Chapter 243: Death by Decree

"Turn around and face me."

Having dodged the demon’s cunning strike, Ron hovered in mid-air. Gray Mist coiled beneath his feet, like a gray steed.

Ron nocked another arrow to his drawn bowstring. This time, however, the arrowhead bloomed with a gray-green light that no creature present had ever seen before.

"Mortal, you—" Brogmir gasped for breath. His exchange with Ron had been exceptionally brief, yet he felt as if he had been dragging his exhausted body through centuries of grueling battle.

"What... is this?" The eyes beneath his ox horns stared intently at the glow on Ron’s arrowhead. The demon tried to see through to the essence of this Arcane Magic, but it was a futile effort.

"Even if you kill me, it’s useless. Don’t you know that?" Two streams of white vapor shot from the demon’s nostrils. It stared coldly at the silent Ron, its heart inexplicably beginning to race. "Demons don’t die so easily on the Material Plane! I will return to the Abyss and await the next opportunity!"

"A mortal lifespan like yours is but the blink of an eye to me! I will be back! We always come back!" the Ox Demon roared in a low, agitated voice. "Give back Queen Farama’s head, and we promise to let you leave safely! We can even guarantee that no other demon will ever try to encroach upon your territory! You—"

"Your lifespans are just as fleeting to me," Ron interrupted the demon, laughing in a hoarse voice. "Don’t say that demons cannot die. To me, life is but a brief emergence from the soil. Death is the permanent home."

He paused, his tone shifting into a mocking chant: "’Every death wears me down, for I am bound to all living things. Every death takes a piece of me, for I am part of the whole. Every death brings me sorrow, for I, too, am one of them.’"

"’And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee! Come now, my friend. Embrace the end of your body and soul. You shall find eternal rest!’"

"Death by Decree!"

"What?!"

The moment those words left Ron’s lips, the temperature in the entire labyrinth seemed to drop to freezing—even though the Magic was not aimed at them.

The Desire Demons and succubi, who had been fighting each other, were forced to stop. They vanished from sight in a flash, terrified that there was even a one-in-ten-thousand chance the dreadful Magic might affect them.

As for the others who couldn’t fly away, they could only watch, bearing witness to what was possibly the most bizarre scene they would ever see in their lives.

One of Ron’s arrows flew out, streaking toward the demon’s brow with a thin, green light. The arrow’s flight was so slow it looked as if it would fall to the ground at any moment. Yet, faced with such a feeble attack, the demon that had just been unstoppable made no move to dodge or defend itself. It simply watched as the arrow, imbued with deadly Magic, sank into its forehead.

It was as if it had already accepted its fate—that this was the destined end for a demon such as itself.

Dust began to flake off Brogmir’s body with each increasingly heavy gasp. There was no struggle, no roar. Before everyone’s eyes, it simply turned into a cloud of ash, scattering into the wind along with the Gray Mist coiling beneath Ron.

As the Gray Mist and the demon’s remains completely dissipated, Ron seemed to lose all power, falling from mid-air like a kite with a snapped string. Aive lunged forward and caught Ron in her arms.

"What... happened to me...?"

Ron blinked hard. His eyes felt as if they were full of countless grains of sand, and his head throbbed as if it were about to explode. "What happened? Where’s the Giant Bull Demon? What about Kao Jia and the others?"

"You don’t know?" Queen Farama’s head flew over, the flames in her eye sockets fixed on Ron, who looked as if he had just been resurrected. "You killed that Brogmir! You turned him into a cloud of ash with your bow and arrow!"

"How did you manage to bypass the traditional Casting process and channel Arcane Magic into your weapon?" Silvia looked at Ron, her eyes filled with confusion and concern. "Didn’t what you just did put a strain on your body?"

"Of course it did..." Ron groaned with a bitter smile. "My head and bones feel like they’re about to explode, but I have no idea what just happened!"

"Victoria, you have to take a look. What’s wrong with me?"

The reason he asked the Priest for help was that Ron was certain he wasn’t just sick. He feared this all had to do with that so-called "Death Realm"!

"Have you ever heard of a place called the Death Realm? Is it a Half-Plane or something?"

"The Death Realm? That’s one of the waystations for all souls. Without the intervention of Deities, devils, demons, fae, or other beings, all souls from the Sulrez World go there," Shadow Spirit Yelena interjected. "Your going there was a normal part of this world’s cycle."

"Your body is very healthy. In fact, it’s almost *too* healthy," Victoria said as she unfastened Ron’s collar to check, then refastened it in confusion. "Even your Mana is completely full—you used at least three days’ worth of prepared Magic today, and I’m certain some of those spells are ones you shouldn’t be able to master yet!"

"Also, if I remember correctly, you didn’t have a gray mark on your chest before, did you? Did it appear after you were resurrected?"

"That should be right," Aive confirmed for Victoria. "Ron has almost no scars or marks on his body. That gray patch must be new. Could it be related to the Death Realm?"

"I don’t know. In truth, I know almost nothing about the Deity who rules the Death Realm," Victoria said with a frown. "His name is Ernest. Besides titles that indicate his function, like ’Final Lawgiver,’ ’Funeral of All Things,’ and ’Lord of the Realm of Death,’ he is also known as the ’Hundred-Faced Lord.’"

"The Hundred-Faced Lord?" The newly-minted Paladin ran a hand through his hair. "Pardon my saying so, but doesn’t that sound a bit... strange?"

"It is," Victoria did not contradict Andre. "That title is one he supposedly took for himself while walking among mortals in his avatars. This Deity has very few followers, and most of the believers who left behind any lore were almost all his own avatars. I suppose that’s how he got the title."

"Beyond that, there are almost no other rumors about him... Oh, right. It’s said that because the Lord of the Realm of Death has not declared his alignment for so long, many other Deities have been trying to influence him, hoping to get the Death Realm to take a side."

"The Lawful Deities want him to establish a complete set of rules for souls, while other Deities hope the Death Realm will allow souls to choose their own fates more freely. Some benevolent Deities believe that making the deceased repeatedly experience suffering is inhumane, while harsher Deities hope the Death Realm’s measures will bring endless torment to souls."

"And now, it seems..." Victoria’s gaze fell on Ron’s chest. "Is the Final Lawgiver finally preparing to show his leanings?"