Chapter 56: Got a problem with that?

“Stop talking and save me!”

The Succubus cried out.

“Life’s always like that, you know.”

“What?”

See?

She’s not going to die.

“You’re not going to die anyway. Besides, it seems like your taunt worked. Holy Crash!”

I slammed the glowing mace into the ground.

In an instant, a massive light engulfed the surroundings.

Boom!

Normally, this should have wiped everything out, but…

It seems these ghosts, bound by their past grudges, are harder to deal with than I thought.

“You crazy… what the hell… Aaaagh!”

The succubus got swept up in the light, while the red ghosts fled to the sky.

Sure, some of them seemed to be gone, but most escaped.

“Wow, these girls are fast. Looks like only the succubus will get killed at this rate.”

This is holy light, after all.

It’s a massive blow to the succubus.

Of course, I held back so she wouldn’t die, but her clothes were almost completely torn up.

“What? Stop talking and help me! My clothes are shredded!”

“It’s fine, you’re a succubus, what does it matter?”

Shouldn’t a succubus be fine with some torn clothes?

Honestly, if a succubus wore clothes, even a hero would find it funny.

“What did you say, you brat?”

Well, in any case, I don’t want the succubus to die.

So I swung my mace at the rampaging red ghost.

Clang!

Like hitting a home run, the red ghost became a distant star in the sky.

“You asked for help, so I helped.”

After a few more ghosts charged, I smacked them down too.

But for some reason, the succubus frowned in displeasure.

“You insane girl, you beat ghosts with physical attacks. You have no sense.”

“Do you want to lose your sense too?”

If you’re nearly naked, you should feel at least a little embarrassed.

Seriously.

I pulled the succubus back.

The little girl was safe in a secure area behind us.

“Those ghosts retreat and attack pretty fast, don’t they?”

They fly more nimbly than regular wraiths, and they’re all sorts of colors—blue, red, and other shades.

“This is getting dangerous, isn’t it? If they keep flying up high, we’ll be in trouble.”

Yeah, it’s a problem.

We don’t have any flying characters, no gunslingers, no archers.

Just melee fighters.

“There’s definitely a limit, like swatting flies. But there’s a way.”

“Then use it!”

Alright.

I do have a way.

But if I use it, the succubus will be the first to die.

No matter her personality, that skill purifies all monsters.

And the succubus is definitely a monster.

“If I use that, 100% the succubus will vanish. It purifies everything.”

“Damn it! This is why I didn’t want to come!”

What is she saying?

She’s the one who insisted on coming.

Wasn’t she the one who wanted to see the Cheonma in action?

“What are you whining about when it was your choice to come?”

“There’s another way, though.”

“Oh? What’s that?”

The Cheonma had created a lightsaber at some point.

Well, it looked more like a glowing stick.

She made several of them and threw them at the flying ghosts.

It was like throwing glowing, multicolored Pocky sticks.

Strawberry Pocky, melon Pocky, sports drink-flavored Pocky.

“Kyaaaa!”

“Wow. Those light beams are amazing.”

I didn’t expect them to work on the ghosts.

That light must be something special.

I thought she’d fire some sort of energy wave, but the Cheonma always defies expectations.

“These ghosts can feel ‘ki.’ Their corrupt energy can never overcome the righteous ki. My righteousness will burn away their wickedness.”

She’s saying stuff I can’t quite follow.

But it’s definitely helping.

The sight of the spectral Pocky rods from the Cheonma hitting the ghosts one by one, with a thud thud, and making them fall was pretty satisfying.

“These crazy things… they’re stupidly strong.”

“Maybe it’s that the succubus is just weak?”

No matter how I see it, you’re the weak one.

What kind of succubus runs away scared by ghosts?

“We need a plan, but gathering them won’t work.”

In this case, the only option is to fight them head-on.

Luckily, the Cheonma’s light Pocky is taking care of the scythe-wielding ghosts, but I don’t know how long that will last.

Should we just provoke them and beat them as they come?

For that, the succubus would have to put in some real effort.

“What’s there to worry about? With you and me, we can handle them all, can’t we?”

“We’ll be fine, but what if the pixie or the succubus gets caught by hit-and-run tactics?”

Back in my hero party days, the mage was really helpful, but we don’t have one now.

Maybe I should’ve chosen my class more carefully.

“Hey, but with the Cheonma and the Saintess, you two can just take care of them all.”

“We might be strong, but there’s a difference between melee fighters catching airborne enemies with basic skills and ranged characters shooting them down.”

It’s different when super strong melee characters use basic attacks to hit flying units versus a ranged DPS character shooting arrows, right?

“You’re really spoiled.”

“Well, it’s natural to want to take the easy route if there is one.”

“Saintess, if we join forces, why wouldn’t we be able to break through here?”

“That’s true.”

Then let’s do it.

I’ve been too focused on my returning comrades.

But originally, I preferred solo play.

“Well, it’s hard to resist the Cheonma’s authority, after all.”

“Wait a minute. You said it’s because of me that we can’t handle them, right?”

The succubus suddenly asked as if something had just clicked, and I nodded.

“Yes.”

“Then what if I, with tears in my eyes, leave the party?”

As if she’s trying to escape that way.

It’s not like there will always be airborne enemies, anyway.

I plan to keep using the succubus until we take down the Demon King.

“You’ve really mastered the art of talking nonsense.”

“Hmm, Saintess, then why don’t you throw something like the Cheonma does? If you gather the light from your Holy Crash and throw it?”

Oh, that sounds reasonable.

“Does that even make sense? I’m not some overpowered munchkin character.”

“It will work. Imagine shaping the light within you into a spear and throwing it.”

-Theoretically, it’s possible.

Following the goddess’s advice, I gathered light in my hand before launching a Holy Crash.

A massive spear of light formed.

Whoa, this looks pretty cool.

Screeeech!

When I threw it, the red ghost got impaled by the shining spear.

I threw a few more and even took down some blue ghosts.

“It actually works?”

“Wow, you’re both monsters.”

The Cheonma’s Pocky beams and my spears of light were pretty powerful.

We pierced through and through, again and again.

There was no longer any need to bait them with taunts and kill them.

The ghosts, holding their grudges, charged at us on their own without the succubus even trying to tempt them.

It makes sense.

They died because of a succubus, after all.

“Wow, there’s still so many of them left, even after we’ve killed so many.”

This shining spear uses up a lot of divine power, though.

It’s not very efficient.

“By the way, what’s the little girl doing while I’m working so hard?”

The succubus kept complaining, and the little girl was doing what she always did—making maps.

This one was actually pretty high quality, too.

“What’s that old women complaining about now?”

“What the…?”

The sixty-year-old pixie who just called the succubus an “old women” handed me the map.

“I made a map. Even if we get rid of all the ghosts, it’s not over.”

“And then?”

“There might be more. Like a succubus.”

“A succubus? Are you serious?”

Wait, if that’s true, then history has been twisted.

Could it be that the succubus is her ally?

“Yeah.”

“So, this village was really conspiring with a succubus all along? Does that mean the women here might turn into succubi too?”

That actually makes sense.

We were told to uncover the correct history, so there might be hidden meanings behind it.

“If what you’re saying is true, then the king’s actions seem justified. So why is he depicted as a tyrant?”

The succubus was saying something foolish.

Well, of course.

History is written by the later generations and the victors.

“Cheonma is right. History is decided by future generations. No matter how great someone was, their descendants could twist it to suit their own legitimacy or political agenda. They might depict the person as a villain, or, on the contrary, glorify a villain and worship them like a god.”

Yeah.

For example, after the downfall of the tyrant king’s kingdom, the new ruler might’ve pushed that narrative.

“Maybe the so-called tyrant was just doing what had to be done. Still, we can’t be sure.”

Since we’re here to uncover the truth about history, we can’t trust everything we hear.

We need to keep searching for clues about the real history of this place.

“Why don’t we check the door? Maybe it just needs a key. Let’s just check it out for now.”

“Thinking about it, I’m not sure we can even open the door without dealing with these creatures first.”

When the succubus stopped using her allure, the ghosts quieted down for a moment.

We moved forward.

But even though they weren’t berserk anymore, it didn’t mean they wouldn’t attack.

Typically, undead creatures like these operate purely on instinct rather than thought.

The ghosts here, these ‘Drowned Spirits,’ would likely be even more relentless due to their unresolved grudges.

They’ll want nothing more than to kill us.

And sure enough, a few of them charged at us.

Screech!

Female ghosts, their hands shaped like scythes, lunged at us.

It wasn’t difficult to deal with those rushing us head-on.

It’s the ones using hit-and-run tactics that were the problem.

“We can just take them down as we go, right?”

“No. I’m not provoking them now because it’d be a hassle while we’re heading to the door. But eventually, we’ll have to fight them all.”

The fact that they brought up uncovering the correct history makes it clear there’s a trap ahead.

“Why?”

“I have a feeling that the description of the sixth floor near the door isn’t as simple as it seems.”

After walking for a while, we arrived at the end of the sixth floor.

As expected, there was no keyhole in the door, not even a place for a key to fit.

It won’t open unless we reveal the correct history.

Just then, one of the blue ghosts approached us near the door.

It wasn’t holding a scythe, so it didn’t seem hostile.

[“How could you suddenly come here and massacre us? What is the meaning of this?”]

It seemed like an NPC ghost.

“You’re already dead, so what’s all this talk about massacres? Sounds like a dog barking in the village.”

If you’re dead, then you’re dead.

What’s the point in calling it a massacre?

[“We’ve done nothing wrong! Please, capture the king who killed us!”]

How cliché, asking for a quest, just like in an RPG game.

“Then why did you try to kill me?!”

The succubus, still bitter about being attacked, was yelling furiously.

[“What else could we do? After all, an succubus appeared before us after we died because of a succubus!

Surely, Sister, you understand our plight?”]

Why are they asking me for understanding?

In the end, they died because they were weak, didn’t they?

They didn’t have the strength to oppose the king, so as his subjects, they were killed.

-Wow, what a personality.

Personality aside, it’s strange how these beings always rely on priests for absolution.

More importantly—

“Understand or not, I’m the one who told the succubus to provoke you all. Got a problem with that?”

[“ . . .”]

Not just the NPC, but the faces of the nearby ghosts twisted into ugly expressions.

If you’ve got complaints, come at me.