The Reaper System

[FULL SYSTEM REBOOT COMPLETED!]

[Welcome back, Grim]

Grim's eyes moved independently, darting between the remaining soldiers in a way that made them hesitate in fear. Unbeknownst to the soldiers, he was sizing them up, his eyes crisscrossing unnaturally before they abruptly regained normalcy.

Suddenly, the alarms shrieked violently, their piercing wails bouncing off the reinforced walls like the echoes in a church. In that moment, the overhead lights flickered, casting jagged shadows across the blood-stained floor as the stench of iron mingled with burnt gunpowder, thickening the air with the essence of death.

Just then, there was a ping.

DING!

[Percentage remaining: 14%]

[Reaper System Time Limit: 02:17]

[Warning: System Shutdown Imminent]

Grim narrowed his eyes at the floating message, then tightened his grip around the hilt of his blood katana. The crimson mist surrounding it pulsed in sync with his heartbeat, growing brighter with each breath he took.

Across the room, the detective lay motionless, her severed arm still leaking blood onto the cold stone. Although he never spared her a glance, his inhanced senses caught her shallow breaths - she was fading fast.

The soldiers surrounded Grim in a half-circle, and their rifles locked onto him. Then, with a voice filled with insecurities, Ass-hole stepped forward.

"You're trapped... Grim," he muttered. "Your little tricks won't save you. Drop the blade, and maybe we'll make it quick."

Grim exhaled slowly. He wasn't listening to him. His eyes darted toward the pools of blood on the floor, noticing their reflective surfaces shimmering under the dim lights.

Ass-hole lunged, unsheathing a combat knife that flashed in the artificial light, but it was too slow.

Grim sidestepped, slicing his katana in a crimson arc. A wet thud followed as a severed arm hit the ground, its fingers still twitching.

Ass-hole let out a strangled scream before Grim impaled him with a clean stab through the chest.

DING!

[Soul Claimed – Energy Absorbed: +5 Seconds]

Grim's lips twitched. So that's how it works…

"FOCUS FIRE!" Nauseous barked.

Gunfire erupted.

KATKATKATKAT!

Grim vanished behind the storm of bullets, the blood mist consuming him entirely.

In disbelief, the soldiers staggered, searching for their target. Soon, Mute noticed movement - a shadow flickering above them - but it was too late.

Grim descended like a phantom as his katana flashed through the air. He landed behind Nauseated, the crimson blade already buried between his ribs. The man gasped with blood bubbling from his lips - then he collapsed.

DING!

The sound was folloewd by another warning that flashed across Grim's vision.

[+5 seconds]

[Reaper System Time Limit: 00:30]

Grim frowned slightly before turning to the detective.

She had lost even more blood, and her skin was as pale as death now. Grim gritted his teeth with a simple thought ringing in his head - if he left her, she wouldn't last another five minutes.

But the question was , did he even care?

Even if he did, he was running out of time. And he still had one enemy standing. 30 seconds just wasn't enough time to do both - either he fought Mute or he escaped with the detective.

Either way, he risked losing the advantage the Reaper System granted him.

With searching eyes, he soon spotted an exit - a heavily bolted door with a trail of blood leading towards it.

[Blood Traveler Activated]

Grim dashed forward, almost vanishing completely, before reappearing over the shallow pool of blood with the detective hoisted over his shoulder. But just as his body began to sink into the liquid, another message flickered into view:

[Integration Error: Foreign material detected]

"Shit."

Grim cursed at the message but failed to notice Mute charging forward and launching an explosive-grenade directly at them.

BOOOOM!

The explosion sent them flying, their backs slamming against the reinforced wall with a sickening crunch. Pain lanced through Grim's ribs, and a sharp crack signaled something breaking.

A second later, part of his mask shattered, exposing the scar beneath his left eye. Then another message appeared:

[Critical Damage Detected – Stability Dropping: now at 4%]

[Reaper System: 00:12]

Through the ringing in his ears, he heard something that completely surprised him.

"You think you're untouchable, demon?" Mute muttered, stepping forward. His voice cracked from fear, and his expression betrayed a false mask of bravery - still he continued. "That mask doesn't make you immortal."

Grim pushed himself to his feet and wiped blood from his lips before he called his katana back to his hand.

"No… but yours makes you a dead man."

The air around him thickened, and the blood mist seemed to be responding to his fury. Mute hesitated as the crimson aura spiraled upward, forming a floating ring around Grim's body.

In the next moment, the overhead lights dimmed, causing shadows to stretch unnaturally.

[Blood Echo – Phantom Strike Mode Engaged]

[Temporary Time Boost: +5]

Then he moved.

He was a blur, phasing in and out of visibility as he weaved between Mute's gunfire. His katana cleaved through bullet after bullet, leaving behind afterimages of crimson arcs in the air.

Mute swiftly changed magazines, deliberately waiting for Grim to close the distance, then fired at point-blank range. But Grim twisted mid-air, deflecting the bullet with the flat of his blade, ricocheting the round straight through Mute's shoulder.

In an instant, the blood mist swallowed him, and when he reappeared, Grim's katana had already found its mark - way before the man could even turn.

"Too slow," he whispered.

The katana passed through his chest before Mute ever heard Grim's taunt. His body went numb as the blade was ripped from his chest. A second later, he fell to his knees, wide-eyed and breathing hard.

"You… you're a monster," he rasped, coughing up blood.

Grim tilted his head, his eyes burning red with mana.

"Then what does that make you?"

Mute trembled but forced a smirk.

"You think you've won? You don't even know what's coming."

"Enlighten me," Grim said after a pause with narrowed eyes.

"The Shinigami… is coming. You… can't stop it."

The words struck Grim like a hammer to the chest.

Shinigami? The King of Soul Reapers… the shadow i saw standing over them....

Behind him, the detective groaned, stirring from unconsciousness. Sensing the change in her condition, Grim turned toward her and vanished before reappearing by her side. In a hurried motion, he dropped to his knees and pressed a hand against the wound on her arm, stopping the bleeding as much as he could.

She stared at him, dazed but observant. Her gaze flickered to the bodies, then back to him.

Grim wasn't sure, but her expression looked to betray worry. Her sharp eyes were searching his face, scanning every detail like a psychiatrist with their patient - she found his hesitation, his barely concealed rage.

"You…" she whispered. "You never killed them... did you?"

Grim didn't answer immediately. For a few moments, silence stretched between them like a secret, heavy with unspoken truths.

Then, finally:

"…No."

Her eyes softened.

Finally, the puzzle pieces are clicking into place, she thought.

[Reaper System: 00:07]

The detective frowned as Grim cursed at something that seemed only he could see.

"No more time," he muttered.

"No more time for what," the detective wheezed, coughing blood into her hand.

Grim didn't answer. Instead, he took his katana to his wrist, drawing his own blood before randomly smearing it over the detective's exposed body parts. It was disgusting, but she knew that he must have had a good reason, so she went along with him, swiping at his wrist and wiping the blood over her face.

[System Shutdown Imminent: 00:04]

Grim wasted no more time, lifting the detective onto his back in one swift motion.

His grip was steady despite the weight of exhaustion. Then, he turned to the largest blood pool, now glowing and swirling with energy.

DING!

[Conditions for Blood Traveler accepted]

Behind them and still alive, Mute coughed. And with blood dribbling down his chin, he spoke:

"You won't get far… we'll find you eventually."

Grim didn't bother responding. Instead, he leaped into the air, aimed for the blood portal.

[Shutdown in 3... 2...]

"This isn't over!" yelled the Mute.

[...1]

Then, in a flash of crimson light, they were gone.

******

Mute sat there in a pool of his own blood for a while before he crawled over to his dead comrade and retrieved his bloodied comm device.

He hesitated before speaking:

"We failed…" he muttered. "Gri- I mean... Yomiyama escaped."

For a brief second, there was a moment of static. Then, a low, distorted voice crackled through the speaker:

"Then we move to Phase Two."

The transmission cut out abruptly, leaving only the sound of flickering lights and the scent of blood hanging thick in the air.

Mute looked at the pool of blood his target had used to escape and noticed a badge floating toward him.

Above the photo, there was a name that read:

Detective Nozomi...