Chapter 190: Ghostly Castle
Rain hits my mask in thick drops, sliding down the surface of the mask. The tower is much more imposing in person than through the portal. Black walls rise high in front of us, and dark clouds cover the sky. There’s no moat, but there are crenellations where archers could have fired on us from.
Of course, with the castle being deserted, there’s none of that. Instead, I can already feel the mana radiating off the ghosts that occupy the empty halls. They’re strong, stronger than I anticipated, but still something we can handle.
Thatch stares at the lowered iron gate for a moment, narrowing his eyes, then pointing forward. “About twenty metres that way exactly. There’s a winch to pull up the gate.”
“You got it, boss,” Opal says, with a quick, two-finger salute. Then, they vanish. A moment later, I hear the grinding noise of rattling chains, humming through the rain, and the wrought iron spikes in front of us rise from the floor, no longer biting into it. I step through first, and Inu last, as usual.
By the time everyone is through, I have the beginnings of a small map in my head. [Observation] scans outwards, and I push it as far as it can go, sending out waves of mana-detection. One of them brushes one of the ghosts, and even from here, I can feel the way it sniffs out my magical signature.
The foreign mana echoing through the halls gets its attention, and it very slowly turns down the hallway to us, slinking over to investigate. “Ghost inbound,” I inform the others. “Let’s book it deeper in.”
Swift steps carry us to the courtyard. The castle is big, very big, and there are tons of little passages. The courtyard is the largest open area, the dirt floor having been turned into sticky mud by the unending rain. It sucks in my shoes, sticking to them, so I create mana-platforms for me to walk around on instead.
This time, I cloak them in [Obfuscation] to hide them from the ghosts, doing the same to my scans as I map more of the castle. Thin beams of light filter down from the moon, passing through the clouds like silver curtains. I breathe in the cold, wet air. Then, I look at the others and set to work. I have half an hour.
Let’s see what I can do.
- - -
PoV: Yollic Zurn - Raven
Sitting in the safe zone is the worst. I watch as the Crybabies walk through the portal. Getting to pick the terrain since we’re the ones who want a fight. And then, the exit locks up, ethereal chains spreading across its surface.
Coldscar glares almost as darkly as I do, but we wait. We have to wait, and my vision lingers on Delfine, watching her blindfold. As I glare at her, the oracle twitches, and turns to me with a placid smile.
“No, please,” she says. “You can go first. I will not try to steal the portal from you, Raven.”
Hm. I hum at that, not believing her for even a second. So, to make it clear, I sit down right in front of the portal, staring at those chains. They’ll only keep me out for so long, Kuro. Only for so long.
And then, we’ll finally tear you limb from limb.
- - -
Eventually, finally, the chains unravel, and we step through. First me, then Coldscar, then Dove and Cleaver and Coldscar’s posse. The rain falls down heavily, but my cloak of dark feathers keeps it off me easily. Dove and Clever wear magical ones, enchanted by Yuki. The rat fuck betrayed us, too.
Anger courses through me, but I force it down. The rain falls, and I step up towards the metal portcullis, spikes digging into the ground. With a swift transformation into a flock of birds, I slip past it, then open it up for the others. The castle is quiet. Eerily so.
A moment after I lay a hand on the winch to pull up the portcullis, a rune lights up along its surface. My own mana flows into it to activate it - just a sliver, soon crystallizing its way up my arm. I frown, then crack it with a bit of force,dispersing the mana, shaking my tender flesh. It stung, but it wasn’t unbearable.
I turn the winch, pulling up the steel gate. One by one, everyone steps through. Then, casually, I let it fall closed again. Instantly, runes activate where the spikes meet the dirt - sending sprays of mana needles at us.
Frowning, I bring up my cloak, blocking them. The needles clatter to the ground and dissolve, easily stopped. “Pathetic,” I sneer at them. We take a look around for just a second, deploying our scans - and then the first ghost screams.
The noise rattles my bones, and I turn my ringing head in a moment.
[Banshee lv. 88]
Shaking off the dizziness, I ignore the thin trickle of blood on my face, and fire a barrage of feathers at the ghost, wrapping my authority around them. The barbed wire of my dominance wraps around them and tears the banshee apart, sending her dissolving into splinters of mana.
“The ghosts are mana sensitive,” the old woman says. Her walking cane glows faintly, a lantern in the dark. “I believe the traps were meant to lure them here.”
I give a displeased hum at that. “Find them,” I command. “Fine the rats.”
“Are you looking for me?”
Instantly, I turn at the voice. It comes from the top of a wall. A figure cloaked in shadow, wearing a dark mask. Kuro. My anger boils, and I move to rush at them, but Coldscar grabs my shoulder.
“Don’t be reckless,” he says sharply. “We do this well.”
Kuro sneers at us from the tower. “Cowards!” they demand, and I feel the humiliation grind against my authority. “Are you afraid of my little traps? Of my tricks?”
There is an enchanting quality to that voice that makes it even more grating.
“I have a bet for you,” the figure says, voice distorted by rain and distance. But the cruel glee is clear. “If you get to me within twenty minutes, Raven, I’ll let you behead me. And if you don’t,” Kuro sneers, “then you have to stand still until I stab you in the heart.”
Coldscar stares at me, but I can feel my authority snarling. Like a chained dog, it wants to show my dominance. “Twenty minutes?” I laugh. “I’ll do it in ten.” Instantly, I feel the old scithian grimace, and I feel ethereal chains wrap around me. My body warps, turning into a flock of stygian birds, and soon I am tearing across the courtyard, while Kuro leaps down from the wall, disappearing into the passages.
The others chase after me, running across the ground. And, of course, they set off those damn traps.
Coldscar creates a wall of solid mana, which costs me three birds. Dove steps on one that encases his leg with ice, needing Coldscar to pull it off. The old lady gets surrounded by a humming swarm of more mana needles, some of them tearing into the air after me. I give a rageful hum, and yet I tear through the air.
It hurts. But the wounds are all minor. They mean nothing. The ravens consolidate to form my true body. Gracefully, I descend onto the rain-slick stones, my mantle flaring behind me. I only have half an hour until the oracle gets here, so I better kill the Crybabies quickly.
When I land where Kuro stood, I smell the air to trace them, but all I smell is faint crackling smoke. There’s something on the floor - no, the floor is covered in something. A thin sheet of mana. A wall of it, creeping out for maximum surface area.
Rapidly dissolving.
A banshee rounds the corner on me, her ghostly shape appearing from the distance. The ghost’s pale, empty eyes focus on me, and a horrible wail tears free from her throat. Another ghost, this one wearing heavy chains, crawls up the wall, rattling with the sound of rusty iron.
Annoyance ripples over me. I shred the banshee, before she screams again. Rusty chains wrap around my foot, burning corrosion against my flesh, but then, I shred that ghost too. With a brutally swift motion, I shatter the mana barrier - only for its pieces to turn sharp as glass, cutting faint lines into my skin, messing with my own mana.
“Damn you, Kuro,” I grind out, then descend into the tunnels, the rest of the team on my heels.
Bright and pearly laughter echoes down the halls.
Chapter 191: Ghostly Trap
PoV: Yollic Zurn - Raven
A fleeting darkness right around the corner. I chase after it, driven forward by my authority. By the need to reinforce it, to mend those cracks, to properly dominate Kuro. The bastard has eluded me for too long, now. I see that dark cloak fluttering, and I tear after it. Runes appear in front of me, on the ground, the walls, the ceiling as I tear past.
Minor traps dealing minor damages. Then, I turn a corner, and darkness envelops it so completely. Another scream reaches my ears, rattling my head, shaking the thoughts from it. I roar, tearing another ghost apart.
[You have killed a lv. 82 Banshee]
The notification is unimportant. Instead, I rush down the hallway - and then, suddenly, I’m not alone. With a soft pop, there’s Gem. The sword-wielding knight, wearing a wide grin. “Ahhh, sorry Raven,” they say casually. “You caught up a bit too much. I’m here to give you a little trouble, see?”
I growl in frustration, charging at them,only for the warrior to disappear. Their sword flashes behind me, brutally fast - but never fast enough. I turn into a storm of birds before they can follow through on the swing, their edge passing through empty air. A swift pivot from them leads to a follow up, but in the flock of feathers, they miss.
A dozen tiny claws tear towards them, at their skin - but they just vanish again, appearing twenty steps down the corridor, still wearing that same smug smile. It scratches at my authority - it makes me want to cage them. To scar them. Wrapping that barbed wire around my feathers, I blast them with an absolute torrent, but still, Gem just smiles.
And disappears.
My feathers slam into the wall in a waste of mana, activating another rune. And, in doing so, more mana spills out. Luring the ghosts - a banshee pokes her head through a wall, from a picture hanging on the empty hallway near my head. She wails, before I tear her apart with a yell of frustration.
My head aches. There’s blood slowly trickling from my ears. But Kuro just turned down the corner, so I tear after them.
- - -
PoV: Dove
We chase after Raven, scaling the wall. Mana and blood lead down a staircase, into the castle’s dark depths. Coldscar leads ahead, with a horrible scowl on his head. As if he cannot stand the thought of what Raven is doing.
Except, when we follow the staircase, who we find is Hush. The leader of the crybabies, standing there with a calm smile on his face. “Greetings,” he says happily, flaring his arms wide. “I am so very glad you could make it. Come in, come in. Let me show you a-”
Coldscar tears ahead in a blizzard of cold air, moving to wrap a hand around Hush’s throat, but then, the monster rouses. I see Hush twist, and he moves with swiftness no one of that level should have. Coldscar’s blow gets caught, and Hush throws him further into the corridor. A dozen little runes light up at the unpredictable path, each one of them leaving just tiny wounds on Coldscar. Things that mean nothing. Except, of course, at the end, when he rises from the ground with a fierce scowl, their vanguard, Hound, slams her fist into his face.
Coldscar reels back from the blow, grabbing his nose, which bleeds. Hissing softly, he summons up a blizzard, only to see that the woman is already running further down the hallway with carefully controlled steps.
He grimaces, then turns back to Hush. “Where did Raven go?” he asks, unhappy.
The beastly fighter, enveloped in a red haze of anger, gives the most placid, kind smile I have ever seen. He looks so genuinely sad. “Sorry,” he says, drawing the word out. “I don’t know, really. He must’ve run off somewhere. You know how he gets.”
With a quick flick of my wrist, I summon a pair of daggers in my hand. And a moment later, I hear a snicker behind me. A shiver runs down my back, and I turn - only for darts of compressed air to tear holes open in my skin and back. Titania, the faerie, hovers in the air, grinning brightly.
Her single hand is outstretched and there is a wide grin on her face. “Want to make a bet with me, too? I bet that Raven will never make it back to you,” she says happily. Pain and fear mix, and I hastily toss my knives her way, but she dances through the air giggling. “Come on, Dove. Fight me. I promise I’ll only be a little cruel.”
Fuck that. Without hesitation, I run further into the castle. And, of course, instantly, I set off a trap. Darkness bubbles forth, enveloping the entire hallway.
A few seconds later, a pulse of mana from the old scithian and her lantern dispels it. But when the darkness is gone, so are the Crybabies, their footsteps echoing down the halls. Coldscar grimaces. “Find them!” he demands.
Blood already flows from my handful of shallow wounds. I frown, sweating, and step deeper down.
Then, a horrible wail next to my ears makes my head throb. I kill the banshee a few seconds later, but the damage remains, and I grimace in pain. “Fuck,” I whisper. “This is bad.”
- - -
PoV: Anna Silvercrown - Cloak
We huddle in a small room. The runes around us buzz quietly, the door shut. I feel the enchantments on my cloak pressing down on me heavily. My mana is suppressed and hidden, the entire room isolated against it. Not even a wisp escapes from here, hiding us from the ghosts, and anyone else.
Trey huddles closely against me. He shivers slightly from the cold. Having his mana weakened after finally unlocking it scares him, but he’s being brave. I swallow my fear. It’s okay. “We’ll be okay,” I whisper.
Weakly, my brother nods. I see Jean meditating in a corner, his eyes closed. Isabelle has her arms crossed, holding onto her glaive, staring at the door. And Bofoy… Bofoy rises to their feet, and gives me a weak smile.
“It’s been a while,” they say. “I think I’ll head outside to help.”
“Help?” I ask. “Aren’t you… just above level fifty?”
The zoof shrugs helplessly. “I still want to help. Yuki saved me before. It’s only fair that I return the favour.” There’s a glint in their eyes, and they sneak to the door. Their footsteps are quiet. I watch, silently, as they reach for the wooden handle.
Just then, I consider calling them out on it. Telling them it’s a bad idea, that they’ll get hurt. But then, I don’t.
A shiver passes through me, and I press my lips shut, gently pressing a hand on Trey’s mouth, too. I just sit there, and watch, as very slowly, Bofoy opens the door, and slips out, giving us a last glance as they close it.
[Instinct 12 > 13]
I swallow drily, then huddle some more. Except, of course, that’s not enough. It could never be enough to hide. My [Instinct] told me to stay silent. Whispered that Bofoy was dangerous. And Snow… Snow needs to know.
“Hey, Trey?” I whisper, and my brother turns to me. “Keep the others save, alright? I’ll… be right back.”
Chapter 192: Run Ragged
PoV: Snow Okiyama - Ion
Raven stands in front of me, and I’ve run out of tricks. They’ve torn their way through more than twenty banshees, a hundred minor traps I’ve placed, three ambushes by Opal, and they’re still alive. Ragged and panting, but alive.
“Finally,” they pant. “Finally, I’ve got you. It’s not even been ten minutes yet. Hah. Hahahaha. You’re dead, Kuro. Dead.”
I tilt my head. “Why is that?” I ask.
“You agreed to the bet. I felt the chains tighten around me. I know it’s-”
“Not me,” I say, shaking my head. “Titania is the one who makes bets, silly. She was just wearing my cloak.”
Raven goes silent. I just look at them, as the realisation sinks in. The moment they get that they have about… thirty seconds to kill me, before Sylves’ bargain makes them freeze in place. Because the condition was to catch the person who made the bet. Which isn’t me.
A heartbeat passes, and then, everything goes chaotic at once. Darkness spills forth from the air in front of me. A thousand ravens burst forth from their mantle, dark feathers shoot for my eyes, I feel barbed wire wrapping itself around my joints. One moment to another, Raven unleashes a storm of powers.
Their authority is stronger than mine. They’ve advanced it by a step. But it’s also run ragged already, and defiance is made for combating it. My razorblades of defiance crash into the barbed wire of their dominance and both of them carve into each other. I feel the way that my authority flexes and burns, but I don’t mind it.
Raven charges at me, humming with violence, swinging their spear - and that’s the final surprise I have for them. Because they’ll die here, so there’s no more need for secrets.
With a breath of relief, I let my mask of shadows fall. Raven’s sight lands on my face, as I pull down the cloak. My white hair, my dark eyes, everything. And the rage coursing through them intensifies with a scream. “Yuki!!” they roar, cutting at me. Ten seconds have passed
And their weapon betrays them.
[Selection 29 > 30]
I channel my mana through [Selection], finding the back door I left for myself in the runes. Hidden pathways that Raven never knew about activate. Their mana is already flowing to the weapon, and instantly flows down those newly revealed paths.
Mana crystallizes on the haft of the weapon, crawling up their arm in a sudden crystalline growth. Raven hums in pain as their blow is stopped dead and I slip beneath it. Their own mana burns as the weapon sucks it out of them - until with a brutal swipe, they slam it into the wall, breaking the crystal and chipping the spear as they drop it.
“You fucker!” they roar, blazing at me at speeds far too fast for me to follow.
Raven is faster than me. Way, way faster. But that’s alright. Because I’ve already latched onto them. My tether sticks to them, and then, [Suppression] hammers down.
One moment to another, they slow. Raven stumbles, then turns into a flock of crows to disperse the pressure. They rush at me, but already, I am surrounded by a swarm of needles. Mana solidified in large chunks, bleeding it off. I’m a bonfire for the banshees, but that’s fine. They’re worse for Raven than for me.
The sumeen dashes through the air, and I direct my needles to them, steadily tying tethers to take the burden off my will. Perpetual Pursuit activates, keeping my mind steady even as I overtax myself. A bit of blood leaks from my eyes, but I smile. “Honesty is beautiful, isn’t it?” I ask Raven.
I feel the anger radiating off the sumeen in their flurry of attacks. [Suppression] flicks on and off. They stumble, but still score a glancing blow on me. Talons rake their way across my skin, leaving bleeding gashes. My efficiency fights, and my mana spills out of me in a torrent.
I crush down on Raven with suppression, summoning a shield in the hand I still have, but giving it a bladed edge. Then, with a swift motion, I slam it at the scout’s face. Only for Raven to disappear in a puff of feathers.
And for the first time, they use a skill that’s fully mana-based. I grin, happily, already knowing their trick. I’ve been busy in the safe zone, tinkering with it in my archive, after all.
[Annexation 6 > 8]
My anti-magic crashes into the teleport, forcing the disparate feathers back into a single unified shape. In horror, Raven brings up their arms to block, and my shield cuts deep into them. A piece of it even breaks off, messing with their internal mana, and I repair it, holding it up.
“Come on, Raven. Show me more,” I whisper, shadows flowing out of my cloak. Raven is almost twice my level. But I’m not scared of them. Not when we’re like this. Twenty seconds have passed.
They give another angry hum, and forsake their skills. Instead of manipulating mana outwardly, their body shifts. They speed up, fighting against my [Suppression]. Efficiency makes my skill stronger, but inside their own body, Raven is dominant.
I feel their domain scratch and tear at the skill as they speed up again, and I funnel a torrent of mana into it. It slows them down just enough for me to block one of their strikes, talons cutting a deep rend into my shield, before a brutal kick lands on my stomach, launching me into the wall.
Blood spills from my mouth, and my insides clench with pain. I grimace, but then smile as I hold up my shield, stopping yet another slice. Raven is panting, moving so fast despite my debuff. So I cast it again, and again, keeping multiple smaller loops active on them. I play the magic like an instrument, rhythmically flicking the different spots on and off, messing with their movements.
For a moment, Raven turns jittery and unsure, and I bash them in the face with my mana-shield. They hum in pain, grasping their face, and flare their ragged authority. It crashes into my defiance again, razorblades cutting into barbed wire. My skill chokes for a moment despite that, and Raven charged.
Lightning fast, they are upon me. A storm of feathers and talons, raking three bloody lines across the side of my skull, cutting into my ear. Blood pools, and I hold back on the pain. I don’t back down. I charge.
Tackling them with all my weight, I slam a torrent of mana into them, greater than ever before. Their authority screams against it, against the debuff - and falters. It weakens it, but not enough. Raven slows. They fall. From being a demigod to being made mortal by me.
I slam the shield into their stomach, wrestling them to the ground. A bloody smile hangs on my lips as I slam it into their face again, six holes facing me with a wheeze of pain. “Fuck you, Raven. Should have just given me the mono token earlier, but no. You wanted your money. Your influence. But I’m. Not. Your. Property!”
My shield bashes into their face again with the words, carving bloody lines into the skin. But on the last strike, Raven roars, grabbing the mana construct. It cuts deep into their talons, blood spilling down as they lift it, tossing me into a wall.
Stones crack as I slam into them, and I feel a deep cold brushing my back. Instinctively, I apply [Suppression] around my ears - only a moment before a terrible wail cuts through the air. Raven staggers, and I [Deconstruct] the banshee, which returns about as much mana as I spend on it.
A moment later, a dozen needles fly towards Raven. Dizzy and shaking, they pull apart into feathers - and my [Deconstruction] flares again. I’ve analyzed their skill, roughly. It’s their third time using it against me, and it fails, fully. My needle lodges deep into their shoulder, burying into their skin. Raven screams in pain, but still charges at me again.
I barely rise from the rubble, making another shield, before they shatter it. A scaled fist slams into my face, making it snap to the side. I grimace, and then trigger [Biological Restoration]. Gold and white crawls over my skin, putting the pieces back in place, and Raven gasps, realizing yet another secret I had, yet another betrayal.
“You scum,” they hiss at me, and swing again. Except, time’s up. Thirty seconds have passed. Sylves’ bargain runs out, and Raven stops. Trapped in a cage of time, for just a second before the last of their authority dissipates the spell, then crumbles away.
I take a single breath, and move out of the way. Raven jerks forward, their fist sinking into the stone with the crunch of breaking bones. In a heartbeat, I slam my shield into the stomach, bladed edges cutting deep into their skin. More of their mana leaks out, mixing with mine, and again, I break off solid pieces of mana into them.
The dispelling effect slows them even further, some kind of strengthening skill finally failing. My mana is down to about half, my authorities feeling raw, and I kick Raven. Their bloody arm tears free from the wall, and another Banshee wail sends them sprawling on the ground, before the ghost breaks apart.
Panting, I stand over them. Blood trickles down my face, and I can feel myself running ragged. My own mana burnt my insides. And yet I live.
“I win, Raven,” I whisper.
“Watch out!” Anna screams, down the hallway.
And then, a rapier sinks into my back. Bofoy steps out from the wall in a single smooth motion, their weapon lodged deep inside me. The zoof makes a show of twisting the knife, stepping into my field of view
For a moment, I’m shocked. I didn’t notice them? How? They’re so… unremarkable.
But then, their outline shifts. The [Mask] falls. And in front of me, grinning brightly, is another human. “Hello there, Snow,” he breathes. Blonde hair falls over manic eyes and a face splattered with blood. I feel his authority, his signature skill, writhe in pleasure at my surprise.
“Vincent,” I gasp in pain, blood pooling from my body. “You sneaky fucker.”