound suddenly echoed, and Arima’s eyes rolled over, his body falling on the ground. Zold had appeared behind him and hacked his neck. He looked at Arima on the ground quietly.

’Nagito’s weapon...’

After a while, he turned around and walked away, disappearing from the building.

On that day, Arima Shiniyami, the Captain of the 1st Demon Hunter Squad, experienced his first defeat. But perhaps more importantly, later this day, the 13th Demon Hunter Squad was called by the Chairman to join in the SSS-rank mission...

[The Hunt for Rogue Awakeners].