Part Thirty-Eight

“A foolish decision. [Mind Destruction].”

A second, much larger, energy projectile shot towards us, shearing through the cab roof like it was paper. The beam missed us, but only because the Phantasm missed on purpose.

“This is your last warning. Surrender, or face destruction.”

“Damn it. What’s that thing's problem? Alicia, how many of those Puppets are out there?”

“Uh, the fireballs got a few, but there’s gotta be close to thirty of them. Maybe more.”

“Tch. It’s not an overwhelming amount, but still enough to make dealing with the damn thing a hassle. Gwyn, do you think you can hold them off on your own?”

“All of them? I…suppose I could. But what do you intend to do?”

“Kill the Spirit, what else? It won’t let us leave here alive, so the only way through is to kill it. Gwen, I want you to help me clear a path through the Puppets, then help Gwyn out them down. Alicia, stay by the truck and guard Kalia. The both of you have to stay clear of those things. We’ll be dead in the water without your support.”

“Got it.”

“Leave it to me.”

Everyone quickly accepted the impromptu plan, except for Kalia, who’d been silent since the thing spoke. Ordinarily, I would’ve checked to make sure she was okay, but we didn’t have time to do so right now. The Phantasm would surely be preparing its next attack. Time was of the essence here.

***

[Gwyn’s POV]

“Now!”

Gwyn charged ahead at Michael’s signal, rushing head first into the great clouds of white smoke that had appeared in between them and the Phantasms. They’d thrown a number of Smoke Bombs just seconds ago, a small but crucial point in their plan to survive this situation.

“Seize them. [Mind Barrage].

In response, the Phantasm cast a spell, launching projectiles through the smoke, though they all missed their intended targets. However, the Puppets began to move forward. And since it was Gwyn’s job to hold them back, he’d need to get ahead of them before they did anything. Sucking in a deep breath, Gwyn prepared to use one of his less employed Skills.

“RAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!”

A shout of epic proportions rang out, strong enough to blow the nearby smoke back a little bit, but this was no mere spirited shout. No, it was an application of the Normal Skill Warcry. Like Intimidate and Bloodthirst, Warcry was an aggro-type Skill, meant to pull the attention of other beings to the user. Unfortunately, its effectiveness was a tier lower than the other two, as it could only properly display its effects on mindless monsters. Any intelligent creature could easily shake the compulsion off.

However, the Puppets made for the perfect prey for this Skill. Their minds had been hollowed out long ago, leaving them with little resistance to mental attacks of any type. So long as the Phantasm didn’t give them an order like ‘ignore him’, they would never be able to switch targets.

Smiling grimly to himself as the first few Puppets came into view, Gwyn drew his waraxes and prepared to use two more Skills. The first was the Normal Skill War Aura, which cloaked its user in an empowering Aura that grew with every kill, though it would also drain mana at an increasing rate. The second was Gwyn’s Unique Skill, Overawe, though he was reluctant to use it now.

Overawe's effect was relatively simple. Like War Aura, it strengthened him in proportion to how many enemies he killed while it was active, while also ensuring that his foes wouldn’t turn away from him. It was basically a combination of his other two Skills, though like every Unique Skill, it too came with cost.

Activating Overawe would put him into a slightly manic state where he couldn’t even imagine abandoning the battle. It didn’t quite make him go berserk, but he’d be unable to end the fight until either he or his enemies were dead.

By using all three Skills together, he could essentially ‘lock' the Puppets to him, ensuring that they wouldn’t interfere with the others. It was a tactic he’d often employed over the last several months, and was basically his trump card. This was basically the exact situation he excelled at. And yet, he couldn’t shake a feeling that something was off. How could Michael have known he would do this?

Gwyn was a closeted person, and he rarely divulged details he didn’t want to share. Only two people knew the exact specifics of how his Skills worked, and one of them was dead. But Michael had somehow grasped a rough understanding of his abilities, and factored that into a roughshod plan. It was testament to the young man's instincts that he’d pulled such a thing off.

Well, I can hardly hold back at a time like this. Still sporting the same grim smile, Gwyn began to go to work on the Puppets, cutting them down one at a time.

***

The sound of combat drifted to me through the smoke, meaning that Gwyn had begun engaging the Puppets.

Hm, I was right. He does have an aggro Skill. Why else would all the Puppets just start heading towards him like that? I always thought it was weird how groups of weak monsters just seemed to flock to him, but I guess this explains it.

The mana-imbued shout he’d let out just seconds ago had probably been him activating the Skill. The feel of it reminded me of Bloodthirst, though it was somehow denser. Hm, could I learn to do that? Bloodthirst’s cooldown often leaves me without a simple way to draw monsters, but that could solve the problem in one shot. Maybe I should add that to the list of things I need to do.

With Gwyn distracting the mob, Gwen and I could close in on the Phantasm. As for why I’d brought her along, well….

“[Mind Blast]. [Mind Blast]. [Mind Blast].”

I needed a tank. The Phantasm must’ve been able to detect presences or something, as it kept accurately throwing spells as us, even through the smoke. I’d been worried that her shield wouldn’t work on this particular spell, but it must’ve possessed some physical component, as the shield blocked it just fine. Granted, the force of the spell was nearly enough to send her flying as it was, so I had to support her as we kept moving.

“This plan of yours sucks.”

“Tell me about it. I hate having to use slipshod plans like this. They’re always just barely enough to get me through when shit hits the fan.”

“Hmph.”

“Insufferable mortals. You dare hinder my Lord's plans to rid this world of the usurper? Hmph, then suffer the consequences. [Tempest Blade].”

Wait! Usurper? Plans? Oh shit. The shadow mentioned that a war was brewing. Did we just accidentally stumble right into the middle of it? Ah, fuck!

I shoved Gwen down as a blade made of compressed wind shot over our heads, narrowly missing us. Now wasn’t the time to get caught up in speculation. This thing was definitely trying to kill us, and we had to deal with it ASAP. Unfortunately, the Phantasm had the same thought.

“Blow it all away- [Tempest Burst]”

Gale force winds suddenly erupted from just ahead of us, blowing all the smoke away. The wind also nearly knocked me over, but I managed to stay on my feet with help from Gwen. But now the Phantasm could see us, and something about its gaze was pissing me off.

“Gwen, go help your brother. This fucker's mine.”

“Ah, but.”

“Go.”

I hadn’t taken my eyes off of it, even as she protested. After a few more glances back and forth, Gwen eventually relented, and went to help Gwyn with the Puppets, leaving me alone with the Phantasm.

From afar, its eyes appeared to simply have been removed, but up close it was evident that things weren’t so simple. The darkness I could see within its eye sockets appeared to be alive somehow, as if an unfathomable horror was dwelling within them. Aside from that and its blue skin, it appeared to be a relatively normal human, but that only made me warier of it. Nothing had been normal for a long time.

“Hrm. You smell of darkness and death, a scent no mortal should possess. And you’re accompanied by a Spirit of the Dark. Tell me mortal, have you sold your soul to the Usurper?”

“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about, but I do know one thing. You’re gonna die here.”

“Hmph! Bold words from a mere mortal! Fine then. Learn the consequence of your arrogance with your own body! Come!”

A sword, seemingly forged from glass, appeared in the Phantasm’s hand, and it stepped towards me. I brought the Twin Swords up to bear, and the two of us locked blades. Despite appearances, the Spirit was rather strong, enough that it started to push me backwards. I’d intended to hold back some to feel it out, but had to activate Beast of the Nightmare to prevent myself from being overwhelmed at the start of the fight.

I used my enhanced strength to shove the Phantasm backwards, then launched myself at it. Our blades crashed together again and again, soon escalating into a flurry of blows. Despite the confidence it displayed before, the Phantasm was soon the one on the back foot, as it was the only one taking any damage, albeit superficial. Small cuts soon covered its body, leaking not blood, but some faintly glowing fluid. Which was probably the Spirit’s blood, come to think of it.

I just realized I have no idea how to actually kill this thing. Since it’s a Spirit, it probably has one of those core thingamajigs. I’d guess I just have to destroy that, but I don’t know where it is. Though then again, since its form is physical, I could always just hack it apart until I hit something important.

*…*

Huh? Oh, the Core’s in its heart? That seems a little too simple, but I’ll take it. Good Spirit.

With a direct goal in mind, I set my sights on piercing the Phantasm through the heart, which perhaps showed in my demeanor, as it recoiled from me soon after. In fact, I thought I saw its expression momentarily twist into one of fear for a few seconds, before snapping back to one of contempt.

“Blasted mortal. You dare look down on me? Taste despair. Kneel and obey-[Domination]”

Immense pain assaulted me mid-battle, causing me to stumble and fall to one knee, something that was normally a death sentence in a duel. But the Phantasm merely stepped back, content to watch me suffer.

“Yes, learn your place mortal. This is all your kind are good for."

I couldn’t even reply to the scathing remarks it was making. My mind felt like it was being torn to shreds, like my brain had just been thrown into a blender. It was awful, but…

“Fuck. You.”

“What!? Impossible! How can you resist when your ego is being destroyed as we speak!?”

“Like I said earlier. You die today.”

It was awful, and worse than any physical pain I’d ever felt, but if I was one to let mere pain hold me back, I never would’ve escaped the Nightmare Labyrinth. I wasn’t going to let a mere pawn bring me down, not now, not ever. If you want me dead, you better tell your Lord to come do it himself.

The Phantasm really should’ve killed me when it had the chance, because the longer I resisted the spell, the less it actually hurt. Within seconds the pain that had once been enough to bring me to my knees was barely worse than a mild headache, and even that would soon fade.

“Now then, I believe we have duel to finish.”

This time, I definitely wasn’t mistaken when I saw the look of fear on its face.

***

[Alicia’s POV]

Phew, I was worried for a moment, but it looks like he’s got it under control.

When Michael had fallen to his knees, Alicia had nearly screamed. The two had been fighting at the edge of her range, meaning that any attempt to shoot the Phantasm could easily hit Michael instead. She’d nearly panicked and tried to rush closer, only to stop when Michael stood back up and continued the fight. And from the looks of it, he’d soon finish it as well.

I can’t believe it, but we might actually get out of this without any serious issues occurring. The twins have just about finished off all the Puppets too, so we’ll soon be able to put this mess behind us. Though… we’ll need to find a new car. I’m pretty sure this one’s done for.

She’d gotten into the truck bed once the smoke got blown away, and had been picking off Puppets to cover Gwyn and Gwen. A quick glance showed that two tires had been blown and the roof was sheared off. It was doubtful that they’d even be able to get it running.

Huh? Where’s Kalia? And Regis?

It was only once the battle was winding down that she’d remembered the person she was supposed to be guarding, which was probably not a good thing. She’d kept an eye out for other monsters, but hadn’t seen any, so Kalia had to be nearby.

“…”

And she was. She’d crawled into the truck and under the seats at some point. If it had just been that, then Alicia would’ve written it off as her trying to take cover in case there were any more arrows coming their way, but she couldn’t.

After all, that didn’t explain the utter despair in her eyes.