Ghosts

It was no wonder such a doubt had surfaced in his mind—it would have been somewhat reasonable for skeletons and ghosts, monsters naturally born in tombs, to appear together.

But with the addition of that mysterious spellcaster and those terrifying monsters twisted from human bodies, everything felt exceptionally eerie and out of the ordinary.

Starlight didn’t believe a single mage could control such a vast number of undead creatures, let alone those even more troublesome monsters; such a thing had never happened before.

Given the current situation, it seemed as if something had stimulated the birth of these undead, and the missing people had been brought here for that very reason.

“Um... Po Kong, what do you think?” Amidst his swirling thoughts, Starlight instinctively turned to Po Kong, hoping for some advice.

But Po Kong seemed completely deaf to his words, staring blankly and motionless at the passage ahead.

“What are you doing...?” Following Po Kong's gaze, Starlight finally noticed that a massive number of translucent figures had appeared in the passage ahead at some unknown moment.

Facing such overwhelming numbers, Starlight’s throat tightened. He swallowed instinctively and quickly shifted into a combat stance.

Starlight had read about them more than once in books: ghosts, specters, spirits—these were all names for the pale blue figures before them.

They were woven from endless resentment and dark elements, favoring battlefields and cemeteries as their birthplaces. They possessed ethereal bodies that mortal weapons could not touch and moved as swift as the wind, with the souls of the living being their most craved delicacy.

Generally speaking, the birth of a ghost was a long process; even a battlefield scarred by war would find it difficult to gestate more than a few.

Yet now, the dense army of ghosts before them completely overturned Starlight's understanding.

The hundreds of slowly approaching ghosts seemed wary of the light orbs floating around the group, merely hovering and watching from a short distance. However, Starlight knew this stalemate would not last long.

From the way they were gradually adjusting their postures, it was clear they were slowly adapting to the inhibiting effect of the light elements and could swarm them like a surging tide at any moment.

If it were just one or two ghosts, Starlight might have handled them easily with simple light magic.

But in this tomb deep underground, light elements had become exceptionally thin. Combined with the fact that previous battles had significantly depleted his internal reserves, even Starlight couldn't guarantee he could protect everyone at once.

“Hey, Po Kong! You’re not actually afraid of ghosts, are you!? I can’t handle this many on my own!” Starlight barked in a low voice, finally snapping the dazed Po Kong back to reality.

“I... I... I can't handle them either... You can't... shouldn't be able to kill these things with a sword, right?” Po Kong stammered in response.

“This is trouble.” Seeing this, Starlight cursed inwardly. Without Po Kong’s help, he wouldn't be able to go all out.

But he quickly made up his mind. At a time like this, he should strike first while the ghosts were still somewhat hesitant.

With that thought, he clapped his hands together with a crisp sound. Immediately, a fireball the size of a washbasin condensed in his palms. Before the ghosts could react, he hurled it forward.

“Boom!”

Carrying scorching light and intense heat, the fireball landed precisely in the densest part of the ghost swarm. A deafening explosion erupted, instantly engulfing the gathered spirits in raging flames.

For undead creatures without physical forms, fire magic was quite effective besides light magic. High temperatures and intense light could suppress their movements to a certain extent.

That sudden fireball instantly reduced over a dozen ghosts in the center to nothingness, but the remaining ghosts scattered like ants from a disturbed nest.

The ghosts were incredibly fast and could completely ignore walls and obstacles. Suddenly, the entire tomb seemed to be filled with a thick white mist, and the temperature dropped significantly.

Starlight continuously hurled fireballs into the air. The scorching explosive flames effectively blocked the ghosts' advance, but they seemed exceptionally sensitive to the flow of mana. Combined with their unnaturally fast speed, he found it impossible to aim at their bodies and deal effective damage.

With his abundant mana, Starlight could maintain firepower suppression for a while, but if the battle remained in this stalemate, their situation would only grow more dangerous.

While Starlight was focused on pouring fire ahead, a ghost suddenly phased through the wall and emerged from beneath the floor. An invisible hand instantly passed through Starlight’s ankle.

Immediately, a bone-chilling cold swept through his entire body. Starlight instinctively looked down to see his right foot covered in a layer of thin frost, as if it had been frozen in an ice cellar, sending a prickling pain through him.

Ghosts couldn't attack living beings directly, but coming into contact with or passing through their forms caused severe frostbite. If left untreated, the consequences would be dire.

This frostbite was somewhat similar to damage caused by water elements, but its nature was entirely different. In terms of magic classification, it was more like a curse-type effect.

Fortunately, Starlight's internal mana was strong enough. He quickly circulated fire elements to suppress the chill, but it made him even more cautious.

“Po Kong! Pull yourself together! Didn't you prepare holy water? Now’s the time!” Starlight forced back the ghosts in front of him again and suddenly remembered Po Kong’s earlier preparations, turning to roar at him.

“Right! I still have that!” Po Kong seemed to wake up. His gaze fell on the bottles hanging at his waist. Gritting his teeth, he pulled one out and hurled it at the ghosts in the air.

“Crash.”

The liquid-filled bottle passed straight through the ethereal body of a ghost and shattered against the ceiling. It turned into countless shards, and the splashing holy water rained down on the surrounding ghosts.

However, the scene of ghosts perishing that they had expected did not occur. The ghosts touched by the holy water merely paused for a moment before continuing their charge as if nothing had happened.

“No way? That didn't work?! Is it not enough?!” Po Kong muttered in disbelief, then hurled two more bottles of holy water at the approaching ghosts.

The two glass bottles shattered in mid-air, creating a curtain of water. But the ghosts seemed completely indifferent. Instead, they were drawn by Po Kong's movements, passing straight through the mist and pouncing toward him.

“Damn it!! I couldn't have bought fakes, could I?!” Seeing that three consecutive bottles of holy water hadn't had the slightest effect, Po Kong couldn't help but curse loudly.

But the ghosts pressing in on him gave him goosebumps, forcing him to hurriedly jump away to dodge their attacks.

Although the holy water hadn't harmed the ghosts, the observant Starlight noticed a slight detail.

The ghosts couldn't pass directly through the scattered water droplets in the air like they did through walls; instead, their forms were partially pushed aside by the water mist. He was the only one who had noticed this.

Since these ghosts could be harmed by fire elements, if he could fill the entire passage with water elements, could he trap their forms?

A flash of inspiration struck Starlight. He shouted to Po Kong, “How many more bottles of holy water do you have? Throw them all! And throw your own water skin up there too!”

“Aren't they fakes?... Fine!” Though confused, Po Kong didn't hesitate to hurl all the water bottles at his waist along with his own water skin toward the ghosts.

Several water bottles shattered against the walls, splashing more water. Starlight shifted his hand technique, lightly pressing his palm against the floor.

The residual moisture on the floor seemed to be pulled by an invisible force, rising up and merging with the water droplets floating in the air to gradually form a large water sphere.

Then, with a light flick of his finger, the water sphere dispersed into a vast cloud of fine mist, filling the entire tomb like a gentle rain.