I then proceeded to pick up all three tiny bottles and drank them together in one gulp. The staff members looked at me with their jaws agape. The manager then walked out of the door, behind the counter.
"These poisons were capable of harming you know who. I knew, being what you are, your motives for these poisons weren't simple…
But to think I would have had to warn you not to drink them…" A tall and slim looking woman said to me. She had long black hair running over her shoulders. She looked beautiful, but to my surprise, the lower half of her body was that of a snake. Her voice held confidence whilst speaking to me, unlike the staff members, she semmed like she had encountered a reaper before.
Silence filled the room for a good 5 seconds with all eyes on me.
'You should have told me these poisons affected even you!' I said to Armando telepathically. 'Nothing I couldn't sleep off. The beast was beheaded for its transgressions. However, I really didn't think you would drink them my king.' Armando said from within the cloud.
"I don't feel any dif-," I said, but stopped mid-sentence due to an intense pain in my rotten heart. The bones in my body began to ache and my head began to spin. The tailed Lilith held me upright as I tried to find my balance.
"Sweat?" I said out loud after touching my forehead and seeing the sweat on my hand. "I'm actually sweating this much." I added in shock. Ever since I became a reaper I had never sweated before. Nothing had ever caused my body to exert enough energy for me to work up a sweat, but here I was, now drenched in sweat.
My body was currently fending off the foreign poisons. The dark cloud went into overdrive trying to process the three poisons.
"You're an idiot." The tailed Lilith said to me nonchalantly. "Aarrr!" "Aarrr!" I and Armando groaned aloud in pain. "Grayson!" The tailed Lilith then shouted worriedly. I suddenly felt like my body and soul had been set ablaze. The blood within my body also began to harden. I then turned to my 8-foot reaper form unable to maintain my Asímian form anymore.
Taking on a form with flesh takes a certain level of concentration and control of the dark cloud. With the pain I felt all around my body I could no longer concentrate on anything but pain. However, when I turned to my reaper form, it felt like my body was cooling down. The poisons slowly began to merge with my dark cloud.
I could now feel different elements and microorganisms I had never comprehended before, within my dark cloud. The pain eventually completely faded. There were now two poisons circulating within my dark cloud, the red and the black one. The poison's properties were becoming one with the cloud.
'Armando was still in there. Is he okay?' I thought to myself. "Armando." I called out but received no answer. I looked within my dark cloud and saw Armando floating in a dark cacoon of sorts. The poisons circulated around him.
"Armando." I called out again but there was still no reply. 'I wonder what's wrong with him.' I thought to myself. I then looked around and saw the staff members of the Herb Haven on the floor, gasping for air. Everyone except the manager and the tailed Lilith was on the floor.
I quickly turned to my human form, seeing that there is no longer any use to pretend that I am Asímian. The aura of death around the room quickly began to dissipate. At the same moment, Kitsune walked into the store.
"Did you take the boy back?" I asked Kitsune. "Umm…yes. He was dying, but I took care of it." She said to me looking around the room, wondering what was happening before she got there.
The tailed Lilith now wondered what she actually did with the boy as she had earlier given me a similar reply.
I, on the other hand, glared at the manager. She wasn't affected by the aura of death at all. I tried to read her, but she remained unmoving. She has treated me fairly good so I didn't bother with her any longer. "On the house, right?" I said out loud as I walked towards the exit.
I temporarily stopped walking then turned to the manager and asked her, "How did you know what I was?" "Many of us have had a few encounters with you know who. Me more than others as I am still alive. I have become very sensitive to his presence." She said to me. "I see." I said to her then continued to walk out of the shop.
I assumed she probably had some sort of relationship or arrangement with Armando, how else could she have acquired the poisons?
'Master.' A voice within my head sounded. "Azrael?" I said out loud. 'Yes master. I believe I have arrived at the planet Neró.' Azrael said to me. "Alright, don't approach it yet and standby." I said to him.
I began to feel the life around Asími and searched for anyone who had a lifespan of over 200 years. 'These people have lived long enough.' I thought to myself. I then struck each of them down with the purple lightning at the same time. They all died immediately.
Soon after, I felt a burst of power rising within me, power that made me feel like I could crash this world with the palm of my hand. I then felt the hold Theós has over me lessen slightly. My ability to comprehend became even more broad and the dark cloud felt much more like a part of my body rather than an exterior power. What was even better was, when I grew stronger, so did each of my shadows.
'Azrael, engage the reaper of that planet and make it submit before I get there. You might be strong enough to suppress it now. If it is more than you can handle, retreat then wait for me. I'll take care of it when I get there.' I said to him. "Yes master." He said then immediately flew towards onto the planet.
I then opened a gate with my dark cloud and walked through it. The tailed Lilith and Kitsune followed closely behind. We then appeared right before a crossroad. One of the roads was wide and had low-grade shadows transporting the souls of humans and Asímians towards a dark pit.
The other road was narrow and at the end of it was a bright, blinding light. However, no one was on this road. 'How come I couldn't see the Asímians before? Do all souls end up here or just the ones whose planet I take over?' I began to ask myself.
"H- how are we here? Only the angels and Thanatos should have access to that gate! What's it doing here?" Kitsune said looking at the narrow path. "What do you mean? I have been coming here for thousands of years." The tailed Lilith said to her. "You, just who…are you? Ugh!!" Kitsune said to the tailed Lilith touching her head. She seemed to be in pain trying to remember something.
"This Thanatos seems to have a lot of power in this universe." I said out loud with an expectant smile. 'He too will kneel before me.' I thought to myself then began to walk on the narrow path. "What are you doing?" Kitsune cried out, but I continued to walk onward, not paying her any mind.
"Stop him! Theós will not allow this. Isn't he your reaper? You are *0][*1<{*}>0*][1*." Kitsune tried to say but got cut off by Theós once more. I sensed Theós' presence behind me, so I turned back and saw the tailed Lilith holding Kitsune, who looked like she was having a seizure.
"I turn my back on them and this shit happens." I said out loud then continued to walk towards the golden gate.
Thirtieth step…
Fortieth step…
Fiftieth step…
I felt a strong pressure as I got to the fiftieth step, but not like the pressure I felt last time I was here. When I had to struggle with all my might just to take another step.
'I can keep going.' I thought to myself then kept walking forward.
First step…
Second step…
Third step…
I took a total of 15 more steps, before I could no longer move. As usual, at this point, Theós halted my advance and the pressure suffocated me.
I then turned and began to walk back toward Kitsune and the tailed Lilith. The pressure then gradually reduced the further I got from the golden gate.
'I've come far this time. I've actually made progress. I've only just barely made it past 64 steps and can tell now that I need to go a total of 500 steps to reach the golden gate. Only then will I have a chance to bring down Theós…' I thought to myself expectantly as I approached Kitsune and the tailed Lilith.
"Nothing happened to you!" Kitsune said to me. "Why would anything happen to me?" I asked her.
"Theós doesn't allow any reapers to touch this road. Normally, you wouldn't even be able to see it." She said to me. "I thought you were going to die for sure." she added.
In reality, she wasn't worried about me, but more about Armando. Who was still silent within my dark cloud. "We are both still alive." I said to her to calm her worries.
"Now, let's go to Neró. Azrael is being a little stubborn." I said then opened a gate beneath our feet.