Ghastly vs Paars vs Graham

"Time to flee!" muttered Valentine before the green aura reached his spot.

Without hesitation, he dashed towards the second-floor window and put all his strength into his legs before jumping at it, breaking the glass using his shoulder. The glass window shattered into pieces and Valentine skillfully rolled once he reached the ground to spread the impact of landing. Without looking back, he escaped from the building towards the center of the sealed zone.

The green aura that brought sickness was seeping out of the broken window before suddenly being sucked in rapidly. Ghastly had canceled her ability and was standing in the corridor looking at the spot where Valentine had run away to. There was a smirk on her face.

"You're running away? Then whoever you are, I'll be able to find you from now on," she said with satisfaction in her tone and placed her giant metal club against the wall.

Ghastly took out a small dagger that looked more like a letter opener than a weapon.

Using the sharp blade, she cut open her left wrist and poured her blood on the ground.

"I, in the name of the Deity of Lost Dignity and Honors, offer this blood of mine,"

She began chanting loudly. Her voice echoed in the corridor and the blood on the ground began boiling.

"For I declare that I will track down any honorless soul who flees from battle!"

The red kept bubbling violently until it finally evaporated a minute later. The stench of iron filled the air and it created a path of blood particles in the air that only Ghastly could see. As long as her enemy stayed within the area of effect, she would be able to find them even if they turned completely invisible.

Her ability worked on every enemy that had escaped a battle before, and she had a spiritual sense when someone that fit the criteria was near her. The downside of the ability was that it took too long to prepare and if the enemy was fast enough, they could get away from the area of effect even after it was activated, rendering it useless. However, since the whole area was sealed, she could track down Valentine no matter where he went because he couldn't go outside.

Ghastly picked up her giant metal club and started running in the direction that the blood trail led her to her target.

Valentine, who didn't know how she could see or even find him despite his concealment, was running as fast as he could. He knew that she would probably catch up with him sooner or later, so he couldn't afford to slow down his pace.

"G, we should switch. Your Orders are better suited for this fight than my illusion," he muttered as he turned left to an alley.

Valentine sat next to a dumpster and quickly closed his eyes and focused on his breathing. His heart, which was beating fast because of the adrenaline, gradually slowed down and started pumping in a steady rhythm. In a matter of seconds, he had fallen asleep.

Graham, who woke up just a short moment later, quickly got up from the spot and continued running as fast as he could. He was still using Rood's appearance, so he was able to run faster than usual thanks to the man's trained body.

"Where is that invisible man when we need him?" he muttered as he ran across an empty crosswalk despite the light showing red for crossing.

"The Police must have used something to evacuate all the people in the area. It just seems impossible to me that just within six or so hours everyone has disappeared completely," he muttered again in curiosity.

Suddenly, his sense of danger was triggered but it was too late to react. A hand had grabbed him and tossed him with great power to the wall!

Swoosh!

Graham's body was launched through the air like a bag of flour but once he hit the wall, he turned illusory like a splotch of ink on the surface of water that dispersed. He appeared several centimeters away from where he had been and took a defensive posture with his dagger in hand.

"It's a pleasant surprise that your ability still works even if we switch. I guess it's just like your other abilities, Val," he muttered.

While both of them were concealed by their own abilities, they couldn't hear each other's voice, so Graham didn't bother explaining the situation to the naked invisible man. Ghastly should be there soon and he should be able to judge the situation for himself. For the time being, Graham just had to defend against the unseen enemy.

His left hand sneakily took out the lighter from his pocket and lit a fire.

"I ask that you float and use my stamina as fuel instead!" he commanded the tiny flame.

The tiny flame then rose in the air he covered it with his body.

"I ask that you burn as big as you can!"

At once, the flame behind him burned brighter and grew to the size of an exercise ball. He could no longer hide the flame so without waiting for his enemy to attack, he quickly issued another flame manipulation order.

"I ask that you circle around me!"

The giant fireball began to revolve around Graham's body in an intimidating fashion. It looked like a raging spirit from hell was protecting him, ready to burn anyone who dared to come closer into crisp. In reality, however, the fire was not that hot and it only served to ward off the invisible Paars from getting too close to him.

"That man's strength is not to be looked down upon, Val. He could throw me around that easily, so close-quarter combat with him should be avoided," Graham muttered while standing his ground.

It seemed that the fireball had the effect that he desired. Paars hadn't approached him for another attack because of that.

At that moment, his sense of danger was triggered yet again and this time, it felt stronger than before. In the distance, a woman wearing a pink dress wearing high heels was running at a frightening speed while dragging a giant metal club across the pavement. The dragging noise filled the air and pierced their ears.

"She's already here. So it's true that she can track us down despite our Concealment somehow," concluded Graham.

He didn't know where the invisible Paars was currently but the man should still be in the area.

"Now, tell me who you are, asshole! Are you with the Police?" she asked with anger in her tone.

The memory of him that she had had been erased by Valentine, but she should still have a vague recollection of it, like the fact that she had been fighting with someone just before. It was just she couldn't remember exactly who she was fighting, and the fact that Valentine was attacking her should help her put two and two together.

Dash!

Without a warning, Ghastly darted towards Graham with her metal club ready for an attack. She didn't seem to be threatened by the giant fireball at all.

"I ask that you burn her!" he commanded.

The fireball circling him moved toward Ghastly and began burning her. However, she didn't stop and kept charging at him at a frightening speed.

"I order you to stop moving!"

He said an Order and suddenly, Ghastly's whole body became immobilized. He couldn't even lift a muscle because of Graham's ability that was much stronger than the Purloin version.

The giant fireball was still burning the vulgar woman as she stood in place, unable to do anything. The cloak that she was wearing quickly turned to ash, revealing her beautiful face that was filled with anger and malice. However, her skin didn't seem to receive any damage; there were illusory things resembling scales that were protecting her from the flame.

"Miaw!"

Suddenly, there was a giant cat the size of a lion with black fur coming from Ghastly's side. The giant cat had a white spot of fur on its chest while its yellows eyes emitted greed and mystery. The giant black cat jumped at the immobilized Ghastly and clawed her.

Scratch!

Her hard skin protected her from the attack and only a scratch wound was left.

"Val, what is that black cat? A familiar? So the invisible man has decided to help u--..." Graham was muttering when suddenly a hand tried to grab him.

This time, he was fast enough to dodge.

He quickly retreated to a safe distance because Ghastly also looked like she had broken free from his control.

"So he wants to eliminate the two of us at once, it seems," he concluded. He had to pay attention to two enemies at the same time, one of whom was much stronger than him.

"If we escape now, what do you think will happen? That woman will most likely chase us and ignore that Policeman. We should try to finish her off with his 'help', Val, while watching out for his sneak attacks," he added.

Thud!

Once she was free, Ghastly hit the giant black cat with her club and launched it far away with her brute strength. She then tried to charge at Graham but suddenly, she felt a strong kick on her stomach.

"Fuck!"

The kick was powerful enough to send her flying back. She hit the wall of a building and the impact left a dent on it. Without waiting for her to recover, Paars launched another attack, this time he punched her pretty face.

Smack!

Her hard skin protected her face from the attack, but she was still hurt by it. Feeling angry, she started swinging her metal club in front of her but failed to hit anything.

Paars had retreated right after landing his attack!

Ghastly got up and cleaned her dress.

"So there is an invisible cunt. That ugly cat must be your familiar. Are you friends with the fleeing cunt?" she asked with mockery in her tone.

She wouldn't be able to hear either Graham's or Paars' voice even if they answered, so there was only silence in the street and the sound of another fight in the distance.

Paars' familiar had come back and was now staring angrily at the woman. Its tail was raised all the way up and its fur was tense.

"I, in the name of the Deity of Lost Dignity and Honors, hereby empower myself in the face of the honorless enemies that outnumber me!" she chanted loudly. Suddenly, her aura became more dangerous.

"I ask you to burn her!"

Graham commanded the fireball that was now floating on the spot where she had been before and it quickly launched towards her, enveloping her with its heat. Ghastly tried to shake it off in annoyance but the flame kept on burning her despite her illusory scale protection. She had been empowered now, but being engulfed in flames for too long could still be dangerous for her, so she decided to do something.

Kaboom!

Suddenly, the flame went out in a fiery explosion!

Ghastly had activated her Disease Spreading and as the green aura made contact with the fire, it exploded. She was protected by her empowered hard skin but there were still mild burn marks on it. Her beautiful pink dress was now tattered, and her hair was a mess. However, the fireball had now disappeared and she quickly released another green aura that quickly spread to the surrounding area.

Standing in the middle of the disease aura, Ghastly fixed her hair and dress and grabbed the metal club that she had dropped. Her expression showed extreme malice and as she triggered her enemies' sense of danger.

"I order you to disperse!"

Graham shouted an order and the green aura began to blow away as if there was a strong wind forcing it to disperse. Noticing the abnormality, Ghastly quickly chanted.

"I, in the name of the Deity of Lost Dignity and Honors, hereby smite the enemy who cheated by canceling my ability!"

Suddenly, there was a ray of light falling from the sky and struck Graham's location. It was like heaven itself was punishing him for canceling Ghastly's Disease Spreading. The light burned his body but he quickly turned into a blotch of ink that rapidly vanished. Graham reappeared near his original spot completely unscathed.

"Crap. We only have five more Illusory Substitutes, Val. And that ability felt very dangerous," he muttered warily.

He hadn't known that a Contractbound of her Deity could do something like that, but now that he did, he could be more careful. Paars, who also saw what had happened, became guarded against her. The two of them didn't know the extent of her abilities.

"!!"

She had suddenly dashed and appeared next to Graham within less than a second. She smacked him very hard with her club, sending him flying backward. Her speed had increased to a level that his eyes had difficulty keeping up with.

Graham's body then vanished and reappeared nearby.

"I order you to stop moving!"

Ghastly's whole body became immobilized again under Graham's control. However, this time, he knew that his Order wouldn't last long because it had been used repeatedly against the same enemy and she had become empowered.

"Val, time for a new strategy," he muttered.