Marsha paused for a few seconds.

Her eyes were closed, and her trembling hands still gripped the sharp wooden fragment.

It was the right thing to do, what Deklan wanted, she knew that.

But even though that was the case, it still weighed heavily on her mental state.

Soon, an astral being sat up from the corpse.

"Fuck me… That was a nightmare!" Deklan shuddered in fear as he was now in his astral form.

Just earlier, after suffering from the Alpha Ghost's last attack and crashing into a house, Deklan was still somehow alive. It was probably because he was still donning Agna's persona when he crashed, which made him more durable, allowing him to survive even after reverting to normal.

He was left suspended in a painful state between life and death.

Gargling in his own blood was not a good feeling, and he didn't wish for anyone to die that way.

It was the reason why he was asking someone to kill him properly so he could shift to this form.

"Sasaki is too slow, but I don't blame her since it was only because of her that we won," Deklan folded his arms and sat in a meditative position on top of his corpse. "But Kaelyn—she understood what I wanted, but she got distracted. Those few seconds felt like an eternity, damn it!"

A few seconds for someone who is well is not a lot of time.

But for someone who was nearing death, that felt like an eternity.

Deklan was pissed at Kaelyn, but fortunately, Marsha was there to save him from that painful state.

Opening one of his eyes, he glanced at Marsha, who hadn't moved from her spot.

She was still in the same position.

Even though Deklan wasn't going to really die, the act of killing his physical body must really inflict a big toll on Marsha's consciousness, and he wasn't that detached to not realize that, "Sorry that you have to do that. I know it's a big ask, but thank you anyway for doing it."

"I-It's not a problem, young master," Marsha raised her head and quickly answered. "It's the least I can do to help."

Throughout the battle, Deklan did most of the things to handle the situation.

So, she wouldn't complain about doing something trivial like this.

But even so, it was still disturbing to do, and she couldn't lie about that even if she wanted to.

Deklan stood up without saying another word and looked out at the situation.

Still no completion of the quests? Guess I still need to eradicate the rest of the Ghosts.

A Null Zone should be collapsing by now once the Alpha Ghost was taken down, and he could see that the Land of Flames was shattering piece by piece, but the process was slower than he anticipated. And that must be because of the remaining Ghosts it has.

He needed to kill the rest to hasten the process.

But then again, I kinda need some Spooky Dollars. I've used them all, and now I'm broke.

Deklan doesn't even have enough Spooky Dollars to repair his physical body, so he needed to do some hunting. In this form, his stamina was recharged, but his mana was not. But he didn't need mana to face the remaining Ghosts.

Most were only Flaming Skeletons, and they're easy to kill with his spear.

Just as he was about to do that, perhaps even using the Ghosts from the Shadowed Town to help round up the remaining enemies, his eyes caught sight of something not too far away. It stuck out from the earth and emanated dense mana.

He frowned for a second, and then his eyes widened in realization.

It was the item he was searching for, "It's the blue tower! Nice!"

Completing the Origin Quest would require him to bring the blue tower back to the Slosa Hamlet.

Seems like the Alpha Ghost had merged with it to grow stronger.

And from this, Deklan also realized how the Alpha Ghost got inside the Slosa Hamlet easily.

Both the red tower and blue tower were connected in one way or the other, so with one inside its body, it could bypass the barrier. One Flaming Skeleton slipped inside from that tear before the barrier closed again.

Deklan put his hand on the long, steely shaft and placed it into his inventory.

Now, he turned his gaze to the Land of Flames.

"Hah… It's nighttime," Deklan inhaled a deep breath through his nose—and took pleasure in the night air that made his physique stronger. "I can sense them all. Only a few remaining, shuddering, but don't worry, daddy is going to end it quickly!"

Deklan summoned the Albino Spear into his hand and dashed away.

In the next few minutes, he hunted down the remaining Ghosts from the Land of Flames.

Some tried running out of the Null Zone, but his high perception allowed him to track them down easily.

And soon, the last one was killed.

Only then did the notification he was waiting for appear.

[Sudden Quest: Protect the Slosa Hamlet — was completed!>

[Obtained 500 Spooky Dollars, 2x Major Mana Candy, and a Lucky Charm]

[Congratulations, host, you have now successfully replaced Sasaki as the alpha of the Shadowed Town and integrated the Null Zone perfectly into the Ward. Shadowed Town expansion boost is now unlocked!]

[Notice: the Shadowed Town is expanding!]

[Expansion Boost can only be checked after the expansion process is finished.]

[Sasaki is happy that the Shadowed Town was saved: +30 Fondness Points.]

Deklan combed his hair back as he stared at the dead Flaming Skeleton under his feet; he was pleased at what he got from this endeavor. He was only doing this to not have Sasaki's fondness locked, and to complete the Origin Quest, but he also got a bonus—the Shadowed Town.

He didn't know exactly what the expansion boost it provided would be, but it must be good.

"Man, I need to cut my damn hair," Deklan pulled on his ashen-gold long hair that was now wet from all the sweating he did. He might be in his astral form, but he could still sweat. "It's hot, too. Should I buy scissors? But I've never cut my hair on my own before."

Pulling out the spear, Deklan rushed back to the Null Zone.

The Land of Flames was about to collapse, so he needed to rush back there.

He wanted to take pictures and a few selfies to add to his collection.

It'll be cool if he could mount the Alpha Ghost's carcass as a trophy in the background, but Sasaki had already claimed it, swallowing it using the Shadowed Town. But no matter. His inventory still held the spoils of the battle.

Still has a few Hellhound carcasses that he could use.

Meanwhile, Kaelyn was heading back to the Slosa Hamlet to check on her men.

Even though the matters regarding the Alpha Ghost were handled, Deklan was dead.

A brutal closure had been won, yet a deep unease coiled in her core.

Her fear had a name: Zayne—she couldn't shake the chilling suspicion that his influence was a poison threaded through the entire tragedy, that his unseen hands had guided this predicament. Kaelyn couldn't allow him to go unpunished if he even so much as dipped a pinky to this tragedy.

If that was the case, then she can't take it lightly, as that would mean she was losing control.

A leader who has no control over the underlings is no leader at all.

Upon reaching the hamlet, she looked around for the people and noted a concentration of mana behind the biggest house. She went to the backyard, hoping to see the survivors and also Zayne being detained by the others.

But she stopped as what greeted her was not that.

"Oh, young lady, you're back!" Zayne's voice rang out, cheerful and utterly unhinged. A mask of blood did nothing to dim his manic smile. "Is the bastard finally dead? Excellent. Come, let's finish them off. The hamlet is not that developed, but it's far better than starting from scratch. Besides, that tower… It's a magical item!"

Kaelyn's world shrank instantly at what she was seeing.

Before her was the red tower where the people were supposedly taking shelter.

Now, half their number lay butchered, their bodies marked by the savage, final slashes of a blade. The survivors were huddled in a terrified knot at the far edge of the backyard—eyes staring on Zayne with pure, primal dread.

Among them, the muffled sobs of kids cut through the heavy silence, a counterpoint to the carnage.

Not too far to the side, the two Exorcists she sent were severely wounded.

One was lying on the ground, barely breathing, while the other was kneeling while holding his stomach.

It was a bloody sight.

"Zayne…" Kaelyn rasped in utter shock. "What have you done?"

Even though she knew Zayne couldn't accept how Deklan treated him, this wasn't him.

Zayne is someone who has served her family for over a decade. She knew him—or she had. He was a kind person, loyal, and also selfless in many ways. The man she remembered was defined by the decency of a human being.

He was incapable of this kind of brutality, regardless of circumstances.

Slaughtering the innocents should've been a line his soul couldn't even perceive, let alone cross.

So naturally, the scene before her came as a pure shock.

"What have I done? I'm securing our home, of course." Zayne chuckled—finding her question funny. He began to advance toward the cowering survivors, helpless people, as the tip of his bloodied sword scraped a wet, grating line through the dirt. "Enough of this nonsense. Let's clean this up and start settling down. Our people need a proper home, and this… this is only making space."

Hearing the words that came out of Zayne's mouth only served to further Kaelyn's shock.

No guilt, and no hesitation.

Something was incredibly wrong with Zayne.

Even their supposed people wouldn't be able to fill half of the hamlet, so this was unnecessary.

Besides, Deklan was no more, and Kaelyn knew the other one who was in charge, which was Marsha.

A talk would be more than enough to find the middle ground.

It should never go this far.

Just then, a thought came to mind that what Zayne was saying was nonsensical.

Not matching his personality at all.

Kaelyn looked over to the conscious Exorcist and saw him nod his head grimly, confirming the grim suspicion inside her head. Though hard to accept, this was the only explanation she could come up with for Zayne's behavior right now.

"He… He already turned into a Zombie?" Kaelyn uttered through a choked throat.

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