The Twilight of Death Verse
Sleep God of Reapers

“Do you know that biggest consequence in turning into a giant?” G asks Voix while attaching back his right arm. “God, that hurts…”

“YOU WON’T STAND A CHANCE, XEEL!”

“Shots,” G points at Voix imitating a gun, “BANG!”

From behind G, Shots, one of his three familiars, holds a gigantic atomic bazooka and fires it at Voix’s face causing a massive explosion that obliterates his head causing him to fall down flat on the ground. G makes a gesture of blowing off the smoke from his imaginary gun’s barrel.

“Target’s head obliterated,” Shots makes a confirmation.

“Ooh,” G shakes his head followed by making a hissing sound, “Nasty…”

Chapter 4: SLEEP GOD OF REAPERS

“For a universe of reapers, the souls outnumber you by a ratio of 100:1,” Index calculates the current statistics of the probability of some uncertainties. “Princess Strotus Darling, I suggest that you’d convert certain criminals into soul reapers like you.”

“We haven’t thought about that since father was in charge,” Princess Darling while slaying off some cannibals in her way, gives a thought about it. “However, I don’t have any idea about the one who’ll be in charge of us… so…”

“Your Highness,” Index alerts her. “Do you know that guy 3 kilometers straight ahead? I can sense high amounts of power.”

“Master Evva, the warden,” the princess confirms her identity. “She has the power of imprisonment.”

“Are you going to engage?” Index checks the perimeter. “We are already in a cage as of this moment.

It seems like the cannibals are aware of the situation the would unfold. Evva has already locked herself with her and is prepared to fight to the death. The barrier is thick that none of the cannibals can penetrate. This reaper cannibal is prepared alright…

“It seems that I have no choice but to engage,” the princess takes a deep breath. “Guide me, Index.”

“Long time… no, see… your highness,” Evva walks towards her and abruptly stops halfway through. “Do you like my birdcage?”

“You look nothing like your previous appearance, but you actually grew stronger,” Princess Darling prepares to fight. “I can’t say that I like it…”

“This birdcage reminds me of the music video from the song Elastic Heart by Sia,” Index inspects the area of the circle. “Don’t mind me, your highness. That woman does not hear me at all.”

Actually, Index is functioning as an AI like Cortana from the game series Halo or Jarvis and Friday in the Marvel movies, although he is the Sleep God of Knowledge and Wisdom… but hey, he can do this shit and he doesn’t fight so his task is to guide the protagonists like Princess Darling over here. So, back to the fight…

“I consider this new appearance as an upgrade,” Evva sounds erratic while explaining. It gives one the feeling that she is addicted to what she is doing… cannibalism by means of eating souls. “Grim Reapers are pictured as scary skeleton-like beings dressed in black holding a scythe… I like how the mortals picture us…”

“Actually princess before you reply to her, let me give you a background about the concept of grim reapers,” Index knowledgeably educates the princess. “In the right part of the verse, those who believe in God, who is actually Reax the Creator, the grim reaper popped up during the ones they called the Black Death or the unsanitary age of these people who are still lacking the knowledge to become very civilized individuals. They actually call it as the Bubonic Plague that time and that the grim reaper appeared not to be holding a scythe but a sickle-”

“Index, this is not the right time…” the princess halts him.

“You are talking to someone else,” Evva looks around disappointed. “I can only see the two of us… or do you have a device on your ear or are you using telepathy? Who is Index?”

“It’ll take too long to explain,” she changes to her fighting stance. “I won’t be beating around the bush any longer…”

“You are not going to use the eternal weapon, I see…” Evva brings out her own weapons. “These two daggers were forged from the stalactites and stalagmites of this universe. They may not be the same as that eternal weapon, but the one who uses them.”

“I’m not going to use the eternal weapon to beat you,” Princess Darling makes her move and charges at her. “The eternal weapon recognizes me as its wielder because it knows when it is supposed to be used. My eternal weapon, Midnight-of-War, only wants to be used if my enemy had an eternal weapon as well…”

“Well said, your highness,” Index praises her. “You might want to stop!”

Instinctively following the orders of Index, Princess Darling makes a full stop.

“Does your friend tell you where I placed my traps?” Evva summons out chains from her own arms, “I feel cheated and disappointed, your highness~”

Conveniently, Nymbus Livanne comes across to another of the ex-masters. To the sleep beings, this universe lacks powerful gods to fight over and so they just had to decrease the increasing population of the death verse by eliminating threats such as the cannibals and helping the reapers to win their war to only an extent but not to full extent. G’s orders…

“Livanne,” Precy, the Fist Master, meets her with the confrontation of a death battle.

“Master Precy, what have you become?” Livanne looks in horror as the master she previously knew.

“I have become a true master and I gained more than what I can imagine I have surpassed everything that I previously cannot and I am the most powerful fighter in the world,” Precy boasts his new appearance from a humble master of all mixed martial arts to a monstrous and prideful cannibal. “You see what I’ve become, you see what I must do to endure the trouble cost by that mere commoner?”

“It’s not his fault that he turned out to be what he is,” Livanne tries to make him realize their mistake. “You pushed him to his limit and turned him into what he is now. Your plans failed on you because they weren’t for the benefit of everybody. That is the reason why you reaped what you sow…”

“You’re wrong,” Precy advances to towards her. “If only he stayed dead, all of the benefits in the world would befall Death Verse.”

“Making huge sacrifices will never benefit anyone at all.” Livanne poses to her battle stance, “You have been blinded and I will make you see with it my power.”

“The only thing I need to see is you on a dinner plate!”

“Then so be it,” Livanne makes her first move.

Targeting the ground beneath Precy, she molds it into an icicle stalagmite to impale the vicious cannibal. However, Precy immediately dodges the attack and a flurry that came afterwards. Livanne then molds the air around into metallic harpoons and attacks by spearing him. Precy, with his fighting skills, dodges them as if he was dancing around.

“Pretty pathetic for a so-called slayer, isn’t it Livanne?” Precy taunts her.

“I’m just getting started and yet you are already dancing like some freak show,” Livanne taunts back and then chuckles. “You should be called dancer rather than a fighter if I may say so myself~”

“Is that supposed to be a compliment or an insult?”

“Either way, you just have to understand it based on the context we are in,” Livanne stops snooping around. “I’ve done warming up…”

“Guess what, architect,” Precy stretches out, “so am I…”

“Would the death beings realize if we sleep beings let them have to fight the boss ones?” Prince Etherio asks Afel. “To be honest, these cannibals are stronger than regular mortals that it is quite the workout.”

“Death beings, you mean the slayers,” Afel destroys another incoming army of cannibals. “I guess they will notice that, but I got the feeling based on their uniforms that they were once death gods.”

“Well at least we are giving them some kind of closure,” Prince Etherio freezes a few cannibals with a swing from his sword. “Although… we still need to take a closer look…”

“Watch, you mean,” Afel jumps back to battle. “Let’s level the population down!”

“Criminals ending up as cannibals,” Prince Etherio takes on the flying ones. “Showing mercy is not in my options…”

“Why won’t you explode, Jet?”

“I won’t sacrifice my army just to wipe you out, Subli.”

“You were dropping the honorifics Comulus Jet,” Master Subli, the Stone-gazer, waits for Jet to get back up. “You know that you can’t defeat me. You can’t even look into my eyes. You won’t even bring out your eternal weapon.”

“A cannibal like you,” Jet cracks his fists, “doesn’t deserve to live!”

“Even if you try so much to be serious in our fight, I will only kick you away again and again.” Subli seems to have the upper hand. “You won’t be able to use your eyes and you won’t be able to use your powers of fission with the people around. Truly, this is my win…”

“Don’t talk, Jet. I can guide you even with your eyes closed.” Index assists him in this handicapped battle that he is in. “But first, you need to distract him while I heighten your senses. I will act as your antenna.”

“I got it, Index,” Jet answers using telepathy. “Subli, even with my eyes closed, I can tear you apart!”

“And how are you supposed to do that?” Subli prepares for another attack.

“There, you should be able to locate him with sensors for motion, sound, and light. I’ve also adjusted the immense power of your fission powers to that of dynamite. Try punching him now…” Index grins.

“Here I come!” Subli attacks him from behind.

“I can sense it. He is behind me,” Jet’s fists light up and then turns around with a left hook, “Dynamite Punch!”

“IMPOSSI-” Subli is taken by a surprise.

A sudden explosion occurs with Subli crashing down in one of the cliffs.

“You did it, Index!” Jet roars with delight. “My punch wasn’t as strong as an atomic bomb!”

“Actually, I just used psychology to get your mind to decrease the immense power of your fission.” Index smirks, “Who knew it would work on you?”

“You tricked me?!”

“Well, at least he’s been thrown away from the city,” Index winks at him. “You should go to where he is to finish him off.”

“You got why I was thinking,” Jet winks back and sets his sights to the cliff kilometers away.

“These cannibals are fossils,” Tydon fights serpent cannibals larger than him. “Some of these could’ve been from the first criminal souls from the first mortal civilizations ever! The cannibal population is massive in numbers!”

“Would you like me to summon the cavalry?” Index makes a suggestion. “He is rearing to go with his own dream reapers…”

“Alright,” Tydon looks ahead and sees tons more of gigantic cannibals approaching. “We need immediate assistance from that god!”

“Fathor, you’re up!” Index fires up a portal from Sleep World.

Floating out from the portal, Fathor emanates an ominous atmosphere, much more dangerous than any death gods and cannibals combined. Behind him are numerous dark shadowy figures that smelled like funeral perfumes accompanied by a pungent odor from that of decaying flesh. In Sleep World, the dream reapers are beings that take the souls of mortals, dead or alive. Without Fathor to guide them, these beings won’t hesitate to collect the souls of any mortal in their path. Living mortals whose souls were eaten by reapers are called soulless, much like an instinct-driven zombie but pretty much alive. In this world off souls however, they are considered as vacuum cleaners for the souls. Fathor wears a stone-like navy blue cloak, pale red scarf and a bright red fedora. He is dark-skinned, has a thick mustache and beard, and speaks in a very deep respectable yet priestly kind of manner.

“Long time no see, Tydon. My reapers will take it from here…”

“I’ll head back to support their capital,” Tydon flies back to the surface layers.

“Let us pray,” as Fathor bows his head and closes his eyes, the dream reapers began their assault.

“Oh my god, this is THE famous prayer of Fathor!” Index fans over.

“Xeel oh blessed and kind god of sleep, dreams, knowledge, and ideals, we give our utmost respect for creating all of us sleep beings. Thank you for providing us souls to consume to give us power and sate our insatiable hunger. Souls that have lost their ways, we bring an end to your endless suffering and bring you peace that you definitely deserve. Finally, it feels fucking good to be alive… So be it…”

“Exactly what I was expecting it to be, weird…” Index nods off, “Amen.”

“Subarashi (Splendid)…” spoken without expressing any feelings, Noiricca walks away from a ‘broken on the inside’ Huryken. “I could’ve said something wrong again…”

“L…o…r…d… V…O…I…X…” the butler weakly mumbles. His mind forever trapped in an everlasting nightmare as he slumps on a rock looking at nothing, drooling over… critically lost forever.

“Terror-san, dinner…”

“It looks like it is GAME OVER for you, Voix,” G brings out the sealing jar. “Any last words, Voix?”

In his gigantic form and yet flattened on the floor with millions of swords pierced into every part of his body, Voix weakly coughs out blood. He is also encased in a gigantic room created by G’s familiar named Mr. Room. On top of that, even if Voix would’ve wanted to rise up, he cannot because of G’s control over gravity. However, as the Supreme Being of Death, he still is able to break away from his temporary binding. Shrinking back to normal size, he heals his injuries while silently glares at G.

“I knew it would be difficult to pin you down though,” G returns the sealing jar back to his storage. “What I need is to break your fighting spirit and I just have the answer for that…”

“What are you talking about?” Voix realizes that Crystl and his son are watching. “What are you doing here Caine?”

“Father, I heard,” Caine never bothered to approach his father. “Is it true that you tried to replace me?”

“Don’t lie, Voix,” Crystl gestures Caine to move closer. “I also just found out that when you thought that Caine established a relationship with the cannibals, you immediately took the opportunity.”

“No Caine, this is part of their plot to lose my fighting spirit!” Voix tries to reason out. “I’m your father, you have to trust me!”

“If you trust your son, you should not have experimented on him!” Crystl continues to block off Voix’s influence over Caine.

“Do not lie anymore, father,” Caine seems to have made the proper choice. “You even hurt mother just for power!”

“I didn’t hurt Cycloe,” Voix points towards G. “He did it, you saw what he did!”

“I saved her from what you would’ve done,” G shuts him down. “I saved your son from seeing what you would’ve done to your wife.”

“I would’ve done what you did, Xeel!”

“I wish I could believe you,” G moves back to give the three reapers some space, “but you have lost your godliness…”

“You,” Caine calls out to G. “What is your purpose here?”

“Don’t listen to him, son,” Voix starts to lose his fighting spirit.

Crystl brings out the Trinity-X-Calibur, “He must know the true situation of this world…”

“The pressing matter is the condition of this universe…” G states his reasons by storytelling. “Of course, I know that you have vast knowledge about your world… but as the god of sleep, I can tell you a deeper meaning to it. Death Verse is a spiral shell of a universe with one outer layer, the Death Kingdom and nine inner layers just named as layers. He never named them because if my understanding is correct, the inner layers is a large prison. You have a concept of what is good and what is evil, but you fail to recognize that all of us are flawed individuals, even us gods. Long story short, you are overpopulated with souls no matter how many times they cannibalize each other, more and more will come. You need to create a lighter sentence to these criminals in order for them to be pardoned. The reason why the number of criminals turning into cannibals increase is because of hopelessness. Have you even considered checking out the criminals? They have powers just like the cannibals do because they were criminals once. Sealing you and taking over death verse is one of the many choices I have, but passing on the mantle to a befitting successor would be the other choice I have. You wouldn’t like either of the choices because of your lust for power. Everything will change and this overpopulation of cannibals and under population of reapers will be solved. Either way, I will name Cyrrus Crystl as the successor."

“What, why me?” Crystl, astounded, asks.

“Tell me, do you think at this point a corrupted prince like Caine would be chosen?” G walks towards Caine, “Do you think that you, a royalty turned into a cannibal would work as a leader?”

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