Chapter 30: Drugs Are Good Company
"Vermin," I muttered coldly, my voice sharp.
A purple lightning bolt struck down where the boy stood, creating a deep crater and charring the ground black.
Dust and crackling purple lightning filled the air. Through the swirling haze, Grayson could make out the tailed Lilith standing a few meters away, cradling the boy who should have been charred to ash.
"Wait, where am I?" Grayson muttered in confusion.
"What the fuck is wrong with you? You almost killed my business partner!" the tailed Lilith shouted, her tone sharp with annoyance.
"Lilith!" Grayson said warmly, a calm voice cutting through the chaos. He seemed surprised, but excited to see her. He gave her a soft smile and began to approach.
"And you—didn't I tell you not to get caught?" she snapped at the boy, not missing a beat. "I've repeated this so many times already. Make a good enough distraction before—"
She broke off mid-lecture, her eyes narrowing as she turned back to Grayson."Wait... what did you just call me?"
Grayson now stood directly in front of them, his warm smile fading into a puzzled expression.
I glanced left and right, catching the stares of the Asímians surrounding us. Whatever had taken over was now gone.
Finally, he looked down at the tailed Lilith and asked, his voice edged with confusion,"What the hell happened here?"
The tailed Lilith stared at me for a long moment, unsure if I was messing with her. Eventually, she answered.
"This child bumped into you and smeared those fruits on your skirt. You got pissed, and that's when I felt your killing intent. I ran after him to get him out of the way before you attacked. I just barely made it," she said, glaring.
"Oh? I don't remember anything after I felt something bump into me," I replied, my eyes shifting to the stain on his kilt. "And it's not a skirt — it's a kilt," I added, summoning the dark cloud to wipe the stain away.
More Asímians began to gather. A group of them rushed in, spears in hand, ready for battle. The spears hummed with power. They were made of centrium and "Chrysos", the mysterious wood that bonds with centrium.
I prepared to open a gate — I had no interest in brawling with randoms. But then the dust fully cleared... and everyone dropped to their knees, including the ones who had been chasing the boy.
"...Okay? This situation just keeps getting weirder," I muttered.
"What happened?" Kitsune appeared beside me, eyes scanning the crowd.
"I'm not quite sure myself," I said, pointing at the boy still in the tailed Lilith's arms. "But I think I almost killed this kid."
"Lilith, I was so scared!" the boy suddenly wailed, burying his face between the tailed Lilith's breasts, his small hands eagerly playing with them.
Without missing a beat, the tailed Lilith dropped him, grabbed him by the ear, and lifted him off the ground like he was garbage. She stretched her arm toward me, holding the boy out with visible disgust.
"I changed my mind. Just kill him," the tailed Lilith said flatly.
"Wait—you can't be serious! I'm just a sweet, innocent boy!" the kid cried, feigning innocence.
I gave him a long look, peering into the thread of his lifespan. "He is only fourteen years old. That's nothing."
"W-Why were you even considering it? Lilith wouldn't let me di—"
"Quiet," she cut him off, her voice cold and sharp, like a mother about to discipline her child.
I turned to her. "What made you want to save this boy, anyway?"
"Oh, he stole these cute shoes for me, so I owed him a favor." She lifted her leg, showing off the footwear with a smirk.
"That's it?"
She nodded cheerfully, patting the boy's head like he was a loyal pet.
I glanced around. The crowd of Asímians still had their heads bowed, not one of them daring to move. 'So much for casually exploring,' I thought.
"Let's go," I said aloud.
"Where to?" Kitsune asked.
"This is just a small town. The capital's bound to have far more interesting things."
"Alright—a rematch!" Kitsune shouted, dropping into a ready stance like a sprinter at the line.
The tailed Lilith then smacked the back of her head with her tail, then Kitsune dropped flat on the floor.
"These shoes are new, I am not running again!" The tailed Lilith declared, then stretched her hand forward, attempting to open a gate. I then gently grabbed her hand before she could do so.
"I have somewhere specific in mind that I would like to go." I said to her then opened a gate in front of us. The gate quickly pulled us in and we appeared in front of a massive medicine shop, somewhere in the capital.
"Where-where was that? It was so dark-so loud-screaming…there was so much screaming." The boy said shivering on the ground. It wasn't just his body, even his soul was affected.
"Shit, I forgot about this kid." I said out loud. The boy was drenched in sweat and looked like his life force was drying up. 'So, this is what happens when a living being goes through the gate. Question answered I guess.' I thought to myself.
"Tailed Lilith, take this boy back where you found him. You'll have to run back though, unless you don't mind him dying from going through the gate again." I said to her whilst walking towards the medicine shop.
"I am not running again." The tailed Lilith said then grabbed Kitsune's arm with her tail. "Hiii little runner, you know you're so fast, much faster than Grayson. You want to prove that to him?" The tailed Lilith asked with a smile clearly having ulterior motives. Kitsune thought for a while then nodded her head.
As I walked into the medicine shop, I was greeted by an all-female staff. "Welcome sir." They all said in unison. "Is there anything specific that our Herb Haven may get for you?" A staff member added with a professional smile.
"Yes, actually. I'll be taking your most lethal poisons with me." I said to her. "I'm sorry, but we can't sell those to just anyone. You will need special permission to purchase such items." She said to me.
"I wasn't asking." I said to her with a glare. My turquoise eyes gave a cold glow, she slowly began stepping back as a cold sweat broke through. Nonetheless, she still tried to maintain her smile.
"Y-yes sir, right away." She said to me then ran to the back of the shop. The tailed Lilith then walked proudly into the shop. "What did you do with the boy?" I asked her. "I took care of it." She replied with a smile. Seeing that Kitsune wasn't with her, I could already tell that she used Kitsune to get out of work.
"Welcome ma'am." The staff greeted the tailed Lilith in unison.
"Interested in drugs now?" The tailed Lilith asked. "Haha, I am already a living drug." I said to her. "Yet here you are, wanting more." she rebutted. "There might be some foreign microorganisms in this planet that not even my dark cloud contains. If I can acquire those, my dark cloud might prove more effective to other reapers." I said to the tailed Lilith.
"Hey hey, you don't have to mention any excuses to me. Drugs are good company." she said still messing with me.
"I don't like you." I said to her jokingly.
A few minutes later, the staff member came back. She now held three small chests, covered in chains. Each of the chests had a different color. One black, one red, and one purple.
"These are the most lethal poisons that our shop has to offer." The staff member said to me presenting all three chests on a table.
I then picked up the black chest and could feel a sinister aura of death coming from it.
"These poisons were extracted from the fangs of a giant three headed serpent. An ancient beast that lived for over 1,000 years. It was possible for us to extract this poison only after the beast crossed paths with you know who." She explained to me.
'They're talking about me. That little snake laid eggs in my pool, so I killed it.' Armando said from within the cloud.
"Just opening any one of these chests has a 90% assurance of death from their aura alone. The poisons are that lethal!" The staff member continued to say with confidence.
"What are the effects?" I asked her.
"The black chest contains a poison that not only rots the body, but eats away at the soul as well. Within the red chest is a poison that slowly drops the temperature of the body and hardens the blood, stopping circulation. In the end, the entire body becomes petrified." She added.
"What about the purple one?" I asked her.
"That one is a little more mysterious. The rumors do state that two of the serpent's heads contained the black and red poison. However, the third head did not contain any poison. It was only after you know who killed it, that a poison became evident. Some say the third head was capable of absorbing the purple tribulation lightning from you know who. This happened over a thousand years ago so the authhenticity of the information could be wrong." She said to me.
'It really is taboo in this planet to speak Armando's name. Anyone who did so would apparently be struck by purple lightning from the sky. They called it, the Purple Tribulation Lightning.' I thought as I recalled the conversations I heard around the planet.
'What she says is true. I was caught off guard with my first strike, not expecting the little snake to absorb the attack. Still it wasn't an actual fight, but an execution.' Armando said proudly within the cloud.
"How much for all of them?" I asked her.
"The manager said they are all on the house." She answered.
'How generous. Did they somehow figure out who I am?' I thought to myself.
I then proceeded to break the chains of all three chests.
"Wait, what are you doing? If you open that here, we will all die!" The staff member cried out in horror.
"Calm down. You should know what I am by now. No one here will die." I said to her confidently. She then started to calm down a little, but still got into a somewhat safe distance. I then proceeded to open all three chests. A heavy aura slowly slipped out of the three chests, ready to claim the lives of anyone in its vicinity.
I then quickly took the deadly aura into my dark cloud, not allowing even a wisp of it to escape.
Within the chests, I could see tiny bottles, as small as eyedrops, with liquids inside them. Each liquid matched the color of its chest, except for the purple chest, which had a bottle with a transparent liquid within it.
I then proceeded to pick up all three of the bottles and drink them together in one gulp.