With incredible tranquility, the specter was freed from his prison while his claws pierced the abdomen of potential prey. How long had it been since he experienced that feeling? The ecstasy of hunting and the sweetness of the moment when distracted prey has entered their hunting grounds voluntarily.
The specter did not know how long he had slept inside that crystal and did not care, but that was the feeling he most missed of the time he was free. The expectation and ecstasy of the hunt, along with that indescribable feeling of fulfillment when all their plans have led a powerful animal into their clutches.
Originally, the specter belonged to a tribe that lived off the hunting and domestication of dangerous beasts. Whether in their original home or in the place they occupied after the destruction of their lands, that was always their way of life, so the situation caused him a certain nostalgia that pleased his heart.
Merigar could not dodge the blow, as he had been taken completely by surprise, the specter piercing his abdomen had methodically waited for the moment when his attention was diverted to another matter and within a split second had struck a blow that could well have been fatal.
—"Why didn't you kill me?" he asked as he tried to pull the claws of the spectrum out of his abdomen.
—"I thought ripping your heart out would not be appropriate." he said as he pulled his claws from Merigar's abdomen.
—"Oof! What did you say?"
—-"I think that people who have done something that I selfishly consider wrong must suffer a hell on earth before they are allowed to die in a cruel and ruthless way, as there is no guarantee that they will pay for their deeds in hell. Although if I had a guarantee that that site actually exists, I would surely think differently."
—"Wait, could it be that you are..."
—"What I am doesn't matter, all that matters are, what you do right now." He said in a deep, gloomy voice as he tasted the blood in his claws. "Will you try to flee? Or maybe you'll stay there?"
—"Do you think you can do whatever you want? I'm a Grand Master class adventurer!" He bragged as he prepared to fight." A simple spectrum is not a problem for me." He confidently affirmed to calm his own heart.
—"Do you think you can do whatever you want? I'm a Grand Master class adventurer!" He bragged as he prepared to fight." A simple specter is not a problem for me." He confidently affirmed to calm his own heart.
Evidently, Merigar was just bluffing, the fact that there was a specter in that place could already be considered a disaster. In his time as an adventurer, he knew few creatures that could reach the SSS classification and among those creatures, the most recurring was the Specter and undead.
Nightmarish creatures that only inhabit a place called the Whispering Forest, a place that according to legends is on the edge of the world, crossing the great desert of beasts. This uncharted territory, supposedly inhabits a tenth Titan who, according to books, is the most powerful of all the Titans.
—"I have to admit that you are right, as I am now, I could not fight a warrior with the power that emanates from you." He admitted, as his eyes lit up. "However, that would only be the case, if we had engaged in a frontal battle. In the present situation, even with this body, I can take my time to make you suffer as much as I please."
—"Don't speak as if you had defeated me!" he said furiously.
—"Don't you feel dizzy? In fact, it's awesome that you can keep it as if nothing happened."
In response, Merigar checked his wound, since, according to him, he had not received a fatal blow. While his internal organs were safe and the wound was not particularly deep, there was a problem. At the base of his hip bone, there was a small perforation that bled in an incompressible amount despite being only a small wound in the hip region.
—"What did you do to me?!" he asked annoyingly when he discovered a wound that could be dangerous if the fight dragged on.
—"I pierced your femoral artery and now I just have to sit back and watch life slowly leave your body while I torture you." He said as he savored the moment. "What amazes me is the lack of dizziness despite constantly losing so much blood, were humans always such resilient creatures?
—"You pierced my... what...?" Merigar had no idea what the femoral artery was, he just knew he had to stop the bleeding in some way, or even with his strength the situation would only get worse.
"Well, I spoke to you to hope that your strength would slow down, but since it seems that's not the case, let's start this little battle." The specter knew that the more he forced his victim to move, the bleeding would become more and more aggressive, so he stopped waiting for the loss of blood to weaken the man in front of him.
Merigar prepared his daggers to receive the initial attack from the specter. As an assassin categorized in the highest ranks of adventurers, Merigar was not an easy opponent to beat.
He was an assassin of Grand Master rank, a rarity among adventurers because it was very rare that an adventurer of that profession would surpass the Master rank. This was not because the assassins lacked skill, it was simply because the type of combat that characterized them made them level up much slower than their companions.
—"[Shadow illusion]" He invoked his favorite skill by completely blending in with the environment, giving the illusion that he had vanished into thin air.
In response, the spectrum simply produced a light laugh, then charged with great speed into a space that was supposed to be empty. Its claws cut the air mercilessly and a sound was heard from the other side of the place.
—"Ugh! bastard! How can you see me?" he said as he held his shoulder in pain. Merigar felt a pain similar to numbness, but adrenaline seemed to be suppressing the vast majority of the pain he really felt.
—"Spectra can perceive the spiritual energy of living beings, don't you know?" The spectrum shrugged. "That aside, but you don't forget something?"
—"What are you talking about?" he exclaimed angrily.
He initially thought the specter would mock him or something similar. However, what held the specter in its clutches surprised him.
—"Aaaaah! My arm!" He fell to his knees when he became aware of what had happened.
What looked like a failed attack had actually been a cruel and surgically performed blow. He had not noticed it before because adrenaline suppressed his pain, but his forearm had been cut by the sharp claws of the specter.
The Specter simply fiddled with his arm throwing it from top to bottom as if it were a child playing with a wooden stick. Then he seemed to be bored and using his monstrous force crushed his arm into his clutches and hurled it scornfully at its owner.
—"I give it back to you, anyway, I don't like playing with garbage." After saying those words, he was about to restart his attack, when from the prison gate a battle axe emerged that was flying towards the spectrum at high speed.
The specter merely dodged the dangerous blow, so the axe struck the cell bars behind the specter and amazingly broke them as if they were made of wood.
—"Are you all right, Merigar?" One of the Harlequin's companions had arrived, a gigantic barbarian carrying two axes had entered the room and asked for the condition of his companion.
—"Be careful with that thing, Astor." He warned his partner that he had suddenly appeared to help him.
—"I know, Merigar, I've fought these things before." The barbarian known as Astor Preya, was not inexperienced and knew very well the power of the specters. "But... What's a creature like that doing in a place like this?"
—"Don't ask nonsense and focus on the battle."
—"He is right" The specter stated that it had already begun its attack.
The barbarian used his other axe to cushion the wraith blow and removed his body to avoid unnecessary injury. The spectrum did not seem to be too strong, as the impact on his axe was minimal.
—"The specter I fought with in the past was much stronger than this one here." He said looking at his partner Merigar slightly. "I will activate my Berserker mode to..." When I was about to explain your action plan a strange event stole all your attention. "Huh?" His axe fell from his hands and hit the ground heavily.
—"No one protects their hands, isn't it a pity?" I affirm the specter.
The barbarian observed carefully what had happened, only his fingers had been cut by the sharp claws of the spectrum. That meant that the creature never aimed at his body, that was why the blow was so light. Instead, it had been a clean-cut aimed at the fingers holding the axe.
—"B-bastard!" Astor held his hand that already had only his thumb. Fortunately, the barbarians have an ability that allows them to tolerate large amounts of pain, so unlike Merigar the reaction was much less exaggerated.
—"Well, no matter how strong you are, if you can't hold your gun it won't matter and even if you were a monk, you would have lost half your skills by losing your fingers, isn't that funny?" He said the spectrum casually.
Astor was in a very big predicament. Although he had previously said that the spectrum was weak, he now had to retract his words.
—"Merigar, we have to escape this place, we can't fight this thing!" Astor tried to warn his partner that they should flee the scene but only found that his partner had long since left him behind. "Merigar?" he said incredulously.
—"It seems you have been abandoned." the monster claimed.
—"H-how could a creature like you have made it to this area." Astor knew perfectly well that he could not escape from a spectrum and had lost all hope of fleeing when his companion had left him behind. "How is possible the angels have ignored such a powerful specter?"
—"Mighty? Are you serious? You and your partner are three times more powerful than my current self, I just don't get in your game and I've set my own rules for this battle. Had it been a fight of strength, it would have been shattered for sure."
—"What?" Before the revelation, the barbarian glimpsed a small ray of hope that was instantly denied him.
—"However, it is too late to change anything." The specter attacked without mercy.
At first, Astor tried to defend himself as much as possible until his tendons were severed. From that point on, it was just one-sided torture, its members were sliced slowly and methodically as if the barbarian were a piece of ham, the spectrum was so skillful that no matter how much pain and suffering it produced, the barbarian did not lose life or consciousness.
His desperate screams were increasingly audible in the vicinity of the Lombardi prison. The specter did not bother to cover Astor's mouth while torturing him in the cruelest ways until the barbarian known as Astor was left with only a torso devoid of arms and legs, but incredibly Astor had not died.
—"Well, I seem to have lost my touch, he lost his consciousness." The specter watched the pitiful piece of meat that was once an imposing, stout man. "I suppose I can cure him and then hang him on a pole to starve or thirst, maybe the crows will even eat his eyes?" He said with a smile. Then he remembered that he had come out of the prison cell to help the girl with blue hair.
Only when the battle was over, he was allowed to be watched by the huddled girl on the side of one of the cells as she covered her eyes and ears in an attempt not to observe the terrible monster that was in the same place as her and her mother.