Braveheart Bar
From within the dark smoke, glowing blue eyes could be seen flying at incredible speed, circling the patch of light in the center of the bar.
Like a hunter stalking its prey, it waited for the perfect opportunity to strike before shooting forward.
"Hugo, to your left!"
Barely dodging, the man who was thin as a corpse aimed his revolver at the passing wraith, unloading onto its body.
"Hugo, Bram, bring the fight outside! We'll only be at a disadvantage if we stay here!"
The man, who had worn an indifferent expression, was now frantically running toward the bar's entrance.
"Ignite!"
The whole front of the bar instantly exploded, black smoke gushing out and merging with the darkness of the night.
Hugo and Bram followed suit, running out into the open.
Pulling out a talisman, Hugo recited some words over it. Green light shone from the markings, forming a barrier that surrounded the three men.
The wraith, which was right in front of them, crashed into the barrier, causing it to crack slightly before being repelled backward.
"Hey! Litch, use the purification charm!"
"Stop bugging me! I'm trying to find it, okay?"
Bram, the huge burly man, had a face full of annoyance. Moving to the front, he grabbed the wraith, which was momentarily stunned by the impact.
The wraith writhed in his grip, trying to escape. The armor of the wraith in contact with Bram's special gloves began to melt.
The wraith flicked its tail toward Bram but was repelled by Hugo's gunshots.
"I got it!"
Litch pulled out a pure white charm and threw it straight toward both Bram and the wraith.
"Purify!"
White light illuminated the surroundings, scorching the wraith. The side facing the light began to melt like a popsicle on a hot summer day.
Chalky goo dripped from the wraith's body, slowly exposing more of the blue veins underneath.
"SCREECH!"
The wraith, clearly enraged, mustered all its strength and turned its entire body, simultaneously shooting out spikes from what was left of its skeletal armor.
Bram, who was standing next to the wraith, was struck point-blank, unable to dodge. Luckily, the impact from the spike was somewhat mitigated by the green barrier, allowing Bram to barely retreat backward, suffering only superficial scratches.
Free from Bram's grip, the wraith dove into the ground, retreating far away.
"Phew, that was a close one."
"It wouldn't have been if you didn't take so long finding that damn purification charm."
Clearly pissed off, Bram continued to scold Litch for consistently misplacing things. It wasn't the first time Litch had either forgotten or failed to bring crucial charms that would have helped them fight these spiritual monsters.
Dispersing the green barrier, Hugo slowly walked up to them, taking out a vial that contained a fine powder. Sprinkling some of it onto the chalky goo, the melted exterior of the wraith's skeleton.
"Wait... where are Victor and that kid?"
Having a moment of realization, Hugo looked back up at his two quarreling comrades.
"Now that you mention it, where are they? Furthermore, where did the wraith run off to—"
Just as he was about to finish his sentence, Litch also came to a realization.
"Damn it! Follow that wraith!"
At that moment, about a few hundred meters away, a bright light could be seen illuminating the night sky.
'What is that light?'
While looking back, I just so happened to see Victor taking out a pure white charm, which exploded into a torrent of light, momentarily blinding me.
Standing still for a moment, I squinted my eyes, trying to observe what was happening.
In the center of the light, Victor fell to the ground, rolling backward before jumping up again. Taking out his revolver, he aimed it toward the center.
The wraith, at first, began to melt away due to the light. However, dark smoke burst out from its body, shielding it as it charged straight toward Victor.
Caught off guard, Victor tried to dodge but it was too late. The wraith bit down on his arm, dragging him along and smashing him into one of the decayed buildings.
"Victor!"
'Crap, what do I do?'
I'm not exactly the kindest person in the world. Yeah, when I came across beggars, I would throw them a copper coin or two, but besides that, I never did anything truly selfless or righteous.
In fact, during my university days, I had often cheated during written exams and even sabotaged my competitors' papers. I thought that if I wanted to be the best, I had to do everything I could—even through nefarious means.
However now, I stood at a crossroads, faced with two choices.
One, I run away and enter the physical world using the key Victor gave me.
Two, I try my best to distract the wraith.
'If I help him, would that even guarantee his survival? There's a high possibility that we both die.'
[It doesn't matter if it's the right choice or not... The better question is, can you live with yourself if you ignore him?]
'Yes, you're right... Hah! What am I even debating for? The answer is obvious. Of course I can't!'
Placing the key into my coat, I dashed toward the revolver on the ground. If I tried to confront the wraith head-on, I would surely die. However, if I do this...
Bringing both hands up, I steadied my gaze on the wraith.
I have never used a gun before.
And this is one hell of a situation to be learning how to use one!
Before the wraith could deliver the finishing blow to Victor, I pulled the trigger. Unaccustomed to the recoil, the revolver completely strayed from its original position.
Although maybe by a miracle, a stroke of luck the bullet managed to hit between the crown of the wraith, piercing its eye.
"SCREEEEECH!"
The wraith screamed in agony, dropping Victor to the floor as it turned toward me, diving down into the ground.
'Crap! Not that bullshit again!'
Now that it was no longer in my line of sight, I began to panic, wondering when and where it would pop up.
Breaking out into a cold sweat, I thought about my next course of action.
Time seemed to dilate as I felt my mind go into overdrive, trying to predict whether the wraith would come for me from the side or straight below.
'I have to take a gamble!'
Ducking down, I rolled to my right, aiming the revolver toward the left where I had been standing, and fired.
The reason I chose to roll right was that the wraith had already tried to attack Victor directly from below and got hurt by the white charm eliminating that option.
As for coming from the front, it would've been easy for me to react and dodge.
Coming from the back would've taken too long and was inefficient for it to travel that far.
That left either the right or the left. However, I had injured the right eye of the wraith. Thus, if it wanted to attack me from the right, it would've had to lose sight of me for a moment to reach that side. That left only the left!
Just as I predicted, the wraith popped up from the left where I stood, shooting straight into the air two of the bullets piercing its skeleton.
"Yes!"
I screamed in excitement as my plan worked but that quickly faded when I realized I had run out of bullets.
'Hah, shit...'
Getting my ass off the ground, I quickly ran, trying to put as much distance as possible between me and the wraith.
"Run toward me, Mr. Civik!"
I was confused by Victor's words but decided to trust him anyway.
Rolling on the ground once again, barely dodging another strike, I closed the distance between us.
Raising his remaining good arm, Victor pulled out a second purification charm and threw it toward the wraith and me.
"PURIFY!"
Shouting as loud as he could, he activated the charm, causing it to explode with light.
'No, that won't be enough!'
Looking back, I saw the black smoke once again protecting the wraith.
"ARGH, WHAT THE HELL!"
Mustering up all my courage, I turned around, grabbed the charm, and shoved it straight into the oncoming smoke.
I felt the wraith bite down on my hand. Before it could completely sever it, the light from the charm melted the wraith from the inside out, causing it to explode into a mess of white goo and blue luminescent blood.
I slumped to the floor, my legs giving out as I realized the wraith had been defeated.
Catching my breath, I looked at my right arm, which now had a pair of deep bite marks one on top and one below.
It didn't hurt as much as I thought it would, probably due to the adrenaline.
'At least I'm still in a better state than Victor...'
Looking toward him, I saw that he was completely covered in blood, thrashed to an inch of his life.
"Hah, at least it's over now."
Tilting my head upward, I saw the starry night, spotting the different constellations in the sky. One of them shone brighter than the rest shaped in a circle, eight stars remained high above, looking down.
"..."
'Hmm?'
Far away in the distance, I saw the silhouettes of three figures approaching, shouting something at me.
"What did you say? I can't hear you!"
I leaned forward, trying to make out their words.
"Hey! Kid, run!"
"Move!"
"Get up!"
'What?'
But then, as I finally understood what they were saying, in front of me, I saw the half-melted figure of the wraith suddenly jump up from the ground right at me.