Chapter 446: Reaper
Chapter 446: Reaper
After Hermione helped Liam sit up, he noticed that everything around them was shrouded in gray mist. Only the area where they were standing was clear, as if a hemispherical protective shield had enveloped them.
"Earlier, I saw you conjure a Gray Flame. The flame grew larger under the influence of your Spell, eventually enveloping both of us. Then the gray Flame disappeared, and we found ourselves here", Hermione explained, though she was just as confused as he was.
"I think I have an idea of what's happening", Liam said after a moment. Feeling somewhat recovered, he helped Hermione to her feet and raised his hand, using the power from his rings to create a circle of energy around them. A gray mist similar to the surrounding fog emerged from the tip of his wand and dissipated into the misty sea around them.
As he cast his Magic, the surrounding mist thinned considerably. Hermione was startled to realize they were in a grand hall, its floor a hard, iron-gray surface. The small patch of tiles they had been standing on was just a tiny part of this vast hall.
Hermione took a few steps forward, feeling the solid ground beneath her feet, which was as firm as real stone. She scanned the area, but everything within her line of sight was shrouded in a gray-black mist. Apart from the hall they were in, she could see nothing but the fog, as if they were in a Realm of mist.
Where are we? Hermione turned to Liam, but he was equally puzzled. He had tried to communicate with the surroundings using Life Magic and the death-related techniques from Maoshan Daoist practices but received no response. The fact that they were in this hall was proof that something had responded, but he saw no entity to communicate with.
Liam couldn't find any beings to communicate with, such as the Reapers that Wizards often talked about residing in the deathworlds. Out of desperation, he probed the surroundings and found that everything except the floor seemed insubstantial and illusory.
He knelt down and observed the ground through the faint mist. Hermione quietly joined him, standing by his side and vigilantly watching their surroundings.
Activating his Yin-Yang Eye, Liam realized that the gray tiles on the floor were not plain as he had initially thought. Each tile had a few simple lines depicting a human figure—men, women, the elderly, and the young. There were even some non-human figures, like the image of a Centaur that Liam noticed.
The figures on the tiles were crudely drawn but exuded a vivid, almost lifelike quality.
Lifelike? As this thought crossed his mind, Liam had an epiphany. He reached out and touched a tile with the image of a Centaur.
Instantly, a series of images flooded Liam's mind: being born in a tall wooden house, learning to stand on four legs during childhood, falling in love and becoming a hunter in the tribe during youth, the birth and growth of children, the heartbreak of losing a beloved partner to old age, and finally, succumbing to a cold in the same house where he had lived his entire life.
These images flashed through Liam's mind too quickly for him to grasp the details. However, he still understood the life of this Elder Centaur and realized what these tiles represented.
Souls, the souls of the deceased. Liam touched a few more tiles, and each one brought forth the memories of the deceased in his mind. Some had lived long, natural lives like the Elder Centaur, others were murdered, some died in accidents, and a few succumbed to plagues.
Regardless of gender, age, race, or cause of death, they all shared one common trait: they were all deceased.
If this were any other time, Liam would be thrilled to be in such a mysterious place. Being able to interact with the Death Law so closely would greatly benefit his understanding of the rules. However, with Hermione by his side, Liam only wanted to get out as quickly as possible. Even though the Flame of Eternity provided sufficient protection, the omnipresent Death Law could still affect the two living beings.
The Flame of Eternity indeed prevented the death force from seeping through, but Liam didn't anticipate that, in an environment saturated with the Death Law, any living being who saw, heard, or even sensed it would be infected. Liam was only minimally affected; even with his rudimentary understanding of the Power of the Rules, he could eliminate the slight influence of the Death Law on him. However, Hermione was different.
"Isn't it said that there are Reapers? Where is He now?" Liam thought anxiously, as he noticed a faint, lifeless aura beginning to permeate Hermione's presence, and the sparkle in her eyes began to fade.
Suddenly, he had an epiphany. Standing up, he clasped his hands together and began to pray to the Reaper in his heart. Sure enough, not long after, a gray mist began to coalesce in front of him. First, it formed hair, then a head, followed by a neck and shoulders, gradually taking on a humanoid shape, much like how human flesh and bones form a body.
Finally, the mist in the hall completely dissipated, and a person stood before Liam and Hermione. It was a beautiful girl who looked like an Eurasian half-blood, but upon closer inspection, it was clear that this was a female version of Liam.
This must not be the Reaper's true form. As Liam thought this, the girl spoke, her voice deep and indescribable, resonating throughout the hall.
"This body is merely created to facilitate communication. I know intelligent beings often prefer to interact with the opposite sex, so I fashioned this image based on the person I am speaking to."
"Are you the Reaper?" Liam asked hesitantly, having never known that there were deities in the Harry Potter world.
"No, I am just the Reaper you imagined in your mind, just like everything around you. However, in this place, imagination and reality can interconvert." The girl explained, and Liam then noticed that everything around him had frozen, as if encased in a giant amber.
After asking a few questions, Liam realized that the Reaper before him was not a deity with a self-conscious personality but a pre-programmed system that only responded to certain queries.
This meant that the world did not have a personified deity, and the Reaper was merely a term for the manifestation of the Death Law. The Deathly Hallows were likely powerful artifacts created by a powerful wizard who had mastered the Rules of Death. The claim that gathering the Deathly Hallows could conquer death probably referred to gaining knowledge about the Death Law from them.
With this in mind, Liam said directly, "I hope to leave this place with my companion. How can we do that?"
"By paying the price", the Reaper unexpectedly replied. "However, the price you must pay is much higher than that of your companion, as you have already touched the edge of the rules, while she is just an ordinary wizard."
"Can you tell me what the prices are?" Liam asked.
"Your companion needs to offer something equivalent to a life, while you need something that can contain the Life Law", the Reaper said expressionlessly. "And these things cannot come from other worlds."
As soon as she said this, the Reaper paused and then continued, "You only need something that can contain the Life Law, because your companion has chosen to stake her life's power, entrusting everything to you. In my eyes, you can now be considered one."
She added, "Given that your companion has offered more than she asked for, I will provide you with all the items you need, except for life itself."
With that, the Reaper nodded and disappeared, and everything around them resumed its flow. Only a scale remained, one end of which was raised high, while the other held a gray, translucent sphere. Through the sphere, Liam could see the shadows of himself and Hermione, indicating that the Reaper meant that as long as both sides were balanced, they could leave.
(End of Chapter)
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