Chapter 93: Dark Demon’s Solitary Stalk
Far from the lecture areas, the cold and dim corners of the castle were nearly deserted as Dark moved alone.
The further one went from the classrooms, the fewer students there were.
Senior students usually rushed to higher floors where there were more, higher-starred ghosts!
Therefore, the uninhabited zones on the second and third floors of the castle were the most suitable for lower-grade students to hunt.
But Dark found himself underestimating the castle’s eerie and terrifying atmosphere.
It was already a sharp drop in temperature in late autumn, and occasional night winds would make people shiver uncontrollably.
He cupped his hands and exhaled, unable to resist summoning his familiar—the Imp Beast!
“Are you my master?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Eh? Eh?!”
Seeing his owner, who never answered before, give such a plain response this time, the Imp Beast suddenly felt the atmosphere shift, and his expression fell immediately.
“Tik-tik-tik…”
The crisp footsteps echoed through the silent castle, growing closer with each passing moment.
The Imp Beast trembled, staring at the shadowy corner ahead.
A Jack Pumpkin, all muscle below a pumpkin head, slowly revealed half its body, with a dim yellow flame burning inside its hollow head.
“Jack!”
Jack Pumpkin let out a low growl, its dark muscles instantly swelling. Seeing Dark, it accelerated abruptly!
…
“No way, Sir?”
The Imp Beast screamed in fear, almost instantly thinking of escape.
But before that thought could fully form, a dark golden orb with a long tail drilled into the back of its head.
The Imp Beast, which had been extremely timid moments ago, suddenly focused its pupils, looking at Jack Pumpkin with deep disdain and contempt.
“A mere scum from the depths of Hell dares roar before me?”
The Imp Beast, using its wings like a cloak, displayed the demeanor of a vampire beast.
It glanced down at Jack Pumpkin with the corner of its eye, shooting three “small darts” as it ran toward him!
“Die!”
…
“Puff!”
One syringe pierced Jack Pumpkin’s left shoulder, but the other two missed completely.
Jack Pumpkin sensed the threat and dodged instantly, lowering its shoulder as it did so. Its leg muscles tensed, bursting forward.
“Whoosh!”
It leaped up, crossing the distance between itself and the Imp Beast in a single bound, its claws viciously grabbing at the flying Imp Beast!
“Jack!”
It seemed as if space itself had been torn apart.
Three dark claw marks appeared in the air!
Yet, the Imp Beast, which had maintained its supreme arrogance without retreating even half a step, suddenly vanished into thin air!
“Jack?”
By the time Jack Pumpkin reacted again, the shark-headed syringe had pierced the relatively fragile pumpkin wall, hitting the candle inside!
“Puff!”
The candle extinguished abruptly.
Jack Pumpkin’s falling corpse gradually turned into starfire, leaving only a small, beautifully packaged piece of pumpkin pie floating in the air.
Dark walked over from behind, catching the piece of pumpkin pie.
[+30 Credits]
“So it really is a three-star ghost?”
Dark carefully peeled off the tin foil wrapping the pumpkin pie, stashing the wrapper, then threw the pie to the Imp Beast.
“Slap!”
The Imp Beast batted away the pumpkin pie with a wing.
“I am the Imp Beast, and I do not eat food thrown at me!”
(ーー゛)
…
“An overly arrogant person, without matching strength, truly looks more and more like a fool.”
Dark silently summarized his experience.
At the same time, he took it as a lesson.
During the battle with Jack Pumpkin, the Imp Beast stubbornly clung to its inner arrogance, refusing to dodge.
Only by timely using the Selection Card to forcibly recall it did he manage to avoid the near-lethal strike from the three-star “Jack Pumpkin”!
Otherwise, the Imp Beast would have been pitifully awaiting recovery in the Selection Card, severely damaged.
“But why does this Jack Pumpkin seem different from the ones we’ve encountered before?”
Recalling the Jack Pumpkin they had encountered with Diana, Dark felt uneasy.
A normal Jack Pumpkin should be a small ghost with a pumpkin head, wielding at most a dull wooden axe.
But what was that muscular pumpkin?
Professor Kazel shouldn’t have such twisted tastes, right?
As he pondered, Dark suddenly froze.
He finally remembered.
While grading the arithmetic homework of first-year students, he was called by Professor Kazel to help create ghosts. It was that little imp named “Lily”!
In that instant, Dark suddenly had a bad feeling.
…
Facing strong ominous feelings, Dark turned into a dusty, unused classroom.
Logically, professors always hid stronger ghosts indoors or in some concealed corner.
Ghosts that played tricks on students in the corridors were mostly comical types.
To earn credits faster, one needed to find these hidden ghosts that offered extra credit.
Entering the shadows meant finding treasure.
“Bam!”
The front and back doors of the classroom slammed shut.
On the other side, the windows were blown open, and the tattered curtains dripped fresh red blood, gradually staining them.
Dark held his breath, his right hand already reaching into his Mana Card Deck.
The Imp Beast still maintained its “Arrogance I” state, flying high with its chin raised.
“Huff!”
Another gust of wind blew in.
Moonlight filtered through the torn curtains, casting a faint light into the dark classroom.
Dark clenched his teeth.
Behind the flapping curtains, an immobile creature with a bird’s body and a human head stood motionless on the window sill.
Its mouth, revealing two fangs, held a bleeding severed hand!
Though it was unlikely to be a real severed hand, Dark couldn’t help but shiver.
“Harpies!”
…
Battle began within 10 seconds of meeting.
Proud as it was, the Imp Beast seemed to feel humiliated by its earlier defeat against Jack Pumpkin.
Without needing any command from Dark, it charged fearlessly!
“Quick!”
Dark immediately drew a “Joy Card.” The summoning speed was even faster this time.
The “Joy Card” took effect almost instantly, its light shining into the eyes of the Harpie.
This momentary confusion cost the Harpie the chance to react first.
The Imp Beast kicked her face, sending her flying!
“Screech—”
The Harpie’s scream echoed from below the window.
