My SSS-Rank Grim Reaper System-Chapter 68: Surrender
[MAIN STREET]
Alex’s sword pressed against Kael’s throat.
Not hard. Not cutting.
Just... making itself known.
A clear message of who had won.
Kael looked up—veteran eyes meeting Alex’s eyes.
Crimson glowing around the normal pupils.
A fragment active but controlled.
"How?" Kael asked again. His voice hoarse, defeated. "Thirty years. Thirty years without a single failure. And you..."
A pause.
"...you destroyed me in five minutes."
Alex didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he looked around the battlefield.
Marcus—surrounded by thirty level 70 skeletons, his Infernal Hound bleeding from multiple wounds, he himself with at least ten visible cuts. Swords lowered. Surrendered in fact if not in word.
Lyra—cornered against a building by twenty skeletons, her Mist Serpent barely alive, she herself breathing heavily. Daggers on the ground. No longer fighting.
Thorne—on the ground, the five level 80 hybrid skeletons pointing spears at his throat, his Iron Golem collapsed three meters away, its magical systems failing. Unconscious or close to it.
Aria—still unconscious where she had fallen, Emily checking her vital signs from a safe distance.
Total victory.
Absolute.
Undeniable.
"How?" Alex repeated, finally answering Kael’s question. "Because you stopped hunting humans."
He removed his sword from Kael’s throat—just slightly, giving him room to breathe properly.
"You hunted Reaper Fragments. Weapons designed to kill Gods. And when two of those weapons work together..."
He looked at Raven, who was standing beside him, scythe still ready.
"...well. You just learned the outcome."
Kael swallowed—a visible movement in his throat.
"The Temple wants you alive," he said. Not a threat. Just a statement of fact. "The bounty is 150,000 crowns. Alive, preferably."
"Too little if you ask me, it’s a bit offensive... but I know."
"They’ll come back. With more hunters. Stronger ones."
"I know."
"And?"
Alex considered.
He could kill them. Here. Now.
Five hunters. Five companions.
Ten souls for Grim.
A massive harvest.
The Fragment wanted him to do it.
He could feel it—a whisper from the back of his mind.
Kill them. Eliminate the threat. Harvest souls. Become stronger.
But...
"No," Alex said aloud.
Kael blinked. "No?"
"I’m not going to kill them." Alex lowered his sword completely. "You surrender. Officially. You swear before witnesses that you’re abandoning the contract. That you’ll report to the Temple that the target is too dangerous. That you recommend canceling the hunt."
A pause.
"And I let you live."
Absolute silence.
Marcus, from thirty meters away, shouted. "You’ll let us live?"
"Yes, maybe, I don’t know, no, I don’t think so."
"..."
"It’s a joke, I won’t do it."
"Why?" asked Lyra, her voice barely audible. "We’re hunters. We’ll come back eventually. Or someone else will."
"Maybe," Alex agreed. "But not because of you. You’ll report exactly what happened here. That two Fragments working together are unstoppable. That level doesn’t matter against divine weapons."
He smiled—not a pleasant expression, but not cruel either.
"You’ll be my advertising. My warning. ’Don’t hunt Alex Carter. It’s not worth it.’"
Kael studied Alex for a long moment.
Evaluating.
Calculating.
Finally—he nodded slowly.
"Smart. Cruel, but smart."
"Do you accept the terms?"
"Yes. I surrender. Officially. I abandon the contract. I’ll report that the target is SSS rank, that it requires an army, not individual hunters."
"And the others?"
Kael raised his voice. "Marcus! Lyra! Surrender!"
Marcus lowered his knives immediately. "Surrendered! By all the Gods, surrendered!"
Lyra dropped her daggers. "Surrendered."
Thorne didn’t respond—but he grunted something that sounded like agreement.
"Good," said Alex.
He gestured—the skeletons backed away.
They didn’t disappear. They just retreated five meters.
Giving space but ready to attack if anyone broke the surrender.
---
Above, Grim and the Black Wyvern were still circling.
But when Grim felt the ground battle was over, he pulled back.
"Master. Says. Stop. Then. Stop."
The wyvern screeched—not in agreement exactly, but in understanding (or I don’t know, I don’t really speak wyvern).
Both descended.
The wyvern landed beside Kael, protecting him with its massive body.
Grim landed beside Alex, his Awakened form still active.
"Victory," Grim stated simply.
"Yeah," Alex agreed. "Victory."
---
Emily approached cautiously, Luna beside her.
"Is everyone...?"
"Alive," said Alex. "Surrendered. Not dead."
"Good." Emily exhaled in relief. Then she looked at Alex. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Fragment Synergy is still active. I feel... powerful."
"Raven?"
Raven nodded. "Same. Though the exhaustion is going to hit us hard when this ends."
Emily checked the time crystal she had been timing with.
"Six minutes have passed since activation. Four minutes left."
"Enough," said Alex.
He looked at the surrendered hunters.
"Emily, can you check on Aria? Make sure she doesn’t die."
"The enemy?"
"The surrendered. There’s a difference."
Emily hesitated, then nodded.
She walked to where Aria lay, Luna following like a bodyguard.
[Purifying Light] on Aria.
[Aria HP: 400 → 600/1,800]
Stabilized. She wouldn’t wake up soon, but at least she wasn’t dying.
"She’ll be fine," Emily reported. "She’ll need weeks of recovery, but she’ll live."
"Good."
Alex looked at Kael.
"You have one hour. Pick up your people. Heal your wounds. Then you leave Coral Port. I don’t want to see you again."
"Understood," said Kael.
He stood up slowly—every movement clearly painful.
He walked to Marcus first, helping him up.
Then Lyra.
Then Thorne, who needed help from Marcus as well.
Finally they carried Aria between Kael and Thorne.
The group that had arrived confidently as elite hunters.
Leaving as battered survivors.
"One more thing," Alex called when they were ten meters away.
Kael turned.
"Yes?"
"When you report to the Temple..." Alex touched the Fragment mark on his chest. "...tell them exactly this: ’The Reaper was sealed by seven Gods for a reason. And now two of its Fragments are together. If they continue the hunt, they’ll need an army. Not hunters.’"
Kael nodded slowly.
"I’ll report it word for word."
Then they left.
Limping. Bleeding. Defeated.
But alive.
---
Two minutes later—
[SYSTEM WARNING]
[FRAGMENT SYNERGY – 1 MINUTE REMAINING]
[PREPARE FOR DEACTIVATION]
"Here it comes," said Raven.
"I know," Alex agreed.
Both sat down on the pavement—bracing themselves.
They knew it was coming.
Exhaustion. Pain. Consequences.
Sixty seconds.
Fifty.
Forty.
The skeletons began to glow—energy dissipating.
Thirty.
Twenty.
The dark and green auras began to fade.
Ten.
Five.
[FRAGMENT SYNERGY – DEACTIVATED]
The energy cut off like a switch.
And the consequences hit them.
IMMEDIATELY.
---
Alex gasped—feeling like he had run a marathon.
[Max HP: 1,581 → 1,020]
[Current HP: 980 → 632/1,020] (adjusted proportionally)
His muscles burned. His lungs struggled. His vision blurred slightly.
[DEBUFF APPLIED: EXHAUSTION – SEVERE]
- All stats -30% for 2 hours
- HP/MP regeneration reduced by 50%
- Cannot use Fragment Synergy for 48 hours
Raven collapsed beside him—breathing heavily.
[Max HP: 1,426 → 920]
[Current HP: 950 → 613/920]
[DEBUFF APPLIED: EXHAUSTION – SEVERE]
"It hurts," Raven gasped.
"Yeah," Alex agreed.
Emily ran over to them.
"Are you okay?"
"Just... exhausted," Alex managed to say. "Nothing permanent."
But then—a second consequence hit.
[CORRUPTION UPDATED]
[ALEX – CORRUPTION: 71% → 74%] (+3% from Fragment Synergy use)
[RAVEN – CORRUPTION: 45% → 48%] (+3%)
Alex felt the change immediately.
Not big. Not dramatic.
Just... the whisper a little louder.
The Fragment a little more present.
Well done, the Fragment whispered in the back of his mind. The power was glorious, wasn’t it?
"Shut up," Alex muttered.
You’ll use my power again. And again. And eventually...
"I said shut up."
But the Fragment only laughed—a distant, unnatural sound.
Raven touched Alex’s arm.
"Do you hear it too?"
"Your Fragment?"
"Yeah. It’s... talking more."
"Same here."
They exchanged a look.
Understanding that...
Fragment Synergy was powerful.
Incredibly powerful.
But it came at a price.
Not just the physical exhaustion.
But the increased influence of the Fragments.
Three percent didn’t sound like much.
But 74% was dangerously close to 80%.
Where loss of control became likely.
"It was worth it," Alex said finally.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. Because we won. We survived. And they..." He looked toward where the hunters had disappeared. "...will spread the word. Fewer hunters will come now."
"I hope you’re right."
---
Ten minutes later, Captain Sera arrived.
With the city guard—twelve soldiers, all level 35-40.
Late for the battle, but appropriate for the cleanup.
Sera studied the street.
The shattered pavement. Damaged buildings. Burn and blast marks everywhere.
"The reports said ’massive battle on Main Street’," she commented. "I see they didn’t exaggerate."
She walked over to Alex and Raven, who were still sitting, recovering.
"The hunters left," Alex reported. "Surrendered. Not dead."
"I saw them leaving the city fifteen minutes ago. They looked..." Sera searched for a word. "...traumatized."
"Good."
"Did you use that? The Fragments-working-together thing?"
"Fragment Synergy. Yeah."
"And?"
"It worked. Too well."
Sera nodded slowly.
"Property damage estimated at 50,000 crowns. Normally I’d charge you."
"But..."
"But considering you defended the city from five hostile hunters..." A small smile. "...we’ll call it justifiable self-defense."
"But I didn’t defend anything."
"Defense of the city."
"But..."
"Self-defense."
"Thanks."
Sera looked around once more.
"Officially, I’ll report that the five hunters attacked registered Guild citizens without provocation. Nightshade Team defended themselves. Attackers surrendered and evacuated. Case closed."
"Unofficially?"
"Unofficially..." Sera leaned close. "...you just made a statement. The Temple will hear about this. And they probably won’t send regular hunters next time."
"What will they send?"
"Inquisitors. Paladins. A full extermination squad."
A pause.
"I suggest you consider relocating. Soon."
Alex looked at Raven, who nodded tiredly.
Then at Emily, who looked worried but determined.
Then at Grim, who had returned to his 80cm form, resting.
His team. His family.
"We’ll consider it," he said finally. "But not today. Today... we just want to rest."
Sera nodded understandingly.
"Our soldiers will clean up the street. You go home. Recover. And tomorrow..." She paused. "...make a decision about your future."
"Understood."
---
[APARTMENT – 2 HOURS LATER]
The team returned to the apartment (now repaired, thanks to generous neighbors).
Emily made tea.
Alex and Raven collapsed on the sofa—still exhausted.
Grim patrolled the room—habit, not necessity.
Luna had been dismissed, resting in the spiritual plane.
Comfortable silence for long minutes.
Finally, Raven spoke.
"74%."
Alex knew immediately what she was referring to.
"Yeah."
"Six more points and you hit 80%. Where loss of control becomes likely."
"I know."
"Can you use Fragment Synergy again? Or is it too risky?"
Alex considered honestly.
"Once more, maybe. That would put me at 77%. Still manageable."
"And after that?"
"After that..." Alex touched the white streak in his hair. "...I need to find a way to reduce the corruption. Or accept that the Fragment’s power has a limit."
Emily came in with the tea.
"I heard that. And I have an idea."
"What?"
"The Vitality Springs helped us before. They reduced your corruption from 67% to 62%." Emily set the cups on the table. "Maybe there are other places. Sacred temples. Ancient sanctuaries. Places that could purify the Fragment’s influence."
"Do you know of any?"
"Not specifically. But..." Emily pulled out a small book. "...when I left the Temple, I took this. A record of sacred sites on the continent."
She opened the marked page.
"There’s one. Three weeks’ travel north. The Sanctuary of Dawn. Supposedly it has a purification source more powerful than the Vitality Springs."
"Supposedly?"
"No one has verified it in fifty years. But the old records say it can reduce corruption by up to 10% with prolonged immersion."
Alex and Raven exchanged looks.
"Very cliché," Alex replied, but his tired face made him ignore the situation. "But at this point I don’t want to think about it anymore."
Ten percent.
That would take Alex from 74% to 64%.
Safe zone again.
"How far is it?" asked Raven.
"Three weeks north. Near the Crystal Mountains."
"And how dangerous is the journey?"
"Quite. Wild territory. Monsters level 90-130. But..." Emily smiled weakly. "...we just defeated five level 50+ hunters. I think we can handle monsters as long as we don’t run into a pack."
She had a point.
"Then that’s the plan," Alex decided. "We rest for a week here. Recover fully. Then we travel to the Sanctuary of Dawn."
"And Coral Port?" asked Grim. "Will we return?"
Alex looked around the apartment.
The first place that had felt like home since his expulsion from the Academy.
"Maybe," he said. "Someday. But for now..."
He paused.
"...we need to move. Keep going. Become stronger."
"Together," added Raven.
"Together," Emily agreed.
"Family," said Grim.
"Family," repeated Alex.
And in that word—simple, honest—
They found strength.
Not the strength of Fragments.
Not the strength of levels or stats.
But the strength of connection.
Of people who fought together.
Bled together.
Lived together.
And that, Alex decided, was more valuable than any power the Fragment could offer him right now.
---
