I Die to Rise: Resurrection System-Chapter 72: The Cage!

Kurt swallowed hard as the Reaper stepped halfway into the sigil. Almost there.

She needed to be fully inside it, just one more step, but she’d stopped, tapping the edge of her sickle with black manicured nails in a rhythm that made his skin crawl.

So he had to do what he did second best: keep talking.

"Alright." Kurt raised his hands slowly, stepping directly in front of the sigil’s opposite edge where the trap would snap shut. "You win. No point running anymore, is there?"

He gestured at his friends suspended in mid-air, their bodies slowly withering under the black aura. "But please, let them go. They’ve got nothing to do with this. It’s me you want."

The Reaper tilted her head, studying him like he was a particularly interesting insect. "Kurt, you don’t really get to make requests now." Her voice carried a hint of amusement. "Perhaps they’ll experience the beauty of death alongside you. Wouldn’t that be poetic?"

She took another step forward, and with that, the sigil erupted.

Light blazed beneath her feet, lines of blood-red essence shooting outward in a perfect circle.

Shackles materialized around her wrists with a sound like breaking glass, chains erupting from the sigil and wrapping around her arms, her legs, her waist.

The chains converged, transforming into a cage that enclosed her completely. Each bar glowed with ancient script, a language older than time itself, words that predated civilization and spoke directly to the fundamental laws of existence.

Kurt blinked, almost surprised it had worked. "I’ll be damned..."

The Reaper grinned, exasperated. "...Son of a bitch."

She reached out casually and touched one of the bars. Her palm sizzled on contact, chalkwhite skin scorching with a sound like meat on a hot pan. She pulled her hand back slowly, examining the burn with mild curiosity but no real pain.

Seconds after, the black aura holding everyone vanished instantly.

Emma hit the ground hard, gasping for air. Cassandra landed in a crouch, one hand pressed to her chest as color slowly returned to her pale skin.

"Fuck," Emma cursed between ragged breaths. "Fuck..." she repeated with frustration in her voice.

"What power," Cassandra whispered, trying to catch her breath. Her usual composure was cracked, replaced by something close to fear and excitement.

Lizzie groaned as she pushed herself up, while Zaza dusted off her long black gown with methodical precision, her expression as blank as ever.

The Reaper rubbed her wrists, staring at the shackles that had expanded to become part of the cage’s structure. "You really think this will hold me forever, Kurt?"

Kurt lit a cigarette with shaking hands, taking a long drag before answering. "Who knows?" He exhaled smoke. "But it should hold just long enough to convince you to not kill me. Until then, you’re our prisoner."

The Reaper’s lips curved into a cold smile. "There will be others, you know. I’m not the only one."

Zaza stepped forward. "Yes. But as long as you’re here, another wouldn’t risk stepping into our reality. You’re our insurance."

The Reaper’s dark eyes narrowed at Zaza, and her grin widened. "You’d be surprised what my kind would risk..." The words hung in the air like a threat or an ominous warning.

Then she sat cross-legged in the center of the cage, perfectly at ease despite being imprisoned. "Oh well. I guess that’s that." She looked directly at Kurt. "So what now?"

Kurt touched the cage experimentally. It was solid under his fingers but surprisingly light, like touching air that had somehow gained weight without mass. "Now we transport you to our guild."

"What guild?" Lizzie asked, her head tilting at that unnatural angle. Something Kurt noticed she did when reality wasn’t making sense.

"Remember when the seven-foot juggernaut turned it into—" She made exaggerated crushing motions with her hands, complete with explosion sound effects. "BOOM! Crunch! Splat! It’s very not-there-anymore!"

Rook rolled his shoulder, stepping closer to examine the cage. He glanced back at Sam and the other guild members scattered around the barn, all slowly getting to their feet. Bruised, but alive.

He placed his palm flat against one of the bars, and his ability activated instinctively, trying to absorb the material. Nothing happened. "Can’t absorb whatever this is." He looked at Kurt, then at Lizzie. "And she’s right. About the guild."

The weight of those words settled over everyone like a shroud. Most of the guild members didn’t have an apartment. Their whole lives were in the guild.

Kurt’s legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the barn floor, finally letting himself breathe properly. His hands were still shaking, cigarette dangling from his lips, ash falling onto his coat.

They’d actually pulled it off. Trapped a fucking Reaper. It wasn’t permanent... nothing ever was, but they’d bought themselves time.

The problem was, they had nowhere to take her.

Silver Tail had destroyed their headquarters. Braun’s attack had turned the warehouse into rubble. And the intense battles between Raven’s Crow and Silver Tail, burned through a quarter of the D-rank district in the process.

Rebuilding would take resources, energy, time. Mountains of gold and credits would be needed just to repair the damage to the district, let alone construct a new guild hall that could house them properly.

Kurt took another drag, staring at the Reaper who sat calmly in her cage like she had all the time in the world. Which, being an immortal death entity, she probably did.

"Luckily for us," Kurt said slowly, working through the math in his head, "we’ve got a mountain of loot stashed somewhere. Literally."

The haul from Silver Tail’s loot houses. The essence cores, weapons, artifacts, credits saved in drives. They’d taken everything Braun had been hoarding, and it was enough to fund a small army.

"I’m guessing we fix up the damaged part of the D-rank district," Kurt continued, gesturing vaguely. "Give back to society and all that charity bollocks. Then we rebuild. Bigger guild, better defenses. Should be fun."

Rook’s hand landed on Kurt’s shoulder, and when Kurt looked up, the guild leader was grinning. Actually grinning, which was rare enough to be noteworthy.

"Who said anything about rebuilding in the D-rank district?" Rook’s voice carried a weight that made everyone stop and listen. "With that much cash? We’re leveling up."

The words hung in the air, and Emma straightened, understanding dawning across her face. "You’re talking about C-rank certification."

"Think bigger," Rook said. "We’ve got the hunters. We’ve got the resources now. And we just trapped a fucking Reaper. Raven’s Crow is on a roll, and I want to keep riding that wave."

Cassandra’s eyes gleamed. "The Challenge Path?"

"Or the Standard Path if we can afford it," Rook countered. "Fight our way up, or buy our way up. Either way, we’re not staying D-rank. Not after this."

Lizzie bounced on her heels, manic energy returning. "Ooh! Does that mean we get a fancy headquarters? With like, marble floors? And those weird fountains rich people have? Can we get a fountain?!"

"Focus, Lizzie," Emma said, but she was excited too, her voice gave her away.

Kurt pushed himself to his feet, stubbing out his cigarette. His body ached in about seventeen different places. But for the first time since he’d woken up with amnesia in that alley, he felt like they were moving forward instead of just running.

"Right then," Kurt said, looking at the Reaper in her cage. She was watching them with that same amused expression, like she knew something they didn’t. "First things first. We need to move our new prisoner somewhere secure. Cassandra’s place won’t cut it anymore."

"There’s a warehouse in the industrial zone," Zaza offered quietly. "Abandoned. Warded. I’ve used it before for... projects."

Nobody asked what kind of projects. With Zaza, it was better not to know.

"Perfect," Rook said. "We move the Reaper there, set up a rotation to guard her. Then we start planning. Guild certification doesn’t happen overnight, and we’ve still got to be careful about Ex Silver Tail members coming to take revenge or something like that."

The Reaper laughed softly from inside her cage, the sound carrying an edge that made everyone’s skin crawl. "You’re all so busy making plans," she said, her pale lips curving into a smile. "Like you have all the time in the world. I gotta say, I admire the conviction."

Kurt met her dark eyes through the bars. "We’ve got enough time. That’s all that matters."

"For now, Kurt," the Reaper said, leaning back against the bars like she was lounging in a luxury suite. "For now."

The barn fell silent except for the soft crackle of dying flames where Kurt’s earlier fire attack had scorched the walls. Outside, dawn was breaking, painting the sky in shades of orange and red.

They’d survived the night. Trapped a Reaper. And somehow, impossibly, they were still standing.

Kurt pulled out another cigarette, lit it, and took a long drag. "Alright then," he said to no one in particular. "Let’s get to work."

Rook clapped him on the shoulder. "B-rank district, here we come."

And despite everything; the pain, the exhaustion, the cosmic death entity currently imprisoned in their magical cage, Kurt found himself grinning.

They were moving up in the world. Literally.