“SKREEE!” The Phantoms jumped forward all at once, eager to tear through the group of humans with their long tentacles and sharp claws, then feed on their flesh with their rows of sharp teeth.

But of course, the Ghost Hunters of the House of Crimson Moons weren’t just going to let them do that.

“Hmph.” Shadow’s body began glowing a black aura as he seemingly entered the ground, teleporting from shadow to shadow. The Phantoms were powerless as he suddenly jumped out of their own dark reflections and cut them down ruthlessly with his two knives, emitting black particles of energy.

Jester, on the other hand, used his Trickster Angelica to make multiple copies of himself and attack the Ghosts all at once. While the creatures were distracted by his clones, the real Jester would sneak up behind them and lop their heads clean off with his dagger, then grin like a maniac and move onto his next target.

Unlike the other two, Duke used nothing but his own fists and clobbered the Phantoms straight in their bodies with such force that they exploded — the more dangerous part of fighting them was not killing them, but to avoid the blood splashing everywhere.

Meanwhile, Ripple and Hurricane chanted to unleash a devastating AoE magic attack while the others protected them.

“Come, chaotic levin, I hereby release thy seal. Cleanse this world of evil and turn all enemies mine into nothing but ash. Become my blade, Divine Lightning — Shockwave!”

Hurricane slammed the ground with his charged fist, sending out a powerful wave of arc energy in a hemisphere shape to his front. Shadow, Jester, and Duke all backed off to avoid getting caught in the attack as well, but the Phantoms were not as lucky. They were evaporated in an instant, electrocuted to ashes and fading away.

The few Phantoms that remained on the other side were taken care of by Ripple, who wielded the Audiowave Angelica — command over sound.

“You may want to cover your ears for this one,” Ripple said, then slipped on the headphones around his neck as he smiled and closed his eyes, a light green glow surrounding his body.

Then, quietly, he chanted the attack’s name.

“Harsh Whisper.”

“SKREEEEEEEE!”

Immediately, the Phantoms all screamed in fear as an explosive, high-pitched banshee-like shriek erupted in the room, driving everyone’s ears crazy.

“Ngh…!” Shadow groaned as he covered his ears tightly, as did the others. The Phantoms, however, weren’t smart enough to do that, and were wiped out by the soundwaves.

They collapsed onto the floor, black liquid flowing out the sides of their pale white heads where their internal ears were located.

Ripple, with a smirk on his face, slowly removed his headset and hung them around his neck once more.

“And that’s that.”

“Jesus…” Shadow muttered, moving his hands away from his ears. “After this mission, I am requesting to switch teammates.”

“Same…” Duke slapped his own ear a couple of times. “Ugh, there’s a stupid buzzing in my ear now…”

Hurricane sighed and stood up from the floor. “Come on. Stop complaining. Let’s get out of this room already.”

The others nodded in agreement and piled out of the room before they triggered another trap.

Unseen by them, however… a black orb appeared in the air out of nowhere like a singularity behind a black hole, then began sucking in everything in the room. The objects were pulled but not sucked in, while the Phantom corpses and blood were.

Shortly after, the orb disappeared, leaving behind a clutter of broken furniture in the middle of the room.

– Several Minutes Earlier, Where Finn and the Others Were –

As the group walked down the corridor in search of the House of Crimson Moons, the two Theocracy of Light Regiments took the lead. Tian Long and Reaper were up with them, leaving Finn, Iris on his head, and Qi Ling taking up the rear.

“… Thank you,” Finn said quietly after a while.

Qi Ling played dumb and didn’t even bother looking at him. “For what?”

“… Helping me cover up my personal conflict with Hurricane. If the Theocracy of Light Regiments found out about this, they would inevitably begin to see us as enemies, dragging the operation down because of a personal matter.”

“Hmph. I just didn’t want to sow any more internal conflict. That’s all.”

“That may be so, but… the truth is, they will find out eventually, after we encounter the House of Crimson Moons again,” Iris said. “Though I suppose we can burn that bridge when we get there.”

“Still… thanks,” Finn said gratefully, to which Qi Ling finally glanced at him. And for the first time, her lips curved up into a slight smile.

“… I didn’t know you could actually say thank you like that.”

“I didn’t know you could smile like that.”

“Wha- how did you-?!” Qi Ling was taken aback, a blush creeping up her face.

“Ivy told me.”

Iris, who had whispered into Finn’s ear discretely, winked at Qi Ling and made a V-sign with her fingers.

“… Hmph.” Qi Ling turned away and pursed her lips, embarrassed.

[Fufu~ she’s pretty cute when she’s blushing like that, isn’t she?] Zelestria giggled inside Finn’s mind, watching all of this unfold in amusement.

But then, suddenly, a loud banshee-like shriek came from further up ahead, seemingly to the right. The group stopped, confused.

“… What in heaven’s name was that?” Ashika asked, eyes darting around, alert.

“Not sure,” Acaya replied, frowning in confusion. “Be careful.”

[That noise… it didn’t seem like a Ghost’s.] Zelestria said helpfully. [If anything, it sounded like an Audiowave Angelica attack. The people you are looking for may be there, darling~]

‘Audiowave… the power of sound?’ Finn thought.

[Correct. Don’t underestimate it — in the right hands, it can be extraordinarily powerful.]

‘Hm. Interesting.’

The group slowed down their pace and raised their guard once more as they continued traversing through the hallways of this cathedral, in search of the source of the ear-splitting noise.