Ghastly vs Paars and Graham

"If only we had a strong offensive ability, Val," Graham muttered.

Ghastly's charred skin had begun healing and after a while, what was left would only be her tattered clothes. The damage done to her would disappear completely as she got stronger because of her being outnumbered.

Her hard skin already protected her against most of Graham's attacks previously, so her current defense should be even more impenetrable. He really couldn't think of a way of winning against her with his current power.

Even if he had Paars by his side, an Unseen like him shouldn't have a strong offensive ability either. Judging from the fact that he had a familiar, his other Deity must be of Astrology and Familiars and Contractbounds of that Deity were good at Divination, not fighting. His giant cat familiar looked like it would be able to kill normal people easily, but against the current Ghastly, it was rather powerless.

Thud!

The invisible Paars had launched a surprise attack on her!

Although she could see through Graham's Concealment using her ability, she couldn't see Paars. It was something he could exploit.

"Show yourself if you dare you Zakkenwasser!!" she shouted angrily.

Ghastly swung her giant club around in a frightening manner. Even the air around her got pushed in a loud whack; being hit by her attack could be fatal if he didn't have Valentine's Illusion Substitute.

Ghastly took out her 'letter opener' again and slashed her wrist. From the wound, red blood came pouring out as she moved her left hand closer to her left shoulder. She seemed to be about to splash the whole area with her blood to reveal the invisible enemy.

"I order you to stop!"

Graham's Order, although couldn't be heard by the enemy because of his concealed state, immobilized Ghastly instantly. She froze in the air while the blood kept flowing from her slit wrist. In only a matter of seconds, the wound began closing and the blood dried up.

"Alright, Val. We got a few seconds at best. What are our options? Knife? Doesn't work. Gun? Doesn't work. Wrestle her to death? My skull wouldn't be cracked first before I could even think about it," he then looked up and smiled meaningfully, "But maybe we can make use of that thing,"

Crash!

Paars had launched another attack on Ghastly and either his kick or his punch had sent pushed her back and hit a metal trash bin behind her. The trash fell out of the bin and littered the street, but it was not something Paars cared about right now.

"I order the mist covering my voice to dissipate!"

The yellowish mist covering his mouth became thinner and he felt that now his voice could be heard by others, although the other sounds that he made would still be concealed.

"Hey, invisible man, let's agree on a temporary truce between us," shouted Graham.

There was no response for some moment and Ghastly had stood back up. The effect of his Order had worn off and there was an ugly expression on her face.

"I'll just beat the shit out of the enemy I can see first then!" she yelled angrily.

Dash!

Ghastly charged at him with her inhuman speed and whack the heavy metal club right in his face. His head was hit but instead of his skull cracking, he turned into a blotch of ink that disappeared.

"Not so fast!" shouted Ghastly.

She swung her heavy club around again very easily as if it was made of paper. She all the spots that Graham would reappear after his Illusion Substitute took effect. Just as his body was forming, it was hit by her swing and disappeared again.

Bang!

Graham was finally able to aim at her and before his body was hit again by her weapon, he had fired a shot and hit her right in the head. However, the bullet failed to penetrate her skull and only caused a wound on her forehead, from which blood began pouring. She was pushed back by the impact and was unable to move.

It was a paralysis bullet!

Graham was now standing in close proximity to the paralyzed Ghastly. It was something that he had planned, and although he didn't know how many Illusion Substitutes it would take, he still took the gamble. Now that the enemy was close to him and couldn't move, he could use his Implant!

The ability worked by planting a false thought inside the enemy's brain that would manifest by time. However, for it to work, it couldn't be too contradictory to how the person would normally think, especially since the enemy was much stronger like her. It worked before on Fright because of his desire to use his Mass Illusion without Fear being nearby. It also worked on Luuk before because he might already have suicidal tendencies; at least that was what Graham could analyze from it.

"I order you to stop moving!"

He issued another Order because the effect of the paralysis bullet wouldn't be more than two seconds against a strong enemy like her.

Graham began mumbling to make sure she didn't know what he was saying. If she knew he was planting a false thought in her head, she would be more guarded and it might fail. Once he was done, he quickly got away from her as fast as he could.

"Now we just need to survive until the thought manifests," he muttered while looking around to find anything he could use to prolong his survival.

Suddenly, Paars appeared near him, completely naked just like before. His expression was like someone judging and his body language showed that he was guarded.

"Who are you? Why do you sound like Rood?" he asked inquisitively. His tone was interrogative and he was demanding an explanation right away.

Paars couldn't see Graham's face but he could see his figure even through his Concealment. It was a passive ability that he got after becoming a Contractbound the Deity of Invisibility and Treasures and of Astrology and Familiars, which enabled him to see hidden things. The fact that Graham's voice sounded exactly the same as his partner made him suspicious.

Graham began mumbling inaudibly again and without waiting for Paars to become even more suspicious, he answered while looking straight at the man's blue eyes.

"It's something that you will learn in time. For now, let's focus on that dangerous woman," Graham turned his attention at Ghastly, who was beginning to shake off the effect of Order, and asked, "Anyway, why haven't you called for backup?"

"It's none of your business," replied Paars coldly, "And I still haven't trusted you yet, but I'm willing to cooperate for now."

"Then just trust me. I have a plan. Please help me distract her. We just need time," he said meaningfully.

Paars turned invisible again and Graham couldn't feel him anymore. He wouldn't be able to feel Paars' presence unless he was trying to attack him.

"Thanks for standing so close to each other, fuckers. Now I can hit you two at once," said Ghastly mockingly.

She charged at them with her metal club in full swing. Graham and Paars managed to get away in time, fortunately, so she hit nothing.

Dash!

Ghastly quickly launched herself at Graham, who was much slower than her now. She easily caught up to him and swung her club as hard as she could. She didn't know how many more Illusory Substitutes he had, but she could just keep attacking him until he ran out of them.

Whack!

Graham managed to duck and she hit a tree with her club. The trunk of the tree cracked like broken porcelain and it fell began toppling, showing how much power she had. Graham, who had just barely avoided the attack, could even feel the hot air caused by the weapon that she was using.

Crash!

The tree hit the pavement and the brown leaves were scattered everywhere. Graham managed to flee the area so he wasn't hit by it.

"Stop running around like a coward and come fight me!!" she shouted. Ghastly readied her club again for another attack.

"Maybe I am indeed a coward?" replied Graham, making her even angrier.

Ghastly stood up straight and shortly after, a dangerous green miasma came out of her body and quickly spread to the surrounding area. She had used another Disease Spreading!

Graham quickly got away from the area but Ghastly chased after him. The dangerous miasma was following her, making Paars unable to approach her. Graham couldn't use Order to cancel it because then she would smite him, which he thought was her purpose of using that ability. It was just a bait.

Graham took out his lighter and lit a tiny fire.

"I ask that you burn brighter!"

The flame burned violently and it became the size of a basketball. It couldn't get any bigger because it was still using the fuel from the lighter to burn.

"I ask that you burn my enemy!"

The big fireball shot at Ghastly and the moment it made contact with the miasma, it exploded.

Kaboom!

Smoke rose from the explosion and blocked Graham's view. Suddenly, Ghastly dashed towards him from behind the smoke with a smirk on her beautiful yet perverted face. Before Graham could use Order to stop her, she had swung her club and hit him. The heavy metal club struck through his Illusion Substitute and hit the pavement, cracking it.

Graham reappeared near the spot where the illusion disappeared and quickly took a step back. He now only had one last Illusion Substitute and after that, he would be left defenseless-- just one attack from the enemy could end his life.

Ghastly didn't chase after Graham right away because she knew Paars would take the chance to attack her. She instead took out her small dagger and slit her wrist. With a motion of her left hand, she splattered her blood all around her and it took Paars by surprise. Some of the blood stuck to his body, exposing his location.

"I order you to stop moving!"

Graham shouted, stopping Ghastly's attack against Paars. It gave him a chance to quickly get away from her range of attack. However, since she had fallen under the same ability many times already, the effect wore off a second later. She turned to Graham and her eyes were squinted in a sinister way. There was a smile of satisfaction on her face.

"Now your little trick is ineffective, just like your little wiener. What are you going to do, huh?" she mocked him, "And your invisible friend is no longer invisible because he is on his period," she added as she looked at the floating bloodstain on the air that was constantly moving.

Ghastly then took off her high heels so that she could move even easier. She wouldn't usually do that, but since she was fighting two enemies who were good at running away, it felt natural for her just to do so.

Graham wasn't interested in listening to her speech so he just kept on running to the spot that he had prepared. He then stood behind a tall metal electric pole as if trying to hide from Ghastly.

"Hiding behind that thing? Do you know that my club is even stronger than that pole even though it's fully erect? Just with a little vibration of this thing, it will go collapsing on the ground," she said as she licked her giant metal club. Her tone was full of derision.

"Val, why does she suddenly speak a lot more now. Is it because she is so sure she will win?" muttered Graham. He kept his eyes on the vulgar woman who was approaching him rapidly.

Ghastly reached Graham's spot not long after and stood behind in front of the electric pole without giving the man the chance to escape. She wanted to blow away both the man and the 30m tall metal pole in front of her at once. She felt something was amiss but she didn't pay any more attention to it. What mattered to her right now was destruction! Both for her enemies and for everything else standing in her way.

Whack!

Her heavy metal club was swung with great power and it hit the metal electric pole, creating a loud bang. For some reason, Graham was still standing behind the electric pole despite the chance to escape because she failed to destroy it in one hit. She swung her club again with a distorted expression.

Whack!

The metal pole finally bent all the way and it started collapsing.

Snap!!

The power line cables connected to it snapped one by one and fell on the ground. This time, Graham got away quickly from the place to avoid being hit by both the collapsing pole and the highly dangerous cables. Ghastly, who saw what was happening around her, felt her sense of danger triggered and quickly tried to get away,

"I order you to electrocute her!"

Graham had been waiting for that very moment when the power chords were within his range of ability. One of the cables quickly slithered like a snake and buried its exposed wires right on her leg.

"Aaaaaaahh!!"

Right at that moment, her whole body was suddenly shaking and twitching violently as the electricity flowed through her to the ground that she was on.

"I order you to electrocute her!"

Graham commanded another broken power line cable and it mauled her right in her face, sending even more deadly electricity through her body.

"Fuck you!! Fuck you!! Come here you little shit!!" she shouted angrily while writhing in pain. She tried to shake off the cables while approaching Graham but strangely, they were stuck to her.

"I order you to electrocute her!"

Yet another thick power line cable attacked the woman who was already in great pain. It took three power line cables to send enough volts to kill her.

The smell of burned flesh filled the air as her expression turned more and more twisted. Her eyes became bloodshot and a short while later, she exploded in a bloody mess, sending pieces of charred flesh and burned organs everywhere. Ghastly had finally died in a very painful way.

Both he and Paars had got away from the area so they were safe from the exploding human and the lashing power cables.

Once her soul had been snuffed out of her, Ghastly's whole body burned once more and turned to ashes rapidly. Among her ashes, five Contract scrolls were left lying and a round object began to slowly form. Graham used Order in quick succession to bring the scrolls to his side so he didn't have to approach the danger zone where she had died. After the round object resembling a belly button with flesh attached around it finished forming, he also used Order to obtain it.

"That was a brilliant plan, Rood," said Paars suddenly. He had appeared near Graham and the expression on his face no longer showed suspicion.

"Why didn't you tell me that you've gone undercover to fight her?" he asked in a friendly tone.