Deklan was thrown across the bridge.

Holes riddled his torso.

Blood drew beautiful arcs in the air as he flew and crashed into a house on the other side hard.

Kaelyn stared in horror as she was pushed back and fell to the flaming ground.

She spotted the holes left behind from the Alpha Ghost's fangs on Deklan's torso, and from the size of those holes being around the size of a medium-sized bowls, it was obvious—that Deklan has no chance of surviving that.

However, in that time dilation from the adrenaline and shock, she noticed another thing.

Deklan's form was reverting back to normal.

And when his face emerged from the shroud, she frowned at the sight of him smiling.

It was brief, but she saw it, 'What is he planning now?'

A guttural, hateful growl escaped the Alpha Ghost's throat as it leaped across the bridge, fully intent on finishing Deklan for good. It could feel the black smoke messing up its insides, even causing the world to spin and blur, but it doesn't care.

As long as Deklan died, then it could pass out without a problem.

However, crossing the bridge was a horrendous mistake on its part.

"Sasaki…"

A word, no, a name escaped Deklan's lips in a whisper.

It was a name that dropped the temperature in the area.

The Alpha Ghost could hear that name, but the anger drowning its mind in a frenzy was stronger.

Right now, it doesn't care about a dead man's last words.

Sharp claws stretched out of their sockets and reached forward.

Its grasp was about to reach Deklan, but something caught it in the nick of time.

A pale hand that emanated a chilling coldness.

It came out of nowhere, from inside the shadowed ground to be exact, right under its nose—a big pale hand that shot up abruptly. Its grip closed around the Alpha Ghost with an absolute, crushing finality—not merely halted its monumental charge but arrested it completely.

Like snatching a thrown stone from the air.

But it was the ease of the act that inflicted horror on the Alpha Ghost.

A sign that could only mean one thing: whatever this limb was attached to has an equal strength to it.

Slowly, with a dreadful deliberation, the Ghost that held the Alpha Ghost began to emerge.

Its form rose from the consuming shadow, revealing itself first by a crown of ink-black hair that spilled like liquid night. Next came the eyes—obsidian pools that held a depthless, chilling void, a gaze that promised to snatch the soul of any who met it.

And finally, the smile.

A slit of a thing, stretched across its pale visage with an unnatural, impossible width.

It was not an expression of happiness, but a natural resting stretch of its unnatural face.

Sasaki emerged from the ground.

Her hair, which was usually smooth, was now flaring like she was in water, staring at the Alpha Ghost like she had found her meal.

Naturally, seeing Sasaki spooked the Alpha Ghost.

Considering that the battlefield was swaying in the Land of Flames' direction and there was still no sign of Sasaki, the Alpha Ghost thought she was somehow weakened and was now recuperating. For her to appear like this meant she was ready.

In a frantic manner, the Alpha Ghost tried to break free.

But the shadowed ground underneath sucked it in like black quicksand or a pool of black sticky glue.

No matter how hard it tried, it couldn't break free.

In fact, the struggle only made its situation worse.

Since the two Alpha Ghosts were in a matched equilibrium, their opposing Null Zones locked in a war, it should be safe to assume that their strength was about equal. But the balance had shattered. Sasaki now stood within her territory, while the other was not, and it was also weakened by the Lethal Durian.

One was still at full power and boosted, while the other is exhausted and also weakened.

Just from that alone, the victor was already determined.

Sasaki held the Alpha Ghost's head with chilling coldness and stared into its fiery eyes.

"Am I pretty…?" She asked as her smile widened to the very edge of her face.

Anyone who was in the Alpha Ghost's position would've fainted at the sight.

Growl!

In retaliation, the Alpha Ghost growled, baring its sharp fangs, but this only made Sasaki more excited.

Her sharp fingernails ignited with a dark, smoking aura—pure, condensed mana.

And with them, she dismantled the Alpha Ghost.

Sasaki raked across the Alpha Ghost's face like a feline; the dark-etched claws sank deep into its thick flesh. Blood spilled everywhere as she kept going. Then, with a terrible, deliberate wrench, she pulled hard as the Alpha Ghost howled in agony.

Chunks of its form tore free with a wet, rending sound, dissipating into foul mist.

Each painful growl sounded more helpless than the previous, guttural spasms as Sasaki continued.

Not even its flames could overpower the all-encompassing shadow that Sasaki emanated.

Swish—!

Once life was about to leave the Alpha Ghost's form, Sasaki turned into an astral dark wraith and phased through its body. Absolute coldness seeped into the Alpha Ghost's body as its body froze, and with one final growl, its body became limp.

Just like that, the quest for vengeance ended in a tragedy.

Each one of the surviving Ghosts from the Shadowed Town turned its gaze upon Sasaki.

Not with reverence, but in dawning confusion.

She was once their alpha, the one who ruled over the Shadowed Town, but now the Ghosts felt the bond between them was severed. In its place—a new and unfamiliar tether had been woven. Their collective awareness, their purpose, was not anchored to a figure sprawled on the ground, choking on his very own blood.

Now, their bond with Deklan was established.

Sasaki, who hovered mid-air with her hair flaring menacingly, finally turned.

She went to the destroyed house behind her and saw a lone figure at the center of it.

Deklan was lying on the shattered house, gargling on his own blood.

It made Sasaki feel sadness.

Sasaki drifted down to where Deklan lay and settled onto her knees, the movement soundless, and with gentle care—she cradled his head, lifting it to rest upon her lap. She did not know what to do, Deklan couldn't tell her what to do, and she could also feel mana was draining fast.

All she could think of doing was this.

Normally, summoning a captured Ghost like this would require Deklan to imprison them first.

It wiped their personality, conditioning them for combat only.

But since the Shadowed Town was a part of the Ward, Sasaki was conscious.

The Alpha Ghost was dead. The Shadowed Town was now safe. A victory that should have sung through her very being left her hollow. She should be happy, but she couldn't when Deklan was in this grievous state.

"Kahk… Khill… Khill meh!"

Deklan looked like he was telling her something.

She frowned for a second, trying to understand him, but it was already too late when she realized.

Her body evaporated into mana again as the Ward couldn't sustain her anymore.

And Deklan was left alone again.

Meanwhile, not too far away, Kaelyn recoiled when the flaming ground underneath her burnt her.

Realizing that she was still within the Land of Flames, she quickly stood up and threw herself toward the bridge. A grunt escaped her lips when her body crashed onto the hardwood, but she didn't focus on that right now.

She lifted her gaze and looked at the broken house ahead.

It happened so fast, but Kaelyn saw everything that happened from start to finish.

Based on Deklan's story, the Ghost that appeared earlier should be the Alpha Ghost he saved.

For a Ghost to repay a debt to a human was shocking to see.

Kaelyn has been taught by many others, and even through experiences that Ghosts were only fixated on mana. That is their sole purpose of being in the tangible realm. No matter how good one was to a Ghost, it would never show any kind of compassion.

But this Ghost showed compassion to Deklan.

It wasn't hard to see as the sadness on her face could be seen clearly.

Kaelyn bit her lower lip and pushed herself up, each movement a sharp protest—as she limped toward the broken house. She was able to avoid the Alpha Ghost's charge earlier thanks to Deklan, but daring not to move at Sasaki's presence made her stay longer than she should.

The ground burned her legs and impaired her mana flow.

She moved warily past the surviving Ghosts, a silent gauntlet of watching shadows.

None moved to stop her.

Upon reaching the broken house, the scene within was stark—Sasaki was gone.

Deklan was the only one who remained, his body wracked by weak, wet tremors as he gargled on the blood flooding from his own ravaged insides. She quickly approached and inspected his condition, but it was worse than she thought.

Blood already pooled around him.

All she could do was put pressure on the holes, slowing the bleeding, but she knew it was futile.

"Khrill… Meh…" Deklan whispered.

Kaelyn frowned at what he said, thinking that she might have heard it wrong.

"Young master?!"

Just then, another voice came as a woman emerged from the opening of the broken house.

Her eyes met with Kaelyn, but she quickly covered her mouth at the sight of Deklan.

In a hurry, Marsha went to his sides and inspected him with teary eyes.

No chance he could survive the wounds he suffered.

"Khrill… Meh…"

Marsha looked at Deklan and realized what he wanted right now, but her eyes flicked to Kaelyn beside her. No matter what, Kaelyn shouldn't be here. "I'll take care of his body," Marsha said sternly. "You can leave. Tend to your wounds. This is not your problem."

For some reason, Kaelyn didn't expect Marsha to say that.

But she didn't argue as she stood up and turned to leave.

'She must be someone really close to him,' Kaelyn thought, but then a frown formed on her forehead. 'But young master…? I thought he was a leader of a small settlement, not nobility. Every time I learn more about him, the more surprising things I find.'

Once Kaelyn disappeared around the corner, Marsha's frantic search began.

Her eyes darted across the rubble, searching for something, before settling on a sharp wood fragment.

Gritting her teeth in hesitation, she eventually took it up with both hands—her arms trembling not from the weight, but from the terrible thing she was going to do. She looked down at Deklan's ruined form, her voice a tight whisper, "Forgive me, young master. I'll try to make it quick.'

With a choked cry, she swung the sharp wooden fragment down.

It struck with a final, awful crunch, killing Deklan in an instant as his face caved in.

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