Ghosts of resentment were "ghosts" in the traditional sense.
Tormented by the despair and pain they'd felt before dying, they couldn't rest in peace. Yet they longed for peace.
This conflict at the heart of their existence made them hostile toward all living things from the moment they were born. They also yearned maliciously for new souls to join them and suffer the same pain.
Ghosts of resentment were difficult to deal with.
They had no physical bodies, so bullets and blades could barely hurt them unless they were infused with psionic energy or fire. And for more advanced spirits, which retained all their intelligence but still hated the living, even fire was hardly effective.
Another danger posed by ghosts of resentment was that they never appeared alone.
They were born in the ruins of massacres or in ancient, long-neglected tombs. Whenever they appeared, they came in huge groups, meaning you'd have to face at least twenty of them hunting you down at once.
At such numbers, the aura of death produced by the ghosts alone could blanket the ground in an ominous white frost. Their shrieks could shake even veteran soldiers to their core.
But Murphy was a vampire!
Whether on the "Dark Creatures Power Rankings," the "Supernatural Menace Popularity Rankings," or the "Most Hated by Other Life Forms Rankings," his kind ranked far above ghosts of resentment.
As the saying went:
Even evil came in different degrees.
By the time Murphy and Maxim climbed out of the sewers, dawn had broken. Diligent little players were already wandering the ash-covered streets, scavenging.
And standing right in front of Murphy as he poked his head out of the sewer was Sister Pomegranate, dumbfounded.
Her expression made it obvious that Murphy's sudden appearance had left this elegant young woman with quite