Against all logic, we were actually succeeding in buying time against the Eldritch horror we were facing.

Five minutes passed.

Then ten.

It felt like we could keep this up forever.

But by the twelve-minute mark, cracks started to appear in our formation.

Lars was slowing down.

His lightning flickered, and his breathing turned rough.

'His stamina is almost at rock bottom,' I realised.

"Alan…" Calliope muttered, her voice tight with worry.

If Lars collapsed, it would be over.

He was the only one who could see the Cursed Spirit in a form that could actually be fought.

Calliope and I only saw an impossible shape, something that couldn't be touched or hurt.

I could defend, but I couldn't attack.

Lars was the only one holding this thing back.

And now he was about to fall.

'He is going to fall within thirty seconds.'

I clenched my jaw.

'Should I do it?'

The Cursed Spirit in front of us was part of [Area 51], a Rank 3 Immortal Class Cursed Spirit.

Killing an Immortal Class Cursed Spirit never worked.

It would just revive unless it was exorcised properly.

The Cursed Spirit in front of us wasn't the full form of Cursed Spirit Area 51.

It was just a fragment created by it to support its narrative.

Maybe we could kill this one permanently.

Maybe not.

I had a way of damaging it, but it was a dangerous move for me.

'No point thinking about it.'

'There is only one choice. I'll take the gamble.'

I didn't hesitate, and shouted, "Lars! Get ready to throw it through a portal!"

He nodded without questioning me.

"Understood!"

Lars sprinted toward the monster.

A portal appeared in front of him, and he dove through it.

He came out behind the Cursed Spirit, dropped low, and swept its legs out from under it.

The creature stumbled.

Lars moved fast, wrapping his arms around it from behind.

I stopped using my Hollow Eyes.

The world snapped back into normal color.

The basement hallway returned, no longer filled with twisting madness.

The monster's shape became solid, and humanoid, with a black body and an exoskeleton-like skull.

A new portal opened behind Lars.

"Do it!" I yelled.

Lars grunted and lifted the monster with all his strength.

He performed a clean German suplex, letting go right as the Cursed Spirit's body flew backward into the portal.

The reason I stopped using my Hollow eyes was simple.

I could not damage the Eldritch horror Cursed Spirit.

But this one?

With a little trick, I could.

The moment half of it was through, I shut the portal.

There was a sound like a blade cutting through stone.

The monster's body split clean in half.

Dark blood splattered across the floor.

…

Lars's POV

For a second, everything was quiet.

Lars stood still, staring at the Cursed Spirit's body lying in two pieces.

Blood pooled beneath it.

The Cursed Spirit didn't move.

"It… is dead?" he asked quietly.

Then he smiled.

"Alan! You're my man! Why didn't you use that earlier?"

"Huh? The mist is disappearing…" Calliope said, her voice uncertain. "Is it really dead—"

Thud.

The sound cut her off.

Lars turned.

Alan was on the ground.

He wasn't moving.

Blood spread beneath him fast fast. Too fast.

"Alan!" Lars shouted, rushing forward.

Calliope reached him first. She pressed her hands on his chest and leaned close.

"What happened to him?!" Lars spoke with worry.

Calliope's face went pale.

"He has no pulse. His heart isn't beating," she muttered to herself.

Her hands trembled, but her mind worked fast.

She realized what happened.

Backlash.

Alan had closed a portal while something was still inside it.

The act cut the Cursed Spirit, but also shattered the portal itself.

The mana recoil hit Alan directly.

If he'd had any more mana left, the mana recoil might've caused his body to burst into pieces.

He was lucky. Only his heart had stopped.

Thankfully, Calliope remembered the injection Alan had given her before the fight.

He must have predicted this could happen, and prepared for it accordingly.

She pulled it from her pocket, gripping it tightly.

She was about to stab it into his chest when the air turned cold.

A wave of black mist crept around her.

She froze.

Dozens of invisible eyes seemed to watch her from the darkness.

Her breath hitched. Moving felt impossible.

Lars turned his head and saw it too.

The Cursed Spirit's halves were fading, one side dissolving while the other regenerated.

"It revived," he muttered, his expression grim.

"Block it! I'll treat Alan!" Calliope shouted, forcing herself to focus.

Before she could move, something struck her.

A heavy, unseen force slammed into her side, throwing her across the 'forest'.

The injection slipped from her hand, clattering far away.

"Calliope!" Lars shouted, but he couldn't go to her.

The Cursed Spirit was already standing again, its maggot-face twisting toward him.

He clenched his fists, lightning sparking weakly around him.

He had to keep it busy.

Calliope lay on the floor, her body aching.

Blood ran down her arm, and every breath hurt.

But she didn't heal herself.

The Cursed Spirit would kill her.

She could feel its eyes upon her.

Her eyes darted toward the syringe lying several meters away.

Alan's body was still.

He didn't have long.

If she didn't use the injection soon, his brain would be damaged beyond saving.

That would make this injection useless as it would not be able to restart his heart in that condition.

Healing magic couldn't bring the dead back.

Alan was technically dead now.

She had to restart his heart first, then heal him.

Her mind screamed at her to move.

But her body wouldn't obey.

The Cursed Spirit's presence pressed against her like a mountain.

Every breath she took felt like knives cutting into her lungs.

She could feel its eyes crawling over her skin.

It was waiting for her to move.

And she knew, if she did—

It would kill her.

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