Chapter 38: Void Calamity

A simple thought passed through Zhou Qi's mind as soon as he heard the voice. Death had come for him. Dread had embodied the being.

"N-No answer? Hmm. Normal!" the monster said.

The gurgling intonations made his heart skip. It sounded like it was from the depths of hell.

The loan shark's legs wobbled as undisguised malice assaulted him. He wanted to run, but he just couldn't.

"F-Familiar scent? W-weird?" The monster said, circled, and fell in deep thought.

The void calamity's curiosity found a new toy in him. There in the shadow's depth laid a crimson cloaked zealot. Its soul-sucking eyes locked him in place, rendering his effort to escape nothing but a bitter pipe dream.

Zhou Qi gasped. He wished to lift a finger but only ended up trembling. His hands shook, but only let out a flicked. Too late to notice that his entire body was already out of his control.

"Oh, yes, yes. The sleeping monster at the void's depth." It said, high-pitch excited. "Human? What's your relationship with that woman?"

"I-I." Zhou Qi's lips flapped incoherent words.

"Hm?" The calamity brisked and turned into a scarlet blur, appearing like a ghost before the loan shark. Its head tilted at a right angle.

In shock, Zhou Qi's knees buckled, and he tumbled onto his butt. The mission difficulty had taken another leap… to hell. Sweat dripped like an open faucet, leaving Zhou Qi akin to a drenched laundry.

"Oh, Caka!" it said as it flicked its bone-like finger onto Zhou Qi's forehead. "A weakling alright. I-I allow you to talk."

A shudder to the soul and the loan shark's locked jaw unlocked itself from the chains of fear. Yet his shaking didn't stop. Not with a void calamity standing to his face. The Blood cloaked Calamity. A mysterious void calamity who loved to wander around. Also known as The Red Cloaked Death.

A mysterious zealot that had one of the worst reputations. They said that if you dare to look at it, you've bought a free ticket to the hell-train station. When the blood cloaked reaper desire a soul, people shall see the poor sods empty husk tomorrow. Mere shell. Not dead. Not alive.

Wait maybe, the system's special gift will help him, Zhou Qi thought of the Golden Buddha coupon

Zhou Qi knew that Golden Buddhas were entities of light. Maybe the system gifted it to him for a reason.

'Items,' Zhou Qi said in his mind as he lowered his head.

 

Ding.

Item: One Time-limited Used Golden Buddha (Coupon).

Description.

The golden Buddha coupon will allow you to become invulnerable to elemental and physical attacks for five minutes.

"…"

Ding.

System Notes: Pardon this system. Sorry, it has no defense or immunity against soul attacks. I picked the wrong one. Tehe. RIP.

 

The veins on Zhou Qi's forehead burst and exploded.

What do you mean you picked the wrong one?

Zhou Qi trembled as he chewed his lips. "I gotta live and practice system thrashing. There're a lot of stupid bugs on this stupid system!"

"I-I'm bored. Answer?" Impatience began clouding the words of the void calamity.

Zhou Qi slammed his eyes shut, took a deep breath… and bullshitted his way out. Yes, like how he always does.

"Honorable Blood Cloaked Cakaka, I'm Zhou Qi, a loan shark. I'm pleased to meet your acquaintance." He pulled skills and buttered the sentient zealot. He went to his knees and shut his eyes closed.

"Cakaka? Is that what you humans call me? I-Interesting. So tell me. What's your relationship with that woman?"

Zhou Qi clenched his teeth. Here comes Zhou Qi's code of bullshit!

Rule Number One. Create a story that the listener will want to believe.

"You see Sir Cakaka, in one of my adventures seven years ago. I was on a wide plains with my parents. There was none of your kind in those times. During one of my travels, I met a woman. She was powerful. All I know is she was not normal. Though, she appeared quite like a normal human. My sharp senses gave her away."

"S-she was…" Zhou Qi stopped speaking, thinking hard for his next words. His tongue was dry. The beats of his heart - frantic.

"Cakaka, continue." Its bony, ripped mouth formed some kind of grin.

Rule Number Two: Engage the listener.

"Wait, I can't seem to remember what she looks like. Is this normal Sir Cakaka?"

…

A few seconds of silence loomed the room. Damn, did I fail? Zhou Qi's thoughts ran wild. Please work, please work. He took a gulp, his tongue almost followed along.

….

"Cakaka, fair, knowing that woman. S-She won't leave any evidence."

Zhou Qi sighed. The monster had taken the bait, and he had pulled out juicy materials to support the rest of his bullshit.

"I was lost in that grass field that day after playing with my friends. I didn't notice that I was lost due to enjoy playing too much. It was already near sunset when I found myself alone in the middle of the grassy field. I tried to find my way back, to no avail. It was until I discovered a h-."

"Cakaka, the witch hut, right? Weird. How did you reach the void?"

"…"

Zhou Qi felt dumb for a moment. He thanked his damned luck stat of the nth time. The monster had humored his cringe-worthy skit. "Y-yes, Sir Cakaka, it was a weird witch hut. I tried to knock, but no one answered."

"S-She's out!"

"Yes, yes probably! Sir Cakaka." Zhou Qi nodded like a drugged chicken as a poker face masked his expressions.

Suddenly, Zhou Qi froze. He sensed stifling mirth bubbling from the red-cloaked zealot. He stopped and shuddered. It was far more shocking to discover a void calamity showing a human-like personality.

The air turned stale and horror slithered once again. The pressure returned, making it hard to even breathe. Cold sweat dripped as his teeth chattered.

"L-Loan shark, I like your story and humor, b-but you lie."

The suffocating crimson mist flooded the entire hall. The pressure pressed onto Zhou Qi's shoulders. He instantly dropped face-first while his knees smashed to the ground, followed by a scream.

"L-Loan shark? I like your soul… Can I take it?" The calamity's eerie voice trembled, as if it was coming from the bottom of the abyss.

Escaped! Now! I had to! He wheezed, pushing himself to stand, but had only flipped himself to the side.

The gears in his head running at full throttle. His instincts cautioned him. The hands of death had come.

Zhou Qi turned ashen white. The beats of his heart rushed like a flood. The hands of death had taken a grip on his soul. A powerful tug followed.

He turned breathless. Death had taken a liking to his soul. His gaze flipped and confusion dawned on him. Who he was? Where he was? What he was?

A shudder followed as he stared below with his feet gone. There his body laid in the blood-stained ground. Zhou Qi screamed, but no sound came forth from his mouth. Dread showed no mercy as it ate him whole. Treating the void calamity as a mere sentient monster was a big mistake, and he realized it far too late.

 

Ding!

System Notes: Rip. In this tombstone lies an orphan, a bar owner, a drunkard, a nicotine burner, a gangster, and a loan shark. Okay, let's start the party! Next host, please don't make me wait for long!

Status: Half Dead. The body is alive. The soul is away.

 

Fuck you! Zhou Qi roared in his soul form as he read the system's message.

Is this how will I die? He was slowly drifting away from his body. There was nothing but chilling silence. When took another gaze to his now-gone feet, Zhou Qi saw a bony hand had already grabbed onto his soul. He turned and glimpsed at a demon's grin.

Licking its lips, the jaw of the void calamity widened like a dark rift ever willing to take a bite. It was a deep swamp of darkness. "Cakaka, what a unique soul. I want to get a taste… hak!

A pale hand appeared out of nowhere, slapping the cloaked reaper's unhinged jaws shut.

"W-Woman! Why are you here!?"

Suddenly, Zhou Qi was free to move as pale energy pushed him out of the monster's grasp. The push gave him a taste of despair. If the red-cloaked void, calamity brings dread and horror. Then the owner of the pale hand brought forth hopelessness, as if everything was a futile struggle.

Zhou Qi, in his soul form, swam through the flickering crimson mist and the pale-white aura drifted from the black home. And from within the dark hole, a suffocating pressure seeped out. A different one and far more dangerous than the cloaked calamity before him.

The blood cloaked void calamity made him feel like a chicken ready for cooking. Yet, he could at least put up resistance even it meant death. But before this unfamiliar presence, he simply felt like dying already.

The void beast screamed as if it was in its death throes. "I-I won't!? I'm only playing. I'll return it. I-I will now!"

The blood-cloaked beast glared at the Zhou Qi's soul drifting in the air. It flicked Zhou Qi's soul away like a rubber band.

Zhou Qi's vision flipped as if he was on a roller coaster. And he was back.

"Huff, huff." Zhou Qi spasmed and gasped. Like suffering from an electric shock, the loan shark flipped like a fish fighting against a chopping board and knife.

Agh! I'll return. Fine! L-Lucky brat… Protected by. Ack! I'll return. Now, now it is!"

Zhou Qi lifted his head and a dizzy spell struck him akin to a 250 mile/hr bullet train. That was how the loan shark described the feeling of getting your soul to pluck out and forcibly returned.

He was jelly all over, struggling to even open his eyes.

The loan shark spluttered vomit on the bloody ground. Nothing but a shriveled loan shark sapped out of his strength.

Soon, a screech bombed Zhou Qi's ear. He gritted his teeth, blood dripping from his ears. What in hell!

Shifting his head, he saw the abyss opening once again like shattered space. The space shattered like glass shards. A pale hand punctured through as it gripped the blood-cloaked void calamity on its face.

"W-Witch! You can't kill me!" The beast raised a banshee's scream. A cocktail of darkness and crimson rising from the void beast. "We have a deal!"

The cloaked zealot grappled against the steel grip. Yet crimson calamity's struggle ended futile.

"Witch, I hate you!"

The pale hands pulled the beast into the shattered space, gnawing its plague doctor's mask. The blood cloaked flailed, but ended up dragged into the depths of the void. Zhou Qi watched in horror. Frozen stiff, eyes almost popping as he grimaced. Whoever dragged the beast back to the cracks was nothing but the worst monster.

The loan turned over to the side, kept his peace, ignoring the shrieks.

His trick? Play dead.