The Deceitful One

Bryan and Andrew ran through the cemetery at full speed as they tried to catch up to the wraith who was now visible in the near distance.

"Physical attacks and normal bullets won't work on the wraith." Andrew asserted as he reloaded his pistol while still running.

"Then how do we kill it?" Bryan asked.

"Firstly, only spiritual force attacks are effective against evil spirits. Or specialized weapons such as this pistol." Andrew showed the pistol in his hand to Bryan after reloading the bullets.

Then Andrew added, "And secondly, we won't be killing it. We'll seal it!"

Bryan's eyebrows furrowed as he probed, "Seal it? What are you planning on doing?"

"Hehe, I will tame it in the future." Andrew chuckled.

He then passed his pistol with the rune inscriptions to Bryan and instructed, "Here, use this. The bullets shot will have Light properties. It will deal great damage to the Wraith.

Draw its attention while I hide in the shadows. I will seal it at the most opportune moment. Just trust me, okay?"

Bryan simply nodded and grabbed the pistol from Andrew's hand. He examined the runes on the pistol barrel for a moment and then looked back at Andrew.

However, he was already gone. Completely vanishing from sight.

Bryan could only shake his head and sigh, "As expected, Death Path Transcendents are very skilled at shadow-related spells."

Pistol in hand, Bryan continued to run after the wraith. The closer he got to the wraith, he realized that as the wraith was moving forward, it was continuing to draw in strands of black gas from the nearby graves and absorbing it.

He tried to carefully analyze this black gas and found it to be extremely repulsive. Moreover, he could feel all sorts of negative energy from it.

Bryan then recalled what Andrew had told him about how evil spirits were born, 'Negative emotions!'

"Is it absorbing all the negative emotions from the nearby corpses?" Bryan mumbled under his breath as he closed in on the wraith.

Since there were only six bullets in the chamber, he had to make every bullet count. And Bryan was pretty confident about his shooting skills after all the training he'd been through.

Confident enough to know that all six bullets would find their way to the target even if he was shooting while running--unless the wraith was capable of agilely dodging the bullets.

The wraith was now within shooting range, approximately about twenty feet away from Bryan. He steadily raised his right hand, aimed the pistol at the back of the fleeing wraith, and pulled the trigger.

Bang Bang Bang!

All three bullets perfectly landed on the wraith. Two on its upper back and the last one on its waist. Just like the last time, the bullet holes continued to expand as they burnt the body of the wraith.

The wraith shrieked in anguish as it stopped in its tracks, still hovering a few feet above the ground. It then sped up the absorption of the negative energy from the nearby graves to heal its wound.

It turned around in fury and looked at Bryan who was standing just a few feet away with a smug look on his face.

Bryan raised his hands again and took aim as he walked closer to the wraith. Instantly he pulled the trigger, not giving any time for the wraith to heal further.

Bang Bang!

With inhuman reflexes, the wraith dodged the first bullet while the second bullet only slightly grazed its right shoulder. It then flew toward Bryan and swiped both its black claws as it aimed to kill him this time for sure.

However, its claws went right through Bryan's body. It was yet another illusion!

Four mud spears protruded from the place Bryan's illusion was standing and pierced through the wraith's body.

Rank 0 Spell: Earth Spear!

The wraith screamed in pain as it tried to free itself from the mud spears with all its might.

SCREEEECH!!

Not allowing the wraith any moment of respite, the real Bryan appeared behind the impaled wraith. He crouched down and placed his palm on on the ground as he muttered coldly, "Shadow Chains!"

Noticing the incoming danger, the wraith abruptly turned his head around, however, it was too late!

Half a dozen black chains emerged from Bryan's shadows as they wrapped around the wraith, effectively constricting its movements while it was still impaled by the mud spears.

For the first time, the wraith showed an almost human-like expression of horror as its red eyes trembled.

Bang!

Bryan shot the last bullet in the chamber straight at the wraith's head, causing a large fiery hole to cover almost half of the wraith's black shadowy face.

However, it was still not dead as it continued to struggle to get free. Although its actions were now much slower.

Right at that moment, a humongous black palm appeared right above the wraith and slammed it to the ground, destroying the Earth Spears and Shadow Chains in the process.

Andrew stood on top of the black palm as he indifferently stared at the wraith. A deathly black aura swirled around him, making him appear cold and intimidating.

This large black palm was the Rank 1 Spell: Hand of Death!

Bryan had never seen Andrew look so menacing before. The dark aura that surrounded him along with the cold and merciless look in his eyes gave one the feeling that he was the grim reaper from the underworld who had come to reap lives!

Andrew silently looked at the wraith who was struggling underneath the Hand of Death with a cold expression.

He then took out a silver card from his pocket. The card was the size of any regular card one would find in a deck of playing cards. He then crouched down and placed the silver card on the wraith's forehead.

Andrew then declared in Ancient Hymmnos, "Seal!"

The next moment, bright white light shone from the card and enveloped the wraith who was trapped under the Hand of Death.

A few seconds later, the wraith disappeared from underneath the black hand. Andrew canceled the spell and landed on the ground, staring at the silver card with a hint of excitement in his eyes.

Flabbergasted, Bryan approached Andrew and inquired, "Where the fuck is the wraith!?"

Andrew flipped the card around and showed it to Bryan with a grin, "Here!"

Bryan looked at the silver card, only to see the same black wraith that they had been fighting just a few seconds ago, now trapped within. Completely stationary, almost as if it were a painting!