Chapter 458
Chapter 458
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 458
Chapter Title: Kim Katt and the Ghost's House
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"Hey! Hey! Kobson! Merria! Lina!"
My voice echoed loudly through the dark, silent corridor. What the hell? They just vanished all of a sudden?
"Damn it."
Stay calm, Kim Katt.
They had been right beside me just moments ago. An illusion? Hallucination? Or maybe some ghost sorcery. I immediately extended my battle-honed senses. No way they could fool my perception.
I breathed steadily, rolled my eyes around, and slowly turned in place with my sword at the ready.
Outside was dark. The corridor was dark. Sounds... none. Sense of balance? Fine. Mana circulating in my body? Normal.
Not a hallucination.
This was stone-cold reality.
"Those bastards..."
Did they run off faster than me?
Ditch me and bolt, all three of them?
No. No way in hell.
Kobson wouldn't abandon me and run. Even when I passed out in the jungle, that guy carried me and stuck by my side. No chance he'd leave me behind.
If even one person lags behind, combat power drops sharply, and survival odds plummet. Guys who know that don't ditch their comrades. Kobson and Merria are D-rank adventurers loaded with real combat experience—they get it.
And timing.
They were next to me a second ago, then poof—gone. Physically impossible. There should've been noise if they bolted. But from the moment I noticed they were gone until now, not a peep.
Unexplainable.
Which means it has to be magic.
"Cursed mansion."
Ghosts' doing, huh.
Shing.
My cold, settled mind sharpened the blade even further.
Could I cut down a ghost right now?
Regular physical attacks don't work on them. With Elise's holy enchantment, it'd be a cakewalk, but without it, what can I do? And are those ghosts even real ghosts to begin with?
Ghost.
I recalled the ghosts chasing us earlier. A ton of pale white women. Not quite like the ghosts I'd seen before.
Truth is, ghosts come in all shapes—no standard pattern. Ghosts, banshees, wraiths, phantoms. All similar. Banshees and wraiths are the female types, I think.
Didn't matter.
"Fuckin' ghost bastards."
Being alone actually chased away the fear and dread, filling my mind with extreme calm instead. Same vibe as when I fled the harpies and escaped the forest.
To survive, I needed to stay cool-headed.
First, find a way out. Then locate my friends. There were definitely windows on the second floor. Find a room with one, round up the crew, and bail.
God, I hope they're okay.
They know about the second-floor windows too, so odds are they're heading there. Might find them up there.
Thud... thud...
I kept Ratras's necklace at minimum glow and moved slowly. Ghosts could pop out of the dark any second. No people or thieves here—this mansion was ghost territory.
So I had to become a ghost myself.
From now on, I was Ghost Kim Katt.
Window.
I checked the windows along the way. All facing inward. Beyond them, pitch black like the deep sea.
"...What?"
How did I miss this?
It was blacker than black.
More like it had swallowed all light entirely. Felt like the mansion was plopped in the middle of space without a single star.
This darkness was unnatural.
I reached out and touched the window.
"Asura Blood Claw!!!"
Boom!
I unleashed a full-powered punch right into it.
Mana fused into my honed muscles packed lethal force on its own. A window like this should've shattered like dry twigs.
"..."
But the window didn't budge.
Just like the door earlier—no reaction. Window was fine. "Asura Blood Claw." "Thunderclap Strike." "Blood Heaven Demon Kick." "Wilderness Blood Prison Palm." I hammered it with every technique I had.
"Flexile Fist Art."
Wham wham wham!
Whoosh whoosh!
And the extremes.
I poured out ultimate moves. Still, the window held. After a few hits, it clicked. I wasn't hitting the window directly.
"...Shield?"
Right in front of the window, a transparent barrier like a coating. It absorbed every blow. No matter how hard I struck, nothing touched the glass itself.
That's why the doors and windows wouldn't break—magic at work.
Barrier... but too widespread.
"Barrier field?"
Some kind of ward?
I'm no mage, so I couldn't analyze it precisely. But one thing was clear: with ghosts bound to this mansion, I couldn't damage it directly.
Can't break the window.
No window, no escape.
So how the hell do I get out?
"The Heavenly Demon Kim Katt never abandons his friends."
Save my friends first.
Escape comes after. Rescue Kobson, Merria, and I'll take responsibility for Lina's life too.
You ghost fuckers.
I'll show you what a real ghost is.
My life is tied to the souls of those I've slain. Like the fragments from Supremacy of the Heavenly Demon—they're with me. In other words, I'm Kim Katt, necromancer who commands those spirits.
Necromancers don't fear ghosts.
Swish.
No sooner had I thought that than a pale white woman appeared dead ahead.
"..."
Her snow-white hair hung long enough to brush the floor. White dress fluttering, skin unnaturally pale like it didn't belong in this world.
"...What are you?"
But those eyes burned red with hatred and resentment.
That crimson glare marked her as a malevolent spirit. Eyes like two drops of blood on a snowy peak... No wonder she's a wicked ghost.
This one's a banshee or wraith, probably.
"What do you want?"
I kept my sword trained on her and asked calmly.
"Where are my friends?"
No answer, as expected. The banshee just stared blankly, standing still.
Can I cut a banshee? Hit her with my internal mana? What attacks does she have? Magic? Questions flashed through my mind.
Facing a new enemy always tests my nerves.
But when push comes to shove, I charge.
Enemy's identity? Who cares. Can I kill it or not—that's all that matters. I could run, but here, I need to test it first.
One-on-one is my chance.
Find out if I can kill it. Essential step to save friends and escape this place.
I approached the banshee.
Worst case, use the holy water—should handle it.
"...Yes."
Halt.
The voice that hit me was icy cold, but laced with a girl's youthful tone. Girl ghost? I gripped my sword hilt tight and waited for her next words.
"I want your blood."
.
"I want your flesh."
.
"I want your death."
The banshee continued slowly, her voice thick with grudge and hate—like viscous liquid dripping. Her resentment made real.
Clear enough: she wants me dead.
"I want you to become like me."
That was all I could understand.
Then she switched to unintelligible mutters, frantic. Her white hair floated up, defying gravity. She covered her face with both palms.
"Hic... hic... hiiic!!! Hic!!! I hate you, I hate you...! I haaaate you...!"
Now it was mournful sobs bursting out.
"...I see."
I walked toward her as I spoke.
"We're thinking the same thing. Means we could be friends."
Surprisingly, the banshee and I were on the same wavelength. I wanted to kill her too. If our thoughts align, maybe friendship's possible.
"Don't cry."
"..."
I approached, sword in hand.
No other ghosts around.
"Pale banshee. What's your name?"
At my question, her wailing stopped. She lowered her hands from her face and looked at me.
"...Name?"
The red glow in her eyes was gone.
Up close, she was just a pale white girl.
"Yeah, your name. Tell me."
"I... I..."
Malevolent spirit.
A being who dies harboring grudges, unable to pass on, wandering the underworld.
What story did this girl have? What sorrow and hate turned her into this? Tragic. Painful, agonizing. But as a fusion Confucian guardian, Kim Katt won't be swayed by evil spirits. I raised my sword and struck down at the muttering banshee.
Slash!
My pitch-black longsword, melted into the darkness, cleaved her in half—in an instant.
No sensation of cutting, naturally.
"Ahh?"
Her split form blurred, then reformed. Physical attacks don't work, huh? Just like with Hildegaard.
Time to run, fuck!!!
If attacks don't land, what the hell!!!
"All the same...! All you men are the same!"
I turned to bolt, and she screamed in rage.
Fuck. She yapped about my blood, flesh, death—now she's pissed?
"Always! Always, always always! Always...!"
Kiiiiiiaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!!!
Her shriek exploded again, and the banshee charged. Red glare pouring from her eyes.
"Fuck!"
I spun and fled.
Holy water has limits. Used some chasing off those spirits earlier—it's depleted. Run for now. Save holy water for true do-or-die.
"Hic... hic...! Hiiic!"
After running awhile, a woman's sobbing echoed from somewhere.
Could it be... Merria? Or Lina? Kobson screams like a little girl sometimes, so maybe him. Not the one chasing me, though.
Tap tap tap tap!
Judging it a malevolent spirit's cry, I veered toward the silent direction—but eerily, the sound stuck like it was in my head, following me like the moon on a clear night.
"Hiiic... hic... hiiic... I'm sad, so sad. So saaaad... Where are you, my knight who'll save me... Why me, why me whyy... hiiic!"
Then, something emerged from around the corner ahead.
A tall, beautiful woman in an unrealistically blue nun-like habit. Hands clasped in prayer, a veil like Elise's over her head.
No... nun habit? More like a widow's mourning garb for a funeral.
She floated smoothly, trailed by pale blue flames, candelabras, and random objects hovering after her.
Nun ghost!
Wraith!
"Ah, aah...! Aaah! You finally came, my knight!!!"
"What?"
The wraith spotted me rounding the corner and said that.
"I was scared, terrified, hurting... in agony, hic! Hiiic!! You finally came...!"
That bitch ain't right.
Whatever she spouts, gotta run. Heavenly Demon Kim Katt knows when to fight and when to bail.
I swerved into the next corner while sprinting.
"But... but you're too late...! Hic! Hiiic! So come with me...!"
Yet her voice rang fresh in my ear...! Fuck this! A real haunted house! Where the hell are my friends and what are they doing?!