Page 168

Still, he held onto his bleeding mouth with one hand and supplied spiritual energy with the other to repair the hole in the barrier. His spell hadn’t completely taken root when something flashed in the air, startling him.

Lightning crackled in the sky, a roar of the heavens that drowned out the wailing of the resentful spirits. A long golden rope—a whip—cracked, the sound deafening. Before it wrapped around the hoard of resentful spirits.

The intricate golden whip glowed with an otherworldly light as it tightened around the hundred or so spirits, then yanked them away from the Hellfire, into the opposite direction.

Evan’s eyes followed the whip and landed on a black figure, perched atop the shoulder of a buff Hellguard who stomped his way forward. The black figure tugged at his golden whip and the spirits along with it. As they came closer, Evan noticed there wasn’t one but two dark figures on the Hellguard’s shoulder.

A sense of recollection rose in Evan’s mind, as if he had seen the two figures somewhere before. But it wasn’t until he smelled the sharp scent of oakwood incense that the information clicked into place in his head.

Grim Reapers.

The buff Hellguard carrying the Reapers stepped forward. Sensing the intrusion, the other rock demons who were trying to fish for Evan’s corpse in the pulverized ground, whipped around. Roaring as one, they barreled toward the newcomer.

Without a second thought, the buff Hellguard swung his huge arm and sent the other demons flying, knocked unconscious with just one strike.

“Out of the fucking way, rat bastards!” the Hellguard’s voice rumbled from his hollow mouth.

Evan’s eyebrow almost brushed his hairline.

Is that…Gruu?

Oh, no wonder he had looked so terrified when they’d parted ways earlier. Xen had probably threatened him into bringing the Reapers here to fetch the wandering souls. And any demon would be wary, if not utterly terrified, of the grim reapers. Because, apparently, they also hunted demons that ran rampant in the human world.

Gruu was clearly the dictionary definition of “rampant.”

The hooded figures on Gruu’s shoulder turned to Evan in unison and seemed to pause for a moment. Then one of them cocked his head. “Hey, pal, do you need a hand with that?”

Evan blinked. “With…what?”

The other Reaper quietly pointed a gloved finger behind Evan, and he realized he was still suspended from the jaws of death.

With a tired chuckle, Evan waved a hand. “Don’t mind me, just…hanging around.”

The two figures looked at him, then at each other. Without another word, they shrugged and turned to the resentful spirits captured in the golden whip.

“You’ve wandered for far too long. Rest now.”

Although the lash of the whip earlier had been brutal and quite frightening, the Reaper’s words came out soft, almost sympathetic.

The golden light from the whip radiated brighter and engulfed the shrieking spirits into a sphere of divine energy. It glowed brighter and brighter until finally the light exploded into a shimmering golden dust, carrying the souls in the wind towards the sky.

There were no words or cries of the spirits anymore but Evan couldfeeltheir gratitude swirling in the air as they finally attained freedom from the torments of their resentment. No matter how brutal the method, a human spirit reaped by a grim reaper would always cross over to the afterlife.

Evan’s shoulders slumped slightly.

With a pat on Gruu’s shoulder, the Reapers jumped down, landing lightly on the floor. It was a little strange to see death-personified figures dressed in black pants and hoodies. It didn’t induce the same sense of dread as the old paintings of the reapers that children grew up seeing in books. But perhaps theyhad acquired a better sense of fashion now, or maybe the long black reaper robes were simply too hot for summer.

With the golden whip in hand, the Reaper who seemed to be the only one speaking, said, “How long are you planning on hanging from there?”

Evan glanced back at the three-eyed hound, then cleared his throat. “Well…”

Until the thing decides to let me down. Does it look like my choice to hang from its mouth?

When he trailed off, the non-talkative Reaper pointed a finger at the three-eyed hound, then dropped it to the ground.

Evan followed the movement with his eyes, trying to decipher what he was saying. Yet unexpectedly, when the Reaper pointed to the ground, the hound slowly lowered Evan.

So, all kinds of dark creatures feared the reapers, not only demons.