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🕑 Added 2025-07-20 15:57:26 +0000 UTCChapter 219: The Curse of the Grim Reaper
"Jennifer, what did you find?"
Roy leaned forward, wanting to know what Lilith had discovered, but he only saw two white, almost blinding headlights.
Lilith pointed to the area over Claire's chest with her finger.
"Roy, look right here, there's a tiny black spot!"
Roy leaned closer and took a look. There was indeed a black spot. If you weren't looking closely, you might even think it was a mole.
The two of them discussed the black spot like they were doing academic research, which made Claire really blush.
"Can we stop now?"
Lilith waved her hand dismissively.
"Yeah, you can put your clothes on now."
Claire quickly buttoned up her shirt; otherwise, she would have died of embarrassment.
But Claire's flushed face was also really cute, making Roy unable to resist sneaking a few more glances.
"What exactly is going on with Claire, and it seems like something similar happened to me too."
Lilith stroked her chin and thought for a moment.
"I'm guessing it's the curse of the Grim Reaper."
"The curse of the Grim Reaper?" ร2
Claire looked at Lilith, and she started to stammer.
"Is there really a Grim Reaper in this world?"
Roy was also a bit curious because so far, he had only encountered mythological figures from the Abrahamic religions.
Including angels, demons, and ancient witches like Lilith.
But the Abrahamic religions don't really have the Grim Reaper in their lineup. The closest they get is the Angel of Death, but the Angel of Death is supposed to be a real being, not a symbolic representation like this.
"Of course, there's a Grim Reaper! Roy, do you remember the Great Flood I told you about?"
Roy nodded. Lilith had once mentioned that God unleashed a great flood to wipe out all the Nephilim, but she hadn't gone into detail about why.
"Way back when, gods and humans both lived on Earth. At that time, the whole world was one giant continent (Pangaea). Different gods in the east, west, north, and south had their own territories. God was just one of them. Then, these gods started fighting, and it was a really brutal war. A lot of lives and gods disappeared in that era, and God back then was probably the most powerful god in the West."
Roy and Claire were all ears.
"A lot of the defeated outer gods who got caught were thrown into Hell by God and became the very first demons because of the evil power there. Some others were defeated but didn't get caught, so they hid in different corners, waiting for a chance to get revenge on God. Some of these gods even started stirring up the Nephilim to go against God!"
It even involves the Nephilim?
"So, is that why God wiped out the Nephilim?"
Lilith nodded.
"Yep! The Nephilim, being half-breeds, weren't liked by either Heaven or Hell, so they generally had a pretty rough life. Then, when someone started encouraging them to rebel against God, what do you think happened?"
The answer was obvious. Roy and Claire both looked serious.
"So, what's the connection between this Grim Reaper curse you're talking about and the Nephilim?"
"God quickly found out about the Nephilim's rebellion plan. God sent his three most powerful angels, Lucifer, Michael, and Gabriel, to lead the angel armies to crush the Nephilim. Nobody knows exactly what happened. Even Samael, that former angel, never spilled the beans on that secret. All I know is that after the Nephilim realized they were doomed, they created four terrifying weapons of war, and one of them was tied to the Grim Reaper!
Even God was scared of these scary weapons, so he sent down the Great Flood to wash everything away."
Even her ex-husband didn't tell Lilith?
Roy frowned and thought. It seemed like things were indeed really complicated.
Claire, who was next to him, got more and more confused as she listened. What Lilith was saying was just unbelievable, but she was talking like she'd seen it all herself.
"Ms. Jennifer, are these just stories you've heard?"
"No, it's my personalโฆ"
Seeing that Lilith almost let something slip, Roy quickly cut her off.
"Jennifer just heard it from her elders. That's how it works with witches; they pass things down through the generations!"
Claire felt a little scared.
"So, is there a way to fix this?"
Lilith brushed Roy's hand away and explained.
"Of course, there is a way! Both of you have probably been affected by this Grim Reaper. As long as we make the Grim Reaper think you're already dead and then block the curse's mark, this problem will naturally be solved."
Lilith's method was actually pretty similar to the plot of the movie Final Destination, where they try to cheat death by finding loopholes in the rules.
Except in the movie, there's no magic or witchcraft, so even if they find a loophole, they can only escape for a while, not forever.
"You mean, like, playing dead?"
"Yeah! This method might not be the best for you, since it's really hard for your current body to fake death. You might actually end up dying. Claire, on the other hand, should be fine. As long as she goes into a state of suspended animation, and I perform a ritual, the Grim Reaper will naturally leave her alone."
"Alright, after tonight's match is over, we'll do the ritual!"
Roy was very decisive. The sooner the ritual was done, the better. After all, the Grim Reaper's accidents tend to get more intense over time, and eventually, Roy might not even be able to save Claire.
Plus, Roy can't be with Claire 24/7. There will always be times when he's not around.
"Then what about Roy?"
Hearing Lilith say that Roy couldn't play dead, Claire couldn't help but worry.
"My current abilities can only lower the chances of Roy being noticed by the 'Grim Reaper.' This will only solve the immediate problem."
"I get it! It's getting late. I need to hurry to the competition venue. Lil, Jennifer, I'm leaving Claire in your care."
Roy almost slipped up himself, but thankfully, he managed to correct himself in the end.
"You got it."
After Roy left, Claire suddenly felt a big shift in Lilith's vibe. She went from being an elegant and charming mature woman to a cool and reserved young girl.
The fact that someone's personality could change so much made Claire, who studied psychology, feel a bit strange.
"Ms. Jennifer? Can you tell me about Roy?"
Claire decided to use Roy as a starting point to have a good talk with Jennifer.
"You don't need to call me 'Ms.,' just Jennifer is fine. Let's reintroduce ourselves. I'm Jennifer Morgan!"
Jennifer proactively held out a friendly hand to Claire, who didn't hesitate to take it.
"Claire Sheffield, and you can just call me Claire!"
After shaking hands, the two of them got along much better, especially after Jennifer told some funny stories about Roy that made Claire laugh out loud.
"So, Jennifer, were you and Roy classmates in the same school?"
"Yeah, we've been classmates since middle school."
"Then why don't you mind Roy being with other women?"
This was the thing Claire found the strangest. Jennifer's relationship with Roy was clearly special, as you could tell from that butt-pat earlier.
But Jennifer, a girl who was top-notch in looks, personality, and figure, and also a witch, didn't seem to care at all about Roy's cheating.
Jennifer gave a faint smile.
"Because I love him, and his power keeps growing. I alone am destined not to be able to satisfy him. You should understand that pretty well yourself."
Hearing that, Claire blushed again.
But what Jennifer said was also true. The night before last, Claire almost thought she was going to die.
Roy, having left the private hospital, got caught in the evening rush hour. Even with Bumblebee's autopilot, it still took him half an hour to get to the competition venue.
Luckily, Roy had left relatively early, otherwise, he might have been disqualified for being late.
"Roy, why are you so late? I was about to call you!"
Lambert looked really anxious. It would be a huge loss if they got disqualified for being late.
"Got stuck in traffic, so I was a little late."
Allen nodded, not thinking too much about it.
"New York traffic is seriously the worst. That's why I always leave several hours early!"
But then Lambert thought of something.
"Roy, you weren't out too late last night, were you? Did you sleep in until now?"
Roy: ???
What a dirty old man!
This actually confirmed for Roy how Niddy and the others had found him.
"Don't talk nonsense! I haven't slept at all since last night!"
Lambert gave a thumbs-up. He really admired Roy's fighting spirit.
If Lambert had had that kind of fighting power back in the day, he wouldn't have ended up just being a coach.
"Alright, knock it off with the jokes! Roy, hurry up and warm up. The weigh-in ceremony is about to start!"
There were only four matches today. Roy was in the second one, so he still had some time to warm up.
Playing five rounds and staying up all night wouldn't affect Roy's condition, but not eating would.
As soon as he started warming up, Roy's stomach let out a loud growl.
Allen immediately frowned.
"Roy, didn't you have dinner?"
Roy had spent the whole day with Claire and hadn't eaten a single thing.
"I was in too much of a rush to get here!"
"That won't do! Lambert, go outside the venue right now and buy something for Roy to eat, just to tide him over!"
Doing intense exercise on an empty stomach can easily lead to low blood sugar and passing out, especially for an athlete like Roy.
"I'll go right away!"
Roy wanted to stop Lambert, but then he figured the guy was just trying to help, so there was no need to stop him.
Fortunately, the one thing you don't see a shortage of outside these kinds of sports venues is street vendors. Lambert quickly came back with three hot dogs.
This kind of high-calorie food was perfect for getting some energy back. He only bought three because he was worried Roy might eat too much.
Eating too much during intense exercise can also affect your performance, making you feel nauseous and unable to focus, among other things.
Lambert was a professional coach, so he definitely wouldn't make that kind of mistake.
After wolfing down three hot dogs, Roy's stomach finally stopped rumbling. He felt about thirty percent full.
"Let's go, we need to go out for the weigh-in."
It seemed like there were a lot more people at the competition venue today. Maybe it was because the news from the night before last had spread after a whole day, and it had gotten a lot of people interested.
Among them were a lot of female spectators who were drawn in by Roy's looks, which made Roy the center of attention once again.
As soon as Roy came out, he became the focus of the entire venue. Whether it was the audience or the reporters, they all looked at him. How could that not make people jealous?
If looks could kill, Roy would probably have fought hundreds of times already.
Roy gave the other fighters a defiant look. Those guys could only stare; they wouldn't actually dare to fight.
The weigh-in ceremony ended quickly, and the first match began.
In the second round of matches, all the boxers were much more cautious. The ones who weren't careful had probably already been knocked out.
This made the pace of the matches much slower. Basically, they would fight all four rounds and then the winner would be decided by points, which was pretty boring to watch.
A defensive fighting style naturally isn't very exciting. Maybe only the most hardcore fans can appreciate the technique, but the problem is that most of the audience isn't that into it.
So, the crowd at the venue seemed pretty lukewarm until Roy came out.
Roy even faintly heard shouts of "Grim Reaper" and "Nuke." Could it be that fans who had watched the Santa Monica Cup had traveled all the way to New York?
This time, Roy's opponent was still a black guy. Although the guy looked really annoyed at Roy, he didn't say anything.
If the opponent wasn't going to say anything, then Roy would have to.
"What, another one of these guys?"
This made the black guy really mad, but surprisingly, he didn't trash-talk Roy back, which made Roy feel a bit bored.
Anyway, the result of the match was already a given. Why not have some fun?
Too bad this match was destined to be no fun.
The referee announced the start of the match. The black guy opposite him immediately took a cautious step back, getting into a defensive stance.
It looked like Roy's brutal performance in the last match had made his opponents start being careful.
But it didn't matter. As long as Roy wanted to take him down, no matter how much he defended, it wouldn't work.
Seeing Roy quickly move towards him with his butterfly steps, the black guy immediately tried to throw a punch to keep his distance, but his punch speed was like a snail compared to Roy. Roy could dodge it with a simple slip.
Having failed to control the distance, the black guy panicked even more. He wanted to keep backing away, but he quickly backed into the ring ropes.
At that moment, Roy launched his attack. A lightning-fast combination of punches landed on the black guy's guard. The guy couldn't withstand the power of Roy's punches at all, and his guard instantly broke apart.
Then came a heavy uppercut, and the black guy was knocked into the air, almost flying out of the ring.
After landing, the guy was hanging on the ropes, unconscious.
Hanging on the ropes also counts as a knockdown, and the referee immediately started the count.
Unsurprisingly, the black guy didn't get up after ten seconds.
So far, nobody who has been knocked down by Roy has been able to continue the match. Roy has fought a total of 15 matches, with 14 knockouts and one technical knockout.
The audience in the venue cheered loudly. This was the kind of match they wanted to see, and the shouts of Roy's nicknames got even louder!
"Nice one, Roy! You can go back and rest. Lambert and I will keep an eye on the other opponents."
Even though Roy was incredibly strong, Allen and Lambert, as his coaches, couldn't just sit around doing nothing. They still had to do some work.
Returning to the locker room, Roy was just about to take off his protective gear when a middle-aged black man walked in.
"Hello, Mr. Roy Black!"
Jennifer Morgan (Megan Fox)
Chapter 220: Why Are You Still Here?
"Didn't I tell you to get out?"
Roy's eyes narrowed. This middle-aged Black man really had no manners.
Only athletes and coaches were allowed in the lounge. Outsiders weren't supposed to be here.
Normally, the staff should have stopped unauthorized people from entering. He wondered how this middle-aged Black man had gotten in.
Could this dude also be a coach?
Didn't look like it!
The middle-aged Black man was wearing a well-fitting suit and had a gold watch on his wrist. You could tell at a glance that he was loaded, and not in a nouveau riche kind of way.
Totally different from those Black guys on the street who flash gold chains all over themselves as soon as they get some money.
"Excuse me for dropping in unannounced. My name is Don King, and I'm a boxing promoter."
The middle-aged Black man handed Roy a business card.
Don King? A boxing promoter?
Roy immediately thought of Tyson's second boxing promoter. This was the guy who maximized Tyson's commercial value but also led to Tyson's rapid downfall.
While Tyson's decline was largely his own fault, this boxing promoter's influence definitely played a role.
"I know who you are. Did you come all the way here to sign me?"
"Yes, Mr. Black. I watched your last fight, and then I looked up recordings of your other matches. After seeing this one, I'm convinced you're the next Mike Tyson I've been looking for!"
In this day and age, Mike Tyson was the idol of countless boxers. Every boxer dreamed of becoming a heavyweight champion like Tyson and making tons of money.
Too bad Roy didn't need a boxing promoter like Don King. He was confident in his fighting style and looks. Even an average boxing promoter could get him huge commercial value.
So there was no need to get squeezed by Don King. Top-tier boxing promoters like him took a big cut, and they were more trouble than they were worth.
Rather than being manipulated by a boxing promoter like Don King, Roy might as well have one of his girls be his boxing agent.
It was just a license anyway, and Roy would trust his own woman to handle things more.
"Sorry, but I'm not planning on signing with a boxing promoter right now. I still have to go to college."
Don King frowned slightly. He had single-handedly promoted over a dozen boxing champions including Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Larry Holmes, and Mike Tyson. He was one of the top boxing promoters and promoters in the boxing world.
Very few boxers would turn him down. Roy seemed to have made up an excuse about going to college, but he was actually still rejecting him.
"Mr. Black, with your talent, you don't need to waste time going to college at all, and you definitely don't need to participate in any Olympics. The professional boxing world is the path you should take!"
Roy smirked coldly. In the end, it all came down to profit.
Boxing promoters couldn't take a cut from amateur boxing matches, so Don King was trying to persuade Roy to go directly into the professional boxing world.
This guy really was the kind of boxing promoter who only cared about making money and didn't care about the boxer's own thoughts.
Roy looked disgusted.
"Sorry, Mr. King! I'm not planning on entering the professional boxing world right now. If there's nothing else, please leave. I need to change!"
Don King still wanted to say something, but Roy punched a locker, denting the metal door.
The dude's eyes instantly went wide.
"Uh, Mr. Black, I still advise you to consider it carefully! I'll be going now!"
Don King didn't dare to stay in the lounge any longer and hurried out.
In the hallway, Don King's face turned gloomy.
"Damn bastard! A little amateur boxer actually dared to threaten me!"
Muttering curses, Don King took out his cell phone and started making a call.
"Hey! This is King. I need you to help me check someone out. This person's name is Roy Black, from Texas... Yes, the sooner the better!"
After hanging up, Don King was still muttering curses.
"Little punk! Don't let me catch you slipping!"
Back in the day, boxing matches were often tied to the mob, so all the old-school boxing promoters had some kind of background. Otherwise, they wouldn't even know when they'd get whacked.
After all, the stakes involved in boxing matches were huge.
But before Don King finished cursing, Roy happened to come out of the lounge.
"Why are you still here?"
Don King's expression instantly changed. He now saw Roy as the kind of hothead who was best left alone. As a billionaire, Don King definitely didn't want to get his butt kicked for nothing.
"I'm leaving right now!"
The dude took off like he was running the hundred-yard dash and disappeared from Roy's sight in the blink of an eye.
After leaving the competition venue and shaking off a bunch of sports reporters, Roy drove his Bumblebee back to the private hospital.
Roy was still a bit worried about Claire.
Fortunately, nothing had happened to Claire, and she was getting along well with Jennifer. There hadn't been any catfights or hair-pulling.
"Jennifer, how are things?"
"Everything's normal. It seems Death has shifted its attention to other targets."
That fit the setup in the "Final Destination" movies.
"Shall we start the ritual then?"
"We need to wait until midnight, and we still need to prepare some materials."
The materials were actually quite simple โ mainly white candles and some fresh blood with magical power. The key to this ritual was still to put Claire into a state of suspended animation.
Roy would mainly provide the fresh blood, and Lilith went to buy the white candles.
As it approached midnight, Roy moved the hospital bed to make space. Lilith would use Roy's blood to draw a magic circle.
If a nurse happened to come in for rounds at this time, they would probably think Roy and the others were performing some kind of dark ritual.
Drawing the magic circle was very quick. Lilith then placed 13 candles around the magic circle.
"Claire, the effect of this ritual is to lower your presence. After the ritual is successful, your presence will become very low. You need to be mentally prepared for that."
Claire paused, surprised.
"You mean people around me won't be able to see me?"
Lilith shook her head.
"That kind of invisibility isn't what low presence means. Low presence means that in the presence of other people, you will often be ignored."
This situation wasn't very serious in some ways, but quite serious in others. For someone with social anxiety, it might even be a good thing, but for someone who was socially adept, it would be quite unpleasant.
"Jennifer, can the effect of this ritual be reversed?"
"Yes."
"Claire, then you don't need to worry. Once I find a way to resolve the Grim Reaper's curse, we'll help you return to normal!"
Claire nodded obediently.
"Then let's begin! Claire, take off all your clothes and lie down in the center of the magic circle."
Having to take off all her clothes again, Claire couldn't help but feel a little shy, but she still followed Lilith's instructions, took off her clothes, and lay down on the cold floor.
Lying naked on the floor late at night was still quite cold, and Claire couldn't help but shiver.
Jennifer glanced at her watch to check the time.
"Okay, it's about time! Listen, Claire, next I'm going to put you into a state of suspended animation. Your consciousness will enter a state similar to lucid dreaming. Remember, you absolutely must not struggle, and don't let your mind wander."
"I, I understand!"
Having contact with this kind of supernatural power for the first time, Claire couldn't help but feel a little nervous, but after feeling Roy's gaze, she slowly calmed down.
Claire didn't want to die, so she had to complete this ritual.
Lilith placed her hand on Claire's face and recited a spell that Roy couldn't understand. It was probably some kind of lost ancient language.
Gradually, Claire closed her eyes, and her breathing became weaker and weaker, just like she was dead.
At exactly 12 o'clock, Claire had completely stopped breathing. She was no different from a dead person. If it weren't for believing Lilith's words, Roy would have really thought Claire was dead.
"Claire has entered a state of suspended animation. Next, we need to wait for the Grim Reaper to come and confirm."
Lilith's words surprised Roy greatly.
"The Grim Reaper will come here to confirm whether Claire is dead?"
Lilith nodded.
"However, this Grim Reaper might not be what you imagine. It's a conceptual Grim Reaper, without a comprehensible entity, so it can't be observed with the naked eye. We can only judge whether it has come through changes in the environment."
"Then what kind of environmental changes are the signs that the Grim Reaper has been here?"
Just after asking this question, Roy felt a sudden inexplicable chill, and at the same time, some water droplets inexplicably appeared on the hospital room window.
Roy quickly activated his Eye of Truth. His golden pupils scanned the ward, and he indeed saw black gas filling the room, just like a chemical factory.
A moment later, the black gas suddenly disappeared again, and along with it, the chill that Roy and Lilith had felt.
"Phew, the Grim Reaper has already left."
Roy was a little surprised.
"It left just like that?"
"Yes! The way the Grim Reaper judges death is different from us humans. It only needs to pass over Claire's body to determine if she is alive."
Roy's expression became strange. This Grim Reaper sounded like it had some kind of detection mechanism, but it was like an AI with loopholes.
"Okay, Roy, give me some more blood. I need to draw a magic circle on Claire's body! I don't have much time left. If we don't hurry, Claire might really die."
The state of suspended animation naturally wouldn't be without a price. People who entered it were indeed at the critical point between life and death. If it dragged on for too long, it was possible for the suspended animation to turn into real death.
And this time frame was very difficult to grasp. It completely depended on the individual's physical condition.
Claire had just been injured in the middle of the night, and her body was relatively weak, so the faster they acted, the better.
Finally, with Lilith's efforts, the drawing of the magic circle was completed at 12:12. Then Lilith woke Claire up.
"Huff... huff... huff..."
Claire breathed rapidly a few times. The expression on her face was very complicated โ a fear of death, and a relief of having survived.
"I almost thought I was really going to die!"
Claire suddenly hugged Roy, looking quite emotional.
Roy started comforting Claire, while Lilith began cleaning up the scene.
"It's okay, Claire! What did you just feel?"
"I felt like I was floating above an abyss. As time passed, my whole being started slowly sinking into it. Just a little bit more, and I would have completely sunk into the abyss!"
It sounded like Claire's mental world was quite thrilling. Roy didn't feel anything in reality.
"It's okay, it's okay! Let me help you put on your clothes first!"
With Roy's somewhat clumsy but comforting hands, Claire's fear quickly dissipated, and instead, her face turned completely red.
"Don't! Jennifer is still watching!"
After some tugging, Claire still managed to put on her hospital gown.
"Ahem! Jennifer, Claire's ritual should be considered successful, right?"
Lilith yawned, looking very tired.
Presiding over a ritual was quite energy-consuming, especially drawing the magic circle. You couldn't make even a single mistake, otherwise the ritual would fail.
"Yes, the Grim Reaper probably won't pay attention to Claire anymore. It's your problem though. Are you ready?"
"I'm ready. What should I do?"
"Your ritual is much simpler than Claire's."
Saying this, Lilith got more fresh blood from Roy again. Roy had really lost a lot of blood today.
The magic circle drawn earlier had already been wiped away, but the white candles were not removed. Candles could be used in many rituals.
Lilith drew a cross and then made Roy take off all his clothes and lie on it in an inverted cross position.
"Is this an inverted cross pact?"
Roy recognized the ritual Lilith wanted to perform because it was recorded in the Key of Solomon and belonged to a type of demonic ritual.
You could tell just by looking at the symbol of the upside-down cross.
Lilith raised an eyebrow.
"So you knew? The effect of this ritual is to make a pact with a demon, thereby changing your own destiny. However, by slightly modifying the details of this pact, it can change the Grim Reaper's curse on you."
No wonder she was an ancient witch. She could even modify the details of magical rituals.
Someone like Roy would usually just copy the rituals recorded in the Key of Solomon directly because he didn't understand the principles of these magical rituals at all and wouldn't dare to change them randomly.
This difference was like the difference between a student who uses mathematical formulas to solve problems and a scholar who can modify the formulas.
"So, what's the price?"
Demonic rituals definitely required paying a certain price to obtain something. Sometimes what you had to pay was much greater than what you gained, just like gambling.
"I told you, the price is that you will gain misfortune, but this misfortune can also be resolved, though it requires some special items."
"I understand. Let's begin!"
Roy had already lain down, but a certain area seemed too conspicuous, making Claire, who was watching, blush a little.
Lilith glanced at the somewhat attention-grabbing 'nightstick' and then began to recite the spell.
It was still that incomprehensible ancient language. Then Lilith took out a dagger. This dagger was Roy's Cursed Dagger. She could only use this dagger for the ritual because ordinary daggers couldn't cut Roy's skin.
Lilith prepared to use the Cursed Dagger to draw a pattern on Roy's chest, but as soon as she brought the dagger down, Belial's mark appeared, making her extremely shocked.
"Wait! Roy, have you already signed a pact?"
Chapter 221: You Guys Are Having a Party and Didn't Even Invite Me?
At the same time, far away in the mansion in Waterfall Town, Elizabeth was leisurely enjoying a glass of red wine.
Suddenly, Elizabeth felt a change in Roy's mark, and she immediately frowned.
"Strange, is someone trying to steal him from me? I'm gonna see what's going on!"
As she spoke, Elizabeth snapped her fingers, and a projection screen popped up in front of her, showing Jennifer and Claire.
This was actually a projection screen showing things from Roy's point of view.
"So it's Lilith. What's her deal?"
Naturally, you couldn't see much just from Roy's perspective, so Elizabeth snapped her fingers again.
Instantly, Roy's body was engulfed in Hellfire, and a terrifying shockwave blasted out.
Lilith was immediately thrown back by the shockwave and slammed into the wall.
"Hmph! That'll teach you a lesson! But Roy looks kind of weird. What happened?"
After thinking for a moment, Elizabeth sighed.
"Ugh, I guess I'll go take a look! Honestly, the last thing I need is trouble!"
Elizabeth snapped her fingers for the third time, and another Elizabeth appeared in the room. This Elizabeth looked exactly like a twin.
"Guess I'll have to have you cover my classes for a few days."
The scene switched back to Roy's side. Lilith, who had crashed into the wall, was spitting up blood, and Claire next to her was totally freaked out.
Are magic rituals always this dangerous?
Actually, Hellfire wouldn't hurt Roy; Elizabeth was just using it to keep other people away from him.
Lilith, on the other hand, was in real trouble... Wait, she's using Jennifer's body right now, so it's Jennifer who's in more trouble.
[Ding!]
"Lilith, are you okay?!"
In his panic, Roy blurted out Lilith's real name.
After spitting out the blood, Lilith's face was a little pale, but it quickly regained color. That was Jennifer's witch talent kicking in, healing the physical damage she had taken really fast.
"Roy, why didn't you tell me you had already signed a contract with a major demon?"
Lilith looked pretty ticked off, like an angel investor who thought they'd found the next big thing (a company with the potential to be a leader in the industry), only to find out that one of the shareholders in this hot new company was some super-rich tycoon who already had a preferred investment deal.
Roy scratched his head. He did have Belial's mark on him, but he didn't realize that was also a kind of contract.
"Doesn't a contract usually need a signature or a drop of blood? I haven't done anything like that!"
Lilith looked at Roy's face and could tell he didn't know he had a contract, so she just had to chalk it up to bad luck.
"Those major demons always find ways to exploit loopholes to get you to sign a contract, like a fallen hair, accidentally spilled blood, or even... well, you know! As far as I know, only the King of Pride and the King of Sloth don't bother with those kinds of tricks. They're also the demons that demon witches like to make contracts with the most."
Hearing that, Roy's expression got weird.
You know what? You might actually be right!
Roy didn't know about Lucifer's reputation, but whether Belial played tricks totally depended on her mood.
Roy now suspected that Elizabeth had used his... you know... as proof of the contract back then before putting the mark on him.
Back then, Roy had wondered if there might be any problems with that mark, and now it looked like he was right.
"Lilith, did my ritual fail?"
Lilith nodded helplessly.
"Yeah, and it was a total bust. You should be able to feel the changes in your body."
He didn't really feel any changes in his body, but Roy could feel his mood getting inexplicably down and heavy.
Kind of like that feeling of PMS or going through a shedding phase.
Yeah, guys have those few days a month when they're just not feeling it.
Did a system notification just pop up?
Roy opened the system panel and sure enough, there was a new system message.
[You have gained the special ability: The Grim Reaper's Gaze!]
[The Grim Reaper's Gaze: Because of your actions, the Grim Reaper will now pay special attention to you! This might be a bad thing, or it might be a good thing.]
Just then, the Hellfire on Roy's body gradually disappeared, and Claire noticed that besides Belial's mark on Roy's chest, there was another black design.
"Roy, it looks like you have an eye design on your chest!"
Because his chest muscles were so big, Roy usually couldn't see what was on his chest, and it was Claire's reminder that made him realize.
"Is there a mirror?"
What woman doesn't carry a mirror? They might forget their wallet, but never their mirror.
Lilith quickly pulled a small mirror out of her pocket and handed it to Roy.
Sure enough, Roy saw a black eye design right in the middle of his chest, just like a tattoo.
(Rough sketch of the Grim Reaper's eye design)
This eye looked incredibly lifelike, giving off a strong feeling of unease.
Lilith stood up and looked at Roy.
"That's the Eye of the Grim Reaper. It's said that only people who are being watched by the Grim Reaper get that mark."
Judging by what she said, it seemed like Lilith had seen this mark before.
"Have you seen this mark on anyone else?"
Lilith nodded.
"Yeah, as far as I know, everyone who's ever gotten this mark has been a terrifying figure in history, like Gilgamesh."
It even involves Gilgamesh?
Then I gotta believe it!
"Does this mark of the Grim Reaper's Eye do anything?"
"I'm not really sure about that. There aren't many historical examples, so it's hard to say."
It was normal for Lilith not to know much about the Eye of the Grim Reaper. She was betrayed by her daughter a long time ago, which was after the Great Flood, around the end of the epic age, so she didn't know much about what happened in later times.
And Gilgamesh was the king of Uruk in the early epic age.
"Alright, I guess I'll just have to play it by ear."
Since things had already turned out this way, Roy could only stand up and put his clothes back on.
If all else failed, he'd just have to go to Elizabeth to solve this problem, just like with the mark of the King of Greed last time.
At worst, he'd have to sacrifice his looks again. Roy was kind of getting used to it.
"Little Roy, actually, I'm a bit curious. How did you end up making a contract with the King of Sloth? You know, the last person to make a contract with the King of Sloth was King Solomon."
As an ancient witch, there was no way Lilith wouldn't recognize that the mark on Roy was from Belial.
"I don't even know how it happened."
Roy just chuckled.
There were some things he could tell Jennifer, but not Lilith.
However, now that Jennifer knew, it was the same as Lilith knowing, so Roy just had to keep it from both of them.
Seeing Roy being evasive, Lilith knew he didn't want to talk about it. Lilith was a smart woman; she wouldn't pry.
Just then, there were light footsteps outside the door, like someone was walking over.
In the middle of the night, those footsteps could only be from a nurse doing rounds. After all, the commotion from Lilith being thrown back earlier was pretty loud, and someone in the next room might have been scared and complained.
Roy didn't have time to clean up the traces of the magic circle on the floor. He quickly put the raised bed back down, which would mostly cover the magic circle.
As for the candles, he just had to quickly blow them all out, kick them under the bed, and then have Claire lie back down.
The nurse doing rounds pushed open the door and glanced at the situation in the ward. Seeing Roy, Lilith, and Claire looking flustered and disheveled, she immediately looked a bit annoyed.
"The hospital is not a place for you to be throwing a party!"
The main thing was, they were having a party and didn't even invite her!
The nurse looked at Roy's face and the strong chest muscles you could see under his clothes, and she almost started drooling.
Roy felt that the nurse's gaze was a bit too intense, so he quickly apologized to her. A few nice words managed to get her to leave.
"Roy, I can't solve the problem with the Eye of the Grim Reaper. You'll just have to be careful."
Lilith sighed, and you could see a hint of sympathy in her eyes.
"It's okay, I'll figure something out. Claire, you rest for a bit. I'll take Jennifer out."
The two of them went to the parking lot.
"Lilith, I'm still counting on you to keep an eye on the witch school."
Speaking of which, Roy had been in New York for three days now. During those three days, he had actually been in contact with Madison the whole time, so he knew the general situation at the witch school.
At least Emma was having a really comfortable time. Madison, Zoe, and Maria all wanted to be her sister-in-law and were being super enthusiastic towards her.
It was just that the Supreme Witch Fiona had been popping up and disappearing mysteriously these past three days, which felt a little off.
"Are you gonna drive me to Boston?"
Lilith raised an eyebrow at Roy, her expression a little suggestive.
"Nah, it's this car that's gonna take you to Boston."
Lilith looked at the Chevrolet Camaro, and her eyes almost popped out of her head.
"Wait a minute, isn't this your car? How did it end up in New York?"
Jennifer still felt a little bad about this because she knew that the used yellow Chevrolet Camaro meant a lot to Roy, and she had lost it while she was in control.
"It drove itself over here. This time, it can take you to Boston."
"Drove itself? Is it some kind of alchemical device with its own consciousness?"
Lilith was half right. Bumblebee did have its own consciousness, but it was a silicon-based lifeform from the science side, not an alchemical device.
As an ancient witch who hadn't had a modern education, Lilith definitely wouldn't understand that, but all she needed to know was that Bumblebee would take her to the apartment Roy was renting in Boston.
After getting in the car and driving for a bit, Lilith immediately looked exhausted and switched back to Jennifer.
"Lilith, why didn't you tell Roy that you were hurt?"
It turned out that the energy blast Elizabeth released earlier had not only hurt Jennifer's physical body but had also caused some damage to Lilith's soul.
"Absolutely not! I just felt the King of Sloth's gaze sweep over Roy. She definitely noticed me. I can't show any signs of weakness!"
Unfortunately, Lilith's efforts were completely wasted. Elizabeth had known about her existence for a long time, and what she said in the car was heard by Bumblebee, so Roy would definitely find out later.
Jennifer was a bit quiet. She had some vague guesses in her mind, but since Roy didn't want to tell Lilith, she wouldn't either.
However, Lilith still picked up on Jennifer's thoughts.
"Jennifer, do you know something?"
"No, I don't know anything."
With her increasing power, Jennifer was now able to resist Lilith's mind probing.
"Alright, you two really have a good thing going on. If you don't want to talk about it, fine. Jennifer, I need to sleep for a while to get my strength back. Call me if there's an emergency."
"Okay."
Bumblebee sped quickly down the highway. At this time, it started to drizzle.
Rewind to a few hours earlier.
Boston, in Emma's dorm room at the Robichaux's Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies.
The newly formed Apocalypse Club was having a team-building activity in this dorm room.
The reason they chose this dorm room was that Maria and Carrie were both members of the Apocalypse Club, and Emma could be considered an unofficial member.
Having their get-together here was the safest option and wouldn't bother the other young witches.
Emma: When did I become an unofficial member?
"Ugh, I'm so bored! I really wanna go out and find Roy!"
Because of the previous nightclub incident, Principal Cordelia had started cracking down on sneaking out at night, which meant Madison had been stuck at school for the past few days.
Madison, with her personality, wanted to be with Roy all the time, but now she could only be all worked up in front of Zoe and the others.
Maria nudged Madison.
"Keep your voice down, Emma will hear you!"
Emma was sitting on her bed reading a book at that moment. She was eagerly soaking up the knowledge at the witch school.
The education at the witch school was actually pretty laid-back, typical American style. Whether or not the students learned anything was totally up to them.
So most of the witches who graduated only learned a little bit of witchcraft and had to rely on their own witch talents after graduation.
But in today's world, there weren't witch hunts like in the past, and you couldn't really get rich off of witchcraft, so these witches eventually had to integrate into society, get married, and have kids. So, there wasn't really any need to become a super powerful witch.
At least, that's probably what Fiona thought, which is why she let her daughter Cordelia adopt a happy-go-lucky approach to education.
But Emma didn't see it that way. She wanted to learn powerful witchcraft to heal her father, who had become a vegetable, and also to atone for herself, so she studied really hard.
"It's okay, you guys can say whatever you want. My brother Roy was really popular back home. A lot of girls had a crush on him."
Emma had long gotten used to that.
Not to mention Jennifer and Niddy, and Nancy, who was also good friends with them, was the same way.
Bored, Madison thought about lighting up a cigarette to relax, but as soon as she took it out, Maria snatched it away.
"Gimme one too!"
Zoe quickly stopped the two of them.
"Are you guys crazy? The smell of smoke will bring Cordelia down here!"
"Then what do you suggest we do? Just sit here and do nothing until bedtime? We asked you guys to figure out a way to get Roy into the school, but you couldn't come up with anything!"
Zoe just rolled her eyes.
"You really have one thing on your mind! We're already trying to figure something out, aren't we?"
Just then, Carrie, who hadn't said anything the whole time, suddenly raised her hand.
"If we're really bored, how about we play with a Ouija board?"
