He had barely left the house where the fight had taken place when Cyril saw a pitch-black shadow writhing out of a corner toward him again.
"Damn it! Again?"
He twisted aside from the lunging shadow, then held both hands across his chest. His pupils contracted, and a burst of dazzling white light erupted.
When the light faded, the creature emerged from the shadows. Whether it was an octopus with a rat's head or a rat with octopus tentacles was hard to say. This time, though, it had closed its eyes in time and kept charging at Cyril without slowing down.
Before its garish tentacles could touch him, Cyril leaned back. Threads of silvery lightning flashed through his eyes.
"Mental Piercing!"
A surge of mental power burst from him, driving into the Spirit World Creature's Spirit Body like a cluster of long, needle-sharp spikes.
The tentacles reaching for him froze, then snapped back. The creature curled into a fleshy ball and slammed about the floor, whimpering like a crying infant.
"Wah... wah..."
At the same time, an inexplicable shame rose in Cyril's heart, along with an urge to confide in someone. He desperately wanted to confess every dark thought he had ever harbored.
...So the negative effect of this Mystical Item is that using it puts my conscience on trial?
That does fit an Interrogator.
Pulling back his wandering thoughts, he rubbed the ring in his hand with his thumb. Fine, continuous currents flickered through his eyes.
"Whip of Affliction!"
"Waaah... waaah..."
The rat-headed octopus rolled across the floor in a tight ball, wailing in agony as though a barbed whip made of lightning were lashing its soul, subjecting it to inhuman torment.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunshots rang out in rapid succession. Bullets trailing silver flames burst against the rolling