The Grim Reaper’s Soul Body can only use one ability, but if it multiplies beyond its current numbers, it would be unmanageable.
That guy can’t endlessly increase the number of souls, either.
‘There must be a limit. Just look at how he was about to leave to find Mari.’
“Jim!”
Kwoooosh──!
I summoned my minion by calling its name loudly.
“What the hell is that? Centipede Hell?”
“It’s the upgraded version. How about it? Seems perfect for dealing with a guy like you!”
[Crakdaldaldal!!]
“?! Ugh… I’ve never seen such a fucked-up thing in my life. I can’t stand it.”
The Grim Reaper fell for ‘Jim’s’ provocation quite nicely.
‘Is he weak to provocations?’
I scattered to both sides along with the provocation, and he turned towards the right where Jim was.
At that moment, Jim’s mouth opened wide, and from it gushed forth the ‘Gori’ troops, while the Hook Bats rushed in with their signature snap to claw at the Grim Reaper.
“Damn it!”
“Haha, this transformation is possible now!”
He seemed so flustered by the sudden appearance of the bats that he raised his power to an excessive degree.
Then, in a speed so incredible I couldn’t even react, he swung his scythe dozens of times, tearing through all the space around him.
Bam── BamBamBamBamBoom──!
– Minion ‘Jim’ is being released.
– Minion ‘Gori’ is being released.
– Minion ‘Gori2’ is being released.
– Minion ‘Gori3’ is being released.
‘What the hell…?! That’s way stronger than that skill called Grim Reaper White Sea! Is that some kind of ultimate technique? If I got hit by that, I would have instantly died.’
[Red Horned Flute]
Without a moment to catch my breath, I provoked him again. He seemed like the type that got easily agitated, so I was planning to settle this early.
* Top-tier magic circuit is currently applied.
– If mana falls below 50, it will recover to maximum once a day.
My remaining mana was instantly depleted, but thanks to the second option of the magic circuit, my mana filled back to maximum.
[Manhwa Portal]
With continuous provocations, his eyes completely glazed over, and he lunged at my invincible self.
Although it was absurd to say I would consume all my remaining mana by provoking him, the effect was undeniably effective.
It was clear that among the countless equipment and artifacts hanging from his body, there was something that raised his resistance to status effects, yet he was still impacted.
And that was likely made possible by the devastating earth effect I had laid down since our first encounter.
“Come on! You trashy piece of shit!!”
“Arrrgh! I’ll kill you!!”
[Grim Reaper’s Malice]
The scythe, stained with malice, repeatedly slashed at me like a storm in a short period of time.
‘Hm?! Something feels off?’
The Grim Reaper, engulfed in a dark red aura, couldn’t inflict any damage on my invincible self, but at some point, I noticed several skull marks etched above my head.
‘What the hell is this?!’
– ‘Grim Reaper’s Mark’ is activated.
– ‘Grim Reaper’s Mark’ is activated.
“I’ll kill you──!!”
‘What the hell…?!’
If this mark overlaps a certain amount, do I end up like the souls he controls?
I had always been the one placing the Flame Marks, but the situation had completely reversed.
‘Now I understand why everyone feared the Grim Reaper! Ignoring invincibility and having marks engraved?!’
BoomBoomBoomBoom──!
I hurriedly fired thousands of mana bullets to shake him off.
The Grim Reaper, with his mouth shut tight, focused entirely on dodging them.
He moved with a fluidity that seemed like he was seeing into the future, expertly dodging between the densely packed mana bullets.
“How about this!!”
While the provoked guy could not take his eyes off me, he ultimately lost his balance and allowed a few mana bullets in thanks to the attacks from Ainz and Dry that suddenly burst from beneath the ground.
“This kind of minor characters…!”
ThudThudThudThudBoom!!
“What the hell is this?!”
And then there were piles of rocks surrounding him in a circular pattern, forming a Dark Space.
He tried to evade into the sky, but just then, Zweihander, wielding a white spear, vertically dropped down to intercept him.
“Ugh?!”
The Grim Reaper couldn’t even react to the unexpected ambush, but thanks to the defensive shield activated by the third summoned Soul Body, he narrowly managed to block the attack and evade fully.
No matter how high the stones were stacked, it seemed impossible to trap that speedy guy.
However.
[Lightning Armor – Combat Type]
[Blink]
I tried to make use of that brief opening to move behind him.
But in that critical moment, a fleeting image flashed through my mind.
– Achievement [Foreseer’s Steps] is activated!
The red scythe, eyes filled with malice, and exactly half my head split in two.
‘?!’
This was a fleeting moment of the future I was about to experience.
‘Avoid─!’
Swoooooosh──!
‘Ugh…?!’
Surprisingly, in the moment of [Blink], while I crossed space, he executed something that sliced off a third of my head and my left shoulder in one swift move.
Chill──
The moment sent shivers down my spine.
Even I thought the plan was perfectly timed, so what level has this monster reached to display such mystical abilities?
‘If the foresight hadn’t activated, I would’ve been dead… This is terrifying. I thought everything was going according to plan, but he was hiding his final card!’
From the heart of the Grim Reaper shot out a small red scythe.
That was no ordinary item.
A weapon powerful enough to nullify all my defenses and capabilities.
There were ten skull marks stacked above my head, resonating with the scythe that had attacked me with a red glow.
‘When the marks build up, he probably uses that scythe to attack and kill me, turning me into a Soul Body. This could have been a big problem.’
Crack──
“Ugh! Are you not going to remove those filthy hands?!”
Having narrowly escaped from the deadly crisis with some luck, I barely managed to catch up to him.
However, with one side of my vision gone, it wasn’t easy to hold him down.
[Chain of Flame]
[Altered Green Binding]
“Ahhh! Let go! Damn you!”
His resistance was dauntingly fierce, and having lost a significant portion of my skull and shoulder, I wasn’t able to secure him completely.
At this rate, I might just let him slip away.
Just then.
Sssssssssssss──
Boom─!!
*Cough-! Ugh… You, you! That Hwang Tae-wook bastard···!*
‘Finally, I’ve got the timing right.’
The black sword thrown by Hwang Tae-wook lodged into the Grim Reaper’s side, causing his resistance to dwindle drastically.
Woooooooosh──
The sword thrown by Hwang Tae-wook was imbued with light elemental energy, which would have been sufficient to be effective against a villain, even if it was just Mari’s weak divine power.
I seized the opportunity and activated the binding magic again, wrapping him tightly with my arms and legs. As I kept releasing and retracting the bone thorns, his eyes filled with crimson rage fixated on me.
*Fwoofwoofwoofwoof──!!*
[Fierce Claws Lv.Max]
– By using body parts for attacks, there is a 100% chance to induce status effects [Bleeding] and [Paralysis].
– Ignores 40% of enemy defense.
– Bleeding: Decreases maximum health by 0.1% every second.
– Paralysis: Stiffens the body for 1 second.
The max-level trait [Fierce Claws] kicked into gear.
A defense-ignoring skill. It was a terrifying ability that would inevitably accumulate damage.
On top of that, transitioning to Flame Armor allowed for continuous flame damage.
He didn’t even have a chance to think as I gnawed at his ears and neck frantically.
“Hey! What are you minions doing— Ugh! Aah! It hurts! It hurts! Damn it!!”
Despite not being aware of it, my teeth transformed into a structure that tightly locked in place, like thorny vines, where once bitten, nothing could escape.
‘I’m going to chew you up!!’
[Janitor’s Tooth]
– Damage dealt by biting doubles.
– Can permanently damage armor made from monster byproducts.
– Temporarily steals the defense of the completely destroyed armor.
Crack──!
“Ughhhhh! It hurts! Stop it! Seriously, wait! I surrender! Ugh! Surrender!! Tae, Tae-wook! Mari—”
Crack─! Creek! Crack!!
No matter what he said, I simply bit and tore at him as my focus zeroed in on the visible target.
I could no longer hear him scream; I was just intoxicated by the warm blood flowing from the Grim Reaper’s body, dizzy with excitement, feeling like I was soaring in the sky.
He was an astonishingly powerful S-rank guy, but with my enhanced teeth, it felt as easy as tearing apart a well-prepared fish.
[Blood Sacrifice]
Fwoooosh──!
“Cough?! Ughhh… Stop… P-please…! Noooooo!!”
Tearing, biting, and swallowing like a beast, greedily sucking blood.
Ten thorns that had pressed hard against his heart buried deep into him, drinking up all the fluids as they flowed through his body.
Twitch twitch—
He could no longer even scream, just quivering like a mouse in front of a cat.
– Strength +3
– Agility +4
– Magic Power +7
– Magic +5
.
.
.
The Grim Reaper became the best source of nourishment for me.
I even surpassed the stat boosts I got from the shell of Jo Gi-man’s clone.
Especially the magic stat, which had exploded to an abnormal extent; I had no idea how that mechanism worked.
And a few minutes later.
Thud──
– You have subdued ‘Soul Stealer Grim Reaper Jung Tae-hyung.’
Jung Tae-hyung, still trembling, showed he was alive.
‘Is he not dead yet? What a remarkable guy.’
I hadn’t even controlled the bloodsucking, yet he was still clinging to life by a thread.
I couldn’t help but admire his tenacious vitality internally.
At that moment, the souls that were hovering over the shriveled up Grim Reaper’s head, along with a dozen newly summoned souls, all bowed toward me.
Even though they were faceless, I could tell they were expressing gratitude, so I returned a greeting.
They were all unfortunate beings who had lost their lives to the Grim Reaper and were bound in soul.
‘Thanks to saving those souls, my mana might have surged massively.’
Soon, a message announcing the release of the souls trapped by the Grim Reaper appeared.
– You have obtained a soul shard of S-rank Hunter Ahn In-sun!
– You have obtained a soul shard of A-rank Hunter Shin Woo-ri!
– You have obtained a soul shard of A-rank Hunter Ryu Rin!
.
.
.
‘Oh… what is this?!’
I received a message that said I had rescued no fewer than seventeen souls after defeating the Grim Reaper.
There was even an S-rank soul among them, but most were A-rank and B-rank hunters, and astonishingly, a few of them were people I had connections with in my previous life.
‘Ryu Rin… This person used to communicate frequently in the Hunter community. He shouldn’t be dead right now… The world line has certainly changed a lot.’
I had no idea how to utilize the obtained souls, but just recalling the trade with the old woman connected through Master Gori would surely bring me great benefits.
Moreover.
– You have obtained the artifact ‘Scythe of the Grim Reaper’!
– You have obtained the artifact ‘Specter’s Orb’!
– You have obtained the artifact ‘Iron Wall Protective Circlet’!
‘Whoa…?! No way? So many artifacts?!’
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