Ghost Union Kraken

Boom!

A ghastly-looking tentacle slammed against the rainbow-coloured dome of light.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Just as the first tentacle reeled back, three more came flying after it.

Sparks flew like a thunderstorm at night, bright and impossible to ignore.

Magnus was narrowly missed as he dodged to the side in a frantic hurry. The tentacles that were as thick as one of Midseer's skyscrapers were no joke.

Just one slap, and he would be dead for sure.

To top that off, Magnus could feel a mental pressure bearing down on him whenever he placed his gaze on these tentacles.

It was subtle when the tentacles were far.

But in the moment that he was almost hit, he felt a powerful suction force grasp at his consciousness.

He fell into a momentary daze. As did the rest of the Hivemind.

One glance at those horrific, wailing faces that were stuck together like glue, and Magnus could no longer act how he wished.

It was only when the tentacles reeled back, frustrated that it could not break the dome with all the effort it had put in, did Magnus regain control of himself and his Hivemind members.

Blaze had been placed in a worrisome state because of it.

"Shit…!" Magnus almost yelped as he felt a part of his soul grow cold.

A ghost was trying to possess Blaze.

With a rapidly beating heart, Magnus charged downwards. He dodged the ghost dragons and the floating wights as he went. He was lucky that they did not see him as a target as he passed by.

'Dimwitted things,' Magnus inwardly smiled but the sense of danger he felt had yet to disappear.

"I am the cause of creation,

The maker of stars,

The sculptor of planets,"

He hurriedly invoked his Blessing.

"To me!" He yelled out. A black focal point of gravity flew out from his finger and descended unto Blaze.

Magnus then yanked at an invisible cord. And Blaze came flying towards him.

"Damn ghosts!" Magnus summoned the Half-Night Tome with a flash of light. He held the book in his hands as he turned incorporeal.

Thud!

Magnus placed a palm on Blaze's stomach.

"I am your predator." Magnus said, "Not your prey."

Undead energy surged as the Soul Devourer Art was activated. The ghost lingering inside Blaze was rightfully consumed.

At a price.

Magnus felt his mind shake and his soul weaken.

He lost a little bit of his Spirit Attributes, bringing it down to a worrying 2.1-star rating.

But,

"Interesting," Magnus muttered as he felt the circulation of his Soul Devourer Art.

There was something urging him to do that again.

To devour more.

To slurp on the essence of more 2-star ghosts.

Magnus licked his lips. Ideas surged through his mind as he unsummoned Blaze.

[ I thought my role was to fight? ] Her voice rang in the Hivemind.

[ You fought enough. ] Magnus replied. [ We're having a change of plans. ]

Magnus was going to challenge himself.

"Let's see if this body has enough Spirit Attributes to let my Soul Devourer Art grow." He cackled as he fell to the ground.

He was still incorporeal as he held the Half-Night Tome. Thus, when he hit the Undead Energy-tinged pavement, he fell right through.

"Time to find that Gate while i'm at it."

The grin on Magnus' face right now was simply divine. It bordered on insanity as he felt his heart beating wildly in his ghostly chest.

His adrenaline was surging and he was high on fear and thrills.

'Whatever happens aboveground is no longer my problem.'

SHRIEEEEEEEEEEK!

A ghost rushed towards Magnus at that moment.

Although he could not see it, he could feel the surge of coldness coming from somewhere in the earth.

In this claustrophobia-inducing environment, Magnus could only focus on his other senses. All his eyes saw was of no use. It only caused his instincts to scream in the panic of possibly getting buried alive.

"….DIEEEEEE!" The ghost's cry rang in Magnus' ears.

A fierce coldness assaulted his body, but this time, he was prepared.

The Half-Night Tome in his hands gleamed. Magnus' Spirit Energy and his Spirit Attributes flowed into the mysterious book. Fueling it with power.

SHRIEEEEEEK!

The ghost's cry rang out from within Magnus' body.

It sounded tortured.

More than it already was.

But there was no way out for it.

Magnus' attributes dropped to 2.0-stars.

And the ghost was dead.

Thus, the descent of the orange-haired teenager continued.

.

.

.

Meanwhile.

Aboveground.

The Hivemind's Rie glanced out of her hotel window.

She watched as the dome of rainbow-coloured light shattered into a million fragments. Looking just like glass and not light.

Tentacles hundreds of metres long thrashed about in the sky.

Blaze appeared beside her. "What… what is that thing?"

Rie turned intangible for a moment. Information surged like a tide, and Rie picked out the most relevant piece of information at that moment.

"Ghost Union Kraken. A 6-star threat." She answered Blaze.

"I see…" Blaze's expression crumpled.

Even though she was a part of the Hivemind now, Magnus let her keep her personality. She still hated the undead to the core and Magnus was the only exception.

"Do you think the city Protectors can kill it?" Blaze asked.

"I'm not sure." Rie pursed her lips. Her words right now were Magnus' for a small smile found itself on her cute face, "But if they cannot, then… We can cause more chaos."

Blaze shivered. "It seems like Midseer's future is bleak unless the Interstellar Trinity puts more elbow grease in."

"Indeed," Rie replied. Her eyes seemed to see past the buildings and penetrate the battlefield to watch what was happening.

.

.

.

Zone of Undead.

Southern Base.

Ariel glared at the Ghost Union Kraken with a rare ferocity in her eyes.

Her barrier had been breached, and it would take a long while for her to recreate it.

It was time that she did not have.

Unoccupied ghosts rushed out en masse, looking for any sign of life beyond the shroud of Undead Energy that lingered in the Zone of Undead.

They howled in delight the moment they saw something alive.

…Only to get burned by Divine Energy the moment they approached.

The people who had been standing guard around the dome just in case it shattered were prepared.

The masses had been evacuated a long time ago, and all who were left here were the combatants geared towards purifying undead.

Ariel thus breathed a short sigh of relief, spreading her Spirit Energy out to blanket the area.

Divine Energy mixed with her blanketing aura, condensing wherever it was commanded to condense.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Then came a choir of screams. Hundreds of ghosts were torn apart by Divine Energy and Spirit Energy.

They were not allowed a choice in the matter, and no matter how much they resisted, the pressure was too great.

It was like trying to walk in the depths of Earth's Mariana's Trench. Except with the blazing light of Divine Energy and the weight of a single person's existence.

Ariel heaved a deep breath. That move had taken a significant toll on her Spirit Energy reserves.

"If only they were all 1-star ghosts!" She cursed as she once again mobilised her energy.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

The screams were once again resounding.

But Ariel knew she could not continue like this. There were thousands of ghosts, and she could only kill hundreds at a time.

It was not a fair trade of energy.

They were not like the flimsy theoretical 1-star beings where she could annihilate an entire region's worth.

There were 3-star and 4-star beings mixed within the crowd. A squad of 4-star ghost dragons was already on par with a 5-star individual.

It was not easy to properly get her Spirit Energy to blanket the area in just the right way to kill.

There were too many powerful beings messing up her flow.

It was annoying.

But there was nothing Ariel could do about it save for gritting her teeth and continuing to fight.

She would hold off the ghost horde while Repoire and Farlier hopefully did something to the monster that had just appeared.

.

.

.

"Repoire!" Farlier roared out his comrade's name as Repoire was blasted into a crumbling building.

The many tentacles of the Ghost Union Kraken were a menacing foe for strength-type fighters like them.

There were so many possibilities to keep track of and so many likelihoods where they would get hit.

Dodge one, and they were struck by another. Dodge two, and there were three more.

"Damn… it…" Repoire groaned as he pulled himself out of the rubble. He had been launched through seven different buildings before he came to a stop on the eighth.

His joints were aching and his skin was full of bruises.

A broken rib was there somewhere, but at least there was no internal bleeding.

He could still fight.

He let out a punch.

Three concentrated shockwaves poured out of his fist, creating rings in the air.

An extension of his fist made out of pure force and Spirit Energy blasted into the tentacle that was gunning for him once more. It knocked the slow-moving tentacle back.

But a few more were coming over to strike him.

"RRRAAAAAAH!" Repoire let out an angry warcry, causing his Spirit Energy to surge outwards from his person like a ripple on a calm lake. "Farlier you power-hungry bastard, look for its weakness! Or for its core!"

"I'm trying!" Farlier roared back as he blocked seven tentacles and was struck by two more. "What do you think I've been doing this whole time?! I'm trying to get it to show its main body!"

BOOM!

His body created a crater in the ground as he struggled to stand up.

The battlefield now was filled with ruins.

The entire Zone of Undead was nothing but rubble and craters. Cracks in the earth were common, and the many Tokyo-like buildings had been toppled long ago.

The combatants who had charged into the Zone of Undead met cruel fates. They were the brave ones who had sought the rewards sent out by the Interstellar Trinity or to complete their respective Trials. But alas, the unexpected happened and they were now food for the Undead.

Zombies were joining the ghost horde.