Chapter 18

I left madam Hans's room confused and a bit frustrated. I wanted to press her more about my mother but I knew that she wasn't going to budge when she gets like this. I could only sigh and vent the only I could. By going with the Koibata Clan Brats as I have come to call them after the stunt earlier today, to the so-called 'haunted house'. I originally wanted to inform Madam Han before I left but due to her refusing to tell me anything about my mother, I chose to go without telling her as a form of protest. Petty, yes. But wouldn't you be if spent most of your life wondering about your parents and the only one who can give the answers is unwilling to tell you about them?

I took my sling ring and made a portal to where the guys were waiting. For some reason they seem adamant about keeping a low profile so, I left them at the Midtown High gymnasium.

"OK. I'm all set. Shall we get going?" I said.

"Hey, are you OK?" Yukine asked upon seeing me downcast.

"Yeah. It's nothing. We should go before it gets dark." I brushed it off and thankfully, she didn't try to pry any further.

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Our destination was a suburban district near the outskirts of New Jersey which we opted to go to via bus as the rest of my group wanted to sightsee around New York which I happily obliged. We spent the afternoon and evening making our way to New Jersey while periodically stopping by several shops, monuments and other places of interest, including the Avengers Tower. By the time we reached our destination, it was almost 5 in the evening.

It was a derelict mansion away from other houses that had been partially overtaken by vegetation. By my estimates, it has been well over 2 decades since anyone has lived here. The reason why we were here is because one of Koibata Clansmen had detected a violent burst of energy from this location, reminiscent of an artifact which had at one point belonged to them but went missing during World War 2. The artifact, an ornate Urn is said to be crafted from a mineral found in the underworld and is said to attract paranormal entities and will empower them should they remain within its vicinity for long periods of time.

And so to prevent any potential poltergeists or ghosts from escaping, our first order of business was to place a barrier around the mansion to prevent any of them from escaping into civilisation.

And so we slaved away, creating talismans that's was used to plot an array. I even made sure to enchant the talismans with runes to protect it from anything or anyone that may try to remove it from outside. Nevertheless, it was a time consuming process which took an additional 4 hours to complete. But once that was done, it was time for the main event. We bypassed the barrier using our specialised talismans, and made our way inside and, immediately fell down the rotten floorboards. In hindsight, we probably shouldn't have tried to enter at the same time.

After getting ourselves out, and nursing our bruised prides, we decided to split up to cover more ground. I know, I know, that's basically what one shouldn't do when inside a seemingly haunted location as horror movies have taught us. But the difference between the movies and our situation is the fact that we are sorcerers each trained in spells that can detect and harm any 'ghosts' that we may encounter. Heck, forget the Eldritch school, even the weakest version of my spells from the Arcane school is enough to finish off normal poltergeist. The twins went downstairs while me and Akechi went upstairs. The remaining girls chose to check downstairs and the garden respectively.

I casted [Sight] and began looking for any anamolous energy but was surprised to find nothing aside from myself and our ragtag group of ghost busters.

Are we in the wrong house? I thought to myself as I attempted to justify my findings before dismissing them. I knew them enough to no they would not make such mistakes. Which left only one explanation, one I dreaded to think about.

Someone had arrived here before we did and had erected a illusionary barrier. I casted [Sight] once more and looked and around and sure enough, there weren't even a speck of energy around the mansion not even ambient ones meaning the barrier is strong enough to obscure even the natural energy.

My phone chimed suddenly as I recieved a group text from Akechi.

"Do you guys see it too?" - - AK

"The barrier? Yes. Looks like we have to find the conduit first before we can look for the artifact."

"Are you sure it's still here? Maybe whoever casted the barrier took it." HN

"Then go through the trouble to place such a complex barrier? No. He's hunkering down. Setting up defences. He intends to fight whoever came for the artifact." HR

I was about to write more when I suddenly felt a chill down my spine and I ducked on instinct just as I heard a hiss from where my head been. I rolled to safety and conjured my phone away before setting eyes on my assailant. It was an ethereal, floating woman who was only visible upto her waist. Her face was disfigured, filled with scars along with a wide open mouth filled with sharp teeth. She also had monstrously sharp claws for hands. She grinned at me menacingly before charging with her claws outstretched to swipe at my head. In response I conjured a mandala with my left arm and managed to block both of her attacks all the while conjuring an eldritch sword in the my hand before I stabbed forward, aiming at the ghosts torso and it hit its mark. The moment it was impaled, the ghost let out a pained roar and began to fade from existence.

I took a careful look around my surroundings before taking out my phone and made a conference call to my friends.

Kaya was the first one to pick it up and the rest followed soon after. She then asked. "What's wrong. Did something happen?".

"Yeah, just encountered a ghost. I made short work of it but you guys should keep your guard up." I replied as I continued to survey my surroundings.

"Same here." said Akechi replied.

"Us too. Also I think we found the conduit." Souma said to the shock of the rest of us.

"Well what are you waiting for. Destroy it. Who knows how many more of these things are still around." Akechi said firmly.

"On it." Souma responded before going off the call, what followed were the sounds of the twins chanting a spell.

And then suddenly like a curtain being drawn, the felt the barrier being dispelled and my senses return to normal. I immediately activated [sight] and saw a dozen or so unfamiliar presences around our ground. They were mostly hidden behind walls. Speaking of which, my eyes fell on the two other ghosts stalking me from within the walls. I conjured another eldritch blade and augmented my speed before charging at the closest on, stabbing it from though the wall before turning my attention to the other one who was attempting to flee. With a slash, I managed to behead it just before it was out of my reach.

I then looked back at my friends and it seems that they have done the same and disposed of the ones spying on them as well.

I then spoke into the phone. "Now that that's out of the way, does anyone sense the urn?"

No sooner had I said that, I felt the floors around me shift causing me to fall on my back. And then, a gust of wind began gathering just a few meters away from me, growing in intensity before a portal began manifesting within it. I then felt it drawing me towards it. In a panic, I took Icon and stabbed it into the floor boards and used it as a hold as I began crawling away. Unfortunately, the winds only grew stronger and I felt my grip weaken.

And then the inevitable happened and I lost my grip hurtling my towards the portal as a result. I saw my friends turn the corner, their eyes widened with horror as they my plight, just moments before my body entered the portal and it closed behind me. And then, I was surrounded by a void as my body seemed to stop in mid air. I then heard a deep, raspy voice echo through the darkness.

"At last, my master. She is here." And then, I fell.