Chapter 85: Chapter 85: The Demon Ghost’s Surprise Attack
"All—"
The moment Delaford spoke, any hope of a patient ambush vanished. They revealed themselves, and in the endless darkness, the hollow eyes of countless different Ghoul variants reflected a bizarre light.
"Lightning Bolt! Ron! Don’t let them get close!"
Silvia shouted, and a Dagger Cloud rose in the tunnel. The relentlessly spinning daggers instantly filled the passage, shredding the Ghouls at the very front into pieces.
"Silver Moonlight—"
Victoria followed right after. She threw a few Moonseed Vine Seeds and a piece of milky-white feldspar into the tide of Ghouls. A mysterious, holy radiance pierced through the mine’s outer wall, crashing straight into the most densely packed area of Ghouls.
This was the first time Victoria had displayed her offensive abilities as a Priest. The damage that holy light dealt to the Ghouls was even greater than Silvia’s Dagger Cloud.
Ron’s Lightning Bolt came next. In such narrow terrain, the flickering, dancing electricity engulfed nearly every Ghoul. Under the intense bombardment from the three Casters, the Plague Ghouls in the horde were the first to fall. Their paper-thin green skin exploded outward, triggering a chain reaction that injured or even killed a large number of other Ghoul variants. The tunnel filled with the agonized howls of Ghouls.
"They can’t even get through!" Sera pumped her fist excitedly. "Go back to the abyss, you bastards! This is what you deserve!"
"Speaking of which," Ron said, seeing that one Lightning Bolt was basically enough and holding back on casting another. He turned to Silvia, who was concentrating on maintaining her spell. "Are the Ghoul variants named after the Apocalypse? Is there one missing?"
"You’d better not be looking forward to it," Silvia said through gritted teeth. "Even the old man, who specialized in Undead Magic, rarely summoned that type."
"And we don’t usually call it a ’Death Ghoul.’ We call it a Demon Ghost."
"Stronger, more cunning, and it can even command other Ghouls—"
Silvia’s voice cut off abruptly. "Ron, do you smell a stench?"
"Maybe?"
Ron sniffed the air. It seemed to be coming from the direction of the Ghoul horde.
"Ron, you jinx! Why did you have to go and mention the Demon Ghost!"
A humanoid shadow shot through the area covered by the Dagger Cloud and Moonlight, swiping at Aive with sharp claws. If Aive hadn’t been so proficient with her tower shield, her face would have been ruined.
A powerful stench spread out from the lanky humanoid figure. Fortunately, Ron smashed open two Antitoxic Potions he had prepared. The faint herbal aroma dispelled the toxins hidden within the stench, preventing the Demon Ghost’s surprise attack from breaking their defensive line or interrupting Silvia and Victoria’s spells.
Ron had brought the Antitoxic Potions as a precaution because he’d heard there might be a plague here. Though he hadn’t encountered a plague, using them against the Demon Ghost meant they weren’t wasted.
"Should I dispel it?" Victoria asked as she drew the Moonlight closer.
It was one thing for the Demon Ghost to charge the front line, but they couldn’t let the other Ghouls seize the opportunity.
"It’s no use! Ghouls led by a Demon Ghost are resistant to effects that repel the undead!" Silvia shouted. "Sera, Delaford, you have to take it down, now!"
"I’d like to, but it’s too narrow in here!" Sera’s irritated voice echoed in the tunnel. "Aive, move! Let me finish it off!"
"Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"
"You two idiots, get out of the way and let me do it!" Delaford drew his dagger and leaped up, using Aive’s shoulder for a slight boost to land behind the Demon Ghost in the blink of an eye.
Ron immediately fired a series of Strike Undead at the Ghouls behind them to buy Delaford time. The Goblin Hunter was short and agile, and the Demon Ghost simply couldn’t catch him. Instead, Delaford was able to continuously leave cuts on its body.
"Something’s not right!" the goblin yelled at the top of his lungs. "I don’t think I can kill this thing!"
A Ghoul’s flesh never rots; it’s stiff and tough. To the Demon Ghost, the wounds from the dagger—whether punctures or slashes—were like scratching an itch through a boot.
"My turn!" Aive finally made space for Sera. With two swings of her axe, the barbarian lopped off the Demon Ghost’s head, then immediately yanked Delaford back and retreated behind Aive.
Without the Demon Ghost’s command, the Ghouls were nothing more than savage beasts. Their advantage in numbers was useless here, so they were gradually worn down by Ron and the others. When Aive splattered the final Ghoul against the nearby stone wall with her tower shield, not a single active Ghoul remained in the entire tunnel.
"I’ve burned through my entire Spellbook," Silvia said, frowning as she checked her spell list for the day. "Nothing left. I’m requesting we find a place to camp. I need some time to recover!"
"Recover? Are you kidding me?" Sera pointed at the Ghouls on the ground. "You should know these things can be resurrected! Do we have to fight another round?"
In a wild place like this, as long as a single Ghoul survives, it can raise almost all the others given enough time. If you don’t wipe them out completely in one go, these monsters are harder to kill than cockroaches.
"Alright, alright!" Of course Silvia knew the stakes. She had no choice but to compromise. "I just never imagined we’d have to keep adventuring with a Caster completely out of spells!"
"There are always all sorts of unexpected situations," Victoria said with a smile, patting her shoulder. "You get used to it. Stand behind me. I’ll protect you."
"Oh, Victoria—you’re so good to me!"
"A shame I’m completely useless against the dead," said You, who had been watching the entire fight, as she floated ahead to scout. "If they were living people, I could at least be of some use."
Most Undead Creatures harbor endless malice toward the living, and their abilities are mostly designed to target them. Although You held no malice toward the living, she couldn’t change her banshee Traits.
Her real job was to tempt living people into corruption and transform them into Undead Creatures. Against Ghouls, she was truly no help at all.
As a fellow Undead Creature, her negative energy damage might even heal the Ghouls instead.
"But your current task is something none of the rest of us can do," Ron said, walking behind You and watching her phase through walls to scout for any hidden rooms. "How’s it going? Find anything?"
"Mhm, this one’s empty."
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