Immortal didn't have time to be shocked. Before landing on the ground, he erected a powerful Barrier of bones that covered Zhang and his mother's souls, while simultaneously using an advanced spell to calm the Banshee and make her stop engaging in the fight...
The Eternal King's projection arrived, and he was also surprised by the entire situation. He quickly cast a spell to help Immortal, who now held a black scythe identical to the Reaper's, and exchanged physical blows with him.
"Sealing of the Black Rocks!"
After the Eternal King chanted the sealing spell, he locked his left hand on the creature hanging from the tower. Several pieces of black rock erupted from various parts of Stygai, sealing the Undead creature and taking it back to its Tower of origin.
The way the black rocks flew, forming a coffin around the Undead monster as it carried him back to its tower and then sealed the window, was beautiful to watch and even briefly distracted the Immortal from his battle.
Afterward, the transparent projection of the Eternal King cast a second spell, covering the bone barrier, strengthening the souls of those inside.
"What happened?" the Eternal King asked after ensuring Zhang was okay.
"Strike"
"Clang"
"Slash"
"Clash"
"Dodge"
"I don't know either... But since we're here, why don't we kill him again? We were going to do it anyway to train Zhang..." said the Immortal, still exchanging blows with the Reaper, but he was already growing tired due to the monster's many negative effects.
"It's true, it would be easier to set up the barrier in the cemetery if the Reaper gives us a few days off…"
"I'm counting on your help, then!"
Soon, a shadow emerged from the Eternal King and spread throughout Stygai like a mist. All the Shadow Souls touched by the Eternal King's shadow began to transform, gaining a more vivid body made of black flesh. Soon, they began to rush toward the battlefield, which Immortal gradually led away from Zhang.
As the Shadow Souls arrived on the battlefield, they began to form a wall around where Immortal fought. The more shadows accumulated, the higher the wall became, with them climbing on top of each other.
Immortal had already reached the limit of physical combat due to the extra fatigue imposed by the Reaper's curse. He then distanced himself from the monster and began using many advanced spells to restrain it.
When the wall of Shadow Souls had built up enough, he used his strongest restraining spell to bind the Reaper and retreated from the monster through the only open space in the wall of shadow creatures.
As Immortal stepped away, the Eternal King gave the final order for all the monsters on the wall of corpses to rush toward the Reaper like a veritable horde of zombies.
As the mountain of monsters piled up on the Reaper, the Eternal King activated the spell he had prepared:
"Great Corpse Explosion!"
"BOOM"
"BOOM"
"BOOM"
"BOOM"
"BOOM"
The explosions from the corpses piled up, shaking the entire city. When the smoke cleared, all that remained of the Reaper was a charred corpse stripped of its familiar black robe, but it was still alive and gripping its spear tightly.
But at that moment, a coffin of bones formed by the Immortal closed over its body, finally separating the monster from its weapon. At the same time, several bone spikes protruded from the coffin, proving that whatever was inside had been pierced along with it.
The Eternal King cast another advanced spell, this time creating two giant palms made of bones that held the coffin together, emanating a dark energy that dissolved everything, turning both the Reaper and the coffin to dust. Finally, finishing off Stygai's fearsome creature.
Immortal breathed heavily as he walked over to Zhang and led him back to his Tower. The Eternal King nodded to him and advanced, holding the scythe. Unfortunately, it was the Reaper's only loot this time, as they had destroyed his corpse.
The Eternal King went to Stygai's central cemetery, taking advantage of the fact that the next seven days would be peaceful before the cursed creature was reborn…
He then spent the next few days placing hundreds of barriers around the cemetery and all the problematic coffins he had there…
And back at Necro Tower, Immortal began the Secular Ritual as a way to speed the healing of Zhang's soul wounds…
***
A few days later, Zhang finally woke up. He was inside a giant aquarium filled from head to toe with a clear red liquid. He also had a tube in his mouth that helped him breathe. The liquid was warm and made his skin tingle occasionally… It was so comfortable that he almost fell asleep again after waking up.
"The Secular Ritual has already begun, use astral projection!"
Zhang heard his master's voice inside his head, and then did as he was told. When his soul left his body, he could confirm that in the center of the aquarium, the Grim Reaper's reddish-black skull remained, releasing an energy that turned the liquid he was immersed in a red hue he had seen.
"How am I alive, master?" Zhang asked in his soul form, after seeing Immortal and Zha'Thik in the room with him...
"Tell me what happened first..."
After Zhang told the whole story, Immortal felt extremely embarrassed... He had forgotten how young people were with the opposite sex. He had been like that for the first 300 years of his life, too... But that was so long ago that he had forgotten Zhang had such needs.
"Oh, I should have told you that some girls provide that kind of service at the Bizarre Bazaar..."
"No, I'm not looking for that... I want to know what happened to my fiancée. Is she okay?"
"Zhang, it's my fault. I should have realized, but my memory isn't very good when it comes to people... Unfortunately, Anita has been dead for at least 400 years," Zha'Thik said apologetically.
"No... Impossible! She... I... You're lying..." Zhang said, pausing as he pieced together the information in his head...
Soon, Immortal and Zha'Thik began to tell an old story, one with a very sad ending about a certain family of apprentices...
***
Back at Stygai's central cemetery, the Eternal King finally removed all the barriers around the place.
As he finished, he began to see a dark energy slowly gathering above his Tower. The Reaper was about to be reborn again, after seven days of his death.
But what caught the Eternal King's attention wasn't the Reaper coming back to life, but rather the coffin that had been riddled with cracks for several years. Finally, it was destroyed, and from within, a new, terrifying creature emerged…
The creature was very tall, perhaps almost 3 meters tall, with long arms and red nails. It had long black hair and wore a worn woman's hat. It had completely white, cold eyes and a dirty, blood-red dress that dragged on the ground. The rest of its face was pale and smooth, as if it had no mouth or nose.
The Eternal King's only thought upon seeing this new creature was "Very Dangerous". He also noticed that all the other remaining coffins now had slight cracks.
Before leaving the cemetery, he said one last sentence:
"Keep your eyes on my barrier, and inform me whenever parts of it are broken or weakened."
The same skeleton, still inside the cemetery, but still ignored by the new creature, replied:
"As you wish, Your Grace!"
****
Special thanks to the Patreons:
Sage's Supporter: Jan, Vinnie, frimorigo, Leery Falcon, Parsa, Scott Robertson, and Pato Senalima!
Magic Apprentice: Axel Bour, Gabriele Sulpizio, Takatchi, mandeep singh, Austin, Kobe Robertson, Paul Gaslac, Niteo akuma, and 704Corleon!
Senior Magic Apprentice: Cole Bromley and Avacus!