"I'm afraid you do need it."
Farrel started chanting as he commanded the ghosts that possessed his stick to go out.
23 ghosts, all of them being vengeful ghosts that had eaten the fears of the dozens of people in the bandit hideout, were now out in the open waiting for Farrel's next command.
And that command was none other than the chant that he had just finished.
The bandit leader charged forward, ousting all the fears and panic he had felt when his blessed pendant was taken away from him.
His resolve was strong. He intended to slash his sword to cut off the neck of the child standing in front of him.
However, none of that resolves stood their ground as Farrel finished his chant and manifested his spell using all 23 vengeful ghosts.
His chant guided all the ghosts, telling them, teaching them, and commanding them about what they should do.
Following the chant's direction, all 23 vengeful ghosts stood behind Farrel, their faces overlapping with each other as they all stood in the same place.
And all of them, simultaneously, stared at the charging bandit leader with their glowing red eyes, filled with dark energy.
The forest was dark, only dimly lit by the faint moonlight. The red glow coming from the ghosts' eyes only glowed even brighter in the midst of them.
The bandit leader supposedly couldn't see ghosts. But when those ghosts concentrated their energy on each other and gave a death glare to a single person, there was no way that person would not see them.
All the strength and determination the bandit leader had gathered crumbled in an instant as the vengeful ghosts' energy washed over him.
Completely stopping the bandit leader's charge as his body refused to even move a finger.
Farrel chanted more, and this time, most of the ghosts that resided within him also got out of his body, joining the 23 other ghosts in staring at the bandit leader while exuding their aura.
The pressure and dread assaulting the bandit leader multiplied as more ghosts joined in the endeavor.
His frozen body started trembling as his armor started rattling.
The feet that kept him standing strong began giving out as the bandit leader slowly but surely fell to his knees.
All of his being was taken by the stare of those eyes that longed for revenge for years.
The bandit leader's heart was filled with the hatred the vengeful ghosts felt for the bandits that killed them.
His mind was filled with the thought of what would happen to him in the face of all the ghosts that were thirsty for his blood.
His body was encased with dread, sapping away even his strength to stand up.
And in his eyes, only the red glowing eyes of the vengeful ghosts remained as he couldn't see anything else other than the ghosts' bloodied faces and their hatred for him.
The only thing going on in his being was the existence of the ghost that stood before him.
"Such is the fate of a man without faith…"
Farrel shook his head as he nonchalantly walked forward, not even bothering to sneak around as he got close to the petrified bandit leader.
Even when he waved his hands in front of the bandit leader's eyes, the latter couldn't even blink as he was frozen like a statue.
Farrel then pried away the steel sword effortlessly from the bandit leader's hand. The man couldn't even feel it as he had lost all his senses, taken away by his own dread.
"I guess I can use this…"
Farrel then swung the sword in the air a couple of times before deciding to send the remaining ghosts residing within him to enhance his arms to be able to wield the sword properly.
"This has been quite a fun and rewarding quest. Thanks for being such a scum."
Farrel then stood right beside the kneeling bandit leader before raising the steel sword up high.
Using gravity and mostly his enhanced hands, Farrel then swung the sword down.
With his enhanced strength, the steel sword had no problem cutting through the bandit leader's flesh and neck bones as the head was severed from its body.
The head fell down, rolling a little as it now faced upward, showcasing the still empty eyes, filled with nothing but fear and horror.
"And also, welcome to the team."
Farrel then chanted some more before holding the sword between the bandit leader's head and its headless body.
A few seconds later, a blur came out of the bandit leader's body before it disappeared- sucked into the steel sword.
Farrel then held the sword right in front of his face before whispering,
"Hope you're not broken yet, I still have some work for you to do."
Farrel then grabbed the sword's sheath and the belt, wearing it before hanging the sheathed sword on the belt.
"And… It's finally over."
The second Farrel said those words, all the vengeful ghosts under the contract with him were released from the deal.
Some that still resided within him got out of his body while the others just stood still as they stopped following the chant's command.
All of them then stood side by side before Farrel, enabling Farrel to see all their frightening features in their full glory.
But as a few seconds went by, changes started to occur in those vengeful ghosts.
Their wounded, broken, and bloodied features started to disappear as their appearance started returning to what it was when they were still living as a human.
Some of them were men and some of them were women.
None of their genders could be easily identified when they were still vengeful ghosts.
But now, hairs started growing out of their scalps and their bloodied skin regained their luster as the blood began disappearing from their bodies.
They all looked different from one another.
They all had their own individual features just like ordinary humans.
But now, they all had one thing in common.
And that was the wide smile on their faces as they stared at Farrel with a soft and gentle gaze, something that someone would never think of existing if they ever saw their vengeful forms.
"Well, it has been a nice time with all of you. I'm happy that we could make those pigs pay for what they did."
Farrel then heaved a sigh as he returned their smile with one of his own.
"Now you all should just rest."
Then a few seconds later, he got his reply.
""Thank you."" All of them said simultaneously as they closed their eyes.
In the next moment, their bodies just started disappearing.
There's nothing grand like a soul ascending to heaven or falling into hell, these souls who had their wish fulfilled just silently disappeared from the world without saying or doing anything.
Farrel just looked at this moment with a smile plastered on his face.
He had seen this a couple of times, but it was not a common sight to see so many vengeful ghosts achieve peace in their souls at the same time.
"This is truly a beautiful and fulfilling sight…"
"I agree Farrel, I hope we can do more of this…"
"Yup, that's why I decided to become a shaman in the first pla-" Farrel wasn't able to finish his sentence as a voice suddenly entered his ears.
Jerking his head to his side, Farrel could see a ghost boy floating right beside him, staring and smiling at the sight of the vengeful ghosts regaining their human appearance and disappearing from the world.
His ethereal eyes trembling, seemingly trying to hold back the tears that threatened to come out.
"You!?" Farrel shouted, his voice disturbing the calm night in the Forest of Death.
"What? Why are you shouting so loud!? You are ruining this beautiful moment!" Joy replied as he raised his eyebrows and gave Farrel a side-eye glance.
"Why are you still here!? You've got your revenge!"
"Me? Revenge? Who said I wanted revenge??" Joy tilted his head, genuinely confused.
Pointing straight at the ghost boy's head, Farrel shouted once again "I remember your words! You said you wanted my help to scare those bandits to death!"
"What!? No! I never said that!" Joy's face scrunched up, seemingly not wanting to accept that he was accused of doing something he didn't do.
"I wanted to say I need your help to scare people away so that they wouldn't meet the bandits!"
"But you didn't let me finish my words and just assumed on your own!"
Farrel was dumbfounded. He didn't have a single word to say, and there was nothing he could think of doing other than staring at the floating ghost boy beside him with his mouth slightly agape.
"Why did you suddenly stop talking? You've ruined the beautiful moment for me! At least entertain me by talking to me!"
Joy pointed at the now empty air as all the souls had now disappeared.
Farrel finally closed his mouth and released yet another sigh.
"Hey, hey! Come on, say something!"
Hearing Joy's voice once again filling his ears, Farrel just stared at the dark sky above and ignored whatever nonsense filling his ears.
"You are a really rude person, you know? You should-"
Joy's words were cut off as he heard Farrel's mouth mutter another set of chants, a chant that he was quite familiar with due to how traumatizing it was for him to receive the spell back then.
Slowly shifting his body backward, away from Farrel, Joy asked again.
"Farrel? What are you doing? Why are you saying those words again?"
"Isn't that the thing you do before you make me see how I died before?"
"Farrel...? Farrel!?!?"
After not giving an answer to all of Joy's prior questions, Farrel finally muttered his reply.
"Come here you little sh-!"