The enemy was Jack-o'-lantern.
It was a creature born from the legend of a thief's soul being trapped in the world, unable to leave due to his sins and deal with Satan.
'It probably is a ghost. I've already mastered the technique to exorcize mid-grade ghosts like those giant ghosts. But…'
The fourth type of ghost was those with a clear mind and a physical body in the actual world. This type of ghost had a goal or was set autonomously to do a set of actions.
Based on its legend, maybe its action was to chase vampires away from its home or somewhere it designated as its home.
'I need to beat it up first before exorcizing it if Jack-o'-lantern is really a ghost.'
Kai observed Jack-o'-lantern, who took on a stance. Maybe the creature had noticed the danger behind his Phoenix fire as it raised its scythe behind its back and the lantern in the front, creating two fireballs flying around it.
"Kakakaka."
A low laugh escaped the Jack-o'-lantern's mouth as it moved mechanically.
At the same time, both of them moved. Kai punched with his fist covered in the Phoenix fire, and the Jack-o'-lantern swung its scythe.
The attack was fast and sharp. The big scythe swung rather easily toward him, but he managed to dodge, and his blow connected to Jack-o'-lantern's body.
However… Something was strange.
"Huh?"
Kai let out a confused voice as he quickly jumped away, noticing the attack that came from behind. He wasn't fast enough, however, and the scythe grazed his hand slightly.
"Ugh."
Landing a bit away from the Jack-o'-lantern, he looked at the wound in the back of his left hand and groaned. The wound was small, but something was spread around it like poison, turning his fair skin black.
"Is this? A poison?"
Still, his regeneration was far from normal. It quickly healed, and his skin turned to normal again. Oni had a fundamentally great vitality. Kai also got that property from Ibaraki Douji.
Combined with the Phoenix's regeneration, even poison could be cured in a matter of seconds. Still, it cost him his stamina a little.
Looking up, he noticed the Jack-o'-lantern laughed as if assured by its victory.
'It's a deadly poison, huh?'
Maybe Phoenix's regeneration alone couldn't handle poison as it only healed wounds. It was a good thing his vitality was also enhanced to be similar to that of an Oni.
'Vampires will also get killed easily with this kind of poison. Even now, my hand is still a bit numb.'
That meant, close-quarter combat was out of the option. He needed to beat Jack-o'-lantern from away. And from the sensation when his fist connected earlier…
'It has no real body. Is Jack-o'-lantern a type of ghost, as I thought?'
As he thought about that, the creature moved once again, followed by many will-o'-the-wisp behind him, acting like a fireball as they launched themselves toward Kai.
"Oops!"
Seeing them, Kai also moved. He jumped to the sky, enhancing his body further with Spirit Power, and used his fire to propel him away from Liliana. It would be bad if the vampire girl got caught up in the fight with all of Jack-o'-lantern's abilities that seemed to be focused on hunting vampires.
And right now, he was more dangerous than Liliana to Jack-o'-lantern, so the creature would follow him instead. The will-o'-the-wisp attacked Kai by launching themselves faster than a bullet, leaving a blue trail of flame.
Kai wasn't afraid of them. They were made from fire weaker than a Phoenix fire. His natural immunity to fire protected him from being burned. Still, his clothes could still burn, so he made an evasive move and dodged their attack.
Then, he started chanting as a pale blue Spirit Power covered the tip of his fingers.
"Ash to ash. Dust to dust."
"Dirt to dirt. Death to death."
Hearing his chant, the ecstatic eyes of the Jack-o'-lantern changed. It turned into a slit as the smile on its pumpkin head turned into a frown.
"You you you you you! Old Jack hates you!"
Its shout echoed through the whole cemetery, shaking the tombstones.
"Flesh to flesh. Spirit to spirit."
"Skeletons! Get him!"
Kai noticed the ground moved. The dirt in front of the tombstones shook as if something was trying to crawl out of the grave.
"God of the underworld. Hear my pleading." He continued chanting and flew around the cemetery. He couldn't stop, or it would fail.
Hitting the Jack-o'-lantern was useless. At best, he only sent his Phoenix fire to attack the pumpkin creature, but it could easily dodge it. The creature was fast. Well, Kai's intention was only to stall Jack-o'-lantern, so it worked.
Then, it appeared. A skully boney hand suddenly shot out from one of the graves and grabbed Kai's leg.
"Shit!"
The hand was burned by the Phoenix fire that came from his leg, but he stumbled down on the ground as his momentum suddenly stopped.
He rolled down a few times before finally stopping. His chant was disturbed, and it failed; he needed to redo it from the beginning.
"Watch out!" Liliana shouted from the side.
Kai immediately raised his head, facing the Jack-o'-lantern that was already in front of him with many skeletons crawling out from the graves behind the creature.
"Got you~" The pumpkin creature exclaimed and swung its scythe covered in fire from the lantern it held.
Swoosh!
A fast attack was directed at him, and he had no time to dodge from his position. So he gambled it. Pulling the power from his connection with Ibaraki Douji, he called out for her power, the black Spirit Power with the properties of destruction.
On the verge of desperation… He succeeded. His pale blue Spirit Power turned black, imbued with the properties of the destruction of Ibaraki Douji, and covered his whole body.
A powerful strength spread across his body.
This Spirit Power was denser than the normal one, giving him an increase in his defense as well. So he raised his arm, blocking the scythe with bare hand.
Clang!
An unrealistic sharp sound echoed.
The sharp scythe dug into his flesh but stopped in the middle. Pain attacked him, but it was better than him losing his life. His wound would heal fast, but there was no time to stop.
Immediately, he sent a sharp kick from under Jack-o'-lantern. Even if its body was ethereal and couldn't be attacked with a normal attack, it still had masses from its weapon, clothes, and the pumpkin in its head.
So Jack-o'-lantern was blown away by his kick toward the sky. Its clothes fluttered, showing what was really beneath it.
A black boney body. Under its rib was black coal, burning brightly with fire fueling its body.
Kai's first guess was a miss. Jack-o'-lantern wasn't a ghost; it was a creature moved by a core like the Boogeyman's fake bodies.
'So that's its weak point.' He thought as he stood up, covering the area around him with Phoenix fire that danced as if it was alive. 'I now have a target, so it would be easy.'
His gaze was still focused on the Jack-o'-lantern that landed behind the skeleton army. Those creatures were unable to get close to him due to his Phoenix fire protecting him, burning the bone that got close to ashes with just a touch.
'But it is still troublesome.'
If it was just a one-on-one fight, then dealing with Jack-o'-lantern would be easy. The reason why the creature dodged his Phoenix Fire earlier was that it was afraid of getting burned.
'My fire should work against him. But I prefer not to create any big moves because it will take a lot of Spirit Power from me.'
Even now, he had already spent around 5% of his Spirit Power. His control over it was still lacking, and because of that, he spent a lot more than he needed to.
He glanced at his left arm. The wound began to heal, almost closing completely. At that moment, the skeleton army began to move.
"Get him!"
Crack crack–
Crackling bones rubbing against each other echoed in the cemetery. They moved due to Jack-o'-lantern's order.
Waiting for his wound to fully heal was a bit impossible. He needed to move now.
'I guess I have no other choice.'
While it was a waste of Spirit Power, he needed to get out of this place quickly. He prepared a big move to deal with them, so he shouted.
"Liliana!" He glanced at the vampire girl who was a bit away from him, standing still at the edge of the cemetery. "Run out from that gate, or you will get involved in this one."
Without waiting for the girl's reply, he began his preparation. The Phoenix fire around him burst out, becoming larger as he fed it his Spirit Power. The skeleton army that got close to him got burned instantly, leaving nothing behind, not even their ashes.
At a glance, there were more than 50 skeletons. They should be an easy opponent as it seemed like they moved by a set of commands from the Jack-o'-lantern. They had no intelligence.
'Let's not think about Spirit Power consumption for now. I can replenish it again later.'
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