Walking through the Titanic Forest, Mercury suddenly felt the wind brush up against his hand, slipping a piece of paper in between his fingers. His eyes widened, glancing down to see that a piece of parchment had found its way into his hand.
[The Shadekeeper Lantern is full. The soul of the 'Youngling Miasma Imp' has been relegated to the temporary housing implement. Failure to house it will result in its pilgrimage to the water. The Astersea calls.]
'The Baby Dweller Demon we fought was called a 'Miasma Imp'? So, it really was the case that I could only hold two Shades in this lantern at a time... will I need to choose which one to get rid of to house the Miasma Imp? But I can't tell what ability I'll gain from it. Isn't this too much of a gamble?'
'Moreover, what is the 'Astersea'? A pilgrimage to the water... does it mean the afterlife? Is this 'Astersea' where the Shades go after death? Perhaps this is where Fang An would have gone if I didn't capture his soul...'
Mercury let out a sigh.
'Well, it's a matter of necessity that I test it out. I'll retain Fang An for his Danger Sense forte, and swap out the Gloam Sprite for the Miasma Imp's Shade.'
He swiped his hand over the lantern, instinctively activating his ability relating to the lantern. The bouncing sprite in the center gradually began to dissipate, and in its place, black mist reformed into the shape of the Miasma Imp they had fought previously.
As Mercury had used his lantern's abilities previously, his understanding of it had deepened. Instinctively, he was able to gather a sense of the ability he obtained from capturing the Shade of the Miasma Imp.
'I can grow a boil from my skin, letting it burst and spraying out a miasmic acid? That sounds... interestingly painful. I think I much preferred the Gloam Sprite's ability... how unfortunate.' Mercury laughed self-deprecatingly. 'It was a matter of learning, so I can't be too sad over it. Perhaps in the future, I will see another Gloam Sprite and take its shade once more.'
Soon, they came to the edge of the Titanic forest. A large cliff-face overlooked a sprawling emerald plain that stretched into the distance. And on the horizon, the towering form of an ancient marble palace pierced the glimmering night sky above.
Splashes of green, violet, and sapphire painted the night sky an illusory symphony of colours, and glittering white stars twinkled high above.
Mercury stood in silence at the edge of the cliff-face, stunned. His eyes glimmered, and his mouth was agape.
'What a gorgeous sight. This is the palace I'm meant to conquer? And these plains... infinite. But this sky that hangs overhead. It's a nice sight after fighting so much…'
"That's the palace we're trying to reach." Reading his thoughts, Quincy chose to speak first. "However, to do so, we need to make our way through the city. And because of those infinite plains, we can only make our way through the western part of the city." Quincy pointed to the left. "That's where the city sewers are. Since it's guarded by a Higher Demon, we need to establish a rapport with other Reaper teams. We hope to accomplish this in the next month. We were delayed by my brother's capture..."
"Shall we rest here?" Seemingly ignoring her ramble, Mercury turned to Quincy with a warm smile.
His brightness washed over her, and instead of getting angry due to his ignorance, she couldn't help but blush. She bashfully nodded her head. "Ah, alright. We can spare a few hours of rest. It's not like where we're going is somewhere we can expect to succeed if we're exhausted. There are some blankets in my bag, so let's try and stay warm. The nights in Limbo grow cold."
After a few minutes, they settled in the grassy alcove atop the cliff-face that overlooked the infinite plains.
"Ah, I have some dried meat. Are you hungry, Mr. Mercury?" She pulled out a pale rucksack from her bag, handing it to Mercury. Accepting it, he pulled the twine away from its opening, staring into it. It was filled to the brim with marbled red meat, slightly weathered and leathery on the surface. Coarse flakes of crystalline salt were scattered on the surface, making his mouth water at the sight.
Unlike the reaction of his mouth, however, his stomach did not growl, despite not having eaten since his release from the hospital on Earth.
"Now that I think of it, I haven't been very hungry up until this point… why is that?" He took a bite of the meat, the savoury, salty flavour taking over his senses. It was a relief to have a semblance of normalcy, even if he enjoyed fighting. Dried meat wasn't a proper meal, but with enough imagination, Mercury could think of it as such.
"It's a matter of the biological adaption that occurred in your transformation into a Reaper. These stomachs of ours are capable of digesting most monster and Demon flesh, and at the same time, our metabolism slows to allow said digestion. It takes longer for us to digest these types of biological materials, as our stomachs simultaneously absorb the 'life essence' left behind by those creatures."
"Is that why the counter increased with each kill?"
He had seen it once before. A sheet of paper had appeared before him previous to their camping on the cliff-face.
[Assimilation]
[Echelon: Alpha]
[1 Monster, 1 Demon.]
Quincy nodded. "Yes, that's the case. Because we kill monsters, we eat them, and subsequently absorb what they once were. Looking Glass often jokes about such things, saying that we slowly become more and more like the monsters themselves. He thinks one day, we will absorb so much of them that we will be indistinguishable from the very creatures we fight."
'A monster should kill other monsters, huh?' Mercury teased self-deprecatingly.
'If I'm really a monster, was I always like this? I wonder what kind of person I was before I lost my memories? I don't feel like I have an insatiable urge to kill Demons, like Quincy said Reapers do. Sure, I want to fight everything, but it doesn't necessarily feel like it has to end in death. Maybe I was a gladiator. Does Earth still have gladiators? Hah, what a hilarious thought. Modern gladiators.'
'But if I'm not a monster of a person, then why do I feel so empty? It's like I'm acting every time I smile or laugh, joke or chide. Maybe I've repressed my emotions alongside my memories. Maybe I'll find them all somewhere under this plain of stars…'
As Mercury lost himself in his thoughts, Quincy had turned her soft gaze onto the man, staring at him contemplatively.
"You've been asking me so many questions, but I haven't gotten to do the same. Why don't you answer a few of mine, Mr. Mercury?" Quincy had a sly grin plastered on her face.
"I wouldn't mind it, to an extent. And you don't have to refer to me formally. You can just call me Mercury."
Blushing, Quincy averted her gaze, glancing up at the stars.
"What did you do back on Earth, Mercury?"
The man shrugged. "I can't remember."
Quincy's eyes glimmered with curiosity. "You can't remember? How can that be?"
Mercury tapped on the side of his head, chuckling. "Memory loss. I can't remember anything about my past. The day I was executed was also the day I woke up in a hospital bed."
"Is that why you took the Chance?" Her voice grew a bit hesitant, as if it were a question that one tended not to ask for the sake of one's privacy.
"Hah, perhaps. I thought that maybe death would be a desirable alternative to living a life where I don't know who I am."
"Have you yet changed your mind?"
Mercury nodded his head. "Yes. Now I know who I am. I'm a Reaper. My life is meant for killing beasts."
"That's a good outlook on life for you to have here," Quincy laughed jovially. "Still, you shouldn't forget to have fun. If you take this new life of yours too seriously, you'll get burnt out."
"Maybe. Warriors retire from battle, sure. But Reapers… death never retires. It is only an inevitability. Time passes, and death remains a constant. If it is our duty to carry out the will of death, then I will not be burnt out. I will only be inevitable."
"How brave." Quincy teased.
Mercury reached his hand out towards the stars, grasping at each individual glimmering crystal in the sky.
Unknowingly, at some point, his hand had waved over the ornate lantern, and the Shade of the Miasma Imp had vanished, replaced by the simmering form of Fang An once more.
"You bastard!" Fang An shouted suddenly, jolting Mercury into focus. He glanced down at the shade, his gaze filling with an anxious disposition. "Hey! Reaper Lady! Don't trust this bastard! He's an evil-"
Mercury brushed his hand against the ornate lantern, causing the Miasma Imp to swap with Fang An, silencing his cries. He looked over towards Quincy with cautious eyes, but the woman had only continued to stare at the night sky.
His mind raced. 'Did she not hear Fang An!? Is it the case that he can't alert her? The Shades really can't be heard by others!? If this is the case, then it's no matter to leave Fang An out. Still, I enjoy this silence when he is placed away in the lantern…' Mercury chided in his head. Of course, there was really no reason to deal with the annoyances of Fang An if it wasn't required. The man had no useful information to give out, and besides his forte, Danger Sense, which could be used passively while he was inactive, he was fairly useless.
Mercury grinned mischievously.
'So, how will I proceed from here?'