Chapter 6: Chasing Shadow Spirits 2/4

"Why are there so many masked creatures here?!" asked Etzell frantically.

The creature's form was that of a normal human, but because the mask it wore looked terrifying, Etzell felt scared.

"What?! You said there was only one right?"

Melissa asked. She looked surprised because it was her first time seeing a spirit in human form and wearing a mask.

Tiwaz Re ignored the questions from Etzell and Melissa, he just kept staring at the many masked spirits and sometimes he shifted his gaze to the shadow-type spirits.

"Tiwaz Re! Don't keep quiet!" snapped Melissa.

Even when yelled at by Melissa, Tiwaz Re continued to ignore her.

Until after a while of staring at many spirits, Tiwaz Re began to smile. His face lifted up as if he was facing something very interesting.

"Tiwaz Re?"

Etzell called out to Tiwaz Re, he was confused after seeing his smile.

"Hey, damn it! Why are you even smiling?!"

Likewise with Melissa, she snapped back at Tiwaz Re and asked the reason why he was smiling.

"Hahaha! How interesting!"

Then Tiwaz Re laughed contentedly while saying that everything became very interesting. That made Etzell and Melissa even more confused.

"What's interesting?! We're being cornered now!"

Melissa continued to yell because she felt panicked. As for Etzell, he was just silent because he had resigned himself to what he was facing.

Actually, it was not only Etzell and Melissa who felt confused when Tiwaz Re laughed, but the spirits were also confused when they saw Tiwaz Re who was so relaxed and calm in facing them all.

"Who's laughing? I'll kill him first!" Santral asked one of the shadow-type spirits nearby.

"His name is Tiwaz Re, then the man next to him is Cormac Etzell, then the woman is Hela Melissa," he replied.

"Alright, good job on weakening them! Now I'm going to kill them all, of course Tiwaz Re is the priority," Santral said while looking at Tiwaz Re.

"But, be careful! Tiwaz Re looks strong!" one of the shadow-type spirits warned him.

"What are you talking about? I'm strong! Your leaders died just because they were careless, I'm sure of it. They're all just losers from any perspective," Santral retorted arrogantly.

"It's just that I wonder who killed him. If I find that person, I'll torture him first before killing him," Santral continued.

"Yes, it's a shame because he died without leaving any trace behind. So we lack information about that person."

"Don't worry, I'll torture them until I get the information, then we'll kill them afterwards."

"Barier: Level 3!"

Faintly, Tiwaz Re's voice rang out from Santral's ears.

While the conversation between the shadow type spirit and the technical neutralizer type was still going on, suddenly a rumbling sound was heard right after Tiwaz Re said "Barrier: Level 3!". Then shortly after, a bright light appeared that dazzled them all.

"Eh, what's that?!" one of the shadow-type spirits exclaimed.

"What's going on? Why is there so much glare!" said Santral.

"Isn't this, a barrier?!" replied one of the shadow-type spirits.

"Tiwaz Re, is he that stupid?" muttered Santral.

When the bright light was no longer blinding, Santral realized that it was Tiwaz Re's barrier technique.

The barier was a brownish-yellow color where the brown color was more dominant because the sunlight merged with the yellow color of the barier. Also, the barrier was a semicircle that reached all the spirits within it, of course Tiwaz Re, Etzell, and Melissa were also reached.

"I think you're very confident for laughing like that," Santral said to Tiwaz Re.

"But he's also stupid!" said one of the shadow-type spirits.

"That's right. Tiwaz Re, why did you use the barrier when you were at a disadvantage? You're outnumbered," Santral asked Tiwaz Re.

"Well, forget it! Maybe you're just stupid," he continued.

Knowing he was being mocked, Tiwaz Re remained silent and smiled at them all.

"I don't even know who's stupid here," Tiwaz Re said.

"Stop that stupid smile! You're pissing me off, dammit!" exclaimed Santral.

"At least beat me first and I'll stop," Tiwaz Re retorted.

"Alright, I accept your request!"

Santral was provoked by Tiwaz Re's words and he prepared to attack him along with the shadow-type spirit.

"Hey, Tiwaz Re! Isn't this serious?" asked Etzell in panic.

"Why do we also have to confine ourselves inside your barrier?" Melissa asked.

Tiwaz Re still didn't answer when asked by the two of them.

"Oh my, they're coming!" exclaimed Etzell.

Santral and several shadow-type spirits began to surround and attack the three of them, of course their main objective was Tiwaz Re.

Shadow-type spirits could move swiftly. Unlike the technique neutralizing spirits, they moved slowly but could neutralize all techniques. In short, technique-neutralizing spirits were great for the back lines of battle.

"Chain Slash!"

SESH!

Melissa's technique disappeared and disintegrated just as the chain extended.

"Just shattered?!" said Etzell in surprise.

The two spirit types made a one-way attack where everything was directed at Tiwaz Re, while Etzell and Melissa would be ignored first.

"Tiwaz Re, I think they're all eyeing you!"

Melissa, who realized it, immediately warned Tiwaz Re.

"Eight, nine, ten?"

Pointing his finger at the attacking spirits, Tiwaz Re manually counted them all.

"So there are 50 in total, huh? 40 shadow types and 10 technical neutralizer types," Tiwaz Re muttered.

Having finished counting everything, Tiwaz Re then briefly looked at Melissa and Etzell.

"Sorry if I ignored you guys, I'm currently considering something," said Tiwaz Re.

"What do you mean?" asked Etzell.

"There are a total of 50 spirits here. Do you remember what I said before, Etzell?" Tiwaz Re asked back.

"Sorry, I don't remember it!" replied Etzell.

"Alright, it's time for the explanation session! Mirror Flip: Level 3, Double The Mirror!"

Then as Tiwaz Re pulled out the Mirror Flip technique, a large translucent mirror appeared around the three of them. The mirror looked very thick because it was basically created in layers by Tiwaz Re. But even so, the attacking spirits remained visible.

"It doesn't matter if you don't remember it, I'll say it once more. 100 spirits, that's only equivalent to 1 human. Whereas in our current situation there are 3 humans, which means the three of us are equivalent to 300 spirits," Tiwaz Re explained.

CRACK!

"It's cracked! How can I help you?" asked Melissa.

"Take it easy, at least listen to my explanation first! I have a good plan," replied Tiwaz Re.

In the middle of his explanation, Tiwaz Re's Mirror Flip technique began to break and crack. However, Tiwaz Re continued to explain and he intended to explain the type of spirit he was dealing with now.

While continuing to maintain the Mirror Flip technique that continued to be neutralized, Tiwaz Re continued to double his technique.

There were 50 spirits in total, 40 shadow type and 10 neutralizing type techniques. The shadow-type spirits had human-like forms but all parts of their bodies were blackened like shadows, while the technique-neutralizing type spirits had human-like forms but their faces were covered by masks.

The mask they wear is shaped like a red hole that looks ready to absorb anything. This was indeed the case, as the core power of the technical neutralizer-type spirit was its mask.

For that reason, Tiwaz Re said that targeting the mask was the best option when dealing with a technical neutralizer-type spirit. If the mask is destroyed, the technical neutralizing spirit will die. But with a note of having to destroy it using physical power because all techniques will be neutralized by it.

"Do you understand now?" asked Tiwaz Re after explaining.

"Then what should I do? I can't unleash my techniques if they keep getting neutralized, and also I feel that we can't win against them! We're outnumbered!" exclaimed Melissa.

"Yes, I'll definitely die soon. But at least let me scream one last time," Etzell replied resignedly.

"No, don't scream! It'll ruin my plan," Tiwaz Re forbade.

"Ah, alright. I understand!" replied Etzell.

"Hey, Tiwaz Re! Come out, don't keep hiding behind that giant mirror! How long are you going to do that until you run out of spirit energy?"

Santral began to look annoyed because he couldn't break through Tiwaz Re's Mirror Flip technique, that's why he told him to come out.

"You didn't forget that you were inside my barrier, did you?" Tiwaz Re asked Santral in return.

"You mean this stupid barrier? You're just wasting your spirit energy when you use it!" replied Santral.

"Yes, but that so-called stupid barier holds most of the spirit energy I have. So as long as it's not destroyed, I can continue to use this giant mirror," Tiwaz Re replied.

"Huh?! That's bad! Some of you, destroy that barrier with all your strength!"

Santral took Tiwaz Re's words at face value, then he ordered several shadow-type spirits to destroy Tiwaz Re's barrier.

As ordered by Santral, they began to move to attack the barrier.

"Eh?! He was fooled so easily?" murmured Melissa in surprise.

"That's how it is, they are basically not given a big brain," Tiwaz Re replied to Melissa's muttering.

"The barrier is weak to attacks from within, but that only applies to wave attacks like Etzell's technique," he continued.

"Eh? Me?!" said Etzell confused.

"Yes, you are one of the few people who can destroy my barrier. Although it's only level 1, anyway."

"So it's still level 1?!"

The attack continued, but some spirits broke away. Some attacked Tiwaz Re's large mirror, while others attacked Tiwaz Re's barrier.

"Damn, it's so hard! Why can't I neutralize it?!" said Santral, getting annoyed.

"Hey, you guys! Don't stop, keep attacking seriously!"

Santral continued to encourage and force the others to continue attacking without stopping.

"My original plan went well, now it's time to execute another plan," Tiwaz Re said with a smile.

"That's good. So, what's your next plan?" Melissa asked.

"I'm going to move the two of you into the narrow alley before we moved earlier," Tiwaz Re replied.

"You call that a plan?!" protested Melissa.

"Wa-wait! Don't leav-..."

"Teleportation: Level 4!"

Before she could finish her sentence, Tiwaz Re had already used the teleportation technique to teleport Melissa and Etzell from inside the barrier, leaving him alone inside his own barrier with the group of spirits.

Tiwaz Re had locked the narrow alley where they had moved to before, so Melissa and Etzell would move back to that narrow alley.

Until not long after, Melissa and Etzell completely disappeared in front of Tiwaz Re and also some spirits.

"Well, maybe I'll be a little serious," muttered Tiwaz Re after seeing the two of them disappear.