A Gold Mine

The trio left the corpse alone and continued making their way towards the location of the wraiths. It was only several meters ahead, as they could start to see several almost transparent figures floating in the air ahead of them. There were about eleven of them, in the area, and probably more further deeper into the sewer. The loud sound of the sewer stream masked the sounds of their footsteps, but the wraiths could detect them anyway. Seeing the living humans in their territory, their eyes glowed red in the dark and their ghastly figures quickly charged at them.

"Aaaaaaaaaa!!"

The wraiths shrieked and stunned the group. It took them only two seconds to recover, but it was enough for the wraiths to close in on them.

"Here they come!" shouted Valentine.

After recovering, Jacco immediately started beating the iron plate on his stomach with the stick that he took out of his pocket while his right hand was still holding on tightly to the candle that Graham had given him previously.

"I, in the name of the Deity of War, play this War Drum!"

Badum! Badum!

Valentine and Luuk immediately felt that their power and speed had been enhanced, as well as their stamina. The sound of the War Drum, however, irritated the wraith so they changed their target and angrily charged at Jacco, who was standing at the back of the group. Some of them were just about to open their mouths when he quickly chanted a spell.

"I, in the name of the Deity of Secrets, hereby declare the smell of the corpse no longer a secret!"

"I, in the name of the Deity of Secrets, hereby declare the sound of the wraiths' wail a secret!"

"...!!"

Several of them tried to shriek but the sound was blocked by the thin yellowish mist that enveloped their mouths.

Bang!

He fired his gun and hit the wraith closest to him in the head. The bullet then created blood veins that quickly spread all over its body, engulfing it before rupturing into the blood that melted the wraith. From its spot, a small round object that resembled a rotting eyeball was left.

"Got one!" shouted Valentine proudly.

"I need help here!" said Jacco from behind urgently.

More wraiths were charging at him, and he couldn't even hold a knife to defend himself because both of his hands were occupied. The flame from the candle flickered and he could see a ghastly face just several centimeters away from him. It was like a corpse that had turned transparent, but keeping everything ugly about itself.

"I, in the name of the Deity of Theft, declare the wraith's intention of attacking mine!"

Bang!

Valentine shot a wraith that got too close to Jacco, while the other one suddenly stopped because of Luuk's theft. The wraith that was shot burst into nothing because of the bullet and left another rotting eyeball on the ground.

Bang!

He fired another shot and killed another wraith who was still moving quickly towards their back liner. It then left another rotting eyeball.

"That's three, eight to go," said Valentine.

Luuk was still holding on to the stolen intention in his right hand, but the wraith had started to move again. It had moved towards him, who was closest, but as it was about to attack Luuk, he opened his fist and suddenly he felt something slipped through his hand and returned to the wraith that was in front of him.

Just as he was about to get attacked, the wraith stopped moving and changed direction suddenly. The intention of attacking Jacco had been returned, so it was now charging at its original target.

Bang!

Valentine shot the wraith and it stopped dead in its track, bursting into flames and leaving behind another rotting eyeball.

Badum! Badum!

The War Drum was still beating steadily, rivaling the loud sound of the stream nearby. The wraiths, with their stun shrieking ability being disabled, were not a match for the three of them, even if they outnumbered their attackers.

Bang! Bang!

Valentine quickly shot two more wraiths, leaving only five of the wraiths left.

"Half of them are dead! How many bullets left do you have?" asked Luuk to Valentine.

He had brought all the remaining bullets that he had bought at the small town, and after firing six shots, he had seven more. It was enough to finish off all the wraiths in the area, but if they encountered more, he wouldn't be able to kill all of them.

"I have seven bullets left. Try not to overextend! We can't afford to have more wraiths coming," he warned his teammates.

Luuk nodded and sprayed some of his blood all over one that was charging at him, stunning it with a sizzling sound. He then quickly chanted to activate his ability.

"I, in the name of the Deity of Theft, declare the wraith's momentum mine!"

One of the wraiths that were quickly rushing at Jacco suddenly slowed down, which gave Valentine some time to shoot the other one.

Bang!

Another wraith died and turned into a rotting eyeball. Jacco quickly moved out of the way and Luuk released the stolen item in his right hand. The wraith that had slowed down suddenly moved uncontrollably forward. When it was about to hit the sewer wall, it became more transparent and moved through it like there was nothing there.

With one wraith disappearing through the wall, there were only three more in the area.

"...!!"

They still tried to wail and stun their enemies, but Valentine's restriction was blocking the sound they made.

Bang! Bang!

The sound of gunshots reverberated in the dark sewer. Valentine had fired two shots in rapid succession and two more wraiths burst into flames and left small round objects on the ground.

"Two more to go!" shouted Jacco.

With the help of his War Drum, his teammates' reaction and chanting speed was greatly enhanced, which made the battle much easier.

Splash!

Sizzle!

Luuk splashed his blood on the wraith that had just come out of the wall, stunning it in place. The blood that touched its body made a sizzling noise and then bubbled away.

Bang!

Valentine shot the other wraith that was just one centimeter away from Luuk, rooting it in place and killing it. Now, there was one last wraith and it was slowly recovering from its state. Wraiths, unlike beasts, didn't have a wild instinct of survival. All they knew was to kill the living; they didn't even think about running away even when in danger.

Bang!

He shot the last wraith right in the head and the bullet got lodged in its transparent forehead. The bullet than became numerous blood veins that enveloped the wraith before suddenly blood burst out of the veins, melting the wraith and turning it into nothingness. Once the wraith had completely vanished, a small rotting eyeball was left on the ground where it had been.

"We did it!" shouted Jacco excitedly. Although he had barely done anything but beat the drum on his stomach, he was a crucial part of the fight.

"We need to gather those eyeballs quickly. Don't miss any; they are literal gold!" said Luuk while picking up the rotting eyeballs with his gloved hands.

The eyeball felt soft to touch, but when he pressed hard with his fingers, it hardened, which prevented him from crushing it further. He collected some more and then gave all the eyeballs to Valentine, who stuffed them safely in his coat pockets. He was the only one among them with a lot of container space, thanks to Graham's unlimited pocket coats.

"Let's get out of here quickly now," said Valentine.

The three of them went back to where they came from hurriedly before more wraiths came. Valentine had only got two more of the blood bullets, so he wouldn't be able to kill more than two wraiths.

The loud sound of the stream of sewer water covered up the sounds of their footsteps and the surroundings, but with Valentine's enhanced hearing, he could still faintly hear the sounds coming from the area around them. There were rats squeaking and the sounds of crawlies moving about. Suddenly, his attention was drawn by the sound of something slithering on the sewer floor. Judging from the sound, whatever made it was much bigger than a regular snake.

"Be careful, there is something else here," said Valentine quietly.

"What do you mean?" asked Jacco without any hint of fear in his voice.

"Is that the thing that ate the dead man's face?" asked Luuk.

"Probably," said Valentine, then added, "But I don't know what it is,"

The trio kept on walking in the dark tunnel with Valentine as the head. Jacco was at the back, following closely with the candle in his hand. He had stopped beating his War Drum because it took a lot of stamina. The sound of munching then could be heard as they got closer to where the corpse was, and after making a turn, they could clearly see the source of all that noise, and smell the rotting stench from the corpse, although not as strong as before somehow.

Munch... munch...

There was a bizarre creature eating what remained of the corpse alone, while the rats all stayed away from it, occasionally hissing to scare the creature. The creature, that was much bigger than the rats, ignored them and kept on munching. The trio stopped right away and observed the creature carefully.

From where they were standing, the thing looked like a black rat with feathers instead of fur because of its ears, but it had no limbs. Its body looked like that of a giant snake all the way to its tail, with a height similar to a brown bear and the length of an adult crocodile. Its feather looked shiny in the candlelight.

Detecting the presence of living humans behind it, the giant rat turned around and showed its rat-like face that matched its ears to the trio. Now they could see the bizarre creature perfectly: a snake-bodied black rat with feathers. It hissed at them, baring its sharp fangs and mouth full of saliva. It was blocking their way, so they had to defeat it or chase it away if they wanted to get out.

"The fuck is that?" asked Jacco in confusion.

A baby-shaped supernatural creature was strange, but the creature in front of him was even stranger. They got ready for combat right away and spread into position.

"I, in the name of the Deity of War, play this War Drum!"

Badum! Badum!

Jacco's war drum resounded in the dark tunnel again, enhancing the powers of his teammates. Valentine had his knife ready because he knew the gun wouldn't do anything against the thing.

Clash!

The creature was irritated by the sound of the drum and charged at Jacco, but Valentine was in its way. It headbutted Valentine hard, sending him flying into the sewer wall behind him. Despite its shape, it could move very quickly and its attack power was also high. Thanks to Jacco's empowerment, Valentine was not fatally injured by the attack, although his whole body was in pain.

"Are you alright?" asked Jacco without stopping his drum beating.

"I'm fine. Luuk, watch out!"

The creature was now charging at Luuk who stood between it and Jacco, but he had finished his chanting first.

"I, in the name of the Deity of Theft, declare your intention to attack me mine!"

The creature suddenly stopped in its track in confusion. It had lost its intention to attack the man in front of him and was now wondering why it was there. The one-second confusion of the creature was enough for Luuk to quickly stab it with his knife that he was holding in his left hand.

Clang!

His knife made contact with the creature's feather which felt like steel. He couldn't even make a scratch on the creature. Seeing his attack fail, he quickly retreated to a safe distance because the creature was enraged by Luuk's attack.

Clang!

Valentine very quickly dashed at the thing at attack him with his own knife, only to be met with the same result. Its hard feather protected its skin, rendering his attack useless. The creature then changed its target and dashed at Valentine instead, which gave Luuk the opportunity to move even farther from the thing.

"Watch out!" shouted Jacco from the back.

Luuk opened his right hand and released the stolen intention and the creature suddenly changed target again. It quickly darted towards Luuk who was now standing far away. The distance gave him the opportunity to chant again.

"I, in the name of the Deity of Theft, declare your intention to attack me mine!"

The creature stopped in its track yet again, and Valentine seized the opportunity to strike. Now, he aimed for its eye. He had to make a jump because its head was taller than him.

Stab!

He buried his knife deep in the creature's right eye, causing red blood to spurt and covered his whole body. The creature shook its head violently in agony, trying to send its attacker flying, Valentine held on his knife tightly and was sent flying, along with his knife. He hit a wall for the second time, sending pain all over his body.

"Urgh... fuck me," he groaned in pain.

Badum! Badum!

The sound of the War Drum slowly relieved his pain, and he quickly got up. The creature was now charging at Jacco with who was playing the irritating noise. Its movement was slightly slower than before because of the pain in its eye.

"I, in the name of the Deity of Theft, declare your intention to attack Jacco mine!"

Luuk quickly chanted and made a swiping motion with his right hand. He kept his hand in a fist form while the creature was again confused for a second.

"I only have two more thefts, do you think we can beat it?" said Luuk to Valentine.

After saying that, Luuk felt something strange. His mouth was oddly dry as if he was dehydrated. He looked at Valentine and the latter shook his head while looking very serious.

"I don't think so. My mouth feels strangely dry and I feel weaker than before now,"