Mortal World 17

"Are you going to use your power?" after Lia packed some clothes, Yano came to pick her up and they headed out of the base.

"It's not that easy but yes. Here," Yano held his hand out again as they walked around the base to the back of it. A desert-like sandy area.

Lia stared at his hand without any intention of taking it, "Aren't you wasting time?"

"Pretty please?"

Disbelief spread on Lia's face, was Yano trying to be cute? This was… actually working.

Lia reluctantly put her hand in his and he instantly gripped it tightly. As they were a short distance away from the base, with the back of the buildings facing them, Yano stopped.

With his free hand, he drew a large silver oval circle in the air. This one had several lines forming its shape and an empty content, the form was its pattern. Yano closed his eyes and then pinpointed a space inside the circle before it glowed as a silver dot and remained there.

"A teleportation circle," Yano explained as Lia titled her head, "I would like to draw one for the others too but as you know, I can only draw one circle at a time."

"Your power is really unfair," Lia remarked, narrowing her eyes at the silver outline of the portal.

Yano only laughed and his hand squeezed hers, "Soon it'll all belong to you."

"I don't even want to know what that means," yet Lia could guess. She once again didn't understand why, despite her cold attitude and her obvious disdain towards him, he was still relentlessly chasing her. But then again, Lia used to be in Yano's shoes, without any obvious reasons she fell hard for Min and clung onto him.

However, the difference between her and Yano was that Yano was more considerate towards her feelings and didn't push himself onto her as she did with Min, even forcing him to engage and marry her. Somehow the thought that Yano truly cared for her rose and spread a warm feeling.

Another one that was banned immediately.

"Let's head through, you might feel a bit dizzy and nauseous but don't let go of my hand."

The silver oval shaped circle was now igniting tiny sparks around its frame, making it seem like once it touched the skin it would evaporate as electrifying tremors.

Yano cautiously guided Lia through and the moment the circle swallowed them up whole, Lia's whole body was squeezed from all sides while warping effects relentlessly tore on her. A vicious cycle of being sucked into a vacuum and spit out again, only to end up in a tighter and tighter one.

It was several times worse than the teleportation of the Lord in the Veil. This one here was wearing down one's nerves and paralysed the whole body but didn't numb it. The pain was vibrantly apparent.

Lia kept her eyes shut as the force of the teleportation pulling them to another place was too powerful. The only way she knew she was safe and sound was because Yano's hand held her tightly. His warmth seeping into her was the only thing that gave her reassurance and mend the horrible experience by a bit.

Lia endured and endured, until finally, it was over. When she opened her eyes, she found herself in the outskirts of another city. A modern, metropolitan city with skyscrapers as high as the sky.

Yet the effects of the teleport still lingered and Lia fell to the ground and gasped for air. Her head was spinning and dizziness made her unable to properly stand.

"Are you okay?" Yano crouched down and rubbed her back. Lia felt inferior seeing Yano was fine but she focused on regaining her strength and recovering her breath.

A few seconds later, Lia stood up without Yano's help and asked, "What do we do?"

"Let's first scout the situation," Yano walked forwards, and only now did Lia realise the shouts and screams that vibrated in the air, asking for help, asking for mercy, begging to spare them. Sobs and cries for their loved ones, prayers, they were all carried to Lia.

And she stared straight ahead, to the city and her blood froze. The amount of ghosts exceeded at least 10 times the size of the ones in the factory. What monstrous disaster did Min unleash over the Mortal World?

A slight fear gripped Lia's body.

Bodies. Dead bodies everywhere.

This was the perfect opportunity for her to train her power but at what price did it come? At what price did these mortals have to suffer just because an immortal wanted them to perish?

The closer they got to the city, the thicker the crowd of vengeful ghosts roaming around became and the bloodier the sight turned. Yet it wasn't as chaotic as Lia thought. On the streets, there were indeed many mortals but not the usual amount that was typical for a metropolitan city.

A few corpses littered the ground and cars were abandoned in the middle of the streets, or crashed into buildings with the driver being sucked dry and dead.

The ghosts flew around the mortals but waited, even played with their victims before feasting on them. What Lia has experienced at the fabric has multiplied here. Vengeful ghosts with a mind almost like a human- even if they didn't think properly, they had a consciousness.

And this perverted, twisted consciousness craved for its sadistic nature to be satisfied and pleased. Were these the ghosts Min wanted to create? Ghosts that didn't just aimlessly walk around to fill their hunger, but ghosts that could think on their own to an extent and evade their fate of being purged?

From what Lia could see, these were still prototypes as the ghosts could be fairly easy to purge but once Min finished his experiments, the results would be terrifying. Under no circumstances could this be allowed.

Most humans have barricaded themselves in their houses and closed all windows and locked the doors. Despite not knowing what caused these random deaths, their instincts were good. After all, ghosts couldn't pass walls like in mortal's fantasy. But now the ghosts had intelligence and they could easily open a door.

So, locking the door for now was the only way to save themselves, given that no ghost was already in their house. Yet, if the ghosts evolved, then they could even break down the doors or walls.

The thought of it alone was bone-chilling.

"I don't want to use this option but there's no other way," Yano narrowed his eyes as the sight before him unfolded. In almost 11 years since he has been in the Mortal world, there was never a time that the situation got this severe.

Yano now understood why his parents urged him to become an exorcist to protect the Mortal World. He had no goal himself so he went along but now, he had two goals. One was to protect the mortals and the other one was to protect Lia. And another hidden one that swirled with an intensity inside of him was to purge the Ghost King himself.

"Say, what is it?" Lia couldn't fathom what the best way would be to take care of all the scattered ghosts, not only in this city but the whole area Yano assigned them to.

"Obviously the ghosts are all over the place, so we lure them to one spot and I'll purge them. Do you remember where we arrived? That empty place is the best, once we've lured them there, I'll bound them to the place and purge them."

"Wait, doesn't that require you two circles?" one was for the confinement and the other one was to purge them.

"Don't worry, I have a way, also keep an eye on the talismans."

"So, we have to separate?"

A light smile formed on Yano's lips, "You don't want to leave my side?"

"This is no time for jokes."

"I'm not joking."

Indeed, Lia didn't want to move on her own. She just got her powers back and from the last mistake she did, she wasn't as confident in her abilities anymore as before. Now, Yano wanted to leave her alone amidst the ghost outbreak and save the mortals. How was she going to do it?

"Don't worry, you're strong enough, just do things as you've always done them," Yano's encouragement wasn't helpful, but it did give Lia strength. Giving each other a last look, they sprinted to different directions. Away from each other. On their own.