Afterlife Department

Chapter 15 - Hail

The big claw of the Soul Eater descended upon him. Huo Ling felt his body – oh, no. Soul. His soul suddenly can't move as he was frozen by fear. Oh, god… I'm doomed. I'm really doomed to never reincarnate. He thought as he imagined his soul being thrown inside that pit – oh, no. It's the mouth of the Soul Eater. How did it get this big?! He thought as he looked at the Soul Eater's body covered the entirety of the apartment building.

Before he worries for the Soul Eater's size, he should worry first of the Soul Eater's claw falling down on him. "AAAAAHHHH!!!!" he screamed when he finally found his voice as he immediately jumped next to the bench. Then, he turned his soul into a ball and he rolled away. "Wheeeee~~~ catch me! Catch me!" he laughed as he rolled on the ground like a ball. "AAAHHHH!!!" he skidded to a halt when a meaty claw appeared before him and hit the wall in front of him.. The meaty hands turned into a meaty claw! He immediately passed through the wall to hide. He isn't stupid to use the Soul Eater's arm for leverage. A meaty claw will just pop out of it, or worse, its arm would suddenly open like a mouth and eat him! "Damn that Yi Bing. Where the hell is he now?!" he muttered as he hid under a shelf and shivered. In the darkness, a fiery soul ball casted a warm orange glow.

Huo Ling looked around and found no one was inside the apartment unit. He just noticed, he didn't find anyone when he flew around the apartment building. What is happening? He thought and looked outside the window, only for his eyes to widen.

Earlier, he's been busy flying around to escape that he didn't notice the debris from the apartment building after the Soul Eater destroyed parts of it were floating instead of falling on the ground! It was like the time stopped at the moment, including the space as he watched another group of debris floated, joining the other debris floating in the air near the window of the apartment unit where he's hiding. "Is this… a separate space?" he muttered. He might have read too many novels, but this is the only explanation he has to what is in front of him now.

His ball of a soul rolled out under the shelf and went towards the window. There, he saw even the cars and the uprooted trees, including the garbage cans earlier where he hid, were floating. "What is happening?" he muttered, his fiery orange soul bumped against the glass window. He looked at his reflection on the window and saw a ball of fire burning bright.

Suddenly, he heard a loud crash and he looked up. He saw the ceiling above him disappeared and was replaced by the Soul Eater's strawberry jelly-like face. Or was it face-like strawberry jelly? Either way, he won't be eating strawberry jelly again!

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He immediately jumped out of the window and flew away, only to be met by an approaching claw of the Soul Eater. As he had thought earlier, he saw a mouth formed on the palm of the claw. Huo Ling immediately slipped inside a vent and flew back to where was Yi Bing earlier. "Yi Bing!!!" he yelled, hoping Yi Bing can hear him. "YI BING!!!" he called as he slipped through the gaps of the Soul Eater's arms. Everything around is filled with the Soul Eater's meaty arms like trees in the forest. Anyway, he will be avoiding the forest in the future. "YI BING!" he called when he finally reached the fourth floor. "Yi Bing…" he gasped, only for his breath to hitch when he saw Yi Bing was gone from his position. "Oh, no… has he been eaten?!" he muttered and turned to the Soul Eater's face covering the sky of the apartment building. "Yi Bing…" he called, his voice shaking and his tears are threatening to fall. "I've had a great time going out with you – " he said.

"Don't say things that could cause misunderstanding." Yi Bing spoke from behind him. "And don't kill me off." He added.

"Can't you warn me, though, that you're just behind me?" Huo Ling said.

"You're only crying fake tears, anyway." Yi Bing said and stood beside his floating soul.

"This is my sincerest – " Huo Ling said. Yi Bing rolled his eyes at him. "We're inside a separate space?" he asked.

"Yes." Yi Bing nodded. "This is the power of a Soul Eater with a physical body." He said and looked at the Soul Eater that roared at the sky. It was greeted by the thunder as if roaring at it back. The rain poured heavier, and lightning flashed.

Huo Ling finally exhausted his guts and he timidly hid behind Yi Bing. "I've been calling for you since earlier. Where were you?" he asked, his voice sounds he was greatly wronged. "I was really, really scared. QAQ" he cried crocodile tears.

"Oh? You seem to be having fun playing tag with the Soul Eater earlier." Yi Bing said, an imperceptible smile on his face.

Huo Ling's tears went back to his tear ducts. He frowned. "I was really scared, okay? If not for my athletic – " he said.

" – gymnastics?" Yi Bing said. He dodged when an angry fireball hit him. "Alright. You've worked hard." He said and patted the angry fireball.

"Hmph!" Huo Ling looked away, but he was smiling. "So, how was this a 2 year-old?" he asked and looked at the Soul Eater that's bigger than the apartment building.

"Have you forgotten? It ate more than 20 souls." Yi Bing said.

"But, I thought it will take a thousand year for a soul to be digested?" Huo Ling asked.

"That was before a Soul Eater made its physical body." Yi Bing said. "If a Soul Eater finally had its physical body, its digestive process became a thousand times faster."

Huo Ling's eyes widened. "So, right now…" he said and looked at the Soul Eater that was destroying the apartment building, gaping.

Yi Bing closed his mouth that was suspiciously leaking with questionable liquid. "That's how powerful a Soul Eater with its physical body is." He said.

"So… how do you deal with it?" Huo Ling asked.

"Kill it." Yi Bing answered.

"What will happen to those souls it ate?" Huo Ling asked.

Yi Bing turned to him. "As you've asked earlier, they can still reincarnate if they still haven't fully digested." He answered. "But, there are some that cannot. Either their soul was damaged while digested, or it was fully digested by the Soul Eater." He explained.

Huo Ling bit his lip. He almost became a part of the Soul Eater. He lowered his head to contemplate.

Yi Bing didn't speak. He raised his scythe and all the raindrops – from the ground to the sky, turned to ice. "Descend." He spoke, his voice – like the raindrops that froze, is ice-cold.

Immediately, millions of hails fell from the sky.