Chapter 190: Ghostly Castle

Rain hits my mask in thick drops, sliding down its surface. The castle is much more imposing in person than through the portal. Black walls rise high in front of us, and dark clouds cover the sky. There’s no moat, but there are crenellations where archers could have fired on us from. 

Of course, with the castle being deserted, there’s none of that. Instead, I can already feel the mana radiating off the ghosts that occupy the empty halls. They’re strong, stronger than I anticipated, but still something we can handle.

Thatch stares at the lowered iron gate for a moment, narrowing his eyes, then pointing forward. “About twenty metres that way exactly. There’s a winch to pull up the gate.”

“You got it, boss,” Opal says, with a quick, two-finger salute. Then, they vanish. A moment later, I hear the grinding noise of rattling chains, humming through the rain, and the wrought iron spikes in front of us rise from the floor, no longer biting into it. I step through first, and Inu last, as usual.

By the time everyone is through, I have the beginnings of a small map in my head. [Observation] scans outwards, and I push it as far as it can go, sending out waves of mana-detection. One of them brushes one of the ghosts, and even from here, I can feel the way it sniffs out my magical signature.

The foreign mana echoing through the halls gets its attention, and it very slowly turns down the hallway to us, slinking over to investigate. “Ghost inbound,” I inform the others. “Let’s book it deeper in.”

Swift steps carry us to the courtyard. The castle is big, very big, and there are tons of little passages. The courtyard is the largest open area, the dirt floor having been turned into sticky mud by the unending rain. It sucks in my shoes, sticking to them, so I create mana-platforms for me to walk around on instead.

This time, I cloak them in [Obfuscation] to hide them from the ghosts, doing the same to my scans as I map more of the castle. Thin beams of light filter down from the moon, passing through the clouds like silver curtains. I breathe in the cold, wet air. Then, I look at the others and set to work. I have half an hour.

Let’s see what I can do.

- - -

PoV: Yollic Zurn - Raven

Sitting in the safe zone is the worst. I watch as the Crybabies walk through the portal. Getting to pick the terrain since we’re the ones who want a fight. And then, the exit locks up, ethereal chains spreading across its surface. 

Coldscar glares almost as darkly as I do, but we wait. We have to wait, and my vision lingers on Delfine, watching her blindfold. As I glare at her, the oracle twitches, and turns to me with a placid smile.

“No, please,” she says. “You can go first. I will not try to steal the portal from you, Raven.”

Hm. I hum at that, not believing her for even a second. So, to make it clear, I sit down right in front of the portal, staring at those chains. They’ll only keep me out for so long, Kuro. Only for so long. 

And then, we’ll finally tear you limb from limb.

- - -

Eventually, finally, the chains unravel, and we step through. First me, then Coldscar, then Dove and Cleaver and Coldscar’s posse. The rain falls down heavily, but my cloak of dark feathers keeps it off me easily. Dove and Clever wear magical ones, enchanted by Yuki. The rat fuck betrayed us, too.

Anger courses through me, but I force it down. The rain falls, and I step up towards the metal portcullis, spikes digging into the ground. With a swift transformation into a flock of birds, I slip past it, then open it up for the others. The castle is quiet. Eerily so. 

A moment after I lay a hand on the winch to pull up the portcullis, a rune lights up along its surface. My own mana flows into it to activate it - just a sliver, soon crystallizing its way up my arm. I frown, then crack it with a bit of force,dispersing the mana, shaking my tender flesh. It stung, but it wasn’t unbearable.

I turn the winch, pulling up the steel gate. One by one, everyone steps through. Then, casually, I let it fall closed again. Instantly, runes activate where the spikes meet the dirt - sending sprays of mana needles at us. 

Frowning, I bring up my cloak, blocking them. The needles clatter to the ground and dissolve, easily stopped. “Pathetic.” I sneer at them. We take a look around for just a second, deploying our scans - and then the first ghost screams.

The noise rattles my bones, and I turn my ringing head in a moment. 

[Banshee lv. 88]

Shaking off the dizziness, I ignore the thin trickle of blood on my face, and fire a barrage of feathers at the ghost, wrapping my authority around them. The barbed wire of my dominance wraps around them and tears the banshee apart, sending her dissolving into splinters of mana.

“The ghosts are mana sensitive,” the old woman says. Her walking cane glows faintly, a lantern in the dark. “I believe the traps were meant to lure them here.”

I give a displeased hum at that. “Find them,” I command. “Fine the rats.”

“Are you looking for me?” 

Instantly, I turn at the voice. It comes from the top of a wall. A figure cloaked in shadow, wearing a dark mask. Kuro. My anger boils, and I move to rush at them, but Coldscar grabs my shoulder.

“Don’t be reckless,” he says sharply. “We do this well.”

Kuro sneers at us from the tower. “Cowards!” they demand, and I feel the humiliation grind against my authority. “Are you afraid of my little traps? Of my tricks?” 

There is an enchanting quality to that voice that makes it even more grating. 

“I have a bet for you,” the figure says, voice distorted by rain and distance. But the cruel glee is clear. “If you get to me within twenty minutes, Raven, I’ll let you behead me. And if you don’t,” Kuro sneers, “then you have to stand still until I stab you in the heart.”

Coldscar stares at me, but I can feel my authority snarling. Like a chained dog, it wants to show my dominance. “Twenty minutes?” I laugh. “I’ll do it in ten.” Instantly, I feel the old scithian grimace, and I feel ethereal chains wrap around me. My body warps, turning into a flock of stygian birds, and soon I am tearing across the courtyard, while Kuro leaps down from the wall, disappearing into the passages.

The others chase after me, running across the ground. And, of course, they set off those damn traps. 

Coldscar creates a wall of solid mana, which costs me three birds. Dove steps on one that encases his leg with ice, needing Coldscar to pull it off. The old lady gets surrounded by a humming swarm of more mana needles, some of them tearing into the air after me. I give a rageful hum, and yet I tear through the air.

It hurts. But the wounds are all minor. They mean nothing. The ravens consolidate to form my true body. Gracefully, I descend onto the rain-slick stones, my mantle flaring behind me. I only have half an hour until the oracle gets here, so I better kill the Crybabies quickly.

When I land where Kuro stood, I smell the air to trace them, but all I smell is faint crackling smoke. There’s something on the floor - no, the floor is covered in something. A thin sheet of mana. A wall of it, creeping out for maximum surface area.

Rapidly dissolving.

A banshee rounds the corner on me, her ghostly shape appearing from the distance. The ghost’s pale, empty eyes focus on me, and a horrible wail tears free from her throat. Another ghost, this one wearing heavy chains, crawls up the wall, rattling with the sound of rusty iron. 

Annoyance ripples over me. I shred the banshee, before she screams again. Rusty chains wrap around my foot, burning corrosion against my flesh, but then, I shred that ghost too. With a brutally swift motion, I shatter the mana barrier - only for its pieces to turn sharp as glass, cutting faint lines into my skin, messing with my own mana.

“Damn you, Kuro,” I grind out, then descend into the tunnels, the rest of the team on my heels.

Bright and pearly laughter echoes down the halls.