Chapter 1482 (1/2)

Displaying a remarkable amount of Control, Alana pulled her image back to just around her person and didn't interfere with the descent of Glendel's will upon the Ghosthound. Above his Glendel’s body was the towering and indistinct figure composed entirely of shadow. The only exception was a pair of luminous eyes below the heavy crown that he bore. This was the Sovereign of Ghosts, ruler of the deceased, savior of the damned. That long shadow possessed the strength and integrity of a monarch, steadily focusing on the figure of the Ghosthound.

The shadowy Sovereign of Ghosts raised his hand and pointed at the Ghosthound, and from the ground beneath the Ghosthound’s feet came the grasping hands of angry ghosts. The Skill drew power from the foes that the target killed, so they had anticipated a massive response when they used it on the Ghosthound. But the ambusher's hesitated for a brief moment as thousands upon thousands of hands reached up and seized onto the Ghosthound's limbs.

There were so many hands that there quickly was no more room on the Ghosthound’s body to grip, even for ghosts. So then the hands started holding onto each other in tightening rings. Where they couldn’t bind the Ghosthound’s movements directly, they formed ropes woven of hands that tried to bind him.

There were human and monster hands, so thickly clustered that they began to blend together into something positively corporeal. They were ghastly bindings of sharp knuckles and desperate fingers. With the steam rising off of the Ghosthound's skin and the chains of spectral flesh binding him, he was almost completely invisible to their eyes. But even so, the Ghosthound's emerald gaze cut through the foggy haze and locked onto Glendel. ”You... are certainly trouble. You’ve done a good job remaining low key for the past few years.”

Then Alana was their, her spear bright and pure as the dawn as it rushed forward. The first clash between Alana Donal and the Ghosthound was him deflecting her spear to the side, but the cleansing power of Alana's image behind the strike carried forward and smashed into his chest. The dense, almost physical images of the Ghosthound wavered and Huang Li felt a flash of confidence. The ghostly hands around his body seemed to tighten.

They could do this.

Then the Ghosthound... exploded with force. It was difficult to describe the phenomenon in any other way. Huang Li’s eyes couldn’t follow the particulars. The steam and mist and even Alana's image were blasted away as he took such an abrupt and powerful step forward that it shattered the surrounding space. His figure was suddenly revealed, his skin releasing dense heat waves that made him difficult to view in an entirely different way.

Most alarmingly, those powerful, spectral chains that Glendel had created were forcibly torn as he stepped forward. And in the next moment, Alana pulled her spear back and the Ghosthound stabbed forward to counter her. When the two spears impacted each other, Alana's holy image stuck again at the weight that the Ghosthound released into the surrounding area. And that holy wave of flames flared to even greater brightness as the two forces began to mix, as though experiencing a surge of motivation to burn the power around the Ghosthound away and leave him defenseless.

The Ghosthound twisted his spear and then spun, bringing the butt of his weapon around to strike at Alana's head. She ducked and thrust at his midsection, which he sidestepped with ease. Then he planted his foot and accelerated at an impossible pace, repaying Alana's thrust with one in kind. As he did so, the Ghosthound sucked a deep breath. The golden flames that were surging around him dimmed. Even Huang Li, perhaps twenty meters away from the Ghosthound, swayed as that inhale pulled at something vital in his chest and stole a tiny pinch of it. His image, which had just been able to gain some momentum, turned suddenly sluggish.

Kayle had recovered his position and sprung forward as it became clear that Alana could only hastily move to deflect the Ghosthound's thrust upward. He cut decisively in a sharp vertical motion between the two combatants. ”Absolute Divide.”

The Ghosthound's spear sheered right through the barrier that Kayle conjured, barely being slowed by a fraction of a second as it did so. Which gave Alana a slight edge, but even so the wicked and sharp weight that the Ghosthound wielded slashed through Alana's golden flames and ivory feathers to cut a narrow gash in the shoulder of her leather armor.

Bang!

Hank Howard took his shot, aiming for the moment where the Ghosthound's spear scored a hit on Alana's armor. That small encumbrance was what he had been waiting for. As the bullet rushed forward, more and more scraps of the shattered images that had already been thrown against the Ghosthound were gathered together. They flocked together like a school of multicolored fish, each bearing a small amount of power. Yet when enough of those scraps were gathered, that bullet became a kaleidoscopic streak through the air. Just as the Ghosthound pulled back on his spear, Alana released her own and seized his shaft. ”Not so fast.”

Without any apparent effort, the Ghosthound flicked his wrist and flung Alana to the side. Alana blinked in shock.

Then he turned toward the attack and the head of his spear flashed in the light as he cut toward the bullet. With the Perception given to Huang Li by the steady breeze that churned through the arena, he could sense how perfectly the Ghosthound lined up his attack.

Bang!

...which was why the sudden second shot from Hank's revolver threw him off so much. The bullet shrieked across the intervening space, nicking the edge of the powerful bullet and redirecting it down and to the left. The second bullet was so impossibly fast that it impacted the far wall before Hank's powerful bullet impacted the Ghosthound, but that quick bullet bounced off the wall without damaging it; its power was practically negligible. Yet for the first time, the Ghosthound was struck with a serious blow. That amalgamation of the previous images used against him blasted away the strange aura around the Ghosthound and sent him skidding backward across the ground for several meters.

His toes left deep troughs in the dirt ground. Finally, he eased to a stop and immediately reached up toward the wound.

Drops of blood fell from the Ghosthound right shoulder, where the bullet still flared with furious life and continued to drain the oppressive deadliness the Ghosthound released into the area. With their foe clearly shaken and focusing on the last attack, Giuliana stepped forward and snapped her whip forward at the Ghosthound's back.

But as soon as she did so, Alana's eyes widened. ”Let go of-”

Yet her warning came too late. Even without the Ghosthound moving, his previously rigid spear twisted sideways. The head of the spear spread apart like a monster's jaws and snatched Giuliana's whip out of the air. With a small yank, the Ghosthound sent Giuliana sprawling. Such was his overwhelming Strength that she was pulled eight of the ten meters toward the Ghosthound before she could stop herself. Paolo and Kayle rushed forward to strike at the Ghosthound, but he slipped between their strikes. That same almost unrecognizable speed was suddenly applied to dodging. Then His left arm transformed into that massive claw and he seized Giuliana by the head.

For a split second, Huang Li felt a chill; Randidly Ghosthound was going to crush her skull right in front of them. He would kill them to make an example of them.

Luckily, that did not happen. While everyone else waited to see what the Ghosthound was doing, the man in question grinned and tossed the suddenly limp Giuliana out of the encirclement. Huang Shou moved to catch the woman and gently laid her down on the ground. Then he looked up and gave the Ghosthound an inscrutable look. ”She's just unconscious.”