"Holy Circle!" I shouted out, sending a ring of fire spiraling into the ghosts from behind.
They shrieked as they were swept away in a wave of fire. However, there were so many ghosts, that they immediately began pushing back, swarming us in an attempt to wipe us out completely.
"Sanctify Land!" I cast another spell. "Lydia, go! Stay within this area for now!"
Lydia lunged forward. Her sword had my Divine Aura and the Spirit Fire on it, and that made it the brightest thing in this alleyway. It only took a moment before dozens of ghosts were upon her. She managed to slice three down, but she was completely overwhelmed.
"Another fireball!" I called Miki.
"Y-yes!" She tossed her Spirit Flame to me.
"Holy Circle!" I created another eruption, blowing the spirits on Lydia off and even killing several of them.
"Refresh! Light Heal!"
I was throwing spells out like a true support mage. Sweat was dripping down my face. It was really scary, there were so many of them. I had to keep throwing out Holy Circles to knock the ghosts back. We would have been dead in the first minute had I not managed to disrupt and repel their forces so absolutely. As I noticed Lydia's tattered appearance, taking both mental and physical damage, I realized just how dangerous what we were doing actually was. However, the rewards were also incredible!
{White Mage has reached level 16.}
{Hero has increased to level 10.}
I didn't dare give up my White Mage abilities for even a moment. The need for Holy Circles was way too intense. I downed a mana potion and called for more Spirit Fire when it looked like Lydia was getting overwhelmed. I really wanted to gain some Slave Master levels though, so I dropped Hero when things looked safe.
{Slave Master has reached level 5.}
"Spirit Well!" Miki called out.
A sudden hole opened up in mid-air in the middle of a giant group of ghosts. They wailed as they were all sucked into it. That's right, I could see the spirits now. I didn't know if it was Hero or White Mage that gave me the ability. I was too concentrated on the fight to look at the leveling screen. This was particularly unfortunate because I had no clue what skills I was getting! However, my survival was more important at the moment.
"How did you get that ability?" I asked Miki.
"I had heard about it once… and suddenly I felt like I could do it!"
I looked at her and found she was at level 8 now. Her progress was truly immense. Her tails were glowing very beautifully. With spirit fire burning in each hand, she really did look like a fox spirit or goddess.
"They're starting to flee, Master…" Lydia announced, lowering her weapon for the first breath she had since the start of the fight.
Lydia had several rips in her clothing. Ghosts could attack you physically, it was just easier to attack spiritually. Although my healing had addressed the scratches, the weariness in her eyes couldn't be removed so easily. Even Refresh could only rejuvenate the soul. With the number of attacks Lydia faced, only rest would allow her to recover now.
"Almost half of them were still alive…" I spoke… but then started to feel a bit of an uneasy feeling. "Is this… get ready!"
The ground suddenly began to rumble at my words. A moment later, a massive ghost burst out from the ground as if he came from under the city. If there was a dungeon in the mansion, that might actually be the case. He was about ten times the size of a normal person. He was transparent, his face looking like that of some monstrous ghoul with claws.
"What is that?" I asked.
"I believe it's an Eldritch!" Miki announced.
"Can we kill it?" I asked the next most important question.
"I don't know, Master."
"Lydia?" I looked at her.
Lydia was shaking, her body looked like she could barely stand. Without her, we'd have no way to keep the Eldritch at bay. I didn't think even my magic circle would be able to repel it. We might have to flee the entire city. She smiled at me, lifted her sword, and then charged the monster. That was her answer.
The fight was just getting started.