Roars of a black motorcycle pierce the silence of a dilapidated concrete jungle. Yuki hugs Azam's waist tightly, afraid she might fall over. Meanwhile, Azam is hugging Vivian's, the one steering the wheel. Together, they awkwardly sit stiff on the motorcycle as it rides along the grayish road.
"So... What are we supposed to do in this weird city?" Azam asks, finally breaking his silence.
"Nothing much. Just some clean up jobs. A couple of souls aren't as unlucky as we are and instead got labeled as "Lost Soul" so our job is to just bring them back to the death realm."
"Wait... Aren't we IN the Death Realm?" Yuki chimed in.
"Not really, this is the middle section. Think of it as the layer between life and death."
The two stay silent. Vivian sighs before continuing.
"Basically, when people died, their souls that don't get guided back end up here. And we must pick them up quickly before they become corrupted."
"What do you mean corrupted?"
"You'll see later."
———
Boom!
The flesh tendrils shatter the wall beside Azam, bringing him back to the present. "Easy peasy my butt!" he curses, rolling away from the rain of flesh crushing the spot he just lay on.
The gray flesh retracts back, reforming into the creature's arm. The creature looks like a human, skin twisted and crinkled where it shouldn't be.
"A corrupted creature." He finally realizes that this is the one Vivian was talking about. But time doesn't let him think. Immediately, the creature's arms shoot towards him. Azam groans, barely dodging the attack. It shatters the concrete wall behind him. Shit! He had bitten off more than he could chew.
"Stay away from the stronger ones, I'll take care of them." Vivian had once said before the mission started. He had assigned them to handle E level Lost Souls.
[Lost Soul Beri
Rank:E
Recollections:[Under Their Grasp]
Status:Corrupted (15%)]
The system flashes in front of him. Azam ducks as another tendril shoots through the hologram screen. But the creature learned.
Instead of retracting, the creature's hand grips tightly onto the concrete. And it leaps into the air right towards him.
Gray fluid and flesh rain on his body before dissolving into mist. Azam, stunned at what he saw, turns his head to the black blur that has just saved him. He recognized that blur.
Vivian, speeding up his motorcycle, circled the corpse of the city with his bike. Anything that wanted to stop him was instead met with his matte black lance. He looks like a dark knight slaughtering through his enemies.
Yuki meanwhile is grappling with a beastlike creature. She raises her knife and swings towards the creature. Her knife barely scratches the creature's gray skin.
It pounces at her, sending both of them to the ground.
Pinned, Yuki begins to stab the creature's neck. The shallow wounds manage to bleed the creature, black ichor dripping onto her chest.
Meanwhile, her other hand is holding back the creature's face, never letting it get too close to her own. Dark gray slime oozes out of the creature's mouth, staining her hand and sleeve. She sinks the blade deeper; the creature whimpers but keeps its assault.
"Yuki!" Her name called, she turns to look only to see Azam running towards her and the creature.
The creature stops, realizing they're outnumbered and wounded, lets go of Yuki before retreating back into the many empty buildings. The blood trail it left soon dissolves into the air. Yuki sighs and finally relaxes.
"Bro, I thought you were dead." Azam cuts in, holding out his hand to help her get up. Yuki's chest just heaves heavily, her own breath struggling its way in.
"Thanks, but it'll come back. I don't think it's giving up just yet." She spits on the ground, the blood dissipating after just a second. Yuki scans her surroundings. There are still creatures wandering around the city block. But they seem to not notice them and instead are heading towards the big clash a couple hundred meters away, probably Vivian.
"Did you kill any?" Azam asks, breaking her concentration. Yuki just shakes her head.
"Welp, same here. It's been two days already and we haven't managed to kill one thing. Even the E ranks are hard to deal with." Azam hugs his own arm. "Plus, it really irks me, the idea of killing a human."
"Can we call them human?" Yuki cuts in. Azam ponders for a bit.
"The only difference between us and them is that we're cursed— I mean, blessed to be a Soul Reaper. I don't think they're any less human. They've just... Gone mad." Azam just nods, satisfied with his answer.
"If that's what you think, then think of us slaying them as freeing them from their fate. Would that be good?"
"That doesn't sound any less grim."
[Vivian: We're done for today, go back to the camp.]
A message pops up on their system screen. Yuki just sighs.
"Let's go."
———
Entering one of the abandoned buildings, Vivian had been waiting for them. He had already dismissed his Recollection and now only wears a black shirt with a tracksuit of the same color. Seeing them, he throws both a glare. Suddenly his arm whips in the air; something flies towards Yuki at great speed.
Without any time to process, Yuki instinctively dodges. A black knife pierces the concrete wall behind her.
Azam, without having any time to process what just happened, had only realized that Vivian was upon him already, a fist swung and connected. If he was human, he wouldn't doubt that a couple ribs would've fractured or shattered by that punch.
"You're not in a match, always be ready."
Summoning her knife, Yuki dashes towards Vivian. He materializes a knife as well, parrying her attack. Yuki slashes wildly, and none of the attacks manage to scratch Vivian. Meanwhile, a couple of deep cuts have managed their way onto her own skin, drawing black blood from beneath. He's so fuckin fast!
"You swing your knife like a bat." Slapping her wrist, Yuki's weapon is thrown to the ground before Vivian grabs her collar and smashes her into the concrete floor.
Azam gets up in the middle of the clash. Getting in a stance, his only focus is to tackle the B ranker. Seeing the attempt, Vivian slams his fist down and sends Azam to the ground again, right beside Yuki.
Both rookies were lying in pain, groaning. "Sigh, you guys are hopeless." The two just groan in pain. "Get up. I didn't even throw you that hard," Vivian said.
"We're just tired."
"A Soul Reaper wouldn't be tired just from this. Quit whining." With his command, the two begin to get up, but not without whining under their breath. Vivian just sighs and lets them get up on their own.
"Get up nice and quick. I'll teach you how to actually fight these creatures."