Abyssal Awakening

Chapter 1069: Convincing The Reaper

Alice creased her brows. In order for her to ’convince’ the Reaper, she needed to offer something that actually benefited him.

But the question was, what benefited a nihilistic skeleton who was entirely comfortable with just surrendering himself to the circumstances?

A Reaper who was sick of people chasing immortality...

Scratching her hair, Alice was at her wit’s end.

She glanced up at the skeleton that had all but given up.

"When was the last time you tried?" she suddenly asked, confusing him.

"What?"

"When was the last time you tried to overturn your fate? You said that fate kept you in this godforsaken chair. But when was the last time you tried?" Alice asked again, clarifying her question.

The skeleton scratched his chin.

"Do you remember the last time you visited a certain inn? No? Well neither can I.

"How long do you think I’ve lived? At my age, time is a fcking concept that no longer applies to me. Everything is just the same old dreary sht that I’ve seen far too many times." He grumbled.

Alice swallowed nervously. Even though the Reaper was acting casual, this was still a manifestation of one of the foundational laws in their world.

One wrong move and he might see fit to reduce her into a mere smudge for saying the wrong thing.

"How much patience do you think I have?" the Reaper suddenly asked.

"Do you think the world would still be around if I started killing anything that took a shot at pissing me off? And trust me, you f*ckers are talented at that. I am a mere extension of this world.

"My powers can only be directed through specific means. In other words, even though I am death incarnate, I am bent to the will of you fckers unless you majorly fck up.

"So go on, speak your mind. Because trust me, child, whatever you say cannot compare to the things I’ve heard other f*ckers say across my miserable existence."

Seeing the Reaper lean this close, Alice had a full picture of his personality. Or at least, what she believed it to be.

It wasn’t complicated really.

He’d given up.

He didn’t care anymore.

He was through with trying and unless someone proved him wrong on their own, he wouldn’t make a move.

That was the kind of person he was.

Well... maybe calling this walking bag of skeletons a person wasn’t quite accurate in the end.

"You’re sick of people trying to attain immortality right? You’re sick of them reaching for something they shouldn’t achieve, yeah?" Alice spoke with a smile.

There was no more fear in her eyes as this was now a pitch to the Reaper.

A pitch to get him onto her side.

She wouldn’t give him lavish promises she didn’t know if she could keep.

Instead, she’d let him understand her thoughts.

Understand what she was fighting for and what she planned to do.

She didn’t have any grand ambitions after all.

Her dreams were all mundane.

"Hou? Are you going to suggest that you’ll fix things for me? To punish the ones reaching for immortality? Are you desiring to become my contractor?"

Yet Alice shook her head.

Being his contractor wasn’t her goal.

Her goal was just simple. As long as the Reaper fought to prevent Nyer from taking him away, then she’d be happy.

"Nah, you’re already contracted with two people. I doubt you’ll want more. Instead, what I want from you is simple. Watch and don’t make a move. Don’t let anyone use your power. Take a break." Alice chuckled with a grin.

If the Reaper had eyebrows, he would be raising them.

Take a break? Him?

"Nyer is trying to overturn the natural cycle of life and death.

"Even if it wasn’t for you, I can’t let that continue. Velouria wouldn’t want it to be so. As for the other things..." Alice paused before a smile appeared on her face.

"I’m not sure whether or not we’ll succeed, but my friends and I are trying to make the world slightly better.

"Gwen is changing the Sun for the better, Ria wants to destroy the Eclipse, and Enris doesn’t care. The sacrifices won’t stop but they’ll be reduced in scale in the future. The Moon will be taken down. I have three allies, though one of them I’m not too sure about.

"Either way, the world is changing. I’m sure you’ve seen it time and time again, so I’m simply asking you to just watch. Can’t relax and enjoy a show when you’ve got a ratty b*stard constantly tugging at your arm, right?"

The Reaper stayed silent. He scratched his chin and stared at Alice for what felt like an eternity.

"You make an interesting point, child. Every single time, you f*ckers are always trying to bargain with me. What they can do for me and what I’ll do in return. To borrow my power or even to tell me to leave. You are the first to tell me to just watch and relax.

"Even so, I must ask you this. Does it look like I give a f*ck about whether or not the world becomes a better place?"

Alice chuckled and shook her head.

"No, this is simply me pitching my plans to you. So instead why don’t you ask what choice will give you the most amount of entertainment."

Lifting his head up, the Reaper was silent for a brief moment.

"Entertainment... You’ve convinced others this way before, haven’t you? Child."

Alice shrugged.

"Half and half. I know a lot of people suffering from long life spans. All of them crave entertainment or a good death. I figured you were one of them."

"You are not f*cking wrong about that. Though...

"Loath as I am to admit it, he has prepared well. But what I can do instead is prevent him from using everything. This will be a gamble for you, child. I will do as you say and simply watch." The Reaper leaned forward, his eyes burning and casting a blue light across Alice’s face.

"However, you are now burdened with the task of entertaining me. I will do nothing to help. But I will also do nothing to sabotage.

"And if you dare commit the sin of boring me, I will personally make sure that I rip out your spine, eat it, then sh*t it out to fertilise a garden of my own choosing. There is only so much I’m willing to overlook when there is another f*cker in front of me abusing the loophole of life and death. And once that happens, I will personally deliver my powers on a platter for the f*cker named Nyer.

"There will be two chances at entertainment so let’s pray I remain satisfied with you.

"And the only reason why I’m letting you go is because it’s clear that this wasn’t a ’miracle’ that you chased after yourself. Much like the immortal vampire lad who suffers because of his mother’s experiments. But make no mistake, this is not a free ticket. Piss me off enough and I will come to claim my dues." Sitting up straight, the Reaper cracked his neck.

"Now go, entertain me, child." He swatted Alice away, breaking the link between them.

Snapping back to reality, Alice glanced up as the battlefield around her had devolved into a clash of personal realms and abilities flying everywhere.

Since the other Lords were slow in deploying their Second Resonances, there was a small protective zone around them, but the Rules they could apply were limited.

It was a strange sight truly. The Doctor cared little, so there wasn’t a domain around him. He was simply allowing the Elven Lord to tire herself out before making a move.

He wanted to be certain that she had nothing up her sleeve.

The sight of raging tides against the backdrop of Lab’s domain was rather... contrasting.

As for the other Royal Guard who fought the Eldritch one, their zone had been covered by a strange orb of Eldritch energy.

Even with Lab and Karya being the fastest to deploy their realms, he was still able to create a defensive wall that allowed him to fight without care.

A tricky opponent.

And finally, there were Nyer, Theron, and Gin next to the Avatar of the Reaper.

With Nyer’s control over space, keeping the deployment of the Second Resonances stable was simple enough.

During the time she had spoken to the Reaper, little had changed.

But that was only if you looked at things on the surface.

Alice stood up straight.

Karya and Gin froze before staring at her in bewilderment and shock.

They had noticed that Alice had formed a link with the Reaper a moment ago and now here she stood, confident as always, while they had just heard the most outrageous thing on their end.

*CRACK!!!

A thunderous crack echoed out as everyone looked towards the Reaper. His fingers coiled around one of the chains latched onto his body and tried to break it apart.

He failed, yet cracks could be seen spreading across the links.

"Who the hell do you think you are, boy?" A deep voice echoed from the Reaper’s jaw.

"I am the f*cking Reaper."

Loosening the restraints enough that he could move his arm freely, the Reaper raised his hand and...

Gave Nyer the middle finger.

*BANG!!!

In that instant, the Reaper’s avatar shattered into countless pieces while bone and black mist erupted from his chest. Theron quickly dodged out of the way while Nyer, the one closest to that middle finger at that point, had bone shards embedded deep into his body.

"!!!"

Expelling the shards, Nyer frowned as he noticed black mist seeping from his wounds.

He had not expected the Reaper to act in such a manner, especially after taking his time to research him. Yet...

He turned his head towards Alice.

She must’ve caused a new variable.

Nyer narrowed his eyes, but the only response he got from Alice was another middle finger along with a grin. Opening her mouth, she mouthed a single simple message.

"Go f*ck yourself."