Chương 19: A Servant of Death

[Demonym Acquired!] [Empyrean]"Demonym? Is that like a nationality?" Leaning against a tree trunk, Nerez checked the latest notifications on his Godscript while he waited for the light to appear and whisk him off to who knew where.

"And Empyrean? I barely spent one night there... Well, if they're going to take care of my ID, or whatever it is gods use, I'm not going to complain." His eyes then drifted to the section of the Godscript that displayed his information. [CLASS: God of Death] [RANK: Absolute God] A long, tired sigh slipped from his lips."'Absolute God'...

'god' was already too much... Can't I switch to farmer or something? I don't even know what absolute god means..." He raised his head and looked up at Eryndea's sky from the clearing. Then his expression changed as realization hit him.

"Wait... does this mean I'm actually free from the Goddess of Fate's curse? Could I even... have a family of my own?" Nerez lowered his head, lost in thought.

"I never had a wife, so I never had any descendants. If I'd had any over those thousand lives, I'd be worried sick about them... Mm? Could that angel-faced demon have put that curse on me precisely to keep something like that from happening?" He thought it over for a few moments, but eventually shook his head hard.

"Well, even if that was her intention, it doesn't change the fact that she killed me and condemned my soul to an endless cycle of reincarnation..." The sound of something rustling nearby pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Looks like the sleeping beau... beast is finally waking up." After slowly opening her eyes, as though each eyelid weighed a ton, Cerys spent a while staring blankly into space before sitting up with the same sluggishness.

"Ugh... my head... Why...? Why am I still alive?"

"I wouldn't call it 'still being alive.' I'd say it's more like coming back to life..."

"You...! Nerez! What do you mean by that?" If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"I think it'd be quicker if you checked your Godscript." Cerys struggled to her feet and began staring into the air as if she were meditating. Of course, any god or god candidate would have known she was really checking the Godscript, the tool that linked them to the Divine Order. Now that he was getting used to it, the Godscript felt a bit like a computer to Nerez, while the Divine Order seemed more like the internet.

Granted, only if the internet were a single entity and also embodied all the laws of the cosmos...

"What is this? Soulwarden...?" Nerez scratched his head, slightly uncomfortable as she kept reading.

"I'm the god of death's servant?! I'm a goddess?!"

"Well, a lesser one, to be exact. But since you were so set on becoming a goddess, I thought this would still do..."

"You're the god of death?! Ah, well... that figures... Wait, you turned me into a goddess?! Me?! A defeated enemy?! Didn't you have any allies waiting for you...?"

"I don't know if you're implying I'm someone with no friends, but I'd rather you think of me as having no burdens." Cerys kept staring at her Godscript in silence, but with every passing second, her expression grew more astonished.

"My stats are insane now!"

"Well, apparently when you 'ascend,' your spiritual energy doubles, among other things..."

"Yes, that too... but this has more to do with..." She fixed her sparkling orange eyes on him, but he instinctively looked away, as if to say none of it was his fault.

"Who the hell are you? No... what the hell are you?!"

"That way of putting it sounds a little insulting... I don't know what exactly you're seeing, but the only thing I can say for sure is that I'm the god of death now... an absolute god..." He felt more uncomfortable with every word he said.

"No... this goes beyond that..."

"Well, since it looks like we're going to be tied together somehow now, there may be a few other things I should tell you. All in good time."

"Fine... But don't expect me to thank you! You're obviously just after my power!" Nerez rubbed his chin, thoughtful.

"Well, those spear skills of yours should transfer nicely to a broom once I find a cave where I can hide for the rest of my life. I was just living in one, and I'd forgotten how dusty and filthy they get."

"What...?"

"Don't worry about that for now... Ah, before I forget, do you want this fruit?" In Nerez's hand was a gleaming object. Its surface was that of a mirror, and its shape was somewhat similar to that of an artichoke.

"That's... a fruit of Yggdrasil!" Cerys blurted out, glancing at her Godscript.

"I can't take that!"

"Really? I had the impression you were more of the ambitious type."

"I'm not a thief. I can't accept something that valuable."

"I'm pretty sure accepting a gift won't make you a thief... but if you really don't want it, I won't force you."

"Who in their right mind gives away a fruit of Yggdrasil...?" With every passing second, Cerys was piling up more questions than answers, but one thing in particular was intriguing her more than the rest.

"Something feels strange about my Eidolon..." She stretched out her hand to summon the lance she had already grown used to... but what formed instead was a huge, menacing black scythe.

"Yep, definitely a grim reaper..." Nerez muttered, looking the scythe over from top to bottom. Cerys snapped out of her stupor and looked at him.

"Reaper...? I like how that sounds."

"This girl completely ignored the 'grim' part..." Cerys shot him an annoyed look.

"What exactly is grim about a girl as sexy and attractive as me?"

"I think 'sexy' might be stretching it a bit..."

"Where are you looking, pervert? Don't tell me you made me your servant because of my body! What exactly are you expecting from me?!"

"If I hear that accusation one more time, you're sleeping outside the cave. That way, you'll know for sure nothing is going to happen between us."

"Tch, that's a boring reaction... And what's with this cave you keep mentioning?"!! It was right then that both of them began to glow. A few instants later, they had disappeared completely. The same phenomenon repeated itself all across the battlefield that had once hosted the god candidates' battle royale.