The rest of his body was limp, and his movements were unpredictable as he jumped and feinted, swinging his blade at Zoro, who would dodge, and land blows, but none of them fazed him. One shot, nailed him right in the face, and caused his entire face to crumple, and he leaned backwards to the point where the top of his head touched the ground. But yet he stood, as was the will of his soul, as he straightened up again. The more of a beating he received, the fast, and more powerful as well as unpredictable his maneuvers became.

"Why won't you die?" Zoro yelled, dodging, pumping him full of fists, but he showed no sign of stopping or slowing down, but he became more silent, and his eyes closed more and more. Then he dashed at him, in the blink of an eye, and slashed horizontally at his torso, and Zoro just barely jumped over, and in midair, brought down a heel into Reic's skull, slamming his face into the ground. He was still for a few moments, and then he reared up again. He was beaten to the point where most of his bones must've been broken. But there he stood, defying the laws of reality, as the aura around his loosened, and began to flame around him, becoming an inferno of gold, singeing the grass, as a warm wind began to blow and surround Reic. He grinned.

"Soul Tremor." He said with a laugh. Zoro looked at him curiously. "Eh?" The aura burst out further, and Reic's body lost all of its limpness, as his soul realigned every bone in his body, and his wounds began to heal over. He looked up, a fury burning in his eyes. "The eternal question, what lies after death? I know, because, right now, I am dead. My soul is hanging JUST outside of the plane of the living. In the realm of death, there lies an endless fortune of power. Using one's soul, you can tap into this immense power… but at an intense cost… your soul itself, and without a soul, you are forced to wander nothingness for eternity. I think I'll risk it. Not like I ever had a reason to live for anyway." He said, as he took a menacing step towards Zoro, who stepped back out of instinct.

"Shall we test the power of death?" he said, flicking his blade so that it was eye level. Zoro smiled at this new challenge. He had never seen power like this in his life; this was exhilarating, even though he might die. He shrugged. Death didn't matter to him he lived for battle only. He had never known otherwise. Reic dashed at him, practically at the speed of light, and slashed at Zoro, who dodged. He jumped back, and launched his fins at Reic, who deflected them daftly with his blade, not even phased by them, as he kept his eyes on the Zora.

Elsewhere, somewhere in the middle of the Lowest Reach…

Darreth was flying upward, farther and farther. "Where the fuck am I?" He asked himself, as he flew farther and farther upwards. He had finally gotten the hang of wings. They were odd at first, but he caught on quick. As he flew, he spotted a dot of gold in the dark. "What the hell…" he said, as he began to fly towards it, out of the fact that he was flying in the absence of light, and he didn't even know if up was really up. As he neared the light, he saw other small essences of light flying around it, some trying to tug it into the darkness. He assumed they were souls.

"Shoo, get away." He said, swatting at them. They flew away from the soul, and … hissed at Darreth, as they flew at him, and latched onto his chest, and began pulling out his soul. "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!" He yelled irritably, as he began to wrench them off his chest, but as he pulled them off, a bright red fiery like aura. "Hey!" He yelled, as he shoved it back onto his chest, assuming he was pulling his soul out. "You're an idiot." He heard from behind him. It was Grimm.

"It's my day off, and I'm already saving you?" He said, scythe in hand. "Sorry, but you know, I don't know how to get this off, because I don't make regular visits to the plane of DEATH!" He yelled. Grimm rolled his eyes. "As my servant, you have limited powers over souls. Like that one, is a leech soul. In life, these were beggars a people who died indebted to someone, causing their soul to become pitiful and weak. They feed on other souls, to become stronger. You can dispel them as my servant." He said, holding a hand up at the three souls clinging to Darreth. "In the name of the Reaper, be gone." He said simply, and they dissolved into the dark. "It's that simple." He said as he too, dissolved into the void.

"Hey, wait, what the hell is this gold crap?" Darreth asked, as Grimm disappeared. "Figure it out." He said, flicking him on the forehead, as he finally disappeared. Darreth looked back to it, and stared into it. It looked like flame, like what came out of him… but this was coming from what looked like a rip in the dark. Through the rip, he could barely make out two figures fighting. "Wait… is that… Reic? THAT BASTARD!" He said, as he tried to rush through the fire of sorts, but was pushed back. He growled. "I'll kill the fucker. I can't die twice, can I?" He asked himself, as he continued to watch the battle.

On the other side of the rip…

Reic swung at him, cutting into his leg. The blood of the blade mingles with his in the cut, and causing a burning sensation, and Zoro yelled in pain, as he was round housed in the face, and slashed across the chest, as he was sent flying backwards. He jumped at him, and stabbed downwards at him, and Zoro rolled to the side, as Reic stabbed the ground again, and Zoro rolled away, and aimed his boot at his crotch, hitting him dead on. Reic paused, and lowered his head, in pain. He lifted his head with an insane grin. "Did you think that hurt? I can't feel anything anymore, I hope you know." He said, bringing his boot down on Zoro's chest, with intense force, and he lifted it up, and slammed it down repeatedly.

"Not so fun to be on the other side, huh?" He said, as the glow around him began to fade. He frowned. His soul was slipping away. He needed to finish this off now, and pull his soul back into his body before he lost it. "This is it." He said, holding Zoro down with his boot, as he lifted the blade above his throat, and shot it down. Suddenly, Zoro clapped his hands on the flat sides of the blade. "NO, I WILL NOT DIE!" He roared; as he struggled to keep it from plunging into his throat. He kept it steady, away from his throat. Reic weighed his chances. Push his soul a little farther in, get enough power to finish it quickly? That might cause his soul to fall in… or stay like this, and let it slip in…

Reic went with a quick burst of power. "DIE!" He roared, as he pushed it harder than ever, completely overwhelming Zoro's strength, which, Zoro thought was impossible. Last second, he redirected the blade, and it dug into the center of his chest, and the blade's blood sunk in with his, and Zoro grimaced at the intense pain, as Reic pulled the blade from his wound, and He walked away from Zoro, who would die shortly, the blood was actually a living poison, it would slowly become his blood, and kill him from within. He stumbled away from him, trying desperately to pull his soul back into his body. He barely could. It was too far in. Everything was getting blurry, and slow… he struggled to stay standing, as he leaned on any thing he could, but kept losing balance. He kept trying to pull his soul back in…

On the other side…

"Whoa! It's falling out!" Darreth said, as the fire became dull, and slid from the rip. He caught it, but almost dropped it, from the intense burning sensation. It then wrapped around his fist, and he looked to the rip in the darkness. "REIC!" He roared, as he jumped through the rip, and was immersed in the light of the living.

Reic kept stumbling around, and he began to fall, but he heard a familiar voice call his name out. "REIC, YOU SONUVABITCH!" It roared, and he turned to see Darreth, Flying at him, literally, with wings on his back, his right hand flaming with the same topaz glow that had once surrounded Reic. He grinned. The idiot even comes back from death to get revenge. He thought, as darkness finally overwhelmed him and his eyes clouded over, his soul gone from his body, and slowly began to fall to the ground. But he was caught by Darreth's fist, which collided with his jaw, sending him flying straight upwards. Everything came back to him in a rush, life, pain, feeling, and memory. But shortly after everything came back to him, he blacked out from the intense weight of the fatigue placed on him.

Darreth panted. "FUCKER! Got you back! And you owe me, that was your soul there I just gave back to you!" He said, and he looked to the group and waved. "Hey guys, what's up?" He asked, and a glad Tyrus and Milane tackle hugged him. "Whoa, hey, I'm glad to see you guys too, calm down!" He said, hugging them back, as the rest of them smiled at him, happy to see him back. "Erm, problem is… I'm not supposed to be here." He said sheepishly, as he began to fade out of existence. "I still have work to do, to be back alive… you guys, just go on without me for the time being… I'll come back sooner or later." He said, as he finally disappeared to them. He, on the other hand, was on the other side of the plane of the living, Limbo, where souls wander before being laid to rest. Darreth looked at his group, who stood there, blurred around the edges, tending to the two. He walked over to Zoro, where his soul was standing over his own rapidly cooling corpse.

"Hey, you." Darreth said, and Zoro looked at him surprised. "I'm dead, aren't I?" He asked, and Darreth nodded. "Well, you're supposed to be in the Lowest Reach right now, but I suck at my job, and aren't as quick as my boss. Here's a deal for you: I put you back into your body, and you protect my group while I'm away, deal? I need someone too keep an eye on that bastard who killed both you AND me." He said. Zoro nodded. "Yes, I'd like to be alive, it's a deal." He said hurriedly. Darreth smiled. "You know what happens if you break this deal? You lose your soul." He said as he shook with Zoro. "I'm pretty fine with that." He said with a grin. "Good." Darreth said with a grin, as he kicked out his legs, and pushed Zoro into his corpse.

Onaka looked down at Zoro with sad eyes. "Why do people kill like this?" He asked, as he placed a hand over him, trying to bring him back, although he was already dead. He closed the wound, and Zoro gasped for air, as if he had been drowning, causing Onaka to jump. "HOLY SHIT!" Alayna exclaimed, as she rushed over. "You brought him back to life!" She said, and Onaka looked surprised beyond reason. "I guess so…" He said, and Zoro coughed. "Thanks, kid…" and then, he too passed out. Milane looked to Tyrus and Dirth. "I guess we set up camp again, and wait." She said, and the other two nodded, and they relocated to a river, and set up camp again.

Wooo Update for all of you peoples! Enjoy, review, and tune in for the next chapter! OR THE WORLD WILL END! XD