Chapter 183: Aspect of Death

"Soul Recall" Adrian stated and his mana was whisked away from his body.

A gate like that of the one he saw in limbo appeared but this one has spikes protruding from it. The gate is pouring out this thick death energy that made even the undead feel fear from their bones. Even the living had their skin crawl when they felt the energy from the gate.

[Your Luck stat has affected your skill summoning.]

[A higher order being will be summoned but its power will be limited by your level.]

These were the notification showing on Adrian's vision yet the summoned creature has yet to surface. It has been a minute and nothing happened.

"Ahaha! It seems that intense energy was just a fluke!" The snow woman shouted as she cast Frost Wave.

"It seems that your skill failed. Do you have a skill that can block that avalanche coming our way?" Solstice asked.

"I do not know. There was no system notification saying that my skill failed. I can just fly away to escape the attack. You are on your own sis!" Adrian stated which almost made Solstice hit him because of the last remark.

Tons of snow is suddenly created behind the snow maiden and it is gushing forward the group that is currently facing against her. The avalanche is almost at their midst but suddenly an armored hand came out of the gate. The armored hand then made a motion like forming hand seals and it made the avalanche stop in its tracks.

An armored boot then stepped out of the gate that is yet to dissipate and a shock came down every person's spine. It did not matter if it was living or the undead as everyone felt the tingle that death is coming. The frost liches literally stopped in their tracks and froze on the spot.

All the attention went towards the armored being stepping out of the gate. The clanking armor is heard throughout the room as if sound itself became dead. The armored being finally emerged and everyone could not utter a sound because its presence is too powerful despite the level being scaled down to Adrian's level.

The armored being really is only made of armor as it wore armor like a knight. The armor has black plates with silver linings and touches of purple. The armored beings face is not covered by an armor but a mask made of platinum colored metal. The armored being did not have any weapon in hand as it stepped out of the gate.

The armored being looked around the surroundings as it surveyed it further. Its gaze landed on the frozen men inside the room that was encased in ice. After gazing at the frozen men, its gaze then shifted towards the snow maiden that it figured was the perpetuator.

Adrian did not say anything to the party earlier that the souls of the frozen men were actually trapped. The scene was more horrific because Adrian can see their souls undergoing frozen torment. The spirits of the frozen men are bound by chains made of eyes and they were shivering as if experiencing being frozen to death again and again.

It seems that Adrian summoned a being that can also see this. When Adrian identified the armored being, he is visibly shaken and surprised.

Summoned NPC: Thanatos (Lesser Persona)

Title: Aspect of Death

Level: 100

HP: Unknown

MP: Unknown

Description: Said to be the one of the sons of the God of Death himself. Thanatos is said to be the personification of death and is the one who guide souls into the afterlife. As it is an aspect, Thanatos can be in multiple places at one time due to his nature. He is caring to those who have done good things in their life and terrifying to those who do not cherish life and done nothing with good with their life.

Adrian practically summoned a god due to his luck stat overriding the skill. Although it was a lesser persona due to Adrian being so low leveled, Thanatos is still a god nonetheless. He should have stronger stats than those of his level. Adrian even envisioned mowing down the dungeon with Thanatos' help but the game's AI denied that.

[Due to the nature of the summoned being using Soul Recall, the summoned being can only last for five minutes.]

Adrian wanted to blame and throw stuff right there and there but he would seem childish. In Adrian's thoughts, he guessed that the developers still valued balance but he did not know that is was Deus the super AI that balanced the game. Still, Adrian would make the time give to him be fruitful.

"It seems that the Shepherd of Souls managed to summon a lesser persona of mine. Do you wish for me to cull the heretics with the time given to me?" Thanatos said in a manly and almost mechanical sounding voice. The armor might have affected the sound of his voice.

"That would be much appreciated. Mr. Thanatos sir…" Adrian replied awkwardly.

"You can call me Thanatos. We have almost the same type of duty so you can consider us as equals. Your task shall now be done in swift haste." Thanatos replied as a scythe is now suddenly at the hands of the aspect of death.

The snow maiden is visibly frightened but not to the point she would freeze and stop what she was doing. Although she could still feel the intense feeling of death, a feeling that disappeared when she became an undead. Only individuals with strong death energy could make undead feel this strong sense of dread.

The snow woman felt intense terror that she only felt when she was still alive. The terror overtook her judgement and she started to crawl towards the next room. She no longer exuded the aura of dignity and elegance that she had when the party first encountered her.

Thanatos seeing the snow woman unceremoniously crawl away changed demeanor. He exuded his true aura that made the party members except for Adrian to gasp. This feeling is very familiar to Adrian as he has already felt an aura like this and it came from the God of Death himself.

"It seems that Thanatos is the son of the God of Death but then who would be the mother?" Adrian thought as his mind lingered to a goddess that is currently recuperating in the nether realm.

Thanatos suddenly threw his scythe and it flew in a rotating motion that perfectly struck the snow woman from the back. The blade of the scythe protruded from the snow woman's stomach but she did not bled. She is screaming from the top of her lungs though as she clutched the blade of the scythe that is protruding from her stomach.

It seems she was in immense pain given the fact that she was actively trying to take the scythe out of her belly. Thanatos decided to go and fetch his scythe but he did not walk to get there. Instead he unfurled three sets of wings that were as black as night and flew towards the impaled snow woman.

Thanatos became even more imposing as he flew towards his scythe and picked it up. The snow maiden is still stuck on the scythe and is dangling there like an ornament. The next words that Thanatos spouted made her even more terrified.

"You will feel the torment that you have brought upon the souls of the men you have frozen to death." Thanatos stated as he flew up higher and tossed the snow woman back down.

The snow woman was still clutching her belly even though the scythe is no longer there. Thanatos once again made hand signs and chains that bounded the prisoners of Tartarus sprouted from the ground. The chains of Tartarus are made to torture those of heavy crimes and would sear their very souls which made it even more terrifying.

The screams of the snow maiden echoed throughout the room. It was a scream that even made the scream of a banshee like that of a song bird. The party members had to close their ears in order not to hear the snow woman's piercing shrill cries. Another sets on hand seals is made by Thanatos and an afterimage of him appeared above the frost liches.

The afterimage showed Thanatos bringing down his scythe towards the frost liches. Thanatos himself also made a horizontal swinging motion. When he completed the swinging motion, the frost liches immediately turned to dust without even managing to guard against the attack. The souls of the frost liches are collected by the aspect of death himself as there are two floating small orbs of light near Thanatos.

Everyone is stupefied and could not help make their mouths to drop. They who had a hard time pinning down the frost liches while Adrian's summon just swung its scythe and both became dust at the same time.