"Huh?"
Wilt stood on the bank of the Khoy River, a puzzled look on his face.
"Strange. Where did the resentful spirit I kept underwater go?"
Wilt had previously used the Dance of Attraction to draw in a resentful spirit from the water. He had let it possess him so he could pose as a water monster in the Khoy River and frighten people to digest his Potion.
Later, he felt it would be a waste to put a water-attribute resentful spirit to rest after just one use, so he kept it in the water and confined it with simple ritual magic, intending to use it again.
But when he came today, he found that the resentful spirit was gone.
"Could the Nighthawks have found and destroyed it?"
Just as Wilt was about to go underwater and take a look, a woman's voice suddenly called out behind him:
"Melissa, Elizabeth, come over here!"
"This is where the water monster appeared a few days ago!"
Wilt's body suddenly stiffened for a moment, but he quickly returned to normal. He turned around as if nothing were wrong and saw three girls walking toward him.
The girl in front had long, wine-red hair and seemed somewhat cheerful. She was also the one who had just spoken.
Of the two girls a few steps behind her, one had naturally curly, long brown hair and an adorable, chubby face. The other had brown hair and brown eyes and looked somewhat thin.
Wilt's gaze lingered on the last girl for two extra seconds. Melissa Moretti, Klein's younger sister!
Why is she here?
Wilt felt terrible now, because Melissa was within the Evernight Goddess's field of attention.
With me wearing Amon's avatar, the Evernight Goddess won't purify me on the spot, will she?
Should I hurry and leave while I can?
While Wilt was wrestling with himself, Melissa looked at Selena ahead of her, who was intent on investigating a supernatural incident. For some reason, she thought of what Klein had told her yesterday:
"Melissa, things have been a little unsettled in Tingen City lately. If you hear about anything strange happening somewhere, make sure you stay away from it right away."
Melissa therefore spoke up without thinking, trying to dissuade the girl in front of her. "Selena, we'd better not go exploring recklessly. If anything happens, your family will be very worried about you."
But Selena paid no mind to Melissa's words. "Don't worry, Melissa!"
"The so-called water monster must have been an excuse those cowards came up with. You know how much those boys care about saving face. I think they made up such a flimsy excuse to preserve their dignity after falling into the water."
"Besides, I have the amulet Teacher Vincent gave me. Even if there really is a water monster, we have nothing to fear."
"Ah, someone's there!" Only then did Selena notice Wilt in the distance.
But instead of leaving, she walked up to Wilt curiously. "Hello, I'm Selena Wood, a student at Tingen Technical School. These two behind me are my friends Elizabeth and Melissa."
"Did you come here because of the water monster too?"
Wilt nodded, a gentle smile appearing on his face. "Hello. My name is Wilt Mirage. I'm visiting Tingen City, and I heard about the water monster incident here, so I came to take a look out of curiosity."
"Do you know what happened here?"
As if she had found a kindred spirit, Selena hurriedly replied with delight, "It was some students!"
"The Khoy River is near the university district. Some students came to the bank for fun, and afterward, something like vines wrapped around them and dragged them into the water. They nearly drowned."
"After they were rescued, they all said they'd seen a monster covered in vines in the water."
"In my opinion, they definitely encountered some kind of supernatural creature."
"I see." Wilt acted as though he had just realized what had happened, then continued asking for information.
"Didn't the police or the Church send anyone to find out what happened and resolve the problem?"
"Of course they did," Selena said at once.
"The Church of Evernight was in charge of the matter, but they said the students had hallucinated because they were so frightened and had mistaken the vines in the water for a monster."
Finally, Selena offered her own guess. "The people from the Church of Evernight definitely know the truth. They just don't want to tell us, so they used hallucinations as an excuse."
Wilt: "..."
You guessed exactly right!
It looks like the resentful spirit I left really might have been taken out by the Nighthawks. In that case, I'd better leave here as soon as possible.
Just as Wilt was about to say goodbye and leave, something unexpected happened.
"Splash, splash!"
"Smack!"
Two vines burst out of the water and wrapped directly around the waist of Selena, who was closest to the Khoy River.
"Ah!" The next second, before Selena could react, the vines forcibly dragged her toward the water.
"Selena!!!"
Elizabeth and Melissa were shocked.
Wilt was also surprised, because he was certain that the one attacking Selena was the resentful spirit he had kept in the Khoy River, but-
When did it evolve into an evil spirit?
There was a vast difference between resentful spirits and evil spirits, especially since the latter actively attacked humans and devoured their flesh and blood to grow stronger.
That was why Wilt was so surprised.
Though he was deeply puzzled, Wilt immediately moved to help. After all, Klein's younger sister was here, and he couldn't let her see him in a negative light, no matter what. Besides, he was the one who had created this evil spirit.
So, as the vines pulled Selena toward the river, Wilt quickly reached out, grabbed her wrist, and tugged hard.
"Thud!!"
It's so strong!
Wilt had underestimated the evil spirit's strength. He was nearly dragged off his feet, and only barely managed to stop when his shoes sank into the earth.
"Come and help!"
Only then did Elizabeth and Melissa come to their senses. Though they were frightened too, they ran to Selena's side and, like Wilt, grabbed her arms and pulled her back.
Selena, who had been attacked, was pale and had yet to recover from the attack.
For a time, the four of them remained locked in a stalemate with the evil spirit in the water.
"Splash, splash, splash!!!"
Suddenly, more than a dozen more vines burst out of the water and attacked the people on the bank.
With Elizabeth and Melissa helping, Wilt let go of Selena. He pulled a revolver from inside his coat and fired repeatedly at the evil spirit in the water before the second wave of vines reached them.
"Bang, bang, bang, bang!!!"
Six bullets flew into the water in succession, successfully hitting the target. The attacking vines instantly went limp and fell to the ground.
Wilt then drew a dagger and swung it at the vines around Selena's waist. "Slice!"
"Thud!"
The vines snapped, and Elizabeth and Melissa pulled Selena down onto the ground.
Wilt put away his weapons, hurriedly helped the three of them up, and said:
"Run! Stay away from the Khoy River and get as far away as you can!"
Wilt planned to get them away from here first, then return later to eliminate the evil spirit.
But as soon as Selena got up, she suddenly thought of something. Still shaken, she hurriedly pulled an amulet from a pocket close to her body and threw it toward the river.
"Splash!" At that moment, the evil spirit in the river also emerged from the water, revealing itself.
Its entire body was wrapped in vines, and inside them was a white, translucent spirit with many human faces on it.
Then, by coincidence-
"Smack!" As luck would have it, the amulet Selena threw struck the spirit inside the vines.
When it touched the spirit, the amulet gave off a dark red light that enveloped the entire evil spirit, and a terrifying aura began to build.
Three seconds later, the light faded.
"Roar!!!"
The evil spirit appeared again, its spirit now covered in dark red markings, and its vines transformed into black thorns.
Wilt: "..."