Beyond Death ( Part 3 )
With the renewed stamina , Jack punched aside a Wailing hound that was in his way before leaping forth and grabbing his fallen sword.
The mage and the reaper tried to attack him at this point , but each got a mouthful of Constricted Surface that sent them reeling back.
The mage easily fell flat on his face , the strain from the relentless attacks over burdening his body.
Jack seized the moment that the reaper was left undefended and moved to run his sword through its chest. He wanted to stab its heart , hoping that that would put it down. Of course it didn't.
It felt the pain of course, but no critical damage was sustained. Jack had to swiftly yank out his sword and leap out of harm's way before he got diced in half by the incoming scythe.
"That weapon is now becoming a burdensome nag," he grunted.
Two hounds , the last of the pack it seemed , tried jumping Jack from behind.
They were either a pair of very lucky canines to have walked through Constricted Furnace unscathed , or the talent's effectiveness was dropping as its expiration time drew nearer. Whatever the case was , Jack moved to end them before they became a further nuisance.
He jammed the sword through the neck of the first one , already picking out the other one with a vicious kick.
"That's odd ," he wondered why the System had failed to award points for the impaled hound's death. The zombified state had after all not stopped the rewards before.
The luxury to linger around the thought was , however ,not available with the second hound now jumping over the hound he had just killed, baring its gaping maw at Jack's face.
Dodging it was effortless , and he swiftly struck it down.
[
System Warning
Constricted Surface remaining uptime - 00:00:60:00
]
The second hound too had not dropped anything. As the mage and the reaper stood beside each other , seemingly wary of making any further moves lest they run into another wall of fire , Jack pondered over the strange phenomenon.
Perception kicked in.
" So this is why no one knows how to kill your kind , isn't it? You hide your soul in the bodies of one of the zombies you create, don't you ? No wonder I'm getting no rewards here , there was nothing killed , just your soul fleeing from one body to the next !" Jack's eyes lit up with a mad rush of ecstasy.
"And now it only has one last place to put its soul ," he smiled at the idle mage.
It was impossible to tell what the reaper was thinking when it lacked a face and all that was visible was the vast expanse of darkness cloaked under its cape's hood ,but Jack knew he had it figured out.
And even as Constricted Surface died out , he was no longer afraid. All he had to do was kill the already weakened mage , the last remaining zombie, and the reaper would fall.
Sensing that Constricted Surface was gone , the reaper launched a rapid offensive , desperate to end Jack before he could kill the mage. The mage also attacked , but the reaper was making sure Jack wasn't getting any clear openings to land critical strikes.
Every time he tried to go for the neck , head or chest , the scythe would immediately come tearing away at everything.
He parried one of the reaper's attacks , matching it in strength at this point.
The rundown tunnel gave away and started coming down in massive blocks of concrete. The mage came tearing through the raining rocks , his axe poised for Jack.
Jack leaned backwards , feeling the sizzling heat from its blade burn at his face as the axe flew past.
The mage was now seriously weakened , unable to properly wield his heavy weapon anymore. The axe slipped from grasp , spinning through the air till it got lost in the downpour of rubble and falling debris.
The reaper tried to bring itself between Jack and the mage again , a vain attempt to protect him.
Jack interpreted this desperate move as an indication that the reaper was incapable of storing its soul in its own body. If it had , then it would have taken it back and fled this losing battle.
He rolled on his knees and slid under the scythe , a move pattern he had already gotten used to, then sent his sword through the back of the mage's left ankle.
As a blast of grey dust escaped from the injury and the mage was brought down to one knee , Jack turned back and put his sight on its exposed neck. The mage was widely exposed , kneeling between Jack on one side and its master the soul Reaper on the opposite side.
An uneasy stand off occurred as the last of the debris finished pouring down. The reaper blasted forward , its scythe in hand, aiming to get to the mage before Jack could.
Jack had two options as he too went for the mage , putting himself in a collision course with the reaper's scythe.
One ,forget the mage and instead block the scythe with his sword.
Two , move faster and cut off the mage's neck before the reaper's attack ever landed on him.
With his stamina dangerously below 30 % , he went for the second option , choosing to burn away through all the energy he had left with this last decisive blow.
His speed , pushed to the maximum for its current level , was just enough to bring his sword through the mage's throat before the attacking scythe went across his own body.
" Aaaargh ! Get out !" Jack heard Aiko scream inside him as the Soul Reaper tried to transfer its soul into his body.
He would have panicked , but the System was already giving out awards . He had won.
[
System information
Soul Reaper defeated.
Rewards ; Summoning tickets x3 , Points 400 , Soul Reaper crown x1 , Soul Reaper Cloak x 1
Personal Attribute upgrade ;
Durability : Level 2 -> Level 4
Strength : Level 2 -> Level 5
]
"Finally , it is done," he said, fainting off.
" Bossman , Bossman ! Bossman !" Aiko jumped out of Jack's body and caught him just as he was about to fall and hit his head against a protruding spire that had come down with the tunnel's collapse.
He was a bit heavy for her , but she held on till he was softly placed on the ground.
As she had expected , he had completely run out of stamina when he executed the finishing attack.
The best she could do now was stay and watch over him till he recovered his lost energy. Without stamina in his body , not even she could access the System and perhaps do something to speed up his recovery
Jack blinked, slowly gathering his bearings. The chill of the night still clung to his skin, but the warmth of the rising sun softened the edges of it, melting away the fatigue in his bones. He sat up, taking in the view from the skyscraper's edge: the sprawling cityscape below was shrouded in a faint morning mist, catching glints of sunlight that reflected off rooftops and glass panels. The air was crisp and tinged with the quiet peace that only dawn could bring.
A small, makeshift fire flickered beside him, its warmth pooling around a tin can where Carol and Aiko were huddled. Aiko was seated with her arms stretched close to the flames, her expression fixed in determined focus, as if the simple act of warming herself was some secret mission. Jack chuckled to himself, watching as Aiko's face lit up the moment she noticed he was awake.
"Bossman, you're finally awake!" she beamed, her gloomy expression disappearing in an instant. "Aiko was worried all night."
Jack took a deep breath of the morning air, gazing over the city. "Is it morning already?" he asked, noting the soft orange glow stretching across the horizon. Caesar's deadline loomed in his mind.
Carol approached, handing him a tin of military-issue beans, her face softened by the morning light. "You said Hamilton Brook is your co-worker. Does that mean the two of you are close?" Her question held genuine curiosity, but her voice was edged with the weariness of someone who had endured an uncertain night.
Jack nodded, feeling a pang of nostalgia. "Yes, we are. Carol, was it? Where are the rest of your soldiers?"
Carol's expression clouded. "They had families to see to. I couldn't ask them to stay behind." She began to pass the can of beans to Jack, but Aiko stepped forward, blocking the handoff.
"Bossman, Aiko does not trust this woman with an ugly scar on her face," she declared, her words so blunt that Jack almost winced.
"Aiko!" Jack stared at her, shocked. "That was rude."
"Aiko is sorry, Bossman, but she still thinks she has a point." Aiko's eyes narrowed , her mouth set stubbornly. "Aiko will only approve of her food once the soldier eats it herself."
Carol raised her eyebrows, taken aback, but complied, scooping a few bites and swallowing them without hesitation. "See?" she said, glancing at Aiko with a smirk. "Nothing's wrong with the food."
Satisfied, Aiko took the can and dramatically shoveled a few spoonfuls into her mouth. "Aiko has no more quarrel with the soldier. Bossman can eat her food in the meantime," she declared, wiping her mouth with an exaggerated nod.
Jack laughed, finally taking the food from her. "You're lucky Aiko likes you," he teased Carol, who gave a small smile in return.
She settled next to him on the cold concrete, her gaze thoughtful as she watched the sun slowly rise from the top of the sky scrapper.
"You defeated a first-class mage—and that thing that turned Marcus into a zombie. I was sent here knowing you were talented, but they didn't tell me you were a mage of that caliber."
Aiko piped up, "Bossman isn't some lowly mage; he has a System."
Jack shot her a warning look ,she was talking too much.
Carol seemed unfazed by the revelation. "Your secrets are safe with me," she assured him, voice subdued. "The truth is, it hardly matters now. People are already preparing to leave."
"Leave?" Jack paused, taking her in more closely. The soft morning light cast her face in a golden glow, but there was a shadow in her eyes.
"The Government is planning a mass evacuation," Carol explained, her voice calm despite the weight of the words. "Through the portals."
Jack felt his pulse quicken. "The same portals that these monsters have been using to enter our world?"
Carol nodded. "Yes. The whole of yesterday was spent sending reconnaissance teams through them. The portals lead to a world that seems… safe enough. There were reports of beautiful sprawling meadows blooming with life."
She glanced out toward the horizon after saying this.
Jack frowned, a sense of unease stirring within him. The thought of taking people to an alien world—especially one tied to the origin of the monsters—felt reckless.
"That is Praiyas , the world is where all the monsters are coming from. Taking the people there should not even be considered an option ," Jack stood up.
Carol sighed, her eyes downcast. "Here… there's nothing left. Whole nations have been decimated. Cities are overrun. This skyscraper we're standing on is one of the last safe places for miles. The government believes there's no other way."
She paused, choosing her words carefully. "And they're not sending people without protection. Every portal will have first and second-class mages guarding it, safeguarding the civilians as they cross over. They think… they hope that they can create new colonies there, build something temporary."
Jack watched as Aiko stretched, lifting her face to the gentle rays of sunlight that spilled across the rooftop.
The scene was peaceful, yet his mind buzzed with apprehension. He turned to her, the woman's expression bright but unreadable as ever. "What do you think about all this?"