Death Without Expression

I was mistaken to underestimate one claimed as the prince of demons! Why am I such an idiot!? Well, it's not too late for me to turn this around. I know a move that can counter this but it will definitely takes it's toll on me leaving me vulnerable for a few seconds. Even that amount of time is fast enough to kill me, however, but more importantly, it might kill Beelzebub and if it doesn't it might kill me! What do I do? Argh! It's not like I have a choice!

「 DEATH SERIES: DEMONIC COUNTERS: DEATH DEFYING COUNTER」

「BOTH OF YOU! STOP!

        」Infront of me, I saw a man with a long dark black cloak move in front of me. His cloak was darker than the void itself, darker than oblivion or limbo. Wait for enough of his cloak! What is this idiot doing!? He just jumps in front of two attacks and tries blocking it? These attacks coming from both me and the prince of demons, Beelzebub himself! Does he want to get killed? Both attacks hit him directly, there was smoke covering the way so I couldn't see if he was dead or not, though I doubt anyone would have survived that.I looked at Beelzebub

「What do you think that idiot was doing?」

「You only saw his cloak, he may be an idiot but I can assure you he took it unscathed」

「What, that's impossible!」

「You used a death defying counter right?」

「Yeah, why?」

「That counter is used to defy death, think really hard. Who wears a pitch black cloak and is associated with death?」

「...You can't mean The Grim Reaper can you?」

「Right on the spot and looking at the two people running towards this direction, they're probably his subordinates」

「His subordinates? Like lower-ranking reapers?」

「Yes, and it looks like they're from the Japanese branch, they're called the Shinigami」

「Wait, but aren't the shinigami Death GODS? Why are they the subordinate of Lil' old Grim over there?」

「Well, this isn't common knowledge but the idea of a shinigami actually popped up I the 18th or 19th century.」

「So what?」

「It was during this time that the Western Christian beliefs were interacting with the Shinto, Buddhist and Taoist beliefs. So the Shinigami most likely originated from the Grim Reaper.」

「Woahh, so Grim is like the true god of death! That's awesome! Wait but, how does that work? How were the Shinigami created?」

「 Gods are created by human beings and their beliefs. Once they stop believing in a god and the god becomes forgotten, then that god disappears. Since the Shinigami are gods of death, they popped up in the 18th and 19th centuries.」

「Okay, so what is the Grim Reaper then?」

「The Grim Reaper is an angel of death. He isn't evil but then again nor is he good... So he's a very rare exception. He was here at the times of the first angel and demon. He was always here. No one is higher than death, not even god himself. The Grim Reaper is the embodiment of death. Even God can die.」

    I look over to the Grim Reaper. An emotionless face. Yet, it is one filled with pain. One that has died the true prowess of death. One that has faced countless of people who had ended their lives, countless wars faced, countless battles lost, countless lives ended. Deaths that were both painless and painful. He was there. He felt all the pain, he experienced it. He was there, for all of it. I wondered if he even spoke. He was truly lifeless.

「Hey, Beelzebub. Why did death stop our attack?」

  「You use a death-defying counter and don't even know that? A death-defying counter is supposed to defy death. So no one can die. Not even your enemy. Speaking of which, where did you even learn that. You basically summoned The Grim Reaper himself.」

 

    The two Shinigami then took the opportunity to introduce themselves.

「I am the shinigami of western Japan. I am pleased to make your acquaintance.」

      Strangely enough, this one held his katana in his left hand.

「I am the shinigami of eastern Japan. It is a pleasure to meet you.」

      This shinigami held his katana on his right hand.

「Are you two twins or something?」

   They both suddenly looked at each other

「How did he find out?」

「He might be using mind reading magic be careful!」

「Don't worry, I'm not I could tell by the way you hold your katanas, it just looked like you were twins. 」

「You could tell just by that? Impressive!」

「Anyway what is your reason for coming here?」

「Merely making sure that you were still alive.」

「Aren't you a death god? Wouldn't you know if I were dead or not.」

「Unfortunately, we don't have any records of you. So Grim went to ask the Catholic God and he still didn't know. We even went up to Amaterasu herself and she didn't know you existed. We asked the ancient gods such as Zeus, Jupiter, Ra. No one had records of you. Aka Manto, what exactly are you?」

「I don't know. People know who I am but, there haven't been any written records of me. However, there are many memories of me. Apparently, I found a way to seal my memories, so maybe I burnt all the documents and sealed the memories of those whom I do not trust.」

「Interesting. I have only heard legends and myths from you. Legends saying you defeated the likes of Satan, Lucifer and even the archangel Michael.」

「I have heard those stories as well, it seems I do have the power to-」

I felt someone grab my shoulder

「Hey... Did you forget about our duel you weakling」

「Oh, I did haha」

「Hey, now ... That's seriously not cool!」

「INFINITE DESTRUCTION!」