Part 5: Wishes Do Come True (3)

Whooooosh.

A sinister wind blew in from the west side of the plaza.

The wreckage of the plaza was swept up in the gust. The shattered remains of skeleton bones clattered unpleasantly as they rolled around.

Aiden’s robe and Jack’s robe fluttered in unison.

The tension between them was palpable.

Aiden calmly studied Jack.

The dark energy coursing through Jack’s entire body was formidable—comparable to a 4th- or even 5th-class mage.

Yet, his youthful appearance was striking.

He looked no older than his late twenties.

It was a sign he was born with a rare talent as a dark mage.

Black ash stained Jack’s hands. Some of his fingers had hollowed depressions, a testament to his craft.

He really did draw those grotesque “deathly artworks” he rambled about.

Even so, Aiden didn’t see the need to brand Jack as the ultimate villain.

After all, Aiden himself had killed countless people.

Among them were a few good-hearted souls and plenty of villains who deserved death a thousand times over.

Unlike Jack, however, Aiden didn’t resort to cruel methods.

Sure, he acted under orders from his master. But in the end…

What difference did it make?

The result was the same.

Aiden had no intention of justifying his assassinations.

That was the fundamental difference between him and Jack.

Why am I even here…?

Aiden’s thoughts turned inward.

Strictly speaking, he had no obligation to save Lucy.

No one had asked him to.

Yet, the moment he sensed Lucy’s peril, he had instinctively moved to rescue her.

It was strange.

No… it was astonishing.

Someone like him, who only knew how to take lives, had chosen to save someone of his own volition…

All of a sudden, the memories of Cheese and Lucy overlapped in his mind.

A connection became clear.

For the first time, Aiden could define friendship in his own words.

“You zoning out or something?”

Just then, Jack glared daggers at him.

Aiden responded with a small nod instead of a verbal reply.

“I can’t believe I thought you were one of my kind, even for a moment. You’re just an idiot.”

“We’ll find out soon enough who the real idiot is—you or me.”

“Big words for someone about to regret crossing me. I’ll turn you into a skeleton with a conscience. A masterpiece, just for you.”

Grind!

Jack clenched his teeth and extended his hand toward the air.

Suddenly, a massive magic circle materialized in the sky.

From within it, an enormous hand emerged.

The hand, as large as a house, hurtled down to crush Aiden.

The powerful gusts created by its descent caused their robes to billow violently, scattering debris in all directions.

If that hand landed…

Aiden’s entire body would be pulverized into dust.

Of course, that wouldn’t happen.

Demon’s Grasp.

A high-tier dark magic spell was descending upon Aiden, but it still wasn’t enough to overwhelm him.

Swish!

Aiden’s Holy Dagger carved a crescent moon above his head.

The enormous hand split cleanly in two. Black energy gushed out like blood from the severed halves before evaporating into nothingness.

“You bastard! Take this instead!” Jack shouted furiously, his voice trembling with rage.

Behind him, twenty dark spears materialized.

These weren’t ordinary spears.

The blades were razor-sharp, and the shafts were thick tridents—designed to inflict fatal wounds with just a graze.

[Dark Spears: Storm Formation]

Swish!

The spears shot toward Aiden like a dense volley of arrows.

Though they left no room to dodge, Aiden could see a path of evasion at a glance.

But with his allies behind him, he decided to block the attack instead.

Shadow Waltz.

Aiden danced with the Holy Dagger, deflecting every single dark spear with flawless precision.

Each clash between the dagger and the spears produced sparks of yellow and red. The scene resembled a dazzling fireworks display.

The silver streaks of the Holy Dagger wove through the spectacle, creating a breathtaking sight.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

The clear sound of steel resonated throughout the plaza like a symphony.

Soon enough, the once-menacing dark spears fell harmlessly to the ground and dissolved into dust.

Once again, the dark magic hadn’t even scratched Aiden.

“You dare mock my art…”

Jack trembled with fury.

Anger.

The second response a person exhibits when faced with death.

Of course, Jack was oblivious to this fact.

“Tonight, every living being in this town will perish. And it’s all your fault.”

Jack’s gaze burned with intensity.

Malice gleamed in his serpent-like eyes as the dark energy emanating from him began to coalesce into a new form.

Aiden simply watched, unperturbed.

No matter what desperate stunt Jack pulled, he could never defeat Aiden.

Across the entire continent, the divine realm, the demonic realm, the spirit world, and even the netherworld, there were only a handful of beings who could stand toe-to-toe with him one-on-one.

“What are you doing?! Attack now!” behind him, Captain Bolton shouted urgently.

“If you see an opening, strike him down! I don’t know much, but it looks like he’s preparing some terrifying finishing move!”

“I’m not particularly scared.”

“This isn’t the time to act cocky!”

“Well, we’ll see soon enough, won’t we?”

“Damn it! You’re driving me crazy!”

Bolton cursed in frustration, but Aiden paid him no mind.

To absorb one’s death qi and wield it effectively, observing how they utilized their powers was crucial.

As they spoke, Jack’s secret weapon took shape.

He had condensed his dark energy into a single thought—a manifestation of his will.

That thought donned a black robe and held a long scythe in its skeletal hand.

The scythe glinted ominously in the moonlight, while dark energy wafted from the figure’s body.

“A scythe-wielding Grim Reaper. Witness Jack the Ripper’s grand entrance,” Jack sneered coldly as he introduced his creation.

Aiden chuckled.

For someone who called himself an artist, Jack’s imagination was disappointingly unoriginal.

*  *  *

“Ah, we’re doomed.”

Bolton slumped his shoulders in despair.

Facing the Reaper, he felt fear seep into his very bones. It was as though he had come face-to-face with death itself.

His hair stood on end.

His neck and spine tingled with a bone-chilling coldness.

His limbs stiffened, making movement almost impossible.

“You should’ve attacked earlier, Chief! That was our best chance to finish Jack!”

“And risk provoking the wrong person?”

“Jack was wide open!”

“I wasn’t talking about Jack. I meant Sir Aiden.”

“Wait, are you seriously addressing that young man with honorifics now?”

“Aren’t you about to join the fray, Captain?”

Cody’s words were cryptic.

But Bolton couldn’t make sense of Cody’s intentions.

Sure, Aiden was strong, but Cody seemed almost excessive in his praise of him.

What kind of relationship do those two have…

Eventually, the showdown between Aiden and the Reaper, which would decide the town’s fate, began.

As expected, the Reaper was a monster.

Swish!

Swish!

Every time the Reaper swung its long scythe, a sharp gust sliced through the air.

Even the pressure of the wind alone was enough to split nearby buildings.

The only reason the group remained unharmed was because Cody had erected a barrier.

Without legs to bind it, the ghostly Reaper moved without restrictions, pressuring Aiden with an unpredictable trajectory.

Bolton couldn’t follow the Reaper’s movements, not even for a second.

The soldiers, too, stood there slack-jawed, frozen in awe.

“To defeat that thing, we’d need a Swordmaster-level knight. But there’s no one like that in our territory. We’re doomed.”

“My, you scare too easily. Don’t you think something seems off?”

“What do you mean?”

“Aiden’s still perfectly fine.”

“Huh?”

Only then did Bolton realize he had overlooked something.

The Reaper was undoubtedly a grim reaper.

And yet, Aiden remained unscathed against such an opponent.

The Reaper’s scythe hadn’t so much as grazed him.

From a certain perspective, Aiden almost looked relaxed, as though playing a game of tag.

If Aiden were weaker than the Reaper…

His head would already be rolling.

Or he’d have lost a limb by now.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Just then, the sharp clang of metal rang out.

Though their movements were too fast to follow, the sound proved Aiden wasn’t just dodging anymore—he was starting to block as well.

Can he really fend off the Reaper’s scythe with that tiny dagger?

“Heh… heh heh heh.”

With a low, mournful groan, the Reaper’s figure came into view.

The fierce exchange of blows had momentarily subsided.

A long, horizontal gash had appeared across the Reaper’s chest.

Unbelievable.

He managed to wound that monstrous Reaper.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, the Reaper hurled its scythe.

The weapon itself was invisible, but the whirlwind it stirred was impossible to miss.

The scythe spun violently, creating a spiraling vortex in its wake.

And yet, what happened next was even more astonishing.

Thunk!

Aiden caught the scythe.

An impossible feat.

How sharp must his reflexes be to grab the spinning handle of that weapon?

And what about his strength?

But the miracles didn’t end there.

Flash!

Aiden vanished, only to reappear behind the Reaper without warning.

As he swung the scythe, a chilling and ominous arc carved through the air.

The trajectory was far larger and more powerful than any the Reaper had unleashed before.

The force seemed capable of cleaving a mountain.

Shhhk!

Astonishingly, it was the grim reaper who fell first.

*  *  *

Jack rubbed his eyes repeatedly.

But nothing changed.

The trump card he had poured all his remaining magic into had vanished.

Reduced to nothing more than blackened ash scattered in the wind.

An absurd outcome.

Jack had once faced a Swordmaster alongside the Reaper.

Did this mean Aiden was stronger than a Swordmaster?

Why would such a powerful figure stay in a place as insignificant as this?

Shock and terror gripped Jack.

With the Reaper defeated, there was no longer any means to oppose Aiden.

“Why… Why is someone like you in a town like this?”

“You’re here. Why shouldn’t I be?”

Aiden shrugged.

Despite having dismantled dark magic and fought the Reaper, Aiden showed no signs of fatigue.

The real monster wasn’t the Reaper—it was Aiden.

“Look, tell me what you want. Whatever it is, I’ll give it to you. If your family or lover died, I can bring them back. They’d be undead, of course.”

“……”

“Being undead isn’t all bad, you know. In fact, you’d get to be with them forever.”

“So, this is how you beg for your life.”

“I… I don’t want to die.”

“That’s what the people you killed must have said, too. They probably begged to be spared, promising to do anything. What did you do then?”

Jack couldn’t bring himself to answer.

Of course, he hadn’t spared those who begged for their lives.

Instead, he had killed them more cruelly and gruesomely, reveling in his power.

“I’m not like ordinary people. My life is worth more than that of worms.”

Aiden said nothing.

He simply strode toward Jack, his cold, lifeless gaze speaking volumes:

There would be no compromise.

Having passed through denial, anger, bargaining, and despair, Jack finally arrived at acceptance.

He resigned himself to death.

There was nothing else he could do.

Jack was utterly powerless.

“Before I die, let me ask you one thing. Who… Who are you?”

As the chill crept up his neck and his gaze dropped to the ground, Jack finally received the answer he had been dying to know:

“I am the real Grim Reaper.”
 

To be continued

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