Free Web NovelChapter 2038: Chapter 2038: Ghost Benhart
This idea wasn’t wrong; after the Thunder Spear exploded, there wasn’t any anomaly around. But when Shard instinctively felt something was off behind him and turned to look back, the man with the ghastly pale face was almost pressed against his back.
Only when viewed up close can one see that the face, seemingly covered with frost or flour, was someone he actually recognized.
At this moment, Shard was truly surprised:
"Mr. Benhart?"
This strange ghost was indeed Armand Bernhardt. In the autumn of 1853, he was commissioned by the clan to carry a Divine Descent Vessel prepared by the Vampire God to Midshire Fort, to help with the Vampire God’s descent and collect key relics, though he himself knew little about the whole plan. He experienced the card game at Sin Mansion with Shard, and on the night of the Milestone battle, when Shard was preparing to enter the mountains to find Grace and Helen, he even advised Shard not to go into the mountains.
During his time in Midshire Fort City, Shard and he were considered friends. Later, he met this gentleman again in Huntington City, where they helped each other a lot, and he even knew that "John Watson" was actually Shard Hamilton. However, the Pantanal battle made Mr. Benhart decide to "hide" in Velindale City last early winter to spend the season there.
Since parting in Huntington City, although Shard received a few letters and Year-End Festival cards from him, he never saw this gentleman again. To meet again in such a situation was unexpected.
The ghost of the Vampire Kind was very close to Shard when discovered. The ghost drifted forward, seemingly trying to enter Shard’s body. But as a flash of silver moonlight passed over Shard’s skin, the ghost appeared to be hit by a powerful force, sending it flying away, and subsequently, the spirit vanished again.
The witch at the edge of the square was momentarily distracted, as the pure moonlight that appeared just then had not been seen for she didn’t know how long. As for that powerful undead, she had already noticed some hints that even she, at present, could hardly solve.
"Something’s off."
Shard frowned as he carefully observed his surroundings:
"Just now... did he have a shadow?"
[Yes.]
"But he is indeed a spiritual body."
[Yes.]
"What kind of special undead is this?"
[Behind.]
As he turned and swung his staff simultaneously, the silver moonlight clung to the surface of Yggdrasil’s Staff, radiant and holy, a nemesis to all evil. But when the long staff struck the ghost behind him, Mr. Benhart’s soul extended a hand to grasp the staff.
Immense power seemed to have no effect in front of this ghost. And the sanctified silver moonlight, despite penetrating his spiritual body, didn’t appear to harm him in the slightest.
Shard didn’t have time to express his astonishment before feeling the opponent even trying to snatch his weapon. Thus, silver-white thunder spread along the surface of the black long staff, and upon contact with the spiritual body, the soul finally released its grip, giving Shard the chance to retreat.
The peculiar spirit of the Vampire Kind vanished again, and Shard came to understand some things:
"The Moon’s Power is ineffective against this spirit; I need to use thunder... Thunder is considered an extension of Sun Power... What went wrong with death in Apocalypse World for such a ghost to be allowed to manifest?"
Although the opponent had a shadow, it was clearly not an evil spirit infected by malice or obsession; it was simply a spiritual body. Yet this very soul displayed a blend of powers from both the living and the dead. Because it wasn’t an evil spirit, not purely negative energy, even if the Night Watchman brought by Shard wasn’t very effective this time.
Besides the intertwining of life and death, upon close contact, the ghost Mr. Benhart’s pure "death" power was only seen by Shard in the wings spread by Priest Augustus and those distant souls in "True Death". No ghost appearing in the Material World should be so pure.
If he hadn’t entered that deathly aquatic realm numerous times, or truly encountered the power of the Ancient God "Ancient God of Death" during his battle with Joey Barton, merely seeing this ghost might have made his soul freeze, unable to move:
"Other than me, Priest Augustus, Sister Delphine, and Joey Barton, what else can deal with this entity?"
Aside from the "Thunder Spear", the power of the "Sun" that Shard had seemed only to correspond to the Arcane Technique of "Praise the Sun" for [Arrogance] and...
As he was contemplating, the ghost reappeared. This time, the enigmatic figure appeared in front of Shard, slowly drifting towards him. The blurry figure gradually split, identical ghosts multiplied, all extending their hands towards him.
Amidst the swirling yellow sand, this extremely strange scene was not at all extravagant, nor was it silent, but absolutely more terrifying than the previous confrontation with the enormous Dark Merman.
Shard then held the staff with both hands, gathering strength as if wielding a spear for a thrust. Brilliant golden light converged at his hands, and as the long staff thrust forward, he and the Grand Witch of Time, who was observing this scene, simultaneously uttered the Witch’s Secret Arts obtained from Witch Empress Violet:
"Sunlight Ray!"
The searing flow of positive energy transformed into a roaring light cannon, surging forward, instantly annihilating the ghosts ahead. As Shard turned the direction of the magic wand, the sweeping sunlight engulfed those ghosts positioned at the edges as well.
When everything ended, Shard, gasping for breath, supported himself with the long staff, panting heavily. To exert such an effect with "Sunlight Ray" purely relied on the accumulation of Spirit, fortunately, he was no longer the Low Ring Sorcerer from Milestone.
However, he also discovered some issues. If the Night Watchman is more compatible with Iluna’s Sun Power than the Moonlight Power, then this wand, although seamlessly using Moonlight Power, is noticeably inferior in harnessing Sun Power compared to the Night Watchman.
"It’s not over yet."
Despite the yellow sand still swirling in the square swept by the sunlight, Shard clearly felt that it had become much "cleaner." Yet, within seconds, the cold breath of death came upon him again, as an evil object reached for Shard’s throat from behind, but the black chain emerging from Shard’s collar secured his soul.
The effect of the Great Sin Chain activated immediately, but the chain slipped off on its own in the next second:
"No sin? How is that possible?"
He immediately retreated, using Lagre’s Leap to withdraw twenty meters away. The eerie spirit floated towards Shard again, and Shard swung the black chain in his hand at it, yet this time the chain even passed directly through the peculiar spiritual body, proving truly ineffective.
Miss Adel Isabella had already confirmed the origin of this spirit in her heart. But she was more concerned about the chain in Shard’s hand, as six Great Sin Runes shimmered with a dangerous and strange glimmer under the agitation of Spirit. The experienced Grand Witch naturally recognized the origins of this chain.
"What’s this situation? How could a sentient being have no sin?"
On the other side, Shard continued retreating, expressing his surprise.
[It is rumored that spirits heading towards the endpoint after death will cleanse all sins and advance to the ultimate conclusion.]
"She" spoke gently, but it was of no use to Shard. He dared not open a passage to death in this Apocalypse World to see what’s happening on the other side, as he instinctively felt it was a terrible idea.
Even knowing that the ghost Bernhardt was a spirit returning from the endpoint of death didn’t help the current situation at all.
He kept retreating while continuing to attempt attacks, currently knowing that Sunlight Ray and Thunder Spear were the most effective Arcane Techniques against this enemy, while the numerous Incantations from the Moonlight Series and the damage from Shadow Orb, Psychic Shockwave, and Light of the Witch were quite limited.
More bizarrely, even when this peculiar spirit was hit by the Black Moon Insignia, the power of annihilation appeared unable to make it disappear.
"What on earth is this thing?"
No matter what Shard tried, the undead with an indistinct body and a pallid face only continued relentlessly pursuing him without uttering a word. The spirit occasionally used basic abilities like Doppelganger, Instantaneous Movement, Pounce, or Illusion Technique for attacks and dodging. Compared to the undead, this evil object seemed more like an unyielding relic with specific rules for pursuit and assault. It lacked the aggressive frequency and danger of Twin Lovers and didn’t possess the wide-range attack means like a Deep Sea Merman, yet this most primitive and resistant tracking and attacking were the most troublesome.
Fortunately, while the attack effects of the Moonlight Series Incantations were poor, the confinement function of the Moonlight Ring could still be somewhat effective. With the Great Sin Chain ineffective, the Moonlight Rings flying out one by one bought Shard precious time.
During the chase, he also repeatedly tried counterattacks with Thunder Spear and Sunlight Ray. However, the spirit’s traits dictated that in such an open venue, it was quite difficult for Shard alone to make his attacks accurately hit the opponent.
His eyes glanced towards the witch standing at his doorstep; Shard still believed it’s not time to give up:
"There’s no other way."
The long staff in his hand transformed back into a black key amidst light, and as Mr. Bernhardt with a pallid face shifted unpredictably, reaching a hand towards Shard’s direction, his body broke apart into thousands of red butterflies, flying towards every direction of the square.
The Red Butterfly Incarnation stacked with Red Butterfly Illusion, causing the ghost to stand there, unable to distinguish which was the real body. Subsequently, the illusory spiritual body scattered on the spot as well, thousands of transparent bats closely chasing those red butterflies.
They together passed through the wind and sand, under Miss Isabella’s watch, as the red butterflies led the swarm of bats into the ruins around the square.
When the last red butterfly and the last bat also disappeared into the square, only the witch standing amidst the yellow sand of Saint Delan Square remained, and it returned to the initial "silence."
