I was running out of spells, not to mention my broken ribs. I had it in me for another Eldritch spell, maybe even third-circle, but… would that be enough? Was it holding more surprises?

I realized… I didn't know how to deliver a killing blow.

But I still needed to do something about the mutant.

I looked up just to see it looking back at me, as lightning started snaking around the longer hand.

I threw two poisoned needles at it using my last stored Force spell, aiming at Peter's eyes. The long hand moved to block, breaking the line of sight, and I used it to bolt for the corn as an idea popped into my tired mind.

I saw the creature look at me as the Bone Spear finally fell out of its body. I took out a fire potion and chucked it into the field. It exploded as flames quickly caught the dry stalks, smoke rising high.

I turned to the creature and then noticed—

To my surprise, Peter's eyes looked much clearer now.

Maybe that would make this easier.

Before the lightning started to snake around the arm once again, I spoke.

"They will be evacuated shortly!" I shouted, or tried to, as pain from my ribs assaulted me.

It stopped, confusion and anger showing on the faces. The eyes of the half-head looking over the shoulder were focused on me.

"The fire will alarm everyone. You are tired and injured. There's nothing to win for you here. And you still need to go through me," I wheezed through gritted teeth, hoping my voice didn't betray my state.

But Peter's face seemed to scrunch, the one over the shoulder also. I decided to deal the last blow. The mutant appeared more conscious now, a small light of reason shining in its eyes, tiredness overlaying the hatred driving it.

"I talked with your schoolmates, Peter. They didn't want to come to the festival. I doubt they're even there in the first place. Not after what you did to Sandra," I lied again.

To my surprise, while the face over the shoulder and the one near the arm looked proud, Peter seemed to be deep in guilt.

I locked my eyes with him and remembered the need for revenge Andy described to me and the short illusion.

"You should be looking for the butcher, not wasting your magic on this battle," I tried.

The reaction was instant. The faces scrunched in anger, letting out a hiss.

I thought it would attack again, but the creature finally turned around and started to go back into the forest.

After the deformed back disappeared from my sight, I sighed as some of the tension left me.

Screaming could be heard from the festival as they noticed the smoke. I threw two ice bombs into the flames, extinguishing most of the fire.

I then turned to leave, only to immediately stop as I met the eyes of a stunned Mercy.

"Shit," I spat.

She stood there, mouth half-open and eyes filled with fear. Thankfully, the small camera she used to vlog the ghost hunts was pointed at the ground.

"Where are you?" I heard Victor call from within the corn.

I didn't have either the time or the presence of mind to deal with them, so I hobbled into the field.

Each step was accompanied by sharp stabs of pain, joining the constant headache I felt right now. To my growing uneasiness, breathing was becoming increasingly difficult.

Finally, once far enough, I stopped, collapsing to the ground.

I needed to fix my ribs, chug some potions, and deal with the ghost hunters later.

But there was one thing on my mind—one question playing on repeat before I dealt with anything else.

I made a promise to Q'Shar that I would take it seriously. So… Was I over my head with this one?

I sat in the cornfield, listening to all the sounds around me. There was shouting coming from the direction of the festival, now joined by fire truck sirens.

My head was pounding, partially from the damage I sustained and partially from all the thoughts running through my mind. I tried to focus on the now, rather than on what I should do and how to deal with the situation.

I had high-grade healing potions on me but couldn't use them, not yet, at least. I chugged the painkiller potion and felt numbness spread over my body. But I couldn't wait for it to take full effect.

Groaning, I slowly removed my robes. Pulling my arms through the sleeves of the robe was torture. Torture that I had to speed up in case my new healing started to stitch the bone as it was. Wincing and swearing, I finally managed to pull off the tight-fitting sports T-shirt I wore underneath.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

I then looked down to check out my ribs, and it was as I feared. There was a visible dent in the side of my chest. I took in some more air and felt a stinging pain that quickly transformed into a painful cough.

I covered my mouth and saw some blood on my hand, so it was most likely a damaged lung. Muscle and skin were easy to heal, but if I let the bones heal in this position, that would mean having to break them and redo the process after. I didn't have time for that. So instead, I pulled out my dagger and made a small cut alongside the two broken ribs.

I uncorked the healing potion and prepared to chug it.

Taking in a few deep breaths, I quickly put two fingertips into the wound. I could feel that the bone was broken at an angle. My intrusion pushed it a bit farther into the lung, as I barely stopped a coughing fit. Gritting my teeth, I took in as much air as possible and hooked my fingers around the bone.

Once I had a hold, I pulled, snapping the rib back in place.

The pain was horrible, even with the painkiller slowly taking effect, almost making me lose consciousness. I wasn't sure I'd set the bone perfectly, but that could be corrected later. As long as it was out of the lung, I was good. I immediately chugged the potion.

I then poured another one into the wound, almost falling backward as the world started spinning.

I felt the tissue stitch itself together, feeling a big part of the pain go away as I breathed in once again. It was still unpleasant, but the wheezing sound was gone.

And the question popped right back into my mind. 'Was I over my head?'

The answer seemed obvious, considering what I'd just had to do to myself.

But retreating after confirming the presence of the hook was also out of the question.

So what to do?

I gained some information about the creature and its fighting style. I should have caused permanent injury to one of the minds.

But it was the attack that ripped apart my abyssal spell that worried me. One possible conclusion was that the creature kept a trump card, assuming I also had trump cards. And if they were as strong as that aura explosion, then I didn't want to find out the hard way. There was a good chance it also measured my strength and would go for a brute force attack next time.

Calling reinforcements was an option, but few people would be helpful in a fight like that, and that aura explosion, if performed point-blank, would even kill Myhur.

My list of friends was short, and I didn't want to make it shorter.

I needed more information. I needed a weakness, a location of the fragmented minds, more pieces to the puzzle. Something, anything… I felt myself growing desperate.

I fought with my own thoughts for another half hour before I started moving once again. I got up from the ground and put on my T-shirt and tied the robe around my waist. Once done, I patted the dirt off myself as much as I could.

I still looked horrible, but hopefully I could pass as a drunk festival member. Happy with the effect, I walked toward the commotion, paying a visit to the square cut into the corn to pour some alcohol on myself in case someone wanted to talk to me.

As I walked out, I was met with the flashing lights of a fire truck, next to which one of the firefighters was talking to a man in a suit.

Behind the fire truck stood a sizable portion of the town, all in a large half-circle, discussing the scene.

But I paid them no attention. I wanted to go straight back into the motel or just to my car to sleep.

I then saw the ghost hunters running around, recording, and interviewing. Cecil looked like a kid on a sugar rush, trying to talk to everyone at the same time. Liz was helping him, running around with the large camera. Mercy and Victor probably continued their mission in the forest as they were nowhere to be seen.

But what caught my attention was Rey.

He noticed me as I hobbled my way out of the corn. His eyes had changed. They were way past suspicion, and now he seemed to be looking at a guilty man.

He wasn't stupid, sadly.

But I did not have the strength to deal with him. So instead of going straight to my car, I went around the crowd to the left as Rey just followed me with his eyes.

After walking for a bit, I ended up at the place where, apparently, the farming competitions took place, as some vegetables were proudly displayed on a makeshift stage.

There was no audience in sight, assuming there had been one in the first place. But then I heard something, an argument coming from the direction of the stage.

It was between an older man, judging by the voice, and a middle-aged man. I walked forward and, finally going around the stage, saw a rather strange scene.

There stood a man in a suit holding up what looked like a trophy in the shape of a pumpkin. He was holding it high in the air like a larger kid trying to keep something away from a smaller one.

In front of him was an older man wearing a typical farmer's outfit, fulfilling the role of the smaller kid. He was swiping at the trophy, screaming at his adversary in the process.

I stopped to take in the unusual scene.

"It would have been mine anyway! Give it here!" screamed the older man.

"We need an official conclusion from the judges," the one in the suit tried to say with considerable trouble, as the other person made another swipe at the trophy.

"What is there to consider? I'll win like every year. Now give it here!" shouted the older man and jumped, only to fall back and grab his back with a small yelp of pain.

"Is everything all right?"

The guy in the suit bent down, concerned, only for the farmer to suddenly grab at the trophy, actually catching it by the upper portion.

"Mr. McLanky, that is unbecoming!" the man shouted in outrage, still holding onto the lower part of the prize.

The two tried to wrestle the prize from one another.

"I won't dishonor the McLanky name! I'm going back with the trophy, fire or not!"

"You can get the trophy once the judges pronounce you the victor, and no sooner," the man in the suit retorted.

I looked on for a few seconds with slight amusement, the scene taking my mind off the dull ache from my ribs.

I saw a teenager standing to the side, his face red with embarrassment.

Curious about the source of the commotion, I turned to look at the stage, seeing a row of sizable pumpkins.

However, one of them clearly stood out, both in terms of color and size. To any farmer, it would draw immediate attention.

But to me, it stood out for something more.

I stared at it with an open mouth, frozen in place.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me," I said aloud.

After a few more seconds, I chuckled at first, and then my slight chuckle turned into a full-on laugh. I couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of the situation.

Finally, once done, I wiped the tears from my eyes, not paying any attention to the teen, who now looked between me and the two men, trying to decide which scene was more concerning.

The missing puzzle pieces fell into place. All I needed now was a confirmation, and I should be able to get that from the teen.

Looks like I wasn't done yet. Once Peter recovered, he should be back on the hunt, and tomorrow's party would be the perfect occasion. And even if he didn't, I would have to make sure he tried.

Because if I were correct, tomorrow… I would go for the kill.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.