An eerie green fog permeated through the city. The large congregated population of specters tainted the very mana that circulated the air.

Unfortunately, Grisella did not have the mind to pay attention to such a detail.

Right now, she was a bit preoccupied. The solitary witch was busy setting up a defensive countermeasure against the Spectral army. Even though their population was a bit overwhelming and even though the calamity-class Specter weighed heavily on her mind, she did not give up hope just yet.

The Specters were fierce and acted on their instinctive nature to do harm, but that did not mean they were without weakness. For one, Specters were highly sensitive to light and holy magic. Just look at the carnivorous vines for example. Even though only a thin amount of holy essence circulated through their bodies, it was more than enough to stop the Specters in their tracks.

All she truly needed was time.

If she had sufficient time, then Grisella could create or conjure something up that can safeguard against these vile creatures. A holy barrier dedicated to the Orthodox god would be one option. Or instead of defense, she could opt for a retreat. An explosion concocted with light as its core would probably give them enough time to escape.

She had plenty of options but not enough time. The carnivorous vines were there to buy her that time. Unfortunately, they were far from enough.

One thousand, two thousand, the number of Specters within their immediate vicinity had quickly breached the ten thousands. Looking out, all she could see was a sea of eerie green.

The closest Specters dog-piled the carnivorous vine. Even though the number of bulbous heads had already reached fifty, there were simply far too many specters. The necrotic energy that their transparent bodies exuded slowly rotted away at the vine’s main body.

Despite the precarious situation, Grisella had no means to help. Right now, she was embroiled in creating said holy barrier. The moment she let up would be a moment wasted and a moment closer to death.

Luckily, the others with magical capabilities within the group also went to work. Ena spat out several fireballs. Every time they landed, a bright flash of light would illuminate the area and a large chunk of specters would vanish. Her magic was at such a high level that the mere contact of her fire was enough to vaporize their ethereal bodies.

Unfortunately, Ena specialized in concentrated attacks. Magic that swept through a wide area was outside her specialties. Even when she used such a magic, they were too low a level to effectively work against the army in front of her.

Her attacks, despite how fierce and powerful they may be, were simply not suited for this type of situation. It was like shooting a sniper rifle into the open sea.

The only other individual able to help was none other than Umbra. Out of the remaining individuals here, he was the only one with access to magic. Unfortunately, despite his skill, this was also not the place for him to shine. His poison wasn’t very effective against these transparent, bodiless creatures.

For the most part, Ellis and the other meatheads simply stood beneath the shade of the vine wall and watched as the fierce battle transpired. Based on their expressions, it was difficult to tell whether or not they were truly worried.

Grisella had warned them several times of the Specter’s dangers. Their touch had the ability to corrupt. They corroded away at the mind and drove a person to insanity. The worst-case scenario would be for the Specter to devour the victim’s soul. This move was both dangerous and irreversible, as it left only an empty husk of a man in its wake.

The Specters were definitely a viable threat, but, at the same time, the group, minus Grisella, did not feel overly worried. They were used to this level of danger. In fact, if it was any lighter, then Ellis and the wolves might actually start to believe that this whole thing was a trap. Such a mindset would only lead them down an endless downward spiral of paranoia and self-doubt.

While it was a bit irritating not being able to help out, in the end, it couldn’t really be helped.

Just as such a thought came to his mind, something suddenly emerged from underneath his feet.

Ellis reflexively looked down.

“Ah…”

A green, transparent hand clawed its way from in between the gaps in the tiles. As the seconds ticked by, the creature rapidly came into form. As expected, it was a lone specter in the form of a female.

It wore rags over its body while exposed bone and torn flesh could be seen hanging from its limbs. The creature bared its teeth at him. Right now, both parties were so close to each other that any normal man would have found it impossible to react in time.

Of course, Ellis was no ordinary man. Unfortunately, he was still unable to dodge.

The reason lay purely with himself. He got distracted.

For the first time, Ellis noticed that a pair of scraggly squirrel ears resided on top of its head. This was not what had distracted him though. The ears were definitely a surprise, yes, but not something completely unexpected.

No, the thing that had distracted him existed a foot and a half beneath its ears.

Back when it was alive, the Specter was probably a rather curvaceous woman. As a result, its ragged clothes were unable to properly cover its chest. Naturally, Ellis was momentarily hypnotized by the swaying bags in front of his eyes. The gap in judgment was just long enough for the specter to launch its attack.

A pair of wiry claws rapidly accelerated towards his face.

Oh, shit… Ellis’s body reflexively tensed.

“Ellis, no!” Grisella unconsciously wailed out.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he heard a girl’s faint screams. It was a familiar voice, one filled with fear and heartache. Unfortunately, his rattled mind was a bit too preoccupied to care.

He closed his eyes and waited for the supposed pain to come.

“…”

“…”

Even after a few seconds passed, nothing happened. There was no pain, there was no ghostly possession. Just, nothing.

“…what?”

Ellis warily opened his eyes. He looked around his surroundings, but there was nothing there. The female specter with the dynamite body was gone.

“What happened?” He verbalized his confusion. “Has my mind been corroded? Have I been turned to a vegetable yet?”

In response, Grisella mutely shook her head. She had been so shocked that her hands had subconsciously stopped moving. After a few seconds of silence, she eventually snapped out of her reverie. “… Ah, no, that specter, it tried to attack you but then, it suddenly disappeared.”

“Disappeared?” Ellis furrowed his brow in confusion.

She nodded. “Yes, although I can’t figure out why it suddenly did that. I think it died, but… how? Considering what happened, it might have something to do with you, but you can’t exactly control mana, so….” Grisella abruptly paused. A look of realization flashed through her eyes. “Ah, why didn’t it dawn on me sooner!? Your mana! It’s because of your mana!”

“What? I don’t understand what you’re talking about.” A slight frown formed on his lips. Ellis glanced over at the wolves, but their blank expressions revealed nothing.

It was apparent from the way Grisella was acting that he had pulled off something ‘miraculous’ once again, but this was the first miracle that he had ever produced where he actually had no clue what was happening. He looked to his fellow groupmates for confirmation, but unfortunately…

These damn brats aren’t helpful at all! He felt somewhat irritated. No matter what sort of amazing accomplishment he pulled out of his ass, nothing would faze these brats. That’s why Grisella was somewhat refreshing to have around. At the very least, her excitement and shock kept his inflated ego a float.

“A person’s soul lies at the very center of their mana pool,” Grisella explained as she hurriedly returned back to constructing her holy barrier. “For anything that specifically targets a soul, they must first get past the mana pool. The Specters are no different. Unfortunately, they met a freak of nature like you. The very moment it touched your mana pool, the specter immediately evaporated!”

She could only shake her head in amazement. At the same time, Grisella inwardly berated herself for such a huge oversight. In retrospect, it was quite an obvious outcome. After all, Specters are mana-based creatures. When met with a more oppressive force, the weaker force naturally gets devoured.

“I see… so, I’m basically immune to these guys, huh?” Ellis raised his brow in amusement.

Grisella nodded her head.

“…” He lapsed into silence. After a few seconds passed, Ellis seemingly nodded to himself before he stepped out from underneath the Carnivorous vine’s protection. He went around the vine wall and stood directly in the middle of the street.

“E-Ellis? What are you doing?” Grisella furrowed her brows as she called out to him. Because of the vine wall in front of her, she was unable to see him. What’s more, Ellis did not respond back, which only further added to her anxiety.

Should I lower the wall? If I do that, the Specters will rush in… but then again, Ellis might be in trouble… No, actually, if it’s him, won’t he be just fine?

Such thoughts crowded around her head.

On the other side of the vine wall, Ellis silently stared out into the open street. A literal sea of green filled his vision. Green, semi-transparent specters. They were like wriggling worms that had just crawled out from the depths of the earth.

The moment they saw him, they all immediately rushed forwards.

Ellis braced himself. Even though he trusted Grisella’s judgment, having something so ugly move towards him with such fervent intensity… he couldn’t help but shiver.

Still, he did not do anything and simply waited for their arrival.

He watched as the first specter dove straight into his chest. An inaudible howl seemingly echoed through the air as its ghostly body immediately dissolved upon contact. After the first one, the rest soon followed.

They all let out a silent wail as their bodies evaporated into nothingness.

Even after five minutes passed, the mindless specters continually threw themselves towards him. Of course, the end result was apparent. They were like moths to a flame. Regardless of the danger and doom that his mere presence brought on, they still moved without hesitation.

After a while, Ellis once again nodded to himself.

His expression had significantly brightened.

“Hey, a-are you alright?” He heard a voice call out from somewhere behind him.

Ellis slightly craned his neck back. He quickly noticed that the Carnivorous vine wall had receded. Poking out from between the gaps, he could see Grisella intensely staring at him. Her face did not even attempt to hide her concern.

Instead of responding, he gave her a simple thumbs-up.

“…”

“…”

Grisella did not respond. She continued to mutely stare at him.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, he let out a light chuckle. With his hands behind his head and a carefree expression on his face, he then proceeded to aimlessly walk around the street.

He moved in a zigzag motion, traveling from one side of the street to the other. Everywhere he passed, the Specters would dutifully through their bodies towards him. They were like obsessed fans.

In fact, it felt somewhat gratifying to be desired this much by a group of somethings, although he would have much rather preferred if those somethings were a lot more palatable, like say a litter of cute puppies or maybe a gaggle of attractive older women.

Of course, every time they touched him; their transparent bodies would disintegrate like vampires underneath the light of the sun.

Occasionally, a soft chortle would leak out from his lips. Although it wasn’t the same as punching a real fleshy body, there was a certain sense of satisfaction to be had from watching these scary looking spirits disintegrate so easily.

After about fifteen minutes of this, at around the same time that the two thousandth Specter had died beneath his hands, Ellis suddenly had an idea.

Even when I kill them so quickly, there’s still so many of them. Rather than waiting for them to jump to their deaths, I think it’s about time I show a little bit of initiative.

He suddenly turned towards the army of Specters. He paused for a split second before he walked down the street. he was heading straight for the center of the city.

“Wait, wait a minute. Ellis, where are you going?” Grisella hurriedly asked him.

“You said that there was some sort of giant evil ghost lurking around over there, right?” Ellis jabbed his finger towards where the sea of specters was thickest.

“Um, yes, that’s right.” She paused for a moment. “Although they’re called Specters.”

“In that case, I’ll be right back.” He did not elaborate any further.

“Ah…” Grisella instinctively wanted to stop him, but at the last minute, she decided against it.

Ellis wordlessly walked forward. Without pause nor hesitation, he straightforwardly entered the fog of wriggling green.

“…”

“…”

After approximately ten minutes passed, a horrendous screech suddenly reverberated throughout the city. Not a beat later, most of the specters suddenly bared their teeth. A look of anguish morphed their faces before they simultaneously rushed towards the center of the city.

A cold wind swept through the street. Countless streaks of green flew by like reverse shooting stars. It took less than five minutes before the last of the myriad of specters had disappeared.

One second, two seconds, even after fifteen seconds passed, there was still only silence.

The world had suddenly returned to normal. Gone was the smear of green that tainted the skies, gone was the oppressive weight that threatened to suffocate, gone was the feeling of intense nausea brought upon by their tainted essence. It was as if the horde of specters had never even existed in the first place.

After a while, Ellis eventually walked back down the street.

He waved at the rest of the group as a light chuckle leaked out from his lips. Judging purely by his outer appearance, nothing had seemed to change.

“You were totally right.” As he drew closer, he suddenly spoke. “There was a real ugly one over there. It had like twenty arms and fifteen faces. It looked like a squid, except it was all skeleton and muscle. To be honest, it was a bit scary at first, but luckily, it was just as stupid as the other ghosts. Of course, it’s gone now, but—”

He abruptly paused. For the first time, he looked up. Grisella was giving him a weird look.

Is there something on my face? He unconsciously touched his cheeks. Of course, there was nothing there.

“What is it?”

“No, um…” she shook her head and bitterly laughed, “I just feel stupid for worrying.”

The solitary witch hung her head and breathed out a defeated sigh. Even though she should have expected this outcome, the worry and concern that she had felt still echoed in her heart. She could only curse her overly cautious nature.

In the face of her compliment (?), Ellis once again laughed.

With the immediate threat of the fourth great calamity-class monster all done and out of the way, the group once again continued on their journey.