Chapter 43: I'm not a doctor, but here's a lollipop.

Four rounds later. Theater Altar.

Lowering his shotgun and spinning quickly on his axis, a powerful kick connected with the back of a zombie's neck coming at him from the side, the undead's head spun 180 degrees and fell to the ground, its glowing yellow eyes already dulled.

"Huff! Huff!"

Thick beads of sweat covered his forehead, his red hair sticking to it.

Exhaling a little, Adryan slung the shotgun over his shoulder. Slightly out of breath, he swallowed some saliva for his dry throat.

Even now, at round 10, the zombies' bodies became much harder. To hurt them, they had to use much more force than before.

Around him, Maric and Sharron finished dealing with their zombies using melee, the shotgun and sword being only emergency items.

Flora stayed close, being part of a Pathway that didn't increase the physical aspect. She would be the one to get exhausted the fastest, so the group was careful not to overwhelm her.

"It's ready!" The aforementioned shouted, grabbing her new sword from the guardian's hands.

Unlike the previous one, which was bone, this one was made of obsidian and burned with a soft, strong, and righteous crimson flame. In the middle of the guard, instead of the glowing eye, there was a tiny skull, very similar to the strange heads of the guardians.

If the bone sword was the sword of a demon, that obsidian sword was the sword of a demon slayer!

Maric and Sharron had matching swords; the only one who still had the bone sword was Adryan.

The red-haired man preferred to do it this way to save a lot of time. Seeing that almost everything was ready, the aforementioned quickly gave a powerful kick to the chest of a zombie, sending it flying against some tables.

"To the first ritual!" Adryan ordered. The gothic duo quickly followed. Flora jumped off the balcony and caught up with them. The group sped up the stairs and out of the theater.

Their swift figures moved through the shattered streets of the square, the sky releasing constant crimson thunder that fell closer and closer to where they stood.

The tentacles peeked slightly out of the storm clouds, slowly approaching the city...

Moving through the narrow corridors and dodging the zombies that jumped out of the broken windows or from the rubble and dark alleys, they quickly reached the Junction.

Running down the initial hallway and up the stairs to the rooftop, the group returned to the magician's room. The guardian ghost once again had its arms outstretched.

Adryan quickly reached into his vest and pulled out the egg. This egg, which once appeared to be obsidian, now contained magma itself. An intense glow came from it.

With quick hands, he also grabbed his bone sword, ignoring the murmurs that began to assail his mind, the red-haired man extended the objects to the spirit.

The spirit made no move, but the bone sword and the magma egg flew from his gloved hands to the guardian's ghostly hands. They began to glow.

In a moment, this glow intensified to just a white ball. But it disappeared in an instant. Between the guardian's outstretched hands was now the same oxidian sword which he had taken.

The same murmurs from before began to assail his ears, clearer and more understandable, but like the previous time he picked up the bone sword, he just ignored them.

Nestling the obsidian sword at his waist, Adryan looked to the side of the altar. At the shelf full of books.

On the floor a few feet away a book had manifested itself, half open. Its yellowed blank pages called his attention.

Walking quickly to it, he touched it. The pages rapidly began to fill with words, all written in black ink in a strange language that was full of mysticism.

The book then rose into the air, a purplish white smoke lifting it over a meter into the air.

The final stretch had begun.

Turning to his team, he barked an order, "To the station!"

...

Hurrying back to the abandoned station under the Junction. The trio was a bit surprised to see how, suddenly, a strange flag had manifested itself in front of the abandoned wagon.

This flag was quite old and made of simple wooden sticks. It was adorned with a circle head, multiple thorns through it, and a gold plate in the middle. A dark purple cloth was over the poles that acted as arms under it.

This flag was emitting a faint purplish-white smoke, the same as the book in the room of the first ritual!

Adryan approached the banner and grabbed it but did not lift it from the ground; his gaze focused on his team.

Understanding the message, they nodded, their weapons raised and ready.

"First place will be Flora's." With that said, Adryan tightened his grip on the flag, separating it from the ground with a resounding gong!

"Hyaaaaaaa!"

A high-pitched scream was heard in the distance.

The group quickly left the train station.

No sooner had they made it to the Junction than multiple small reddish, yellowish flames flared up all over the place and were growing rapidly, but a shotgun blast stopped them before they could bloom.

Speeding through the streets, with more and more of these small flames appearing as the group's shots destroyed them, they finally arrived at the theater square.

Next to the gloomy, moldy box, purple lightning bolts shot out of the ground, creating several arcs of pure electricity.

Adryan sped this one up, his swift gait carrying him far ahead of his team. Numerous small orange flames surrounded him but were quickly destroyed by his team, who surrounded the place and began to shoot at them.

Raising the flag, he stabbed it at the place where the purple lightning arcs out. Immediately, the smoke from the banner condensed into powerful pulses of energy.

A few steps away from the banner, next to the stairway to the monorail, the mysterious figure manifested in the air. In one pale hand was the golden sphere, and yellow rays shot out from it.

Without the flag, Adryan wasted no time in trying to draw his shotgun but instead placed his hand on the golden handle of the Obsidian Sword and pulled it out, the flames of the blade burning ever brighter.

Squeezing the handle tightly and ignoring the murmurs that lashed his ears, Adryan launched a slash at the figure, a sickle of crimson fire following the blade's path.

Clank!

Scarlet's eyes widened dazedly for an instant, but reacting quickly, he stepped to the side, avoiding a deadly sickle of purple flame that cut the chariot behind him in half.

Gritting his teeth, Adryan positioned himself before the figure, blocking his view of the flag that pulsed harder.

'Of course, it wouldn't be that easy!' laughing wryly, the red-haired man raised his sword and threw another slash, blocking another sickle of energy heading towards the flag.

Gripping the handle of the sword tightly and feeling his brain throbbing a little, the red-haired man stood on guard, looking suspiciously at the figure hovering in the air.

In its right hand rested a sword like his own, but completely black and burning with a magenta flame that occasionally gave off black lightning.

BANG! BANG!

The decisive shot from Dagon's Glare exploded harmlessly before the greenish barrier surrounding the figure.

"Of course." Puffing slightly, Flora took cover behind a carriage and quickly changed her position with silent movements.

The figure extended the hand with the golden sphere towards the place where it was shot, and the symbols on it began to glow.

Yet, before launching an attack, it raised its sword again to block a sword from the side of a gothic Sharron.

The woman held her place, the crimson flames on the sword burning brightly.

The figure was about to retaliate, but its head turned to where the red-haired man was, and he had disappeared along with the flag!

Looking towards the theater, it watched as a person entered with great speed through the doors, followed closely by a woman in a purple dress.

Fush Fush!

The sound of moving air made it look up, and a crimson glow illuminated it.

After using Sky Walk, Adryan fell from the sky and descended like a meteorite upon the figure, his obsidian sword burning with crimson and orange flames.

Showing no alarm or emotion, the figure lowered its head and disappeared in a flash of purple.

Sharron lost her balance slightly, taking advantage of her body's sway more. She spun elegantly with a backward step as Adryan spun on his axis and rolled across the floor.

Lifting himself with a hand, taking advantage of the inertia. The red-haired man looked around with his sword held high, a vein throbbing in his forehead, and mighty murmurs in his ears.

"Blasfemer... bastard... blasfemer... bastard..."

Sharron stood at his back, her sword also held high, but in a different posture but no less alert. A vein throbbed in her neck, but only the quivering of her brow showed.

They stood like that until a resounding click sounded along with a great howl.

"Huooooo!"

Adryan straightened slightly, put the sword away again, and wiped the blood dripping from his nose. "We should be fine for now, but don't let your guard down."

"Understood." Putting her sword away, Sharron nodded delicately, wiping the blood from her nose.

Without exchanging any more words, they quickly made their way towards the theater's entrance, where they met Maric and Flora, who were on their way out.

"How are you?" the non-Zombie asked, looking them up and down. Flora looked around with her gun held high.

"We'll survive." Adryan sighed, rubbing his forehead a little as he went into cogitation to quiet the murmurs.

'I only took two steps with Sky Walk, but my spirituality is almost dry. A move that hardly even uses spirituality normally left me this drained? A hunter's spirituality is pathetic! It should be called spiritual dysfunctionality!'

Internally clicking his tongue, Adryan lowered his hand and raised his shotgun.

He then turned to Sharron; "Did you notice how that punk defended himself?"

"It blocked Miss Flora's shotgun blasts with a shield but decided to use its sword to block ours." The Not-Wraith responded with a slight nod of her head.

It was too noticeable. While all its moves were dull and looked like it didn't treat them seriously, it always used its sword to block.

"Looks like that barrier doesn't work with the sword." Flora entered the conversation, noting the obvious.

"We just have to get closer then. That won't be easy..." Maric murmured slightly, but Adryan's sudden voice interrupted them.

"Don't take that as a fact but an observation. That golden sphere can do many things I don't know about. Paralysis and soul absorption are the few I know it is capable of, but there are likely many, many more."

His words froze the trio, who looked at them stunned. Sighing a little, the red-haired man added, "Keep this in mind: If the answer is so apparent, it's likely a trap. Is it paranoia? Yes, it is, but it's best to be careful.

"We will face him several more times, so we can test that theory. But we'll be careful. We don't have to gamble in vain."

"Stay alert; he could come out at any time. We still have another three flags to go."

Walking back to the train station, the group moved carefully.

"If it can paralyze and absorb souls, why didn't you use it against the zombies and margwas?" Flora suddenly consulted, one eyebrow raised.

That would have been very useful with rituals.

Adryan replied looking at her with a look that said 'seriously'.

"It's one thing to know it can do it. It's another thing to know how to do it."

...

On the way to the train station, the team started a new round, killing the last zombie.

Leaving only one 'alive', they returned to the station.

The flag welcomed them, standing in the same place where they had found it the first time.

This time the next pennant would be Sharron's, a somewhat long trip so as soon as Adryan grabbed the flag, they sped towards the port.

Arriving at the stone basin that Maric had used, electricity arcs came out of it.

The group quickly circled the arc, firing at the tongues of flame that were appearing, giving no time to whatever was coming to appear.

Without further delay, Adryan stabbed the flag at their source.

There was a pulse of energy as the flag was placed, and the air seemed to cool, and the tongues of flame stopped appearing.

An ominous feeling settled over everyone.

Shotguns were quickly put away, and swords came out. All were wearing serious expressions.

A deep familiarity rose in his chest, and Adryan clenched the handle. His memory returning to the day he lost his house.

Cursing inwardly, the red-haired man began to draw his sword, looking around. His free hand clutched Tauk Millennium discreetly, and he poured his spirituality into it.

"If you feel you lose control of your body, scream..." Adryan whispered.

At that moment, one of the obsidian swords flared and struck the ground with power.

A wave of crimson energy with purple spots sent Maric - the closest to the point of origin - flying, crashing his body against the wall.

Sharron tried again to raise the sword, but another held it.

Flora grunted, her arms shaking from the effort. Her sword blocked Sharron's in place.

Her gray eyes met the trembling blue eyes of the woman whose pupils had turned purple. Sweat was pouring from her brow, and a pained expression adorned her face, fighting for control.

"Princess!"

"I've got her!"

He lunged at Sharron and knocked her to the ground, making her drop her sword. Flora stepped back and stood to protect the flag, Maric joining her with a bleeding forehead.

Locking her arms with a knee and forcing her mouth open, Adryan placed the charged Tauk Millenium on her forehead and shouted in Ancient Hermes, "Sun!"

The artifact glowed for an instant. Holy water manifested and covered the woman's entire face, much of it falling into her open mouth, and Adryan forced her to swallow.

"HYAAAA!!!" An inhuman scream came from her, feral and spectral.

Followed by the howl of pain, purplish smoke came out of her mouth along with a slight yellow ball that tried to head towards Maric.

Using the still glowing Tauk Millenium, he struck the yellow sphere that exploded in golden sparkles upon contact with the artifact made of High Sun Priest.

Sharron blinked slightly and nodded roughly. The purple pupils disappeared.

Turning to the side, the redhead saw how the purple pulses of energy from the banner had turned crimson.

"Flora!" Throwing Tauk Millenium, the recently named caught it with ease and nodded.

The Jacob following the command, grabbed the charged pennant and accelerated towards the abandoned gym in the harbor. Maric following close behind.

"Can you move?" Adryan consulted as he helped her up.

"I'm fine," Sharron replied. Fixing her wet hair a bit.

Noticing how little importance she gave to her possession, the redhead couldn't help but think, 'Huh. You'd think she'd be more dazed from being possessed, but it seems she herself being a Wraith makes her insensitive to such things...'

"Huooo!"

A familiar howl sounded in the distance.

Sighing slightly, he looked at Sharron; "Let's go."

Rejoining the duo, Flora glanced for a moment at the still-wet Sharron before returning her attention to the redhead and handing the gold medal back to him.

Having it back, Adryan quickly pulled three metal vials from his pocket and put them together, bringing Tauk Millenium close to it. He formed the holy water of the sun again and filled them.

Keeping one, he handed the other two to Maric and Flora.

"What do we do with this?" Maric consulted, squinting his eyes before watching in a daze as the red-haired man drank the water in one gulp.

"If the sun water can cleanse possessions, that means it will make us immune as long as we have them inside our bodies." The redhead replied, putting away his vial. He added in his heart that the water tasted like summer.

Sharron had already drunk the water by accident, so she did not need to drink more.

"Not bad." Flora praised unwillingly, taking from the vial.

Maric just sighed and drank from his as well, having drunk worse. He had no problem drinking holy water, but a thought crossed his mind as the holy liquid went down his throat.

Could this be considered a form of Blasphemy?

With everyone getting a bit of sunshine inside them, Adryan took a short break to treat Maric's wound. It was a good cut, so he had to use three stitches to saturate it with some of his herbal mixture.

'Good thing I didn't decide to test if the health regeneration was active or down...' Relieved that he hadn't decided to do something so stupid, the redhead finished his treatment by placing a small gauze.

"You're a good boy, have a candy." Patting the werewolf's head slightly, Adryan pulled out one of the candies he had with him and handed it to an expressionless Maric.

The older man looked at the candy in his hands, not quite knowing how to react to being treated practically like a child by someone almost 10 years younger.

After a moment, he calmly unwrapped the candy and popped it into his mouth.

'Strawberry...' Deciding it was best to play along, he didn't think anything of it and just enjoyed the candy.

His eyes moved to his side where a gothic-dressed Sharron stood, those deep blue eyes looking sideways at him.

"HYAAA!"

A high-pitched scream was heard in the distance, and the group watched as the last zombie of the round came running towards them.

BANG!

The zombie's entire body pulverized into a bloody mist.