“Whew… we sure got a lot of money from that, huh?” Iris giggled. “We’re like millionaires now.”

Finn nodded. Money was definitely not a problem for them anymore, now that he had secured enough to last a lifetime, basically. As long as he didn’t try to start up a business or just throw all the money out into the trash, he should be ok.

“Just remember,” he warned. “Do your best to mimic a boy’s voice.”

“A-Ah, right… ahem…” Iris cleared her throat, dropping it as low as she could, then continued. “… Is this better?”

Finn nodded in approval. “Could use some work… but should pass in front of the other Ghost Hunters we are blending in with.”

As if on cue, clouds suddenly gathered high up in the sky, indicating a sudden storm. Thunder could be heard, and lightning struck down on the skyscrapers’ lightning rods. In the matter of a few seconds, what was once a bright, sunny day, turned into a cloudful dark storm.

Feeling the rain land on his face, Finn tilted his head up.

“… It’s time.”

As the City of Technology was shrouded in incredibly thick fog, all the civilians retreated into some kind of building. They definitely weren’t about to get caught out here in this storm, not when it was impossible to see past five meters in front of you. Cars also immediately got off the roads and found somewhere to park, since driving in this weather was asking to get killed.

Of course, the citizens were used to sudden thunderstorms like this happening. To them, this was just the natural way of the world. From time to time, sudden rain and fog like this would envelop different areas of the planet. It was a daily occurrence.

Sure, they wondered why this was happening, and researchers often looked for a scientific explanation to this phenomenon, but always came up empty. After all, none ever thought outside the box, considered that this could, perhaps, be related to something supernatural. Just like Finn once had been.

Naturally, things weren’t like this in reality. These sudden storms were, in fact, set in place to prevent the general public from finding out about the whole Ghost and paracausal business. If they did, chaos would ensue. They didn’t want to have to deal with riots on top of Ghosts.

In other words, the storm Finn and Iris were experiencing right now meant an Outbreak, an unleashment of Ghosts in the world, had occurred. They were coming, and the Ghost Hunters had been dispatched to combat them.

Finn and Iris were exactly waiting for this moment. After making sure everyone else around them had already retreated into a building of some sort and were therefore unable to see them due to the fog, the two activated their wings and took off into the air.

After obtaining the treasure from the Lunatic, Finn now knew he could store things with Raiju. Such things would essentially take up no physical space when Raiju dived into his soul to rest, so it was a good way of storing important items that were otherwise too big to carry. Iris’s wheelchair was one of those items.

With that packed away, the two were free to roam as they liked in the air. The fog was still present, of course, but Finn was always blind to begin with and Iris had her Oculus Angelica to help her vision. Neither of them were affected very much.

“There,” Iris suddenly said, coming to a stop and levitating in the air as she pointed down below. “I see them. Here, Finn.”

Finn nodded and took ahold of her outstretched hand, and Iris promptly began leading him towards where the Ghost Hunters and Ghosts had already began fighting. They landed on the roof of a decently-sized building nearby which looked like a school… meaning the portal of the Outbreak had appeared in this courtyard. If the Ghost Hunters hadn’t prepared this storm and caused all the students to go into the building beforehand… who knows how many would’ve been slaughtered?

The two landed on the roof with a dull thud, and Iris rode on top of Finn’s shoulders as usual. Using her Oculus Angelica, she observed the fight going on down below.

“Hm… by the looks of it, these are just a couple of normal Phantoms,” she said. “The Ghost Hunters sent to deal with them don’t appear to be that strong either. Do we want to infiltrate this Squadron, Finn?”

“It could just be one small group of a big Squadron,” Finn said. “Lei’s Thousand Dragons Sect was an S-Class Squadron, but they still deal with minor Outbreaks with their less powerful members.”

“That’s true. In that case… we’re going, right?”

Finn nodded. “Remember… we’re posing as freelance Hunters. And keep your voice act up.”

Iris sighed. “Yes, yes… let’s go.”

Without any hesitation, Finn jumped off from the roof of the building while Iris swooped down with her wings, and the two dashed into battle like two veteran Hunters. This battle was theirs now, and the novice Phantom Slayers were pushed away against their will.

‘Devil’s Timing.’

Finn enhanced his senses and got a good grasp on all the remaining Phantoms’ locations. Several were out of his range, but he’ll leave those up to Iris. Instead, he took on the ones he could reach.

Activating his claws and charging them with lightning and fire both, Finn weaved in between the enemies and slashed them apart before they could even react. The Phantoms’ heads were dislocated in an instant, and they fell down dead without making the slightest sound. How cruel of a fate—dying before they could even scream.

The ones outside of Finn’s range were no different. They witnessed their brethren fall, but was unable to avoid the dead-accurate bullets of Iris, heading straight for their throats.

“Gur…g-gur…”

They tried to scream in agony, but it only came out as a gurgle as their own blood clogged their punctured throat. After several seconds of wobbling around, the last few standing Phantoms fell as well, and disintegrated into grey fog.

Iris smirked and blew out on her revolver, while Finn retracted the long claws on his gauntlets.

Another mission well done.