Green Sludge

With a satisfied sigh, Zero raced out the front doors before turning and running down the street before making a turn into the familiar alley and running at a dead sprint. Due to the bag as well as the duffle bag, he was a bit slower, so he stopped for a moment before placing them on the ground and taking out the timepiece. He pointed it at the two bags before clicking the crown, only for nothing to happen.

Confused, Zero turned the device towards him and clicked the left crown, only to find the five inventory slots were filled with five duffle bags. With an excited smile, Zero pulled one of the bags out before searching its belongings. There, he found food and water filling the bag to the brim. 'The items inside the timepiece carry over!' Zero saved that little nugget of information as he put the bag back into the timepiece before continuing his run towards the Zoo.

Zero pushed the Zoo's gates open before racing inside. As soon as he stepped inside, he felt a heavy pressure slam onto his shoulders. With a deep grunt, Zero fell to his knee. Quickly looking around, he was suddenly met with an empty room. 'Window, what is this pressure?'

-Notice-

unable to reveal information. Please ask a different question.

Zero took a deep breath in before pushing against the pressure. Inch by inch, he slowly made his way up until he was standing on both feet. As if standing back up was the condition, the pressure weighing on him suddenly vanished. with hesitation, Zero made his way into the insect area. He came to a stop at the sight of a floating mass of goo.

Zero watched as the mass suddenly rippled, and a single tentacle slowly reached out towards the bee exhibit, which had multiple bees laying on the ground. Zero watched as the end of the tentacle started rippling. Before Zero could even understand what was happening, a single dense bee-shaped Shade formed before being pulled into the tentacle. 'The souls didn't appear before, meaning they weren't dead. That means it killed them once its tentacle was over them.'

Zero watched for another moment before raising two of his fingers and willing a Death Beam to fire out of them. The beam shot forward, only to miss the creature completely as its body separated to form a large O around the beam. Zero's mouth slightly fell open before he watched the blob reform, however, that was all the movement it gave.

Zero waited for an attack, trying to prepare himself to dodge out of the way, however, all he ever felt was a slight distant pressure on his shoulders. He instantly knew it was the pressure from before, however, it was more akin to if a kid sat on each of his shoulders. Zero once again lifted one of his right hand's fingers before firing a Death Beam. Once more the creature dodged, however, Zero simply smiled before pulling his hand down and to the left.

The whip slashed through the O, and a loud sound similar to depressurization suddenly sounded. Zero watched in confusion as the being suddenly fell to the floor, its body acting exactly like water before a soul suddenly appeared. Without pause, Zero reached out and grabbed the soul, which was in the shape of the blob creature. Zero reached out and touched it, souls surging towards his chest.

-Notice-

<36321> Soul has been absorbed. Host currently has <36745> souls.

Zero's attention was pulled towards the animal's exhibits, finding the creatures were starting to rise. Zero raised his hand before willing a Seeker Beam to target each of the bees first, before targeting everything else that was still alive in the room.

-Notice-

<63418> Soul has been absorbed. Host currently has <100163> souls.

Zero figured Zoos would be a treasure trove of souls for any that arrived first, however, even he wasn't expecting to reach 100 thousand souls this easily. Without pause, Zero quickly checked the area before leaving and moving towards the sniper's building. As he moved towards the skyscraper at a dead sprint, Zero searched for the <Back Stab> ability in the ability shop.

<Back Stab-103612 Souls>

The skyscraper he was trying to reach came into view just as another blank Window appeared before disappearing. Zero was only a couple of hundred feet off from the building when a Window with writing on it showed itself.

-ERROR-

Showing message from Sponsor

-Notice-

<ERROR>

(The ability used by the leader was a Sponsor specific ability called <Death's Domain>. That would mean she is sponsored by a rival Sponsor of mine. Kill the sponsored Host to receive a permanent portion of my power. Also, there is no need to purchase an ability you already know.)

-Notice-

Due to the Host's connection with the Sponsor, the Host has been charged <53921> souls to receive the information. Host currently has <46242> souls.

The fact that more than half of his souls were just used to receiving a message left a bad taste in his mouth, however, the Window that appeared after he mentally accepted the Reaper's orders a second later made up for it.

-Notice-

<ERROR>

Mission-

kill the rival Host. (0/1)

Recreate an ability through memory alone. (0/1)

Reward-

ERROR

Time remaining until the Host fails the quest-<∞> hours.

Zero Smiled as he watched the infinity symbol next to the hours slowly rotate. Zero was drawn away from the Windows as he arrived in the front of the skyscraper's building. The first thing he noticed was that half the building's base was missing, and in its place was a green sludge. Zero stopped in his tracks at the appearance of the new substance.

Zero looked at the sludge, finding it was bubbling and roiling. The second thing he noticed, was that the green substance was visibly crawling up the building. 'Window, what is that green sludge?'

-Notice-

Host does not possess the required souls t-

Zero didn't even read the rest of the message before speaking to the Window once more. 'Take 11000 souls and tell me, I will not offer anymore.' There was a pause before another Window appeared.

-Notice-

<11000> souls have been donated to the Window. Host has <20242> souls remaining.