The group arrived at Onoke Lake. Selina kicked the kickstand out, parking the motorcycle on the dirt trail.

Mater popped his head out of her shirt and looked at the scenery.

Tall green tropical trees mushed together into one giant dome of foliage. Water that went up to your ankle and dirt as soft as jelly. It was rare to find any dry platform around the swamp. Trees had overtaken the lakeshore that once was a vast grass field.

Mater jumped out of Selina's shirt. The Dark Grimoire flew out of her backpack and acted as a platform for Mater.

"The swamp of Onoke." Mater meowed.

Crow flew several rounds around the swamp and scouted the area first.

He flew down from above and transformed back to his Abomination Form with the fedora hat.

"The place is clear, Master. No civilians around." Crow said.

Mater nodded his head. He then turned to Selina.

"You want to watch or..." Mater meowed.

Selina didn't need a translator for that. She nodded immediately. "I want to watch. I know how to use the GAIM so I can protect myself. Probably..."

"She's not wrong. The Ward on her chest is a powerful one. Even Rank 2 creatures will have a hard time breaking it." Mater rolled his eyes around, thinking about the battle plan.

"Alright. You can stay." The black cat meowed.

Selina couldn't contain her smile. She really didn't have much role in the battle ahead. But she still wanted to watch. It's not everyday you could see your evil cat fight an evil spirit. The battle would also give her a lot of real life experience about how an NCE operated and fought.

She wanted to get stronger. To do that, she needed both power and experience.

"First. Let's call out our front line."

Mater jumped up as the Dark Grimoire flipped to vertical. The black cat stood on the spine of the book as a black hole appeared on the 16th page.

Bash jumped out from the Dark Grimoire and landed on the muddy swamp. Its body lowered down a bit as its feet sank beneath the mug.

Bash lifted its feet up and stepped to a different place but he still sank a little bit under the ground.

Mater jumped on Bash's large shoulder. "You're a little heavy, huh? In these environments, it will slow you down quite a bit."

"No worries, Master. I'll protect you!" Bash said, tapping his chest.

"I know you are." The black cat patted Bash's smooth skull then looked back to the rest. "Climb on."

Selina and Aurora both climbed on top of Bash. He was big enough to carry all three of them.

Crow turned to a bird and scouted ahead. They advanced into the swamp.

"Do you think there will be other NCEs in this place?" Selina said.

"Probably. It killed a lot of people. A lot of them were never found. I wouldn't be surprised if there were quite a few wraiths lurking around in this swamp." The black cat flashed its red eyes, scanning the cramped swamp.

The sun slowly went down in the far East. With it were the last beams of sunlight of that day. The group went past a sign with a skull on it. An old abandoned metal fence went around the inner area of the swamp.

On the fence was a board that said, "In 1999, 98 people died here."

The number 9 of the 98 was hanging loosely from the board.

Bash grabbed the fence with his bare hands and ripped it apart. The group went deeper into the swamp. Darkness took over as the sun disappeared.

Selina took out her smart phone and turned on the flash light.

Suddenly, a head came up from the muddy water beneath Bash's feet. Its rotted arm grabbed Bash's ankle.

The large demon titled his head slightly and looked at that skinny toothpick arm. A head raised up above the water and screeched. Selina shined the flash light over.

A rotted head with a few strands of hair still on its scalp. Ordinary people would have been terrified by it. But they weren't ordinary people.

The wraith froze in place when it saw the demonic appearance of Bash. His deadly yellow eyes looked down upon the frail specter.

The wraith released its grasp. It took out a dirty cloth from somewhere and cleaned Bash's feet. It shared a lowly smile.

"I never thought a wraith could be this pathetic."

Bash reached his hand down. The wraith screamed in fear. It turned its back against them and crawled away but Bash already picked it up.

"For you, Master."

"Bon appétit!" The black cat opened its mouth wide.

Bash crushed the weak wraith. Its Chaos flooded to the air as Mater sucked them all in his belly. One single Chaos Sphere materialized inside him.

"One stone? This wraith is even weaker than a level 1! It was probably born not long ago."

Bash threw the remains of the wraith away. Its bone turned to dust and withered away.

The group continued heading to the lake. They encountered many more wraiths on their way there. Most were weak wraiths that could barely reach level 1. The fish wraith must've been draining all the Chaos of the area, starving the remaining wraiths.

However, there were some exceptions.

They reached a spacious area inside the swamp. The water was a little higher here, reaching the knees of the average person. Crow got here first and he turned back to the Abomination Form, landing on a tree branch.

"There is something weird about this area, Master."

"What's weird?"

"I can sense something in here but can't see it."

As Crow finished his sentence, a wraith appeared out of nowhere and rushed at him. It had a bird head and black fur running all over its body. In its hands were two black sickles.

The bird wraith sliced at Crow horizontally. Crow jumped backwards and summoned his Nether Spear.

The bird slashed at the empty spot. It dashed forward at an even greater speed, leaving a clear black streak behind.

"Movement ability?" The black cat meowed. He and the rest just arrived at the location.

"Should we help him, Master?" Aurora was ready to use her spells.

"No. Let him deal with it alone. I want to see how capable he actually is."

Mater ordered Crow to fight the wraith telepathically. Crow didn't question and went into battle mode.

His purple spear collided with the wraith's two sickles. A small shockwave spread, sending them both to opposite directions.

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