The calm did not last long. Mr. Bernhardt's ghost appeared again, standing beside the fountain statue in the center of the square, more than half of which was buried beneath yellow sand. Aside from its figure seeming to sway with the wind, it remained motionless beneath that strange black sun, paying no attention to the witch standing by the wall.
It had not caught up to Shade just now. After absorbing part of Grace and Helen's essences, the effects of the two thaumaturgies that had nearly become his innate talents—Incarnation of the Red Butterfly and Red Butterfly Illusion—had risen to a remarkably high level. Though the undying soul was powerful in other respects, its resistance to illusions had not reached the level needed to see through the red butterflies.
But it did not wait long before raising its head to look ahead. Atop the slanted building, a magnificent silver greatbow had already been drawn. The slender silver-blue arrow formed from glittering starlight on the pulled bowstring was fired the instant it noticed the bow.
The ghost by the fountain vanished and reappeared ten meters away. The arrow pierced its afterimage and struck the fountain statue directly, but nothing happened.
The ghost, having realized that attack was an illusion, had no time to dodge, because Shade, gripping Thunder Spear in both hands, had appeared directly behind it the moment its figure became clear.
This time, it did not even have time to react. The Yggdrasil Staff, wreathed in thunder, pierced straight through the Bloodkin ghost's chest. The paralysis caused by the leaping silver-white lightning rendered it unable to move, but more fatal still were the pink crystals appearing around the "wound" that ran through its spirit body.
The effects of God of Love's Thorn and lightning stacked together. Although the Bloodkin