There were multiple pirates we had to go through before we could reach the mansion.

It wasn’t challenging though. They were no match for Lewis and me.

They fought recklessly, but that left them open for Tal, Mun, and Chris’ long-range attacks.

After entering the governor’s mansion, Tal stopped us to think of a plan.

“It won’t be smart if we all went into the same room as him,” he suggested. “If what Crowell says is true and he really does have the power to control people, us entering the room will only make it harder for Din to steal the Spirit item. He will turn us against each other.”

“Then we just have to kill him before he can do that,” Lewis said as he raised his sword.

“He’ll know for sure what we’re after. He won’t be underestimating us, and he has no reason to hold back against us. He might even control us the moment we step into the governor’s office.”

Lewis only grunted at the idea. He had to know that the only way we could defeat Frankie was if I went in there.

Sudden, Lorelei pointed out, “I think Mun might be safe from the power of the earring.”

“You think so?”

She nodded, “The ones Crowell couldn’t control were you and Percy, from the looks of it. I think the Spirit items might not work against Spirits. If we go by that, Mun might be safe from its power as well.”

She had a point. I relayed her message to the rest of the group.

“That could be it, but even so, it’s too much of a risk to test out. If we send both you and Mun in there together and it turns out she isn’t immune, then both of you can be in terrible danger. I can’t allow for us to risk that,” Tal said as he held his sister’s arm.

“Why are you being such a worrywart, Tal? If anything, I can use my Spirit power to teleport myself out of there!”

“You just shut up for now, this is a matter of life or death we’re talking about.”

Lewis stepped in front of Tal, “How is this any different from the missions you’ve gone on before? Did you always have to hold your sister’s hand while you were on a mission? I’m sure you’ve had other missions that were life or death situations.”

“This is different! We’re talking about a guy who can control us at any time. Even when Crowell had me under control, I couldn’t do anything. It felt like I was just watching myself do things that I didn’t want to do, but that was all I had to do, if Crowell had ordered me to kill one of you guys or myself, I know I wouldn’t have been able to resist it…”

Tears began to fall from Tal’s eyes.

Lewis suddenly grabbed Tal by his shirt, “You don’t think I know how that felt?! I was in the same exact situation as you were. That feeling of not being able to resist anything your body does, I know that feeling too! But that’s not going to stop me from putting an end to this! Do you really want to leave all this to just Din? You want to let him shoulder all of the responsibility? Is that what you’re suggesting?!”

With one strong push, Tal removed Lewis’ hand from his shirt, “Yes, that’s what I’m suggesting! We know for sure that Din is unaffected by the Spirit item, so this is the plan with the least risk!”

“Sometimes you have to take risk to achieve victory. I’m done talking with you, I’m going in,” Lewis said as he made his way towards the office door.

Tal seemed to want to stop him, but he didn’t. He looked at the ground, beating himself up over the fact that he couldn’t convince Lewis.

“Lewis!” I screamed out.

He stopped and turned towards me.

“Don’t tell me you agree with him, Din.”

“Tal is right, if Frankie makes us fight one another, that will only make it harder for us to stop him. You have to believe in me when I’m saying this, I can handle him. Without the power of the Spirit item, he won’t be able to face me.”

Lewis didn’t reply, but he didn’t seem convinced either.

I continued, “I saw him fight against Scarlett. His moves were unconventional, but he wasn’t fast. I know I can take him. If it looks like I won’t be able to handle him, I’ll call out for you. Just stay close to the door so you can come and rescue me.”

It looked like he was beginning to consider the idea, I just had to give it one more push.

“When Crowell had told you to capture me and I had to face you then, it put me in a lot of pain to see my friends turn against me. Don’t let me go through that again. Please.”

After a pause, he sighed and then nodded, “Do what you have to do. Don’t you dare die though. This isn’t your city; you don’t deserve to die for it.”

I nodded.

Tal placed a hand on my shoulder, “I know you’ve got this. There might be more than just him in the room so take this light bomb. Just be sure to not look at it after you throw it.”

“Right,” I collected the light bomb from him and held it in my left hand.

Lorelei flew into the room and then came out after a bit, “There are three men in the room. I’m guessing the one with the earring is Frankie, he’s sitting in the chair while the other two are standing beside him.”

I nodded and then entered the room. I made sure to quickly close the door before Frankie could scream out any orders for the others.

“You know I could hear you all planning some shit outside, right?” Frankie laughed.

The room had multiple bookshelves aligned all around the room. There was a window right behind Frankie with a plant on each side. Between us was a desk and two chairs close to me.

Frankie got up from his seat and then moved in front of the desk. He leaned on the desk as he faced me.

“Any last words while you still have self-control?” He said as he placed a finger on the earring.

I held my sword and the light bomb tightly and right as I wanted to throw the light bomb, Lorelei stopped me, “Wait! He doesn’t know you’re not affected by the Spirit item! You can use that against him.”

“Give me your sword,” Frankie ordered.

“Now’s your chance! You can get closer to him and then attack,” Lorelei instructed.

I was surprised she could think to do something like that.

I slowly began walking towards Frankie, but before I could get close enough, Frankie suddenly ordered me to stop.

“You’re quite the actor,” he said with a laugh.

“Din, watch out!”

Frankie reached for the blade that was on the desk and then swung it towards me. Thanks to Lorelei’s warning, I was able to hold my sword upright, parrying the attack.

“Wow, what a reaction!” Frankie said with his eyes wide open and a big smile on his face. “I didn’t expect someone like you to be in Lanport and I would’ve underestimated you too if you hadn’t shown your reaction speed against my men yesterday!”

He was using all his effort to push his dagger against my sword. I still held the light bomb in my left hand, so I had no choice but to take a few steps back.

Now might be a good chance to use it, I thought as I swung the light bomb towards the ceiling. I made sure to pull my cloak before my head as the bomb exploded.

Even with my eyes closed and my face behind my cloak, I could see the bright light the bomb emitted.

All three of the pirates cried out.

“Not this shit again!”

“Captain, are you alright?!”

I removed the cape from my face and opened my eyes. All three of them had their eyes covered with their hands.

Now was my chance!

As I charged towards him, he suddenly threw his fist in my direction. It wasn’t as if he could see, but he was still able to tell that I was close to him. The punch barely missed, but dodging it made me lose my balance for a second. That second gave Frankie enough time to move out of his spot, where my sword just landed.

My sword slashed through the top of the desk, but I was able to pull it out with ease.

Frankie’s vision seemed to be coming back as he removed his hands from his face. Before he recovered, I had to use that chance to get rid of the other two pirates.

I rushed behind the desk and then kicked the pirate closest to me. The force of my kick made him crash into the window, causing him to fall out. The other pirate regained his vision at that moment, and he was able to parry my sword with his dagger.

I couldn’t leave him alive! I had to kill him now! I had no time to freeze now.

By pushing his dagger to the side using my sword, I pulled my sword, and then pierced his chest in an instant. My body was reacting exactly as I had wanted it to. It even felt like everything was moving in slow motion ever since I threw the light bomb.

There was a big problem now though. Even though I had killed the pirate in front of me, my sword pierced through not only him, but also through the wall behind him.

I tried pulling my sword out, but it was stuck on him.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Frankie jumping on his desk while swinging his dagger.

I removed my hands from my sword and then back into the bookshelf on the wall behind me.

He then swung his sword in a wide range, but I was able to duck under it. He was on the desk, so it was easy for me to dodge that attack.

While I was ducked on the ground, I grabbed one of the books that had fallen from the bookshelves and then threw it towards him. He blocked it with his left elbow, but that gave me enough time to pull my sword out of the fallen pirate.

Frankie jumped off of the desk and then laughed, “You’re a demon, huh? Now that explains everything! How did you hide your eyes earlier? Please, you have to tell me!”

I didn’t answer. Were my Spirit eyes showing again? I looked over to confirm with Lorelei, but I couldn’t see her anywhere.

Where had she gone?

“You wonder how I knew you were acting? When I ordered for you to give me the sword?”

I hadn’t really put any thought into it.

“Because that ain’t my power,” he said with a smirk. “It did look like it, didn’t it? What with the city in disarray and everything. I knew an outsider like you would think this city’s current situation was caused by a mystical power, but no, not even close.”

He raised his dagger towards the window. When I looked outside, I could see the destruction, the buildings were burning, the people were screaming and running for their lives. It was havoc.

I turned back towards Frankie.

“I didn’t do that,” he said with that same smirk on his face. “That what you see out there is their normal. The city of Lanport’s normal. That out there is caused by none other than the citizens of Lanport. And here’s your proof.”

He raised his hand and then with a blink of an eye, a stack of gold coins appeared in his hand.

“I guess my wish is to get money whenever I wanted,” he laughed.

He threw the gold coins on the floor, “What a stupid wish, right? But yup, that is what this earring does for me. Nothing else.”

Frankie almost seemed glad to prove to me how horrible the people of Lanport were. I didn’t know what I could say. I held my sword in front of me, ready to end this fight.