…

  Ethan was just about to end it—

  when the house behind them collapsed with a thunderous crash.

  BOOM—!!

  Beams snapped. Tiles exploded. The whole structure folded into a ruin.

  Dust rolled out in choking waves… and mixed into that dust was something worse.

  Thick yin-qi.

  Cold. Rotting. Heavy enough to make your lungs feel tight.

  “Captain—watch out!” Nora shoved a pill into Ethan’s hand. He hadn’t expected her prep to actually matter, but he swallowed it anyway.

  The moment it hit his stomach, his head cleared—like someone flipped a switch and drained the fog.

  But that didn’t make sense.

  The female ghost was already dead. Ethan had cut her down and the reward prompt had already popped.

  So why was the ghost energy still this strong?

  Nobody moved. The night wind turned razor-cold.

  Then—

  From the rubble, a thin little hand rose.

  Slowly. Weakly.

  It pushed aside broken tiles like they weighed nothing.

  A baby crawled out.

  Its face was corpse-white, not a hint of blood. Its eyes were pure black—two deep, empty holes that made your skin crawl.

  “G… g-ghost…” Nora stammered.

  Rowan’s voice cracked, suddenly terrified. “A ghost infant!”

  He swallowed hard. “She was pregnant when she died!”

  An unborn child dying with its mother—trapped in the womb—built resentment beyond normal hatred. Add the yin-qi it absorbed from the mother…

  And you got something twisted.

  Evil.

  The worst kind of spirit.

  The infant dragged itself forward—and as it moved, it grew. Bones thickened. Flesh swelled. It kept ballooning until it became a child-shaped giant, massive and wrong.

  Everyone felt their scalp tighten.

  Rowan had known the female ghost was here. He’d wanted her to kill more people, grow stronger, then harvest her.

  But the ghost infant?

  He clearly hadn’t known. And now he was sweating.

  Ethan raised his wrist. “Aimee. Scan it.”

  Green text appeared in his vision:

  [lv26 — Ghost Infant — DISASTER-class]

  Humans had geniuses. Monsters did too.

  Same realm didn’t mean same strength.

  Official threat ratings ran five tiers: Standard, Disaster, Calamity, Dragon, Abyssal.

  Disaster-class meant at least 30% stronger than a normal monster at the same level.

  Aimee immediately added:

  [Recommendation: RETREAT IMMEDIATELY]

  Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

  Big-data verdict: this wasn’t a fight two probationary investigators were supposed to win.

  The ghost infant tilted its head and started crying.

  “Hurts… hurts…”

  The sound was wrong—like it was scraping the inside of the skull. The sonic wave made ears throb and teeth buzz.

  Then Ray stepped forward, voice soft like he was talking to a real child.

  “Son… I’m your father.”

  He held out a hand. “Come here. I won’t hurt you. Come on.”

  “D…dad…”

  The giant ghost infant shuffled toward him.

  When it was less than a meter away—

  Ray snapped his hand up and slapped a golden talisman onto its forehead.

  Golden light erupted.

  The ghost infant screamed so loud it felt like knives.

  “AAAAAAAH—!!!”

  Ray’s face twisted. “Good. One last use.”

  He pulled out a string of prayer beads and started flicking them fast, chanting as he tried to seal the infant and refine it into a weapon.

  It didn’t work.

  The ghost infant’s chubby hand shot out and grabbed Ray’s head.

  “Hurts… Dad… hurts…!”

  CRACK.

  Ray’s skull popped like a watermelon.

  Blood and pulp leaked between the infant’s fingers.

  Rowan went pale.

  “Fuck this—this thing’s insane!” He spun and bolted. “I’m out! I can’t handle that!”

  He ran like his soul was on fire.

  But Ethan didn’t move.

  If that ghost infant reached the old town, the whole place would be a slaughterhouse.

  And even Nora—shaking hard enough to rattle—held her ground, because Unit 749 didn’t get to walk away.

  Ethan looked at her. “Nora. Leave.”

  Her eyes went wide. “W-what? Captain, then what about you?!”

  Ethan smiled, and it wasn’t a nice smile.

  “I stay,” he said. “And I kill it.”

  Blood flowed from his palm without pain. In midair it hardened into a long blade, red and sharp.

  The ghost infant dropped to all fours and charged like a beast.

  Ethan moved—

  Quickdraw Form: Wyrm From the Deep.

  A blood-red slash snapped out like lightning.

  CHOP—!

  Half the ghost infant’s hand came clean off.

  “Hurts—!!!”

  It shrieked and swung its other hand down like a sledgehammer.

  Ethan lifted his blade to block—

  But Nora lunged in from the side and raised a stone-hard forearm to take it.

  Her War-line gene release kicked fully online—strength and durability spiking hard.

  BOOM!

  Air cracked from the impact.

  Nora got launched backward into the rubble—

  —and two seconds later she crawled back out.

  Blood at the corner of her mouth.

  Eyes steady.

  “Captain,” she said, voice shaking but stubborn, “I’ll buy you time. Use that move.”

  Ethan’s gaze tightened. “Fine. Don’t get yourself killed.”

  Nora slapped one of her warding talismans onto her body, then set her stance—right fist clenched, left palm open, breath deep, center low.

  The ghost infant’s face twisted, voice warping between child and monster.

  “Mom… Dad… killed you… KILL!”

  It charged again.

  Nora met it head-on.

  A brutal close-quarters brawl—bone, impact, dirt, and rage—while the talisman flashed gold and pushed back the worst of the ghost energy just long enough to keep her from getting shredded.

  And Ethan—

  Ethan moved to a rooftop angle and planted his feet.

  He’d been ready to gamble on heavy bleeding to amplify Blood Sovereign…

  but he didn’t need to.

  Not now.

  He raised his arms in an archer’s stance.

  Slaughter Domain, Sequence 015 — Latania’s Bloodmoon Greatbow.

  A crimson bow formed in midair.

  Seventy percent of Ethan’s blood converted into droplets, gathered along the string, and condensed into a single arrow glowing dark red—like a blood moon hanging in a dead sky.

  Charge complete.

  Ethan’s voice cut through the chaos.

  “Nora—MOVE!”

  “Yes!”

  Nora sprang back, rolling clear.

  Ethan released.

  WHOOOM—!!

  The arrow screamed across the yard and hit the ghost infant dead center.

  BOOOOM—!!!

  Dust exploded.

  The ground cratered.

  When the smoke thinned, the ghost infant lay in the pit—skewered clean through, the crimson arrow pinning it like an insect.

  It whimpered, voice small again.

  “Hurts… Dad… hurts…”

  Ethan dropped in, expression flat.

  “Night-night.”

  He drove the blood-blade straight through its skull.

  The crying stopped.

  The body unraveled into black mist and dissolved into the air.

  [Divine Mission complete. Blood Strength +6%]

  [Powerful demon slain. “Hunting Thirst” triggered. Blood Strength +3%]

  When a monster died, it released a surge of spiritual energy for a short time. Ethan and Nora absorbed it right there in the aftermath—

  and both of them rocketed up.

  Ethan’s level jumped ten straight levels: lv67 → lv77.

  Blood flowed back into Ethan’s body. The pale cast in his face eased.

  Nora stared at her terminal, stunned—then smiled like she couldn’t believe her luck.

  “I… I think I broke through,” she said. “Captain—I actually broke through!”

  Her mindset had sharpened in the fight, and the energy surge pushed her over the line.

  Ethan nodded once. “Good. Congrats.”

  He’d cleared his own prerequisite. Now it was just filling all one hundred apertures.

  “Thank you, Captain!” Nora bowed quickly, still shaking with adrenaline.

  They took a moment to breathe, then prepared to call cleanup.

  Ethan’s vision flashed again:

  [Current Blood Strength bonus: 20%. Divine Gift available.]

  He focused.

  Three cards appeared:

  Blood Strength +3%

  Enhance Blood Sovereign: If your blood exists around you, any incoming attack triggers automatic defense

  Gain ability: “Ghost Infant Wail” — sit down and cry to unleash sonic attacks

  Ethan stared at #3 for half a second.

  “…What kind of dumbass ability is that?”

  Then he tapped Card 2 immediately.

  Mechanics beat raw stats.

  Automatic defense was broken—like having a bodyguard that reacted faster than thought. Someone could shoot at him and blood would rise into a barrier on its own, without him even consciously shaping it.

  Ethan exhaled, eyes turning colder.

  “This isn’t over.”

  He raised his wrist. “Aimee. Locate the nearest shrine within ten miles.”

  [Location identified. Activate navigation?]

  “Activate.”

  Ethan’s smile sharpened.

  Time to go settle a debt.