Luna, Teiki, and Poku continues to watch Al fight against the Arachne. “What is that sword he is using?” Poku asked, excitedly. “It made him incredibly powerful. He might just win against the Arachne by himself with it!” “It’s a runeblade. It makes no sense.” Luna respond. “How did he get his hands on a weapon that only demons can use? We might need to capture him to inquire him about it after this.” “A runeblade?” Teiki ask, as she had crawled closer to the two. “A runeblade is a sword inscribed with powerful magic. Unlike normal enchants, runes provide much stronger magic, but at a heavy price.” Luna paused to think for a bit. “Al… what price did you pay for this runeblade?”

As the group continued to watch, Al was grabbed after he cut one of the Arachne’s leg off. Then was thrown against the wall. “Damn! Poku, quickly cut yourself lose, and go help Al!” Luna called out. Seeing that the paralyzation had worn off, she got on her feet and was about to make her way towards her bow. She suddenly felt a heavy pressure that knocked her down to her knees. A pressure she had never felt before. Someone or something exceedingly powerful was joining them in the cave.

“Well… This is interesting.” Black smoke rises from the ground between the Arachne and Al. It gathers together and forms into a black robe just barely floating above the ground.The robe was as large as the Arachne, and the hood of the robe covers the face of its wearer in complete darkness. The only visible body part that you can see of the wearer were its skeletal hands. The Arachne took a few steps back, cautiously. “DEATH… WHY ARE YOU HERE?” It called out. Death look around the room, ignoring the question, and spots Astra lying down on the ground. “Oh, now this is really interesting.” He slowly floats to Astra. “I never thought I find you in a dark cave, general. I’ve been waiting thousands of years to collect your soul you know.” Astra quickly rises to his feet, sword drawn. He strikes quickly at Death, but his sword shattered into thousands of pieces upon impact.

“Hmm…” Death merely stare at Astra, puzzled by the sudden attack. “Don’t worry general. I’m not going to collect your soul… yet.” Death rises one of his hands in front of Astra while he stood frozen in front him. “Sleep” He snaps his fingers, and Astra collapses to the ground. “I ASKED YOU WHY YOU ARE IN MY LAIR!” The Arachne yelled out again, louder than before. Death glances over to the Arachne. “Clearly, I’m not here for you.” He turns over to face Luna, Teiki, and Poku who had been watching the whole time. “You guys over there, sleep as well.” He snaps his fingers again, and the three collapse. The Arachne screeches out angrily, and charges at Death, and swipe at him with both claws. Death turns into a large cloud of smoke, and drifted towards Al.

The smoke reforms into the robe, and floats over Al. “Since you keep asking, I guess I will answer. I sensed a follower of mine was near death, so I came personally to collect his soul, but it seems that this follower is still clinging to life.” Death merely stood there, staring down at Al. “HE’S MINE! HIM AND ALL OF HIS FRIENDS ARE MINE!” The Arachne readies itself, clearly prepare to fight Death. Death looks over to the entrance, towards the direction of the village, again ignoring the Arachne “I am sensing some really strong, dark magic. Is this your doing?” “AND WHAT IF IT IS?” “I see… That would explain why I haven’t received any souls from this area for awhile. So you have been stealing souls that belong to me?” Death now stare coldly towards the Arachne, but it showed no signs of being intimidated.

“I AM NOT AFRAID OF YOU. YOU GROW WEAKER BY THE DAY, WHILE I GROW STRONGER.” The Arachne shouted. “MAYBE I’LL TAKE YOUR PLACE ONCE I KILL YOU ALONG WITH YOUR FOLLOWER.” “It is true that I have grown weaker due to losing my followers. And that is why I can’t lose any more of them. Especially this one.” Death now finally prepare to fight the Arachne. “WHAT MAKES THIS ONE SPECIAL?” “Hmm… I guess you can call it an investment. I have plans for him in the future. And I must warn you. You are a mere Demigod, know your place.” The Arachne screeches out in anger and charges towards Death once more.

The Arachne swing wildly at Death, and he dodges with ease. This angers the Arachne, and it attacks grows more ferocious, destroying every part of the ground that its attack lands on. After a dodging a few more attacks, Death grabs one of the Arachne’s claw, and places his other hand on it’s torso. “Repel” Death sends the Arachne flying to the other side of the room, and it slams against the wall, creating a huge crack that extends all the way to the ceiling. “Maybe this is too much for you?” Angered, the Arachne started to spit out poisonous clouds at Death.

Although the poison would have no effect on Death, it could still kill Al who was lying there unconscious. Death grabs Al’s body, and swiftly dodges the attack. He flies towards the other members of Al’s group, and placed his body there. Death then turn to face the Arachne again, but it had rushed in closed to him. Death was struck hard, and was sent crashing into the ground some distance away. “IS THAT ALL YOU CAN DO?!” The Arachne charges wildly at Death once again. Death stood there and waited for it to reach him. It tries to tackle him, but Death phases through the Arachne. Once he goes through the Arachne, he turns around to face it. He lifts up one hand, which was holding a glowing ball of light, that stretched and connected to the Arachne. The Arachne them stumbles, and falls down. “NO… GIVE… IT… BACK…” it said, weakly. “Never underestimate Death.”

“For a Demigod, your soul is much smaller than I thought it would be.” Death raises the ball of light to his face. “I can easily crush your soul, and kill you here.” The Arachne was turning even more pale than it was originally, and now was too weak to say anything back. “But, where is the fun in that?” Death releases the soul, and it bounces back to the Arachne. It raises back on its feet in confusion. “Instead, I will have you help me with a little test run.” “AND… WHY… WOULD I HELP YOU?” “Simple. If you don’t, you will die here. If you do, then you might get a chance to live.” The Arachne pondered for a bit. “WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO?”

“It is simple. We will fight again. You win, you can do what you want with these adventurers, my follower included. Lose, and your soul belongs to me. You will serve me for eternity.” The Arachne was angered at this. “AND WHY WOULD I DO THIS? I HAVE ALREADY LOST. HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO WIN?” “Don’t worry. I will be giving you a handicap this time.” Death turns into smoke once more. The smoke flies towards Al, and surrounds his body. The smoke dispersed, and Al gets up on his feet.

“I will fight you like this.” Deaths voice echoed from Al’s mouth. “I will be test running this body and see how it is at the moment.” Death starts randomly moving parts of the body to check for damage. “Hmm… seems the left hand is broken. And a few broken ribs. But this is fine.” He lifts his right hand. Al’s runeblade lifts up off the ground and flies towards Death. He catches it, and takes a fighting stance towards the Arachne. It grins, believing it has a really good chance of killing Death, now that he was in a form he wasn’t used to, and the body was a weak boy that it was already on the verge of killing without even going all out.

“Whenever you are ready. You can make the first move.” Death calls out to the Arachne. It instantly shoots out a ball of web at him. He quickly cut it effortlessly. At that moment, the Arachne had rushed in from the sides and strikes down on him. “Rune of Agility” Death swiftly dodges the attack. “Sigil of Explosion” A large marking formed under the Arachne. It glowed a bright red and then fire erupted from it, knocking the Arachne down. Death leaps at the fallen Arachne. “Rune of Power.” He sweeps, and cuts off two of its legs. It screeches out in pain, and sweeps its claw at Death. He leaps away from the attack and away from the Arachne. It tries to get back on its feet, staggering around having lost its balance.

“Hmm… This body is much better than I thought. I can’t wait to see how it grows.” Death has ceased his attacks, busy admiring how well Al’s body was working, despite the heavy damage it had sustained from earlier. He was also happy at how compatible the body was to him. The Arachne wildly, and random spat out poisonous gas everywhere in the room, trying to buy itself time to grow back its limbs. “Good try. But that is not enough to buy yourself time. Sigil of Purification.” A huge sigil covers the entire room. It flashes brightly and cleared the room of all the poisonous gas. The bright light from the sigil had blinded the Arachne, and it staggers backwards. Death took this chance to rush in and jumped of its back. “Sigil of Impact” Another marking appeared and flashed. A forced slams the Arachne down to the ground, creating a crater around it.

Death leaps off and lands on the ground. He stops to stare at the unmoving body of the Arachne. The Arachne swiftly swings its claw at Death, sending him flying at the wall. Death landed smoothly against the wall. He turns to face the Arachne, and saw a ball of web flying his way. He cuts it down, but there was a second one that caught him off guard. The ball of web spread out and then rooted him against the wall. The Arachne rises up, and was visibly worn out from the damage it had sustained. Knowing it was most likely going to lose and forced to serve Death for eternity, it planned its escape. It looked around, and then towards the ceiling. It sees an opening created from when it was sent flying against the wall. It starts to ascend the wall. “I WON’T DIE HERE TODAY! I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE ON YOU DEATH!”

Death stare as the Arachne climbs the way. “Hmm… well… I can’t let you run off on our deal.” He tries to struggle out of the web, but to no avail. His right hand had been rooted to the wall as well, so his chance of cutting himself free with the runeblade was nonexistent. The Arachne was nearing the top, so Death had to think fast on his next move. He could easily release himself from Al’s body and finish off the Arachne in his normal form, but he feels that he should finish it in Al’s body. Otherwise he would not be satisfied in his little test. He wiggles his runeblade around, and freed it, but his hand was still bound. He drops the sword and it falls to the ground. He grins as he has now planned his next move.

Death focus his entire mind into the runeblade. The sword lifts up off the ground and the floats to be in front of him. He aimed the sword towards the Arachne. “Sigil of Projectile.” A small sigil formed around the runeblade. “Sigil of Projectile.” Several more formed in front of it. “Sigil of Projectile.” More formed. They all line up towards the Arachne. “Now… Launch.” The first sigil glowed a silver glowed and pushed the sword forward. As it reach each sigil, it grew faster. Upon reaching the last of the sigil, the runeblade flew at an incredible speed towards the Arachne. The Arachne turns to face and laugh at Death one last time before it makes its escape, savoring its victory against Death. It spots the runeblade flying towards it, but a moment too late. The sword penetrates its torso with a heavy blow, cutting the torso off from the main body. The Arachne came crashing down to the ground.

The Arachne coughs up blood once it lands on the ground. It looks around for its body. Once it found it was several feet away from it, it showed a face of true terror, having now realised that it can not escape Death. Death had wiggle himself free from the webbing, and was beginning to slow make his way towards it. The Arachne was overfilled with fear as it desperately tried to crawl away. Fully regretting its foolishness in thinking that it could win against a god. Tears starts rolling down its face as it crawled. “NO… no… please…” Its once powerful voice, now a mumble. It continued to crawl away randomly, not even knowing the direction it was crawling towards. It feels a sudden pressure on its back, and turns its head to look. Death has reached it, and was looking down on it.

“Please… spare me…” The Arachne whimpered. “I was foolish… I will never try to offend you again.” “Thank you for helping me with this little test of mine. I will have to say it was a great success.” Death stare down at the Arachne with a smile. He put sheaths his swords, and lifts his foot off the Arachne’s back. This gave it the impression that it was going to be spare. “As promise, since you have lost. Your soul is mine.” Death reaches down to it. His hands penetrates the Arachne’s body, and he began to pull out it’s soul. “No… NO! PLEASE!” It cried out. “I don't…. I don’t want to die.” “Die? No… No no no… you will not die. Did you forget our little deal? Should you lose, you are to serve me for eternity. And I have plans for you. Great plans.” Death grins down at it evilly. The Arachne cries out more. Then its vision turned into darkness.

“Now then.” Death turns towards the collapsed adventurers. “What shall I do with these?” He walks over to them, and started to inspect them. “Oh ho. It seems my follower has made some really important friends. I wonder if he even knows who they are.” He contemplate for a bit. “I would love to harvest their souls now that I know who they are. But they could prove useful in the future. They could provide this follower with the growth that he needs.” He debates to himself for a moment. “I will make use of them I guess, since I’ve already invested so much into this follower. Sigil of Tracking.” A small sigil appeared on each of the members of the group. Small enough that you would not see it if you weren’t searching for it. “Now, I will alter their memories. Can’t have them know that I was here. Alter Memories.” Everyone’s body glowed with a shadowy black light. “There. Now then. I am done here it seems. Maybe I’ll head over to the village and collect their souls while I am here.” Dark smoke flows out of Al, and he collapses on the ground. The smoke seeps into the ground and disappeared.