Monroe didn't know what death was supposed to feel like. In fact, he had no idea if death was supposed to invoke a particular feeling. Death had always been the end for any and everything, but he found himself questioning his grounded thoughts the moment the arrow turned his brain to mush.
The darkness that gripped him the moment he died was cold, deep and unfathomable. He was so overwhelmed that his burning anger vanished from his mind entirely.
He couldn't really "feel" in the sense of the word, but he could still "feel" the ancientness of where he was. He could feel the vicissitudes coming off the tenebrous sight.
At the same time, he "saw" faint lights of different colours—souls, just like him—flickering as they approached the depths of the darkness before disappearing into oblivion.
There wasn't anything visible in the depths, but Monroe subconsciously felt that there was a huge, emotionless monster devouring the souls of the dead.
Terror overtook him when he discovered that he was also moving towards the "mouth", and he began to struggle. It seemed futile, yet he didn't stop as a premonition overtook his senses:
If he stopped resisting, he would be "devoured" and truly die!
'I can't die yet,' he thought, futilely trying to alter his path. 'I have to get revenge for Bruce, for myself… I have to live!'
Unfortunately, his resolve was useless, and his determination futile. Just as he was about to be "swallowed", a derisive scoff suddenly echoed.
Monroe seemed to jerk as he discovered that the suction force pulling at him was no more. He "looked" around, trying to find the source of the scoff from earlier, when he saw it.
Two pale green flames, burning silently above the horde of souls that were entering the "mouth". These two flames were large, gargantuan even, but they gave Monroe the impression that they were nothing but eyes.
Cautiously, he "spoke". "Sir.. was that you just now?"
The flames moved, tracing a slight arc that made it seem like someone was rolling his eyes. "Who else? Your dead friend?"
"What do you mean by that?" Monroe growled in response to the eyes' words. Bruce's death was still fresh in his mind, and he blamed himself for it. He couldn't tolerate someone else using the former's name to taunt him.
Even if the person was definitely powerful enough to crush him to dust.
"Oh? You're angry now?" The voice spoke once more, a tiny amusement colouring its tone. "What are you going to do? Fight me?"
Monroe remained taciturn, but his silence conveyed a stalwart message.
"Heh," the voice chuckled. "You're quite the special one. Come up here."
In an instant, Monroe felt his surroundings shift. One moment, he was in the depths of darkness and the next, he was before a magnificent palace on a vast expanse of tenebrous land.
"Come in," the familiar voice drifted into Monroe's ears from the castle.
It was also at that moment that he discovered that he had regained his body once more. An indescribable feeling overtook him for a fleeting moment, then he marched towards the castle with resolute steps.
From afar, the castle consisted of many towers centered around one huge pyramid. Around them, walls as thick and long as that of the Great Wall of China.
Monroe thought such a huge settlement would have many guards patrolling its areas, but he was taken back to discover no such thing. In fact, the whole castle was dead silent.
Just like a graveyard.
Gathering his thoughts, Monroe walked into the pyramid, following a set of signs which had conveniently pointed out the residence of the "Lord of the Castle."
Soon, he entered a large hall. Like everywhere else he had been in the castle, the hall was empty.
He was just about to retrace his steps when the darkness in the hall stirred, rumbling and coalescing into a humanoid figure made out of pure darkness.
This figure was not much taller than Monroe and would have passed as a normal person save for his black skin and ghostly flames that were where his eyes were supposed to be. Monroe remained silent, masterfully concealing the shock the figure's entrance had brought him.
"Hey there," the figure started with a chuckle.
"Hey," Monroe replied, his voice slightly hoarse.
"Sorry about my earlier taunts. You've been through a rough one," the figure sighed, his voice apologetic.
Monroe looked at his feet, while the figure continued.
"I can't tell you my name, but you can call me Death."
Monroe looked up, raising a brow. 'Death? Seriously?'
"I see you find it funny," the figure's lower face cracked, revealing a smile. "But you see, I happen to be a god… the God of the concept you know as death.
"In the terms of your world," Death continued. "I correspond to tier 9 of your power system."
Monroe's eyes widened, his pupils constricting in shock. Back on earth, he, who was at the berry pinnacle of tier 4,was able to wield powers far beyond imagination , controlling nature to his whim and yet…
'To think such power exists!'
Death smiled once more, then his tone turned grave. "To be honest, I shouldn't have told you this. In fact, I should have left you on the bridge of death to make your turn in Samsara, but the item inside you made me change my mind.
"Listen to me Monroe, as of now, you are a dead man with no friends, family or future, but I can rewrite that for you. I can make you a living being once again, but you have to fulfill a mission for me."
As he listened, Monroe's first instinct was to reject such an offer without hesitation. His time on earth had taught him that there was no coming back from the dead!
'Yet, I'm here,' he thought. 'And the item inside me… also, I have to live for Bruce, I have to avenge him.'
He took a deep breath and nodded. "I agree."
Death smiled once more, then sighed. "Due to particular constraints, I can't do more than to transfer your soul into the body of a nameless, dead slave whose soul yearns for rebirth.
Monroe nodded slightly. "What do I have to do in return?"
"Simple," Death said. "When you cross the line of fate and step on the path of godhood, find the one known as the Plunderer…"
Death's eyes turned cold. "...and kill him."
Monroe remained silent for a while, then he nodded without asking any questions. "Okay."
Death smiled amicably. "Also, you have to assume a new a
name, or it'll have disastrous consequences."
Monroe looked at Death intensely before tersely acknowledging his words. "When I'm back to being a living person then…"
Death nodded. "I'll send you back now. And as the one who has burdened you with such a task, I shall unlock the item hidden in your soul."
He parted Monroe, and the latter suddenly felt the world spin. Darkness encroached upon him, drawing him into its embrace. Monroe subconsciously tried to struggle, but Death consoled him.
"Relax… and remember, your life is yours to live!"
'Huh' as Monroe pondered the implications of the last part of the sentence, he was completely engulfed by darkness.