Chapter 102

Screams echoed throughout the domain of Hades as an army of Grim Reaper's created a sphere kilometers wide. Their bodies were tightly packed together like sardines, their forms blotting out the grey sun high above.

"Hm. What a pickle." Casually humming to himself was a masked figure surrounded by the intense formation of reapers. He was a tall man with a simple black mask on his face and all black clothes that revealed nothing about him.

Naturally, that wasn't all. The outfit was engraved with dozens of spells to make the user unrecognizable even to the most analytic of eyes. It was a real wonder even if it did have a steep energy cost.

"Gah!" However, the reapers didn't have time to care for that. Their instructions had been very clear, stop the invaders from getting any further but they couldn't do that because of the man before them. Despite his casual attitude, he was a monster.

With a simple wave of the man's hand, hundreds of them would perish and a barrier formed with more energy than they all possessed blocked their scythes from striking him. Many had tried to circumvent the issue by going around him but each time they found themselves back where they began.

"It seems I'm falling behind." Even with the man's jovial tone, there was a sense of underlying danger that couldn't be ignored. In the end, that culminated into the emerald storm that manifested into being and devoured all the reapers bar one.

"…!" Holding his stump of an arm the reaper could only shiver in fear. The man before him was a monster, a superior being who should never be trifled with. The reaper had met Hades before but even that boney monster hadn't inspired such fear from him.

"Why don't we have a little chat?" The masked monster spoke 'kindly' as he crouched before the terrified reaper. He tended to have that effect on people and while it wasn't exactly his desired intention it did make his 'research' easier.

"I-I won't tell you anything!" The reaper declared seriously, no trace of falsehood in his eyes. He truly had no intention of answering a single question. Luckily for the masked man, he didn't exactly need his approval.

"No, but your soul will." The man replied calmly, an off putting smile surely on his lips, as he placed his palm on the man's head. His student was quite adept in the field of the soul and he had picked up a few things including this memory reading.

The soul was the storage of memories and ethos, it was the only thing that made a person themself. The masked man had a bit of experience in it from his younger years but he never truly had to mess with it until the last decade came around.

"Faulty as usual." Humming to himself upon laying eyes on the mentally dead figure of the reaper the masked man teleported away. Soul reading was not his strong suit so he tended to cause a bit of a mess with each attempt. It wasn't practical to use commercially currently.

"Mr. Emerald, you're back!" Valerie Tepes was the one to greet him upon his arrival, an emerald barrier surrounding them quickly. Stripping himself of his mask the formerly masked man's emerald hair was revealed to the world or it would have been if not for the illusionary barrier.

"Sorry, but do you think you could heal my brain again?" Ajuka Beelzebub requested with a kind smile. The issue with soul reading wasn't only the target's mental death, it was the risk to him as well. 

His mind may be capable of holding an abhorrent amount of memories but that reaper had lived roughly half as long as him with nearly just as many unique memories. If his mind was fine after that it would be even stranger.

"Of course! Please sit down, I'll make it quick!" Valerie promised excitedly, her determination palpable for all to see. She wasn't much of a fighter, she was much too kind for that, but her medical ability made her a requirement on many battlefields.

"Please take your time. You are the most important piece in this battle so pace yourself." In a battle such as this Valerie was invaluable. Wounds of all sizes would appear and only a limited number of Phoenix Tears were available. She would be their main backbone.

"Mhm. I'll do my best!" Nodding her head Valerie moved in to heal him, a golden chalice manifesting above her open palm. Her sacred gear had many benefits and Damian had long since 'fixed' the mind breaking whispers it tortured her with.

Without those distractions, Valerie found it much simpler to become one of the greatest medics in the world. She could cure all wounds, restore even mental sanity, cure incurable diseases, and remove racial weaknesses for fun. She was the ultimate healer.

A glowing golden drop of liquid dropped from the chalice and onto Ajuka's forehead before being greedily absorbed by his skin. He could feel his condition improving and his bogged down mind returned to its normal state as any damage vanished without a trace.

"Whew. That feels much better." Embracing the warmth brought by the liquid Ajuka felt his shoulders relaxing. His mind was damaged more than he realized it seemed. That was the issue with spiritual issues, they were hard to discover since they were so subtle.

"How was it? Did you learn anything about Hades' plans?" Valerie asked hopefully, her optimistic eyes falling as he shook his head. Even though Ajuka had chosen the strongest and most informed reaper he could find, they didn't have any information. 

"All I managed to learn about was—" Ajuka began before he was so rudely interrupted by the realm itself quaking, a beam of pure light soaring directly toward them. It was by no means a weak attack even if it was weakened but Ajuka still effortlessly blocked it.

The barrier he created earlier was not made with defense in mind and yet it took only the blink of an eye for that to change. Donning his mask just in case Ajuka prepared himself for further combat from the Holy Spear user.

"Stay behind me, Valerie." Ajuka commanded, his voice still calm despite the danger of that attack. As a Satan, he couldn't participate openly and even his battle with the reapers was pushing it but he could certainly protect their home base.

The rest would have to be done by everyone else.

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