A flock of wraiths.

Or maybe a random bronze-rank Ghost that stumbled across the hamlet.

Those are the things Deklan thought initially when he saw the people running away.

Most of them only knew that Deklan—and Marsha had been going out a lot lately, but none knew they were hunting down Ghosts. A sudden appearance of Ghosts would still spook them greatly, as they were not used to having an Exorcist in their midst whom they could rely on.

So, Deklan wasn't that worried initially.

But when he saw the Ghosts responsible for this chaos, his face immediately paled.

"For fuck's sake, how did they get out of the inner area?"

…

[Sudden Quest: Protect the Slosa Hamlet!]

Description: Protect the Slosa Hamlet from the invasion sweeping in from the Land of Flames!

Reward: 500 Spooky Dollars, 2x Major Mana Candy, and Lucky Charm.

Penalty: 1 hour of spanking and 1,000 Spooky Dollars.

…

At the entrance, Deklan saw an army of fire.

It was the forces from the Land of Flames.

There are more than a dozen Flaming Skeletons and a few Hellhounds knocking on their doors. It was fortunate for them to see no Betas among these Ghosts. And though this wasn't supposed to be possible, with them mostly being low-rank Ghosts, Deklan could feel their attention was locked on him with hate and anger.

So palpable that it gave him goosebumps.

"Damn it. Are they here to avenge that Beta?" Deklan thought aloud.

He knew that wolves are vengeful animals, and this might be the testament to that.

One Flaming Skeleton was ransacking the hamlet, attacking the people in a frenzy.

Beating them all at once would be hard, especially with that many Hellhounds mixed in, but still within reach. "I'd hoped to hit bronze-rank before dealing with you lot again," Deklan muttered as he drew the Albino Spear from his inventory. "But so be it. I'll take you all on."

Swoosh!

Deklan threw the spear with raw strength alone.

His muscles bulge, and when the spear left his hand, it created a mini shockwave of air currents.

It flew like a bullet.

Deklan had been hunting Ghosts this way for quite some time now, and that showed in his accuracy and also technique in throwing the spear. Now, the spear also spun fiercely—and coupled with the subtle air current manipulation through the Breeze Affinity, it lost little to no power from air friction.

Though it was fast, the Flaming Skeleton sensed and reacted to it.

Like a trained soldier, it raised its massive flaming shield and hid its body behind it perfectly.

But that didn't help.

Crack!

The spear pierced through the shield and impaled the Flaming Skeleton, killing it in an instant.

Deklan approached with slow steps, summoning back the spear into his hand.

Just then, something struck him as odd.

He realized that the remaining Ghosts were still outside except for the Flaming Skeleton.

If their goal was to take vengeance, then they would've come pouring into the hamlet.

"Young master, the barrier is functioning normally!" Marsha exclaimed—pointing ahead at the army of flames that were still trying to tear the barrier open with raw strength. "But that doesn't make any sense. How did one manage to get inside?"

"Marsha, use your enchantment spell on yourself and me right now…" Deklan whispered.

Though she was confused, she did it anyway.

Marsha chanted silently, and a greenish aura began to seethe from their bodies.

It took only a few seconds for Deklan to experience the change, the increase in strength from Marsha's enchantment spell, but he didn't revel in it. His gaze swept the main square like he was searching for something. "Go—Get the people to the red tower."

He ordered, not even turning to look at Marsha.

"Okay!" Marsha sprinted ahead.

She helped the people who were wounded or stuck under their collapsed homes.

On the other hand, Deklan activated the Spirit Talisman around his neck, bracing for a battle.

It was still morning.

Deklan's perception was lower compared to the night, but that doesn't mean he didn't have the intuition that something bad was nearby. He couldn't tell where this bad thing was, but it was certainly inside the hamlet right now.

Unconsciously, he used the Ghost Conqueror skill and manifested a Glock-19 in his other hand.

And he also activated the Weapon Persona: Shadow Beast, turning the handgun into a shadow.

Its bullet penetration power and speed would be increased with this weapon persona activated.

"System, increase the Ward to level 20…"

[It will cost 900 Spooky Dollars to upgrade the Ward to level 20.]

"Pay it. Now."

Deklan was serious, extremely serious.

No trace of aloofness in his tone.

[Congratulations, the Ward level has been increased to 20!]

[Lv. 2 Mana Apple has been upgraded to Lv. 3 Mana Apple!]

"Can I summon Sasaki now? I might need her help."

[No, the Ward is currently unfunctional from reaching level 20. It's on cooldown.]

[Cooldown Time: 2 Hours.]

Seeing the last notice, Deklan clicked his tongue as that was too long—he spent 900 Spooky Dollars so that he could summon Sasaki and help him in case things went wrong. He wasn't expecting there would be a cooldown.

It's fine if it's only a few minutes; Deklan could try to survive until the cooldown was finished.

But two hours? He wouldn't be able to hold out that long if things went wrong.

"Skip the damn cooldown! How much would it be?"

[In order to skip the cooldown, you will need to pay 2,000 Spooky Dollars.]

Deklan sucked in a deep breath in anger.

After increasing the Ward to level 20, he only has 1,705 Spooky Dollars.

"This is fucking bulls—"

Swish!

Deklan's gaze snapped over his shoulder when he sensed something was moving extremely quickly.

A chill ran down his spine when he saw a Ghost behind him that he had never seen before.

"Shit, is that th—kraaghk!!"

Boom!

Deklan was too late to react properly to the attack.

The impact slammed into one side of his body like a train, hurling him across the road. He tumbled and bounced violently at angles a human body was never meant to endure. By the time he skidded to a halt, the world was still spinning—then the pain hit.

A wet cough tore free, splattering blood across the dirt.

His vision blurred, but the agony in his right arm burned sharp and cold—bone-deep.

Both eyes flew wide as the truth sank in—one strike had nearly pulverized the entire limb. If he hadn't thrown his arm up—at the last possible second, it would not only be his arm. His whole body would've been reduced to fragments.

"Deklan!" Marsha screamed at the top of her lungs.

She quickly helped the elderly woman out of the rubble and ran straight towards Deklan.

On the other hand, Deklan didn't hear her scream properly.

One side of his ear was not working.

Deklan raised his gaze only to find a flaming hound across from him.

But this one was starkly different than the rest, or even the Betas—it was larger, its body was covered in deep crimson fur with flames coiling and dancing across it like living serpents, and behind was a tail that was as long as its body length.

It swayed lazily from side to side, poised like a blazing whip ready to strike.

Just one look at the Ghost, and Deklan already knew what it was.

"Let me heal you," Marsha knelt down and started healing him.

Deklan, on the other hand, turned towards her with a strained gaze, "Let's run away. Let's leave."

Even though he'd get the penalty for failing the sudden quest, at least he would survive.

He has two lives, but the Alpha Ghost could kill him two times, and that'd be game over for him.

It's best to leave while he can.

"What…?" She paused, and then quickly shook her head insistently. "No! We can't run away! What of the people if we're not here to help them? All of them are normal people. Helpless. We're the only ones who can help them!"

"We're also helpless against that…" Deklan pointed ahead. "That's the Alpha Ghost, Marsha."

Even though he was stronger now, he still couldn't fight this thing.

He would have no chance against a silver-rank Ghost.

Deklan grabbed Marsha's hand and stood up, "We're going to leave, right now!"

"No!" Marsha struggled, hitting his arm repeatedly, trying to free her hand. "I'm not leaving!"

She managed to free herself and stared at Deklan with teary eyes.

Gritting his teeth, Deklan snapped his aim toward the Alpha Ghost and fired twice—the bullets sliced through the air faster than a normal bullet, but the Alpha Ghost dodged them easily and disappeared to the side.

He spun back toward Marsha—fury ripping through his voice, "Do you want to die? Do you really not understand our situation?!"

"You promised!" Marsha shot back, tears already flowing freely to her cheeks now. "How can you even think of leaving now?"

"We can't… win!" Deklan barked, stepping in close and slamming the edge of his hand into his palm to get his point across. "Staying here is suicide. That monster is leagues beyond us. Frankly, we're lucky we're still alive and argue like this!"

Marsha clenched both of her fists and turned to look behind her.

Several people were now unconscious, and there was a frail kid who was trying to free his mother.

"Granny Linsa is the one who harmed them. She's the one who planned to use these people and do bad things to them," She whispered silently—sobbing. "But that doesn't mean I'm not in the wrong. I have been beside her all this time, and didn't realize anything. I'm guilty of being too stupid."

Slowly, she turned to look at Deklan again—a broken smile now donned her tear-stricken face.

"Protecting them is the least I can do to repay for my mistake," Marsha continued. "I can't leave them."

Upon hearing this, Deklan looked down at the ground.

His eyes were wide, and his pupils were trembling.

Not because he couldn't decide, but because her words made him remember what Paul said.

It was the day when the two decided to turn their lives around.

"You've hurt many people, Deklan. Hospitalized some, too. And there are also students—who wouldn't be mentally the same because of what you did. You can't turn back time. You can't make them better as they're better off never seeing you again. But you can start to do good."

"For the bad things you've done, do twice as much good. It wouldn't correct the past, but at least you'll be a better person."

Deklan exhaled lightly through his mouth.

His chances of winning are slim, and even if he does win, he must fight through Hell to get it.

But he already made a promise to himself.

That he'll become a better person.

After all, what's the point of surviving if he couldn't even fulfill his promises?

Paul would be very disappointed in him if he couldn't be better.

"Fuck it," Deklan combed his long hair back, knowing well this was a stupid idea. "Let's try killing it."

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