Barbarian

The chain shot toward Alysia, who couldn't evade it. In her heart, Alysia cursed repeatedly, fully aware of her dire situation. If she got hit by the chain, she had no idea how severe her injuries would be.

Fortunately, Rama acted quickly. He hurled his sword towards the chain with all his strength.

*CLANG!*

The misty chain struck Rama's sword and sent it flying into the air. Rama felt a pang of regret seeing his sword go, but that was less important than what was in front of him now.

After realizing that the chain had moved away from her, Alysia refocused her mind on swinging her sword. All of this happened in a split second, and Alysia successfully severed the giant wolf's neck. Mist poured from the wound on its neck and dissipated into the air. Alysia landed not far from its neck.

"RUN!" Rama shouted from behind. Hearing his voice, Alysia didn't think twice and immediately channeled her Mana, enveloping her body with azure lightning. She shot away from the spot a split second before a huge mist scythe landed there.

Alysia turned after successfully escaping. "There's another one of them!"

Behind the thinning body of the giant mist wolf stood a muscular humanoid figure. In both of his hands, there were chains wrapped around, and at the end of those chains, there was a scythe and a spiked ball.

The other Specter Behemoth had appeared without waiting for a pause after they killed the giant wolf. He looked like a barbarian from a bygone era.

Alysia's eyes widened. The new Ghost looked incredibly dangerous. Based on her estimation, this Ghost might be equivalent to a Supernatural Rank C or B.

'Wait,' Alysia frowned. 'Why do I sense a flow of Mana from that Ghost?'

Ghosts shouldn't have Mana because they were only low-leveled Supernaturals. A human or Supernatural who was very powerful and had Mana could unleash magical powers. Did this mean... this Ghost could use Magic attacks?

"HRAAAAAHHH!!!"

Unexpectedly, the Ghost screamed so loudly that it sent wind swirling around and sent chills down her spine.

Alysia looked to where she had last seen Rama but couldn't find him there. 'Don't tell me... He's running away!'

The Ghost ran towards her, creating a deafening noise and slight vibrations. He twirled his chains and then hurled one with a spiked ball towards Alysia.

Because it happened too fast, Alysia couldn't evade, so she could only raise her sword and channel as much of her Mana as possible. Her body was enveloped in a larger azure mist and lightning than before.

The spiked ball hit her sword and sent her flying several meters backward. She crashed through a wall of the ruin and broke it before finally falling unconscious. Some of the rubble also fell on her body.

"Oh, shit! I'm too late!" Rama, who had just retrieved his sword, panicked when he saw Alysia thrown. She seemed unconscious as she wasn't moving.

Rama wanted to check on her, however, there was something more important he had to do now. Rama decided to deal with the Specter Behemoth first. Besides, Alysia should be able to hold her own since she had Mana.

< Main Quest: Investigate the Appearance of Specter Behemoth (II) >

< Description: You have encountered 2 Specter Behemoths in the eastern part of Twilight City. Now, defeat them and interrogate them before killing them. >

"What?!" Rama was dumbfounded. The last time he fought a Specter Behemoth, the Ghost died before he could get any answers, but now, it was telling him to interrogate them?!

"Does that mean I can't kill them, right?" Rama dropped his sword. "Okay, I'll just injure them enough so they can't fight back and then interrogate them."

Rama dropped the sword he had struggled to find and decided to use his Soul Fusion power. Now that Alysia was unconscious, this was a good opportunity to use it.

Rama thought about the form of the Specter Behemoth he had fought in the cave.

< Soul Fusion Level 2 (XP: 25/100) activated! >

< -4 Mana per second. >

It turned out that using the Soul of a Specter Behemoth required twice as much Mana as a regular Ghost. It wasn't a problem for Rama, as he had plenty of Mana now. Hopefully, it would be enough.

Rama's body transformed into a blob of mist and then expanded. After reaching the same size as the Specter Behemoth, the mist condensed and formed the shape of a chubby man with Rama's face and body.

"What the f***!" Rama cursed while looking at his body. "I thought I'd have my own body but in a giant size!"

Apparently not. So Rama had to fight with this body. That was another reason why Alysia being unconscious was a good thing.

"HYAAARRRGHHH!!!" The barbarian screamed, causing the grass around to flatten. Then, he dashed toward Rama once he realized he had a formidable enemy.

Rama, feeling angry about his fat body, also dashed to meet him. They clashed in the midst of the ruins, sending shockwaves all around.

They fought intensely amid the ruins. The wind and mist scattered around, making the grass bend even lower, and the ruins' stones fell.

What made it difficult for Rama was the weapons held by the barbarian. He managed to tie up Rama's neck and body, making it difficult for him to move. However, Rama's strength seemed to surpass that of the barbarian.

Perhaps it was because he had reached Level 3 and had absorbed the Soul of the Specter Behemoth. Rama wasn't sure where this power came from, but like when he fought the Specter Behemoth in the mine, his strength would significantly increase when using Soul Fusion and transforming into a Supernatural.

Rama decided to delve deeper into understanding this power later.

But first, he had to finish his business here.

Rama broke the chain that bound him with his chubby hand. It shattered and turned into mist. Afterward, Rama pulled the chain, causing the barbarian to approach him, and rewarded him with a punch in the face.

The barbarian was thrown backward, and Rama didn't give him much time to recover. He dashed, even with his chubby body, he could move quite fast.

Once Rama reached the barbarian, he pummeled him repeatedly with powerful blows. Eventually, the barbarian stopped moving. Most of his face had dissipated.

"Phew... Now it's time for the interrogation."

~~~