Death... and me

In a world where there were no cultivation energies, Roan's Spatial Gates worked to their maximum extent, which made him able to cover hundreds of times the distance that his Spatial Gates could in the Realm of Gods. Nonetheless, a Universe was still a Universe, even if it was only half of it.

Several galaxies were left behind each day... if you could say it like that. After all, traveling through the void didn't have things like day and night. Nonetheless, they were simply thinking about it in their minds.

At first, Roan was prepared to be stopped at some point on the way to the Universal Transition Organization. After all, his group consisted of cultivators, and there was also that event where he lost his connection. Yet, no one appeared to stop his journey, which made Roan wonder if his connection was removed on purpose or if it was some automatic result of his reincarnation.

Just like that, three months went by in a flash. Finally, the environment, which had only been pretty much the same until now, began to change. Some kind of Dark and Gray light reached their group during one of their exits from Roan's Spatial Gate, giving them a weird feeling.

Roan tried to gather that energy but failed. "Yes, I totally lost connection with it. Even though I'm this close, I can't gather even an iota of Death Energy." In the end, Roan just called the energy like that since he used it in the past as a Death Spirit.

"But the energy you showed to us when we arrived was completely black. This one is mixed with gray," Rean couldn't help but comment.

However, Roan shook his head. "It's not that the energy I used back there was just black. It's just that I was too far away from the source for you to notice the gray part. Now, however, we are close enough for you all to see the difference."

"Is the Universal Transition Organization ahead?" Essefy asked.

Roan looked into the distance. "Yes. From my feeling back then, just ten or so more Spatial Gates at max distance, and we should arrive there. My connection was lost, but now that I'm this close, I can still feel it a little bit. This sensation is gradually disappearing, though."

"Then let's keep going," said Kentucky. "The distances traveled through Spatial Gates are enormous, so any slight mistake would be enough to put us millions of kilometers away from this Organization of yours."

"There is no need to worry." Roan didn't seem to mind. "From now on, we just need to follow the Death Energy. Even if you can't feel it, you won't be able to miss the location."

Roan then opened another Spatial Gate. "Let's keep going."

Roan was right. After another ten Spatial Gates, using them to the maximum distance he could, they truly seemed to have arrived somewhere. In front of them, a land that looked more like a giant floating island floated in the void. Yet, even though they could see it, they knew they were still far away. It's just that it was so big that they could see from their location.

"What a huge place. We are probably several days of distance, even if Kentucky flies at his full speed," Rean couldn't help but comment. He could obviously feel how far it was through the light that reached his body. "Well, compared to Hyeoumu, who holds the entire Realm of Gods, this place's size can't even be considered a spec of dust."

Roan then looked everywhere until he finally remembered where he should go. "Come with me."

He shot into the distance, and everyone quickly followed, confused. "Are you truly going to fly all the way there? If we use a spatial gate, we can cover this distance in a few seconds."

Yet, Roan immediately refused that idea. "The only thing that can connect directly to the Universal Transition Organization is the 'doors' you saw me using back when I was a Death Spirit. From what I know, the Organization's Land is protected by a barrier made of Death Energy. We still don't know what kind of energy this is, so I wouldn't risk trying to open a Spatial Gate to enter."

No one complained. They knew they had to start on their guard.

Suddenly, Rean noticed a few shadows moving in the distance. What surprised him and the others was that those shadows didn't appear in their Divine Senses. Yet, Roan identified those shadows instantly. "Death Spirits..."

Rean looked at the shadows curiously. Back when Roan came to take him, his appearance was like those of the films. Black robe, scythe, etc. "They look very different from you."

Roan then remembered he had never told Rean and the others about the Death Spirits' peculiar ability. "Usually, intelligent races have some conceptions of what 'death' should be and what it looks like. Death Spirits, for some reason, can feel those beliefs and take those forms. It is not something we can control. As long as we arrive in a place where many being believe in the same thing, that's the shape we will take. For you, that black robe and scythe was the concept of death from the films, stories, and books you knew."

"I see..." Rean nodded. "So those shadows are the Death Spirits' Real form, yea? Will they transform if we get close?"

"No," Roan answered. "You need a huge number of souls to have the same belief for it to affect a Death Spirit's form. Just the four of us would never be enough to make a Death Spirit transform, especially since I know that that shadow is their real form, so why would they transform?"

Rean then noticed those shadows were flying in their direction. "What do we do? They are trying to intercept us. However, they are quite slow compared to us."

"Let's meet them," Roan answered. "After all, there is no guarantee that we are on bad terms with them. Let's check with those Spirits first."