Grim Reaper in the Apocalypse: Reaping Immortals

After encountering Beauty and the Beast, the group needed a break. They took camp in one of the buildings near the street.

But even though it was called a 'break' most of them kept on training their bodies and minds. They sharpened their weapons and skills, making sure that they were more than prepared if another anomaly happened in their next encounter.

Some of them even consulted Carmine about what to do when that gray smoke appeared.

"I'm sorry. My team and I are working on deciphering why we keep on having a disconnection in the video and audio feed, but we always come up short.

So if that gray fog appears again, just make sure that you all stay together. The closer you are, the higher the chance that you won't lose each other in the smoke."

Because of that, the team had to work on their positioning and formations to accommodate the small spacing between them.

The only ones not there were Ninth and Atlan.
Your next journey awaits at empire

Atlan, of course, took off by himself and practiced his new LifeSkills. He practiced creating the three humanoid puppets as fast as possible, slicing down the process to just three seconds per puppet.

Meanwhile, Ninth spent the entire break barely even touching her weapon. Instead, she took a seat on the roof and meditated by herself.

She tried to get rid of the demon in her heart: her fear of the Dragon.

She visualized facing the Dragon alone, but before she could even move, the Dragon would always reach down and decapitate her in one fell swoop.

She would open her eyes, with her body breaking out in a cold sweat.

But she didn't give up. She kept meditating and trying to fight the Dragon no matter how afraid she was.

And so, the day came to a close and everyone gathered at the camp, exhausted.

Even though only one of them had to be awake, most of them had trouble falling asleep. The thought of waking up to the mysterious gray fog scared them so much they almost didn't want to sleep.

Atlan was the only one who thoroughly enjoyed his break.

He knew that no Canzer would dare attack them in this place. And even if someone did, then they would be welcomed into the death list of the Queen and promptly be eaten in her Dragon belly.

The next morning came and everyone was up early. They cleaned up by themselves and embarked towards the Church.

Their speed was a lot faster than before. They hoped that they wouldn't encounter a Canzer. They hoped they would reach the Church with barely any trouble at all because their goal was so close. They just had to cross a few streets and they were finally there.

The Church was only five streets away from them.

Their steps were hurried but full of wary as they stepped towards the first street. And luckily, they didn't encounter any Canzer trying to stop them.

Then, they went onto the second street, with only three to go.

Luckily, that place was uneventful too.

They were now starting to think that their luck finally turned around. Maybe the Canzers finally had enough of fighting them and simply gave way for them to reach the Church with no trouble at all.

As they crossed the third street, they fully expected the scenery of skyscrapers and buildings to make way for another fantasy setting that homed a Specialist-level Canzer.

But strangely enough, they passed through the third street peacefully too.

It was then that they thought something was weird.

It was too quiet. It was as if they were at the eye of a storm, with trouble following the temporary peace they had.

Now, they crossed the fourth street, and still, no Canzer had dared to make themselves known to the group.

They were only one street away from the Church, yet the Canzers showed no sign of even existing anywhere near them.

"Should we go back?"

As much as Ninth wanted to agree to those words, there was no reason for them to go back. After all, there was no sign of a Canzer anywhere.

They were only scared right now because of the expectation of something bad happening when they least expected it. But nothing happened.

It would be idiotic to retreat when they were only a street away from their goal.

They could see the Church in all its entirety. The double front doors were slightly ajar, showing a glimpse of the dark interior inside. They could simply just run towards the steps of the Church and they would finally finish their mission.

But as they crossed the final street, their surroundings started to melt into a different scenery.

"No…"

It was as if they were trapped in the desert and the oasis that they saw from afar was simply an illusion.

They thought they could reach the Church, but the Canzer showed itself at the very last second.

The buildings and skyscrapers that they were so familiar with were replaced by healthy trees inside a forest.

They looked around and saw that the place was teeming with life. Birds were singing atop trees, squirrels were squirming on the branches, and the grass was swaying with the wind.

"Guys, look!"

And ways out in front of them was a large castle, colored with a royal blue that shimmered even in the light. This castle looked…magical.

CRACK

The silence was suddenly broken by the sound of a twig breaking in two. Everyone turned around and quickly brandished their weapons at the intruder.

When they finally caught sight of the intruder, they confirmed that it was a Canzer.

It had a chitinous body, with white eyes, and a physiology that was eerily similar to the White Canzer. Despite wearing human-like clothes like that of a beggar, it definitely had the face of a Cazner.

They prepared their LifeSkills, ready to bombard this Canzer before it could even attack them.

But strangely, the Canzer tripped backward and cowered under her hands.

"$#)(*#)&"

'Don't kill me! Uwaaaa!'

Even though they couldn't understand Canzers, they knew that the Canzer was…crying!