WARNING: GORE CONTENT

In the western part of the Imperium Capital City, in between the Commons and Noble area.

A group of fighters was currently clashing against one of the wraiths that were set free from the dark mist.

It had a humanoid body, though mostly ethereal. The dark mist emanated from its entire body, and its eyes glowed green.

"Rargh!"

The wraith jumped across the battlefield, swinging its arms around.

A fighter struck it with his sword.

'Clang!'

The sword and the wraith's arm met, but they were on a stalemate. The wraith struck with its other arm while the fighter backed away.

"Damn it, just how strong is this ghost!" He complained.

The wraith was peculiar, and no kind of attack could harm it.

`Even our light elemental mage couldn't do anything against it.`

Light was the best counter against such dark-based creatures. The light mana essence would reflect upon everything it would touch, or would touch it.

With the rebounding effect due to the nature of the dark and light mana essences, it would then explode, causing harm to a target or a group of targets caught in its explosion radius.

"Rargh!"

The wraith attacked again.

"Shit, spread out! Do not let it touch you!" Their leader exclaimed.

He was wearing a dark-blue mage robe with several adorned emblems on its chest area.

`We don't what the heck this thing is. It's better to capture that thing's attention first and prevent it from going anywhere else, especially the residential areas. We'll have to wait until the Imperium guards…`

Amidst his thinking, he saw that the sky above had started to darken to the point that Solus's light was blocked.

"Don't tell me it's a blackout?!" He exclaimed.

"Leader, what do you mean by a blackout?" The female light elemental mage asked.

"Eternal darkness!" The leader hastily explained.

"Eternal darkness?" The others were shocked.

They haven't heard of this thing before.

"Hasten up, we should defeat this thing before the blackout arrives here!" The leader didn't bother to fully describe what a blackout was.

"Yes sir!"

They charged out towards the wraith.

…

After a few minutes of clashing, they were exhausted.

"Leader, we can't defeat it! We must retreat!" The sword user from earlier begged.

`You think I don't know that?!` The leader cursed inside.

For some reason, the Imperium guards were still not here. The other fighters seemed to not have noticed them too.

"Just where are the Imperium guards when we needed them?" A muscular fighter blurted out.

The leader was still clashing against the wraith. They had already moved 200 meters away from their previous position earlier.

The houses, roads, and other structures were badly damaged, but the wraith was still as energetic as before.

It seemed like it wasn't going to fall soon.

"Kyaah!"

"Fireball!"

'Bang!'

They were on a stalemate, again.

"You damn-!"

His shout was cut short as the wraith suddenly jumped on him and struck his heart with its arms.

"Leader, watch out!"

They could not react in time.

The wraith's arm went through the leader's body, splattering blood all over the place.

"Impo..ssi..ble!" The leader could not believe what just happened.

"Leader, no!" The sword user tried to save their leader but was met with the same fate.

"Jorge, don't-!" The leader's warning was too late.

"Ack!" He, too, was struck in his heart.

"Jorge, let help me you! Light Beam!" The female mage struck the wraith with a spell but it didn't work.

"Ah!"

The female mage fell to the ground. She was currently suffering from mana exhaustion.

The wraith suddenly grinned.

"Keh!"

"What's it going to do now?!" The female elemental mage gasped.

"Aaaahhhh!" The wraith focused its strength on its arms and started absorbing the two.

Dark lines spread out from the wraith's arms towards their body.

"No, help us! Someone get us out of here!" The leader messily begged. The despair in his cracked voice brought fear to the other members who watched on as the two of them slowly assimilated with the wraith.

"Kyaah!"

The muscular fighter futilely punched against the enemy.

"Don't underestimate me, you bastard!" He didn't stop there until he was out of stamina.

The wraith stood still without a care about the warrior's attack.

The two people continued screaming.

The dark miasma invaded their entire body, cracking up their nerves, tissues, muscles, and organs. The painful torment lasted for a short while and they became silent.

The rest looked up and saw the dried-up corpses of their leader and Jorge.

Such a sight struck horror in their hearts, losing their will to fight.

"Monster… what a monster!!!" A fighter squeaked.

"Jorge, my love…" The female elemental mage cried. She couldn't believe that her boyfriend would die this day.

The muscular fighter crawled away from where the wraith was. Being so close to it, he was able to see the fine details of how his leader cruelly died.

He was traumatized. His voice was stuck on his throat and his heart was beating fast.

However, it was just the start of their misery as the blackout arrived.

The entire area became very dark.

They could not see anything around them, almost as equal to a blind person.

"No, this is not happening, this is not happening!"

"Kekekeke!" The wraith giggled.

Everyone looked over.

"Aahh!" The female screamed in horror.

The wraith's figure changed. It was looking like their leader who died just now.

However, its former black eyes became green. In addition, its entire body was emanating a dark miasma.

It slowly walked towards the rest. This rattled the others.

"Somebody, help us!"

"Anybody, anyone!"

"Fuck, I'm going out of here!" The mana force warrior ran but was suddenly struck by the wraith behind.

He vomited blood and died soon after the wraith beheaded him. He wasn't given the chance to scream at all.

The head that fell to the ground was crushed by the wraith. It then turned around looking for the others.

"Don't come near me! Don't come near me! Kill her, she's worth the time than me!" The other remaining member pointed at the darkness.

This angered the elemental mage and cursed at him.

"Elliot, you piece of shit! How dare you sell me out?! How about you die first!" She retorted.

Amidst their arguing, the wraith attacked them both and struck their hearts.

"No!" They were shocked by the move made by the wraith.

It didn't give a damn to which one it would kill first.

The wraith took out its arms and the two fell.

Elliot vomited blood.

“I told you to go for her… please! Don’t kill me…”

The wraith suddenly punched Elliot with strong force. It cracked his jaws, causing some of his teeth to fly out.

It then continued stomping on him until he became meat paste.

Elliot cursed at the female mage as he was being stomped on by the wraith.

“Ywe.. frweaackr, jiieas ieas yearaa feeoulttt!!!”

‘Bang!’

His head exploded and the innards flew out. The blood dyed the ground in red.

All of his organs were battered so badly that the foul stench permeating in the air and the sight of it could make even the most veteran fighter puke in disgust.

Meanwhile, the female mage watched as Elliot died. There was happiness in her heart when the guy was done in first by the wraith instead of her.

She closed her eyes, hoping for a quick death. Her heart was already crushed, and she didn't have any hope of living for another day.

However, the wraith knelt and leaned close to her, going for a kiss.

`What is this thing doing to me?! Don’t tell me he wants to make up with me?!`

“No, stay away!!!”

She tried pushing the wraith away from her but to no avail. The wraith grabbed her arms and broke them in half with ease.

‘Crack!’

“Aaaahhhh!”

She squirmed in pain. The wraith then broke her fingers next.

Her torture did not end yet as the wraith finally leaned very close to her and transferred the dark mist towards her own body.

`It wants to transform me into one of them?!`

"No, stop it! Just kill me, I'd rather die than become one of you!"

“Rargh!”

Her body writhed in pain as the dark mist invaded. It healed her, but unfortunately, transformed her body into an abomination.

Dark miasma surrounded her entire body and her eyes turned green as well. Her nerves became huge black lines observed from the outside.

"Kill, kill, kill! Find him and kill him!"

The wraith reiterated and it echoed in her mind. Soon, bloodlust took over her and she became insane as well.

“Kill… kill… kill… find… find… find…”

Her body no longer twitched in pain and stood upon the ground while muttering the same thing over.

Her body was leaning and her arms hung low as limply walked towards the east, in the direction to where the Commons area was.

It was a residential area that housed most of the population in the Imperium Capital City.

…

Similar events happened everywhere.

The news spread like a plague, and soon, the Imperium guards were overwhelmed.

It caused mass panic, and many wanted to get out of the city as fast as possible. However, the Imperium guards had already raised the situation level to three, leading to many being stuck inside.

"Damn it, let us out of here! Can't you see those things are killing people?"

The people protested but the guards were indifferent to it. They were only following orders, what else could they do?

…

Meanwhile, in the Strategic Room at the Imperium Barracks.

Wille stood at the side of a rectangular table with stacks of papers, a map of the Imperium Capital City, and other miscellaneous objects.

"Get help from the Mercenary and Mage Guild. We need every available fighter in our call." Wille ordered.

"But Sir Wille, most of the mercenaries are out of the city doing missions of sorts." A scout replied.

He was covered in black clothing, with only his eyes seen from the outside.

"Then what about the mages? Don't tell me they're out as well?!" Wille was getting annoyed.

"Yes sir…" The scout looked down, afraid to meet him in the eyes.

"Shit!" Wille pounded the table.

The scout became nervous.

"Where's Madame Lena? Why is she still ignoring our call?"

"Madame Lena was found unconscious on her household, sir. A dark miasma was emanating from her body when her family members searched for her." The scout responded.

"A dark miasma? Is it the same thing coming from those ghosts-like beings?"

"Yes sir."

"Are there any other reports as to how those ghosts work?"

"According to witnesses, the ghosts would absorb any living being they come close contact with. Furthermore, they can disguise themselves as one of those people they have absorbed as well."

"Absorb, huh? Do they retain the similar characteristics of the people they've absorbed?"

"Yes sir, though their eyes would glow in green and a dark miasma would emanate from it."

"Is that all?"

The scout hesitated to tell something.

Wille caught wind of it and thought that something was wrong when the scout didn't continue saying anything.

"Just tell me what you have in your mind."

The guard gulped and said.

"The last information we have gathered is that the ghost beings would insert a crystal-like object to other people and somewhat take control of them. Those people would become disfigured and bloodthirsty. For some reason, they are easier to kill than those ghosts."

"Is that so?"

Wille calmed himself.

`This is worse than what I thought. The blackout is already here, and those beings will surely have the advantage during this time. Damn it, what shitty luck we have.`

"Then did we kill any ghost until now?" Will asked.

"Yes sir. A fighter witnessed the fight of an elder that goes by the name of Alpha and Prince Kane earlier. He said that a golden arrow came from above killed those ghosts without much resistance."

"One of the Imperium Generals, General Astrid Kragh have also killed a ghost, sir, though it was a hard-fought battle."

"And the method she used?"

"She used heavily concentrated barrage of light-based spells against the enemy until it was pounded to dust."

`So light mana essence is the best counter for them, huh? Madame Lena’s Extense, the Will of Justice and Repentance, could make any non-divined fighter an upright person at once. We’re going to have her cured as fast as possible and kill the remaining ghosts.`

Wille thought for a moment before saying.

"Deploy any available fighters and have them protect every part of the city. Tell them that they will be compensated well for their efforts. They don't have to kill those ghosts but to prevent them from doing any further damage. The same goes for the Imperium guards as well. Make sure to have at least one light-mana essence user for each squad."

"Yes sir!"

"Dismissed."

The scout left the room and went to relay the message to the others.

"Prince Kane Cromwell, what a disaster you've done." Wille shook his head in disappointment.

To think that the alleged Child of Destiny would be this devastating.

"If things go worse, the CPL will have no choice but to get involved in this affair. I hope that they won't kill Prince Kane or anything."

Wille already gathered some information that a lot of witnesses saw Prince Kane go mad before releasing a strange dark mist where the ghosts came from.

"Those revolutionists already have the upper hand. They will surely make use of this event to further their propaganda against His Imperial Majesty." Wille concluded.

He snapped his fingers before ordering something to the air.

"Find out what happened to Madame Lena and see if her condition is going for the better or worse. Call out my sister and have her come over to Madame Lena's household to treat her."

There was no response but Wille knew that his message had already been acknowledged.

He read on some reports that were gathered from his reliable sources.

"A few hours ago, Prince Kane and Zachariel Strom met on the Mage Guild building. Amelia Strom started a commotion when she slapped a female student from Class W-1A of the Great Weaponry School. A possible reason is due to jealousy."

`Hmm? What kind of drama is this?` Wille was intrigued.

He felt like he had found out a way to lessen the punishment the CPL may give to Prince Kane when he read the report.

"Zachariel's classmates defended the female student and this worsened the situation. At some point, Amelia Strom snapped and knocked out Zachariel Strom. She searched for Prince Kane and the latter came out of the Mage Guild building. Prince Kane suddenly started acting strangely after seeing Zachariel laying on the ground unconscious."

Wille smirked.

"It looks like Prince Kane wasn't really at the fault this time."

He put the report onto another stack and continued reading the others.

"Those students are now situated at the Imperium Ward, huh?"

The ward was near the Imperium Barracks. In fact, it was right beside it.

"I'll go there later. I still have other things to take care of."