"Has it begun..." Bai Ya watched silently as Yue Ge collapsed onto the floor. She didn't move to help him up. Instead, she casually pulled a sheet of paper from the nearby table and began scribbling notes. "Essence No. 2, Trial Thirty-Second commences."

She knew this phase wouldn't last long. What Yue Ge would become next was entirely up to fate. Either the Essence would devour him, turning him into a new monster, or he'd endure it and become a new Chosen One. But according to Bai Ya's records, no one had ever survived this stage.

Unlike all other known Essences, Essence No. 2 had a zero percent success rate. In other words, no one had ever wrested even a fraction of power from the Reaper. No one knew why. Every single attempt had ended in death.

The monster known as the Reaper had only appeared once in recorded history. After that single sighting, it vanished completely—no one had seen it again, let alone extracted its Essence. This wasn't something as simple as drawing blood or plucking fur. It demanded a price.

All Bai Ya knew of the Reaper was this: when it appeared that one time, it left scorched earth for miles. Only death and silence remained. Every living thing—plants, animals—had their life force drained. If anyone ever absorbed this Essence, its true power would be far more terrifying than what she carried within herself.

She wanted Yue Ge to survive. She was determined to erase the label of "failure" from this vial of Essence. For that, she was willing to grasp even this fragile hope. She trusted her instincts. Anyone who truly feared death wouldn't have smiled in that situation.

This wasn't merely about accepting death. It required overcoming instinct, erasing the primal fear of "Death" itself. But as long as one lived, no human—or any living creature—could achieve that. Fear of death was instinct.

Unless... that person was already dead. Only then could they truly shed the fear of dying.

The first stage of Essence absorption involved waiting for the Essence to spread through the body. Thanks to the sedative, this phase wasn't difficult. Only after triple-checking that Yue Ge was truly unconscious did Bai Ya approach to run various tests.

"Heart stopped. Pupils dilated... Stage Two should begin within three minutes." She murmured the observations while jotting them down. Generally, if no mutation occurred by the time absorption completed, it was considered a success. This held true for both ordinary Essences and those of "gods."

If Yue Ge showed any abnormalities, she'd have to intervene and reclaim the Essence. Mutation meant failure—the Essence had consumed the host instead. Neither monster nor human anymore. That was why people craved becoming monsters: after absorbing an Essence, you either became one, or became nothing at all.

After finishing her notes, Bai Ya placed her hand on Yue Ge's chest and waited silently. Roughly two minutes later, she felt his heart begin to beat again. Faint at first, then steadily stronger, until the thumping was audible even without pressing her ear to his chest.

Bai Ya stepped back two paces, her hand resting lightly on her cloak. She took a deep breath. The gray cat that had been perched on the cabinet moments ago was gone—likely sensing danger and fleeing early.

Suddenly, the world fell utterly silent. A shadow engulfed Yue Ge where he lay on the floor, swallowing him whole. No face, no hands—just a mass of pure darkness, its edges jagged and twisting. The shadow slowly rose, arms spreading as if performing a ritual. In an instant, it vanished from the spot.

Bai Ya froze, stunned. Before she could react, she was thrown backward, crashing into the wall. Her cloak rippled faintly, absorbing the impact. She lifted her head to see the pitch-black figure standing in the center of the living room, its form distorted, gripping a massive Reaper Scythe. The blow that sent her flying had come from that very blade.

"So... it failed again..." Bai Ya hesitated for only a second before turning to run outside.

The shadow paused briefly, then dragged its scythe after her.

The rain had stopped, leaving only puddles scattered across the empty street. No sign of Bai Ya remained. The shadow stood motionless at the doorway, silent.

Suddenly, it raised the scythe and swept it sideways without hesitation. The blade struck a phantom figure, slamming Bai Ya out of thin air. But Bai Ya didn't flinch. Instead, she grabbed the shadow's scythe-wielding arm and snapped her fingers right before its face.

*Vvvvvvv!*

Unlike its previous attacks, space visibly warped. A piercing shriek tore through the air, rippling the puddles on the ground.

The shadow instinctively released its scythe, dropping to its knees and clutching its ears. Its darkness churned violently, briefly revealing the human form trapped within. But before Bai Ya could breathe a sigh of relief, the black mist exploded outward. The fragments scattered, then reassembled into the towering shadow once more.

"Stubborn..." Bai Ya frowned slightly. Combat wasn't her strength; her abilities relied entirely on the power of the Essence within her. Facing an opponent of equal caliber was trouble. Fortunately, the shadow seemed to act only on instinct. For now, she could barely hold her own.

Clearly, Yue Ge had failed. The Essence had completely consumed him. Yet Bai Ya had never seen anyone devoured by Essence No. 2 remain this active. Most died instantly; few even managed to stand. Let alone move like this—as if the Essence itself had been resurrected.

What puzzled her was the shadow's lack of intent to flee. It simply stood there, as if waiting. Bai Ya tugged her cloak, vanishing from sight once more.

Finally, the shadow moved. It raised its left hand. Black mist coalesced within its palm, and the scythe in its grip solidified further, becoming as tangible and dark as obsidian. It pinpointed Bai Ya's location instantly. The scythe slashed through the air, leaving a pitch-black afterimage.

A sudden unease gripped Bai Ya. She abandoned her cloak's protection and barely dodged the blade. The scythe struck the ground, slicing through asphalt as if it were paper.

The shadow closed the distance in an instant. To Bai Ya's shock, its left hand clamped down on her throat, slamming her to the ground. Black mist coiled around her, eating away at her cloak. Worse, the mist severed her connection to the cloak. She could no longer **feel** its protection.

*I'm going to die.*

The thought surfaced in Bai Ya's mind for the first time.

*At this rate... I'll die.*

She struggled, trying to pry Yue Ge's hand away. But his strength overwhelmed hers. No matter how she fought, the shadow pinned her down effortlessly. Her own Essence granted minimal physical enhancement; her true power resided entirely in the cloak. It was her conduit. If the shadow severed her link to it, she was truly finished.

Her struggles proved futile. The black mist completely severed her connection. For a brief moment, everything stalled. Then Bai Ya felt her own Essence freeze within her—as if killed. No matter how she called to it, there was no response. Her cloak dimmed completely, its faint, twisting glow vanishing.

The shadow released her throat and raised the scythe high.

Bai Ya coughed, curling into a ball on the ground. Seeing the blade descend, she squeezed her eyes shut, covered her head, and nearly sobbed. She didn't want to die.

Yet the blade never fell. After a long moment, Bai Ya cautiously opened her eyes. The black scythe hovered mere centimeters from her forehead. Just a fraction more, and its power would have cleaved her in two without effort.

The shadow's face twisted in confusion, as if it didn't understand why it had stopped. As it prepared to raise the scythe again to finish her, it suddenly collapsed to its knees. The black mist writhed violently, parting to reveal the human trapped inside.

"How could I... be killed by this thing *again*? Settle down!" Yue Ge gritted his teeth, his expression contorted.

Bai Ya hesitated for only an instant. Instead of fleeing, she wrapped her arms around Yue Ge, pressing her forehead to his. She closed her eyes. The brief delay had cleared the black mist from her body; her white cloak now covered her once more. A flash of white light sparked between their foreheads. The flickering black mist dissipated instantly, and Yue Ge slumped unconscious.

Only when Yue Ge went limp did Bai Ya exhale. She tried to stand, but her legs gave way—still trembling with residual fear. Death had been that close. If Yue Ge hadn't regained control... she would have been gone.

*I don't know... whether to be angry or relieved.*

Bai Ya looked down at Yue Ge lying peacefully on the ground. She let out a long breath, hoisted him onto her back, and murmured softly, whether he could hear or not: "You almost got me killed. But... I suppose this counts as success."

"... "

"Thank goodness... I didn't fail..."