Depraved Hero's Path-Chapter 55: Undying Archives Of Old: Ghost Game, Cleared!

As the menacing growls approached the other side of the restroom’s door, Léa got closer and closer to putting the pieces of the puzzle together.

’Going against the museum’s layout. Moving through walls. Finding me right away when I went through the ventilation ducts. Appearing from there, leaping and growling. The wound disappearing. Its body... I’m pretty sure it even got bigger with time. How does that make sense? It’s a Ghost, so I suppose the physical body... Marianne said she had trouble differentiating between some of the different replicas through Mana alone. The Ghost of the Past...’ Léa’s eyes narrowed, remembering its appearance. ’That grayish aura before it appeared. The grayish aura that was emanating from the replica... It wasn’t oozing out of the replica, it was the opposite! The grayish aura was seeping into the replica! The Ghost of the Past was entering it, before taking its shape and moving through it... And out of it!’ Léa brought a hand to her chin as her mind raced. ’Does its going through the replica prove that it can go through walls too? But then... Why would it have destroyed that door? If it could have just seeped through it, then why didn’t it? There’s still something missing... The bones being brought down, the door being brought down, appearing from out of nowhere, its body growing, the wound disappearing... All of these-’

Léa’s thoughts were interrupted.

The door to the restroom had been brought down.

A loud and menacing roar echoed. The Smilodon roared while standing on the fallen door.

’Why...’ Léa was currently hiding in one of the restroom stalls. ’Does it keep roaring? Why is it walking so slowly? This feels just like a horror movie. It’s almost like...’

Her eyes widened as she realized.

The growling Smilodon stood in front of the door behind which Léa was hiding.

Only one door left separating it from the prey.

***

’Shit, shit, shit!’ Marianne cursed internally.

Her entire body was drenched in sweat. The Quickstep Skill was on Cooldown.

’One minute and 10 seconds left!’ She jumped up, dodging the gigantic open hand that moved towards her legs. ’It’s taking everything from me to dodge, and...’ A spike approached with terrible speed, aimed at her chest! ’I can barely do that!’ She clenched her teeth as the sharp end of the spike collided with her crossed Twin Daggers. ’I can barely block them... I shouldn’t be having this much trouble with a Legendary Class! My Stats should be high enough!’

If things remained as they’re going, Marianne would run out of Endurance Points before hitting the Time Limit.

If things get worse, she wouldn’t be able to dodge and block as she has been.

’The hits are too heavy. Blocking them pushes me back and knocks me out of balance, which makes dodging and blocking the next attack ten times harder!’

Marianne’s foot stepped on the fist that had just tried to crush her. She jumped away, and started running.

’Think! Think! Think!’

As some of you might have noticed, I have defeated one of the four Boss Monsters that are keeping us trapped. Usually, Boss Monsters are placed as an inevitable hurdle. They usually block the way. So one might expect them to stand at the entrances and exits of campus. That’s not the case here. They’re still inevitable hurdles, but they were placed in an interesting way. To get out, we need to seek them out. They’re not standing in our way, but they stop us from leaving anyway-

’Why am I remembering this now-’

Marianne jumped sideways, barely dodging the spike that almost pierced her ankle!

The sudden turn caused her shoulder to collide against the wall.

’What...’ The hit caused Marianne to spin around. ’Did I miss? What...’ She stared at the three hands and six spikes coming her way even faster than before. ’Wouldn’t he have missed?’

One minute left!

Ripples appeared on the wall that her shoulder had just knocked against.

’...!’

Marianne’s eyes suddenly widened.

On the ceiling, on the wall, inches away from her, and on the ground. Ripples. More arms and spikes were about to appear.

"The ripples are the answer!" Marianne muttered to herself as she spun in the air, dodging the spikes that were launched from the wall and ground at the same time.

From the wall on the other side, a spike emerged and quickly pierced through the air.

Her heart raced even faster than the exhaustion had made it beat.

The floating words that had appeared at the start echoed in Marianne’s mind...

[The Trickster’s Sleight of Hand will be your Death.]

As the sharp spike went through her chest.

***

’Whether it was when the bones fell, when it entered the room suddenly, or when it appeared out of nowhere...’ Léa’s eyes shone as she stared down at the growling Smilodon. ’All of those things were visions that I had! Predictions! Possibilities that I feared! I saw those events as the worst thing that could happen... And they did happen! Every single one of them! When I thought about it seeping through the walls, I feared that it had seeped through my blade as well, and the wound disappeared!’

Gulp-

"I’m... So fucking scared." Léa muttered.

The Smilodon had brought down the door.

She was standing on the toilet, gulping and shivering.

"That’s what it is, isn’t it?" She asked with a shaking voice as the Smilodon roared. "Why... Why aren’t you attacking then, huh? Trying to scare me, aren’t you?"

Léa clenched her teeth and, one by one, the Items she held started disappearing.

Eventually, she had nothing but her clothes on.

"This... Is the answer." Léa muttered, her legs shaking.

They refused to get down from the toilet. They refused to shorten the distance between them and the fearsome beast.

"It’s fear..." She whispered, as if to convince herself further. "The Ghost of the Past thrives on the fear it provokes. I thought it was just about the Ghost enjoying it. I thought it simply meant that the Ghost enjoys provoking fear, but that’s not it." Léa gulped. "The Ghost... Feeds on the fear it provokes. That’s why your size changed. That’s why the worst-case scenario I thought of always happened!"

The Smilodon roared louder than ever, and Léa felt that roar travel through her bones and internal organs!

She answered with a roar of her own, promptly stepping down onto the ground!

"From today onwards..." Léa muttered, stepping closer to the Smilodon despite the shaking of her legs. "I don’t fear Ghosts." ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm

The Saber-Toothed Cat growled and opened its jaws wide!

Léa clenched her fist, offering her unprotected forearm.

Its jaws closed with great speed!

Still, Léa didn’t close her eyes.

She watched as those fangs got closer to her skin, as those fangs brushed her skin, and as those fangs...

[The Game "Ghost Of The Past" has been Cleared!]

Disappeared.

"Ha..."

The grayish Smilodon had turned to dust and vanished.

[Clear Rank: A!]

"Ha..." Reading those words, Léa smiled nervously, stumbled as she stepped back, and fell to the ground. "Hahaha..."