Survival Story of a Sword King in a Fantasy World

Midsummer Night’s Evil Spirit (2)

Artis secretly whispered something to Han-bin, who was standing absentmindedly.

“I told you it’s easy but annoying.”

“Yeah, there’s not any tension, let alone a battle…”

Interpreting it differently, Emil looked apologetic.

“I forgot about you, Mr. Felard.”

He immediately covered the black greatsword with a spirit. Judging from the quick casting involved with it, Han-bin thought it was just a low-level skill.

“Then, please.”

With a single swing of his sword, five or six ghosts disappeared all at once, causing Emil to burst in admiration.

“As expected from a Valtara warrior! What great power!”

Applying spirits on a weapon only gave the user the ability to damage ethereal beings, but the amount of damage done still depended on the user’s strength.

It only took a single minute of ghost-slaying for them to vanquish their foes completely. After making sure there were no longer any ghost appearances, Priest Emil addressed the group politely.

“It looks like we’ve gotten rid of all of them around here. Shall we move on to the next section?”

As Priest Emil took the lead, Hyu Han-bin smiled bitterly.

‘I was wondering why everyone was so relaxed…’

Now he definitely understood.

* * *

The cleansing of all the evil spirits in the area only took three hours.

That’s right. It was no more than ‘cleansing’ to Han-bin and his party.

It was too easy for him to label it with impactful words such as extermination and annihilation.

‘Is this the only thing I accomplished with my time today?’

Still, it wasn’t all in vain.

The Church’s contribution score had risen considerably with their work.

Han-bin sheathed the black greatsword onto his back as he addressed the Priest.

“Are we going back now?”

Priest Emil smiled.

“Just to be sure, we’re going to stay here tonight to examine the area.”

Even if only one remained, it would still have the potential to absorb evil energy and repopulate; hence every single one of them needed to be erased from existence.

They chose a living room on the second floor of the mansion and lit a fire in the middle of it.

Blankets were laid on the floor to serve as their beds.

All that remained was for them to wait until dawn came.

Basking in the warmth of the flames, Effir began to speak perhaps out of boredom.

“A midsummer night, an abandoned mansion… It’s the perfect setting for a ghost story.”

Emil replied with a smile.

“I know. Why don’t we tell scary stories to pass the time?”

“Hey, that’ll be fun.”

Han-bin found the conversation absurd.

‘Are there any ghost stories in this world? You just wiped out the ghosts without problems. How would ghost stories even exist when the ghosts aren’t that scary or strong?’

Priest Emil began to tell a tale, his voice filled with eerieness.

“During my days as an Apprentice, I was working with a team of Beginner Hunters to fight a monster…”

* * *

As usual, the story began on the way back from fighting monsters.

“Suddenly, the sky darkened, and rain began to pour heavily. Everyone quickly searched for a place to stay in.”

What they found was a huge noble mansion abandoned in the woods.

Its ambiance was gloomy and sorrowful, filled with dead trees and dried grass everywhere.

“We went inside the mansion to avoid the rain. We made a proper fireplace and dried our bodies, but a whitish human figure appeared across the hall.”

Artis and Effir chimed in.

“It is common for ghosts to appear in abandoned mansions.”

“Hey, and then?”

As he listened to them, Han-bin soon realized the ghost itself was not the ghost story’s subject.

Little by little, Emil’s voice began to turn into a whisper.

“At first, I thought it was just another ghost. I naturally tried to eradicate it without much thought…”

He paused for a moment, then quietly added.

“… But why would a ghost open a door to enter a room in the hallway?”

Effir trembled.

“Hey!”

Han-bin blinked.

‘What? Why is she surprised there?’

Regardless, it seemed to terrify the people from this world.

Everyone listened to Emil with stern expressions.

“Surprised, we armed ourselves and immediately pursued the ghost. It was the first time we had seen it, so everyone was very nervous. But!”

Suddenly Emil raised his voice.

“The candlesticks hanging on the corridor caught fire all at once!”

“Heek!”

Artis let out a strange groan.

Effir was silent, but her face was stiff.

Both seemed to have been immersed in the story.

Of course, Han-bin was far off.

“……?”

He didn’t understand the reason why a Dragon, a being that could breathe fire from its mouth and could use all sorts of magic, would be surprised to see a little fire light up an abandoned candlestick.

“All of them were brave Hunters, but after that incident, even their hearts could no longer contain it. We decided to run out of the mansion hurriedly.”

So, they went down to the first floor of the mansion.

However, the unknown ghost was already standing there.

“With our escape route blocked, we had no choice but to fight. I prepared the spirits, and the mage cast flame-based magic, which should’ve worked well for the ghost. But just as the spirits and magic spells were about to hit the ghost…”

Emil paused for a moment before looking back at the party with a dark expression.

“It all just passed through the ghost…”

The dragon and the Wyvern, both in their human forms, trembled profusely.

“Hump.”

“Oh, come on! Don’t scare me too much.”

On the other hand, Ryu Han-bin, a Korean disguised as a barbarian warrior, could only cover his face with both hands out of sheer confusion.

‘I don’t know. I can’t sympathize with them at all…’

It was hopeless. Han-bin knew their cultures were different, but their horror stories were like night and day.

Emil continued the story.

“Naturally, we ran away again.”

After that, it became a typical ghost story.

The ghost eagerly pursued the party, and they did their best to run away, but instead of passing through walls, the ghost knocked and opened doors.

It seemed like a funny story from Han-bin’s perspective, but Effir and Artis were frightened all the way to their bones.

“You mean the ghost opened the doors on purpose?”

“Even though it can go through walls?”

“Heeeek, it’s scary!”

He didn’t want to show that he wasn’t aware of Latna Continent’s culture as much as possible, but at that point, he already too curious.

Han-bin deliberately asked in a blunt tone.

“What’s scary about ghosts opening doors?”

Effir replied, her voice shaking.

“If a ghost opens a door, it’s not a ghost. It’s the soul of the dead!”

Artis also answered him.

“If it keeps its old habits intact, it means it’s not just an embodiment of evil energy.”

In Latna, ‘ghosts’ and ‘the souls of the dead’ had completely different meanings.

“So, we…”

He continued that they couldn’t escape from the mansion, and they could only run away as hard as possible from an existence they couldn’t fight against and managed to escape by morning.

“I still don’t know what the ghost I met that day was. Was it just a midsummer night’s nightmare, or was it really the soul of the dead?”

Emil finished the story with a calm tone.

“The truth is still buried in the dark. That’s the end of my story. Well, it might be boring.”

He then tidied up his blanket and laid down on it.

“Let’s get some sleep. The night is still young.”

* * *

Artis’s magic eliminated the need for a night watch.

“Flow and scatter. The Sand of Dream.”

It prevented the light, heat, and odors of the fireplace from leaking out. An alarm barrier also surrounded them, allowing them to easily detect if an enemy were to approach them.

Han-bin and his party began to lie down in front of the fireplace, but they couldn’t fall asleep.

Priest Emil, Artis, and Effir tossed around with their blankets on. They didn’t feel tired enough.

Ryu Han-bin smiled as he looked at them. He was under the same experience.

‘What should I do to tire myself out?’

Lying down on his blanket, he stared at the ceiling blankly.

After a few minutes had passed, he heard a faint weeping voice from the corner of the hall.

“Hoo…….”

“Hoooooo…….”

An eerie groan resonated in the dark, alerting him.

Anyone would’ve felt the hairs all over their body standing up upon hearing such a cry, but Han-bin and his party were different.

Fed up with the ghost’s wails due to the cleansing they did earlier, they stood up with a smile.

Priest Emil slowly held up his finger.

“There are still a few left.”

Effir unsheathed her twin blades.

“Good. I can’t sleep anyway.”

The party went out into the hallway.

Just as predicted, a human-shaped shadow was standing across them, embraced by the darkness.

However, unlike the white ghosts that they’ve eradicated, its body was black and emitted more malice.

It was so dark that its outline was still visible while standing in the entirely lightless hallway.

Puzzled, Artis spoke.

“Its color is different from before.”

“It may look different, but it’s still just a ghost.”

Unbothered, Emil produced another spirit of light.

“Let’s take care of it.”

Ghosts were naturally be drawn to Emil’s light, but the black spirit didn’t approach them.

Instead, it burst into a piercing roar and shuddered in the dark.

“Keeeeeeek!”

The shape of the shadow had changed from human-like to a strange monster.

“Why don’t my lights attract it?”

A little confused, Emil conjured another skill.

“Light of Althea, defeat my enemy!”

A holy light came into being, taking on the shape of a spear and surging forward towards the spirit.

But instead of piercing it, the spear just passed through.

“Ah?”

Before Emil could react, the black spirit moved.

The shadow swelled in a flash, then turned into a pitch-black blade which flew directly at them.

Bang! Bang! Bang!!

Breaking the floor, the shockwave of the blade dashed towards the party.

Reflexively, Artis unfolded a magic barrier.

“Arcane Shield!”

A translucent shield was created in the space between them and the incoming pitch-black blade.

‘Ugh!’

However, it also just passed through the barrier.

Just as the pitch-black blade was about to hit the defenseless Artis, Effir quickly rushed towards him and pushed him aside.

“Mr. Artis!”

Narrowly missing them, the tip of the blade pierced against the corridor wall, causing a part of it to collapse as a tremendous explosion ensued.

Rumble!

Artis’s face turned ghastly behind the rising dust.

“… Did it just go through a magic barrier?”

Effir looked at Emil with frightened eyes.

“Wait, what is this? Was that story of yours really true?”

Their situation now was the same as the story Emil had just told them awhile ago.

“No! no, no way. It can’t be…”

With an expression full of disbelief, Priest Emil initiated another spirit again.

“Tears of Kybriel, tear through the darkness.”

Artis also used another spell out of desperation.

“Fire Crash!”

None proved effective against it.

All attacks simply passed through it and hit the mansion wall.

Priest Emil’s eyes widened.

“Nonsense! Is it really a soul of the dead?”