Chapter 16: Chapter. 16: Retribution of Corruption

The white faded into trails of blue smoke. Ash stood at the edge of my vision. She no longer wore a onesie, but an outfit clad in black⁠— rugged, a vest full of pockets with various magical tools. Her legs had various knives on them as well as a small bone wand, and her back had blades and various weapons. 

“Glad to see you’re still alive.” Ash commented with a sarcastic tone as she made her way towards me leisurely, completely ignoring the monster. 

“Sorry…” I tried to look away but I couldn’t move still. 

“I̶n̸t̷e̸r̵r̵u̸p̶t̵e̴d̶ ̴m̷y̷ ̸m̴e̶a̵l̴?̵” Its voice turned chilly at the end of the question, I felt the tentacles shift towards Ash’s direction. “Y̶̪̐O̵̺͑U̷͋͜ ̸̡͠A̴͕͐G̴̹͌A̶̠̋I̷̪͑N̸͓̅?̶̗͝!̶̲̏” The monster hissed, the tentacles let go of me entirely and seemingly forgot. 

My heart was beating so fast, but I moved so slow. I pathetically crawled away from the mass of tentacles that looked like a bunch of worms bunched up together. My legs and hands screamed in pain after every movement. A brief look⁠— I decided to not look any longer, I felt as if I no longer had skin on the places the tentacles had touched. 

I gave the two a quick glance as I continued my crawl. Ash simply smirked at the monster, but she did not stop walking. 

“Looks like your complete body is here again?” 

The monster paused. “O̴l̷d̸ ̸t̵r̷i̶c̶k̷s̴?̴” It seemed to ponder for a second before adding. “L̴a̶u̵g̸h̵a̶b̵l̸e̴.” 

“Laughable?” She reached for the bone wand on her thigh. She grabbed it and broke into a sadistic smile. “It is time for you to suffer.” She pointed it at the monster, and⁠— pulled. I heard a ripping sound, and for the first time. 

“Å̵̢̺̳͊̆A̶̺̠̯̽A̶̡͚̻͋̃̇H̷̟̬̺̉̍́͆̅Ḧ̷̺̜́͜G̴̯͝H̵̠͇͑̔͂.” it produced a grunt full of pain, one that distorted the air itself, one that made his tentacles pause. 

“Quite unfortunate for you.” She flicked her wand, and the mass squirmed and bent to her will. The monster was moved and separated from me, forcefully? 

“Y̶o̸u̶ ̸…” It seemed to pause between breaths. “̸T̸h̷i̵s̴ ̸i̴s̴ ̷d̸i̶f̵f̸e̸r̷e̵n̵t̷ ̵f̶r̸o̶m̸ ̷b̷e̴f̴o̷r̶e̵… ̷M̵o̴r̴e̶ ̸p̵o̸w̶e̵r̸ ̸i̴n̸ ̷i̵t̶.” 

Finally, I gasped finding myself on the sidewalk, somewhat far away from both of them. My scythe was⁠— far away. I opened my hand in its general direction and called. Soon it appeared on my hand. It looked just as miserable as I was. The blade was dull and gray, the handle wasn’t even straight anymore. 

I put the war-scythe’s blade against the ground and used it to support myself. So pathetic. I couldn’t help but bite my lip seeing the state my body was in⁠— my clothes were torn open, I was bleeding profusely from all my limbs, and my back ached enough to make me hunch. My head pounded in pain reminding me of my failure. 

Thanks to my regeneration it was slowly improving and the injuries were slowly closing. But I made a fatal mistake today. I limped to the nearest wall and continued to watch Ash fight the monster with her tools. She was prepared, I was not…  Ash was now standing between me and the monster. 

She slammed down the wand in the air, the bone cracking and shattering onto splinters. The monster smashed against the ground and howled in pain. 

“Oh, it broke?” She said in surprise. “Alright, no problem.” 

In that brief moment the monster roared in humiliation. Anger like I had never felt before erupted from within him. It could no longer speak, only produce coherent sounds as the tentacles slapped against each other, and its whole body creaked. It launched a dozen tentacles towards Ash, but she just reached for her back and grabbed a polearm. 

Like flowing water⁠— She dodged, used the momentum and cut another tentacle. Like water she moved and passed between, her cuts were like rocks against the current, splitting it far from her. That technique⁠ was something my dad personally taught me, I knew he hadn’t invented it, but… 

Why was Ash using it? 

The tentacles swarmed at her but they were effortlessly cut down. 

“Tiresome.” She grunted and with one hand she flicked down⁠. She didn’t have the wand anymore. The monster paused, and Ash used that opportunity to move. 

She reached onto her back and pulled the familiar construct of bone and metal. 

“God, using this thing hurts.” She really complained? She pushed down the nib, like a trigger it lit up and in an instant the monster was blasted. The white engulfed everything, only allowing me to see her silhouette. 

Ash was amazing… 

The white vanished leaving the trails of smoke, half of a building was missing and tentacles slowly moved. 

“And for the grand finale.” I heard a click and she held a small object. “Did you know? Grim Reapers are the natural predators of this place, since the inbetween cannot exist in their presence!” 

She threw the ball to the building and turned towards me. 

“You look pathetic.” 

I paused. I couldn’t help but look down and feel ashamed. I was so preoccupied admiring her that I had forgotten my actions… How I recklessly tried to take responsibility without thinking about it. In the end, all I could do was let go of a very deep sigh. 

“You’re right.” I said dispiritedly. “I was… stupid for not considering this…” I looked at myself and my injuries and then at the distant building with moving tentacles. 

I felt a lot more calm and Ash was by my side, but simply looking at the tentacles made my heart skip a beat. Their wriggling mass was scary⁠— I could’ve died… I could’ve been eaten alive… I was no longer in the shelter of my home in the Underworld, I was no longer under my father’s protection…

I felt a hand on my shoulder, it was Ash. Though she looked different than I was used to ⁠— gentler ⁠— her features remained the same, except for her expression. 

“Kaiti, are you okay?” Her voice was soft.

“I…” Was I okay? “I don’t know… I almost died after all…” My voice quivered a bit, and I couldn’t help but hug my scythe a bit tighter. It hummed in an attempt to soothe me. 

“Isn’t almost dying common in the Underworld too?” She gave me a nudge with her shoulder. “It’s just the norm…” 

“I was scared of dying…” I muttered. “I’ve never been in so much pain before…” My eyes began to heat up and tears were beginning to form. Ash had a sudden shift in mood which I couldn’t quite make out. 

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She muttered something to herself. “Hey, no need to be so down, okay?” She asked softly and put her hand on my chin. “Look, look over there.” 

I looked at the dilapidated building with the monster in it, its tentacles had begun wriggling and moving more cohesively as his body tried to get up. I shivered. If it were to attack me again… 

“Hey, don’t be scared. Did you know? Those grenades are built to combat these types of monsters.” She smiled at me and pointed at the building. “Look at his dying throes.”

The tentacles pulsed and the eyeball raised from the rubble. Its yellow veins pulsated in anger. 

“Y̶o̷U̶…̴ ̵A̸r̵d̴h̸u̵j̶f̸…̸ ̸y̴o̴U̴U̸⁠̴—̴ ̶b̸O̵t̵H̶ ̵D̶i̷E̶!̸” Its voice echoed carrying his primal bloodthirst. Its wriggling body of flesh began to raise itself in the air using its tentacles to support itself. 

“Kaiti,” Ash called my attention. 

“What?” My voice came out hushed, and I realized my teeth were chattering from fear. 

“Watch as your worries melt away.” Her voice came out calm, and her mood was neutral as always, making me relax a bit. 

“How can that happ⁠—

“Shh… Just watch.” She pointed at the monster, whose body was now suspended like a tower in the air, its eye looking at us. 

“W̶̨̓͝Ḭ̵̮̒̄Ṫ̴͇N̵̜̮̏̏Ḙ̵͋S̵̨̋̾S̷͉̈́̓ ̵͈̂͠M̸̙̿ͅŸ̴̡̰́ ̶̫̹̓̇W̶̥̋̓Ŏ̸̰͇̈́R̵̯̃̿L̵̨̖̂̓Ď̴̟.̴̛͈̮͑” It screeched, the world distorted with the pulses of magic. 

The buildings grew taller, tentacles began to break out of the ground and gather. Like an intricate spidernet, the tentacles gathered with the eyeball at its center. The entire place was engulfed with them, the walls, the air itself. My heart began to beat faster and faster, but Ash didn’t react! 

“W-We have to do something!” We were going to die! 

“D̷̼̑i̴e̵!” Tentacles swarmed, like a dangerous salvo of magic projectiles. Neverending. 

“And, it’s about time.” Ash said with a shrug as the tentacles encroached, and then⁠—

A powerful explosive sound boomed from the building, the world shook like never before. The tentacles trembled from their position as white mist engulfed everything. It felt familiar. The monster groaned for a second, the tentacles moved again with explosive speed, but… completely missed the mark. 

The web of tentacles began to tremble, the monster’s eye quivered releasing a howl. The tentacles supporting it melted away into liquid, until it fell to the ground making a meaty dull sound. 

What was that? 

“Now come,” Ash grabbed my hand, pulling me gently. I could sort of walk now. 

The tentacles around us had begun evaporating or just breaking apart into chunks of black liquid that soaked into the ground. The wind howled as if nothing had ever happened, and soon, we were at the edge of the building. 

Tentacles wriggled without vigor, pain only present, and there, the eyeball sat, its sclera red, its veins a dead yellow. It looked at us but only made incoherent sounds devoid of power or will. 

Ash stared at it before turning to me. 

“Do you want to do the honors?” 

“Do the honors?” I whispered in confusion. I wasn’t afraid anymore. But I felt… vulnerable. 

Ash nodded. “Do you want to kill it?” 

I looked at it pondering over her words. It was miserable. My scythe turned a bitter cold just from the emotions it was experiencing alone. Did I have to kill it? I shook my head. It had hurt me, it had almost killed me, but… Was that enough of a reason to kill it? It wasn’t, the main problem was… If it could hurt me…

Then it could hurt others too. 

“I’ll…” I took a deep breath. “I’ll end him.” 

Ash gave me a small smile and ushered me forth. I stumbled a bit and slowly walked towards the eye. Its pupil fixated on me but said nothing. 

“Sorry…” I muttered and raised my scythe up high, its blade looming over the eyeball. “You can call this retribution…” 

A quick look at his tentacles reminded me of everything I had experienced, and all the worries in my mind faded⁠—

“Y̷o̶u̴'̷r̵e̷ ̶w̵e̶a̵k̴.” Its feeble voice echoed. 

I stopped. Weak? I was weak? I? My body trembled. I wasn’t weak… I wasn't weak. I tightened my grip, feeling anger. I was a Grim Reaper! I was unprepared! I was simply unprepared⁠— My hands tensed, and I slammed down with as much strength as I could. The eyeball exploded into nothingness, and soon there was only silence. 

I was unprepared. The scythe slipped out of my hands, it hit the ground with a hollow ring. I was… unprepared. That was all…

My hands curled into a fist, I was riddled with injuries. Even though I had killed it… I looked back to Ash, who had a soft smile on her face as she looked at me. She was proud of me, she stood tall and valiant. It all clicked. 

I was weak…