“Come out!” He bellowed angrily as no movement was seen.

Sniff! Sniff!

Snivels of a child resounded all of a sudden.

Sylvester faintly recognised the voice belonging to the whispers that wanted to play with Miraj. So he quickly tucked Miraj into his robes and asked again. “Come out. I won’t harm you.”

Then, a ghostly figure of a little girl came out, hovering in the air. It had no legs, a completely white body, long messy hair, and black eyes. It looked as innocent as a young child could be. This one was likely not over five years of age.

A

/N: See her reference art.

Sylvester tried to smell, but there was nothing. ‘Is this a ghost?’

“Who are you, young one?” he tried to act calm.

“Mister… where is mum? Where is big brother?”

‘Is she a ghost of the Mizar family?’ He wondered in silence.

But just then, Lady Aurora voiced in confusion. “Sylvester, who are you talking to?”

Sylvester turned to the side and noticed Lady Aurora was clueless. She was looking left and right but didn’t seem to focus on the little ghost of the child.

“You really can’t see her? Over there, near the tree. There is a little child.” He pointed precisely where the girl’s ghost was standing, scared and sad.

“I can’t. What is going on?” Lady Aurora still could not see.

“Can’t even hear?” He asked.

“Not at all.”

Sylvester wondered what it was that made him so special. ‘Why can I see her then? Is it related to my light magic? Or is it something else?’

He focused back on the little girl’s ghost. She looked so lost and confused, and her face was full of panic as well. She didn’t appear like a human entirely. And the fact that she likely died a gruesome death was quite heartbreaking.

“What’s your name, young one?” He asked kindly while kneeling down, not to appear threatening.

“I am Amy… mister. Can I see the kitty? I love Kitties.” She asked longingly.

Miraj poked his chubby head out of Sylvester’s robes and looked at his face to get permission. He whispered. “Maxy… she’s really a child… I know.”

Sylvester glanced at the girl and then at the chubby boy. ‘What am I supposed to do with her? She’s dead.’

“Fine.” He allowed it.

Miraj jumped out and rubbed himself around the ghost. Shockingly, Miraj could touch her even though she looked like a little cloud.

“What the!” Sylvester jumped to his feet.

‘I can’t see her now! What’s this? Miraj is the key?’ He talked to himself in utter disbelief. He had never thought Miraj would have such a unique ability.

But the question was, if only Sylvester could see Miraj, then what was Miraj looking at that only he could see? ‘Is Chonky some sort of a key that connects the world between the living and dead? His belly is already an example of extreme interdimensional space. What other abilities does he have?’

He saw Miraj playing with the girl, albeit he couldn’t see her. So Sylvester walked behind Miraj and put his hand on the chubby head. In an instant, he could see the girl again, who was giggling as Miraj licked her hand.

Sylvester tried to check his abilities again and again by touching Miraj from time to time.

‘He is the key, it seems. But how far can the touch extend?’ he wondered and looked behind.

“Aurora, please come here and put a hand on my shoulder.” He asked, hoping she wouldn’t see Miraj but would see the girl.

Without much thought, she knelt beside Sylvester while putting her hand on his shoulder.

“What in the…”

She retracted her hand and then placed it again. She repeated the action a few times until her jaw fell. “Woah… what is this? Is she a ghost? Look at her, so tiny. But why is she giggling?”

Sylvester didn’t answer her and addressed the girl now that Lady Aurora could also see her. “Amy, what are you doing here?”

The little ghost girl looked left and right in confusion. “I… I don’t know. I was playing hide and seek with Nat, Mat, Tony and Leo. I was hiding in the cupboard and waiting to be found. But then everything felt very warm, and I couldn’t breathe… I don’t know what happened after. Mister, where is mum? When will daddy come?”

‘So she didn’t live through the burning and fell unconscious due to the smoke?’ Sylvester could only pity the poor thing.

Wraaa!

“No!” Amy’s form flew to Sylvester and hid behind him. “Mister, that big monster wants to eat me. Please help.”

Sylvester faced the mist while the roar came from inside it. He could feel that this demon was undoubtedly the strongest he had ever witnessed yet.

“Lady Aurora, use your strongest attack and try to get rid of this mist. I will do the same.” He suggested. “Amy, stay behind me.”

“Yes, yes.” The little girl hid behind Sylvester’s legs and peeked at the front.

To Sylvester, it felt bizarre how he was communicating with a ghost, but at the same time, he could feel that she was no different from any innocent child on the streets. So, he reckoned that if he was willing to save a child on the streets, why not her? The Crusaders had already done enough to hurt her, and he was already aiming to kill the demon.

Boom!

Sylvester’s right palm rested by his chest as he started singing a hymn, and a bright beam of light blasted into the mist. The Wrath of Heavens was as strong as ever, fitting for the name.

The bright white light pierced through the mist and illuminated the particles. The entire area seemed like a torch from that.

Woosh!

A tunnel formed in the intensely packed mist. But, sadly, it didn’t wash away like the rest of the mist before. The area was so pressurised by the demon’s powers that the mist was trapped.

“Let me try.” Lady Aurora said and planted the blade of her sword into the ground while her hands rested on the hilt. She then closed her eyes and muttered a few words. “The lightning that can incinerate the world entirely. What burns harsher than fire–come forth, for your beauty we all admire.”

Boom! 𝘦.𝘰𝘳𝑔

Unlike Lady Aurora’s signature move of Thunderfall, as her code name suggests, this one was reversed. The lightning bolts were coming from the ground inside the mist, creating large punchers here and there.

There were hundreds and thousands of such bolts, each strong enough to uproot a small keep. So strong that even the earth shook, and the sky boomed with ear-shattering claps. The might of a Grand Wizard was something none could fight–in most cases.

“Ugh… still can’t do it. If I wish to remove all the mist, I need to summon more lightning, but this is my limit.” She panted a little after obliterating the landscape. There were no houses other than the ruined land and mansion of the Mizar family, so they didn’t worry about damaging the place.

“Let me try again,” Sylvester said, using more energy this time.

Boom!

This time, a bigger, brighter, and wider beam of light pierced through the mist. This time, Sylvester could see that the beam of light crossed over to the other side, onto the cliff’s ridge, as he saw a clear sky at the end of the long tunnel.

“Great! Let’s go!”

“No!” Sylvester stopped her. “If this is all we can do with our full might, then the demon is likely stronger than the home it has created for itself. So unless we can remove all the mist, we should not enter. The last thing we want is a Soul Eater to devour us two and gain your strength and my light magic–becoming resistant to light magic in return.”

“Woah! Big brother is so shiny!” Amy suddenly exclaimed, having seen the might of Sylvester and Lady Aurora.

She flew around Sylvester and chirped. “I will one day be as strong as you, big brother. Daddy said he would also teach me how to punch like a tiger when he returns. Do you know where daddy is? He went beyond the big blue sea to make money. Mum says he’s powerful and smart.”

Sylvester’s heart broke as he heard her words. ‘S-She… does not know she’s dead?’

The realisation somewhat saddened him, knowing the girl would never have the happiness she desired. ‘How do I make her soul leave this plane? The more she lives here, the sadder she will get, likely one day turning into a vengeful creature of the night.’

He tapped on Miraj, who sat on his shoulder, to jump down and play with the girl so he could talk with Lady Aurora about the next step. “Let’s move back and call for help from the Holy Land. Until then, we can stop the mist from spreading.”

Lady Aurora rubbed her chin and thought about it. “Even if we ask for someone, the best they can send is some random Guardian, maybe Lord Inquisitor. But that won’t be enough to kill this thing. What we need is the Fourth Guardian of Light, the Soulbreaker–Zackmund Koff Xerxes. But, last I remember, he was stationed on the other side of the continent, so it’s impossible that we’ll get any help quickly.”

“What about the Pope?” Sylvester asked. “He should be able to deal with this.”

“Hmm… he should be, but will he be free to come here? I mean, he will likely wish to kill this demon as quickly as possible, but we don’t know what’s on the Holy Father’s plate right now.”

The two fell into thinking. Sylvester looked around at Miraj and Amy playing, running around him, giggling. ‘Then how do we kill this thing?’

“I have an idea!” Lady Aurora blurted. “Sylvester, don’t tell anyone this, but I have reached a bottleneck, which means I am about to level up to Grand Wizard level two. If I can level up, I should be able to make my lightning bigger and remove all the mist from this land. After that–we just have to kill the demon.”

He knew some terms and conditions were coming next. “What do we have to do to level you up?”

She folded her arms and seriously replied. “Dual Cultivation!”

A

/N: Cough! Hold on, lads. Don’t drop your pants just yet.

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400 GT = 1 Bonus chapter.

1 Super Gift = 1 Bonus chapter.

APE TOGETHER STRONG!