Chapter: 22 True Grade 4 Curse Spirit

Renko began the ascent up the mountain, her brain too messed up to even be worried about what she was gonna face today.

'Well, let's get this over with.'

As she climbed higher, the air grew cooler, and the sounds of the city below began to fade away. Renko's senses started to return as the chilly breeze managed to take the edge off of the sugar rush. 

After a while, she reached the entrance of the cemetery. The iron gate creaked as she pushed it open, and the eerie silence of the graveyard enveloped her.

[WARNING!]

[You Have Found A Curse Spirit Nest]

[Recommended Level: 1~10]

[Curse Spirits Inside: 51 Semi-Fourth Grade (Mobs/ Graves), 20 Fourth Grade (Elites/Columbarium), 5 Semi-Third Grade (Sub-Bosses/Mausoleum), 1 Third Grade (Boss/Chapel)]

{Note: You can enter and exit as long as you are not engaged in combat or not in the territory of a sub-boss or boss.}

[Do You Wish To Enter 'Yūrei Yama Cemetery']

[YES] [NO]

'Huh? Pretty sure I killed one of the elites and several of the mobs.'

[Notification]

{Please Note: Unless all the Sub-Bosses and Boss spirits are exorcised, the Elite and Mob level curse spirits will regenerate each time you exit the Nest.}

At first, her face had a rather shocked expression but it soon morphed into a malicious grin.

'So I can spare one sub-boss and return again and again to harvest all the semi-fourth grade and fourth-grade spirits again and again!'

*A stroke of good luck, right?*

*Wrong! She forgot to take her luck into the equation. Until now, she had been facing the weakest enemies thanks to her overwhelming luck. And now she got cocky.*

The atmosphere inside the cemetery was oppressive, as always. The moonlight struggled to pierce through the thick canopy of ancient trees, casting eerie shadows on the tombstones and graves. Renko navigated through the maze of graves, her senses on high alert.

It took almost no time to spot what she was looking for.

[Fly Head: Lv.5

HP: 15/15

CP: 20/20]

This time, instead of using the bayonet, she took out the cursed musket from her inventory. Might as well use guns if making them is your ability. She crouched behind a headstone and started to reload her weapon. 

Bit off the top of the paper cartridge, pour 90% of the gunpowder down the barrel, stuff down the cloth patch, and the Nessler projectile using the ramrod, pour the remaining 10% powder on the priming pan, and close the frizzen.

'Aim'

She took a deep breath, aligning the sights of the musket with the Fly Head. The ugly creature kept on buzzing around the tombstone, completely unaware that someone was aiming a gun at it. Renko's finger tightened on the trigger,

*BANG*

The Nessler projectile tore through the Fly Head. The curse spirit caught off guard, disintegrated into a dark mist.

[Critical Hit!]

[Damage: 15 +2.25(15%) + 6(40%)]

[Fly Head: -23.25 HP]

[Fly-Head: Exorcised]

[+10 EXP]

[Dropped Items:

- $5 or ¥600

- 2*Fly-head Wings]

[Firearms Mastery: +5 EXP]

[Marksmanship: +10 EXP]

[Innate Technique: Malevolent Arsenal(1): +5]

[Inferior Cursed Musket

Durability: 9/10(-1)]

*Whistle*

'That was a clean hit!'

Renko grinned, pleased with the efficiency of her shot. However, the gunshot didn't go unnoticed. From the shadows, several more Fly Heads emerged, drawn by the noise.

The swarm buzzed in the air, their bulbous searching around the graveyard for the source of the noise. They were about the same size as the lone one but there were almost a dozen of them, forming a menacing cloud over the graveyard.

'Reloading takes too long. Tactical retreat it is then.'

She threw the musket back into her inventory and took a few cautious steps back, eyeing the swarm of Fly-heads. Once she was certain that they didn't notice her, she made a run for it.

'Let's not be a hero.'

She retreated in the opposite direction of the swarm, to the outer edge of the cemetery, using the tombstones as cover to evade the attention of the curse spirits. She kept a steady pace, careful not to make any noise or sudden movements.

Catching her breath behind a large tombstone, she took a moment to assess the situation and reload the musket. The cemetery remained eerily quiet, with only the distant sounds of the city and the occasional rustle of leaves in the night breeze.

'Alright, note to self: avoid making loud noises in haunted graveyards,'

She muttered to herself, trying to lighten the tense situation.

Considering the situation, going head-on against the curse spirits would be suicidal but stronger ones should be lone enough for her to hunt from a distance. 

'Hmm. Gotta search for a columbarium'

Cautiously moving between the graves, Renko kept an eye out for any signs of elite curse spirits or anything that resembled a columbarium. After a short walk, Renko stumbled upon an area with larger and more elaborate graves. The architecture suggested that this could be the location of the columbarium but...

'Why is there no wall?'

It was some sort of open-roof columbarium with a honeycomb-like structure made of concrete or something similar. All of its 'pockets' were housing either a metal or a clay pot half rusted or broken with the ashes falling down to the ground.

'Ah, the place for corpses without an identity huh.'

[You Have Entered A Columbarium]

[Warning! This Place Is Occupied By An Elite Curse Spirit]

'Whatever, how powerful can a fourth-grade cursed spirit be?'

As Renko cautiously moved deeper into the columbarium, she noticed a flicker of movement and at once hid behind one of the honeycomb walls. She peeked from the side, trying to get a better look.

[Curse Spirt of Mourning: Lv.15]

[HP: 150/150]

[CP: 200/200]

The Curse Spirit of Mourning was different from the Fly Heads she encountered earlier. It had a slightly humanoid form, but mostly its body was made of globs of rotten meat along with bone fragments and rotten skin covering its body. Its face was uglier than any fucked up face she had ever seen before, with bulbous blistering and a wide smirk with fangs all over its... lips?

'Hmm, interesting. That's one face no one would ever want to see again.'

Renko crouched down, observing the elite curse spirit. While it looked formidable, she was pretty sure she could exorcise it if she wanted to. But something was wrong, she had exorcised one fourth-grade spirit yesterday and that was far weaker than this one. 

'Let's try to be sneaky.'

She decided to take advantage of the surroundings, using the honeycomb structure as cover to get closer without being noticed. The Curse Spirit of Mourning seemed to be lost in its own mourning, making it less attentive to its surroundings.

As she got within a reasonable distance, Renko took out her Inferior Cursed Musket, carefully aiming at the back of the spirit.

*BANG*

[Weak Spot Located]

[Critical Hit!]

[Damage: 15 + 2.25(15%) + 6(40%) + 7.5(50%)]

[Curse Spirit of Mourning: -30.75 HP]

[HP: 119.25/150]

'Huh?'

The projectile had just managed to tear into the creature's disgusting face as it turned to face the direction of the noise.

'Holy Crap! it's fast!'

The Curse Spirit of Mourning let out a guttural roar, its gaze locking onto the area where the bullet came from but it didn't manage to find Renko since she had already changed spot to its right and was holding her breath in a pitiful but effective attempt at stealth.

[Congratulation]

[New Skill Detected]

[Basic Stealth(1): 0/100]

[Basic Stealth: +2 EXP]

[Basic Stealth: +2 EXP]

[Basic Stealth: +2 EXP]

.

.

.

[27*Basic Stealth: +2 EXP]

The creature looked around for exactly half a minute before it began to let out long, creepy, whistles.

Renko's heart raced as she quickly assessed the situation. The elite curse spirit, who wasn't aware of her presence, seemed to not react to its wound... wait, what!?

[Curse Spirit of Mourning: HP +1]

[Curse Spirit of Mourning: HP +1]

[Curse Spirit of Mourning: HP +1]

.

.

.

It was healing too fucking quickly!

Despite the initial damage, the Curse Spirit of Mourning was rapidly regenerating, undoing Renko's efforts with each passing moment.

"That's just great."

The elite curse spirit continued to emit those eerie whistles, the sound echoing through the columbarium. Renko needed to come up with a new plan quickly, or she'd find herself in a dire situation.

'Okay, time to think. It's healing faster than I can damage it. What can I do?'

Renko considered her options. She couldn't rely on brute force alone... wait! She totally could!

At present, her CP bar is full which means she could do a total of four auto-loads with the Musket, and if she did one manual load, it would be equivalent to a five-round volley. If push come to shove, she could always mount the bayonet on the flintlock.

Wait... why didn't she try doing that before?

*Her brain... melted at her own stupidity.*

Taking out the Inferior cursed bayonet, she noticed that the guard actually had a muzzle ring in it, a simple fact she had ignored for quite some time now. Without wasting time, she began to reload the musket. 

The same process of ripping, pouring, stuffing, ramming, applying, and locking, took her less than a minute to complete.