Chapter 84
Without a second thought, Zavi swiftly moved to the side, snatched the knife, and lunged at the man in the bowler hat, his closest target.
But just as he was about to strike, the knife was blown away by a powerful gust of wind, and his body slipped across the cobblestone road before crashing into a tree standing in the middle of the path.
His black coat tore instantly. Then from behind... that ghost appeared in the blink of an eye, straightened its arm, and aimed its invisible palm at Zavi's back.
"Huh?"
Again and again, violent gusts of wind surged forward, battering his body like a sheet of paper. The two men in hats reflexively ducked as Zavi was flung past them, sending the hats off their heads before they fell back down under gravity.
The two men had no idea what was happening to Zavi. He couldn't see the devil or those wandering spirits or rather, it was because they were just ordinary humans!
"What's wrong with that guy?" As the man in the bowler hat was about to put his hat back on, he felt as if something had tugged at his soul, accompanied by a piercing chill. His chest expanded unnaturally, his breathing grew tight, and his shoulders slumped.
Having just been passed through by several ghosts and wandering spirits, he couldn't endure it; his consciousness quickly faded, leaving the man in the fedora beside him standing still like a statue.
"What's wrong with you?" he asked, mouth agape, before quickly shaking his friend's body.
'W-What... is this that man's doing?' he thought in confusion.
The man in the fedora quickly swallowed, his expression calm, yet deep inside he felt dread and fear after witnessing his friend's condition.
Without wasting time, the man in the fedora hoisted his friend onto his back upon noticing black smoke drifting toward them, halting his reckless search for the culprit, and carried him to a safer place to regain his consciousness.
Meanwhile, at the intersection where Zavi had landed after being thrown dozens of meters away, black smoke hovered all around him.
With his body staggering, one shoulder slightly out of place, and his vision suddenly blurred, he saw wandering spirits and ghosts rushing toward him at high speed.
He clicked his tongue upon realizing it.
'My forehead's been throbbing nonstop, probably from that earlier impact. I don't know why they're so furious at me. Is it because of that?'
Zavi stood still for a few seconds to steady his breathing. Then, with a swift motion, he removed his damaged black coat and wiped the blood streaming down his face before tossing it aside.
"Come at me if you dare..." he shouted, his trembling voice echoing briefly through the air.
After saying that, he spread his right arm, and his body froze instantly like a statue.
A wolf, its form a dark purplish-black and cloaked in a pale grayish aura, stood at his side. Meanwhile, a group of around thirty foxes appeared and charged at full speed toward the wandering spirits and ghosts.
Then... once he confirmed the distance between them had closed, Zavi immediately ran forward and snapped his fingers.
Snap...
The sound of the snap echoed briefly within the tense atmosphere.
Boom!!
The explosion sent dust scattering in all directions, blanketing the road in front of the building.
"Huh?" Zavi turned around after sensing something. He stared at what was happening ahead, his mouth slightly open, one arm shielding his face as a powerful gust slammed into him, clearing away the black smoke around him.
'Did the explosion fail?'
Zavi stepped back steadily, breathing heavily as black smoke entered his nose without him realizing. His eyes scanned the surroundings endlessly despite his blurred vision, while his hand trembled as it gripped the knife.
In the blink of an eye, a ghost floated right behind him, ready to strike with full force.
But this time, Zavi noticed it immediately and avoided being hit for a second time.
"So it was you who sent me flying." Zavi glared sharply at the ghost, causing it to falter for a moment before preparing to continue its attack.
Then... the sound of a finger snap rang out once more.
Boom!!
The explosion was controlled. Reduced. Intensified to the point that it could erase its existence from this world within seconds.
Zavi let out a breath as a fleeting sense of relief washed over his mind.
'That was the last one before I leave this place,' Zavi thought as he turned around, only to realize that the ghosts and wandering spirits had frozen midair upon witnessing the strongest among them being defeated.
'I don't want to waste any more energy, and it seems my body's already reached its limit. Running back and forth while exchanging my spiritual energy, escaping that earlier explosion, triggering multiple blasts, and guarding my back from previous attacks has worn down both my body and mind. Damn it.'
Zavi completely cleared his thoughts. He stood in silence for quite a while, steadying his breath, even as the black smoke around him made his chest feel tighter with every inhale.
'Why are they just hovering there and not attacking me at all?' he wondered, confused, as he stepped forward.
After looking further past those supernatural beings, Zavi finally realized that the two people he had crossed paths with earlier had disappeared.
'Huh? Where did they go?'
With his body still unsteady, his eyes didn't blink even once as his gaze swept the surroundings, wary that the two might attack from behind.
He didn't even know that those two men were companions of the man with the cane he had killed using poison from his crafted box jellyfish.
Or rather, he didn't care much about that, as he was still being chased by wandering spirits and ghosts that sought his life for trespassing into their territory.
Several minutes later, as his condition and breathing stabilized somewhat, he found it strange that they didn't move at all and simply stared at him.
"You can leave," Zavi said reluctantly, uttering the words without realizing it as he turned and continued walking forward.
Two steps later, he realized what he had just said and quickly turned back, only to see the wandering spirits and ghosts returning to where they came from—into the ground.
His pupils shrank, and Zavi's lips trembled as he watched the scene before him.
'Did they really just run away?'
Perhaps because he had previously crashed into a building and scraped against the cobblestone road, his thoughts and reactions felt sluggish.
Then, after thinking it through again.
'There's no way killing that ghost made me their leader... but remembering the games I used to play back in school, maybe there's some truth to it.'
A faint, cynical smile appeared on Zavi's face as the realization sank in, and a strange idea suddenly crossed his mind as he stepped firmly toward the spot where they had disappeared into the ground.
"Come out..."
No answer. No reaction.
More precisely, the wandering spirits and ghosts had already gone deeper underground, and even Erroring couldn't control them.
'That doesn't match what I was thinking.' Zavi frowned and left the place, now filled with drifting black smoke and dust.
After going deeper, passing from one alley to another until he reached the main road, Zavi resumed his plan this time moving more cautiously, no longer acting recklessly.
That, however, gradually made drowsiness take over as he fell asleep atop the roof of one of the houses near the alley and main road.
'Damn it, five more minutes and I'll move and...'
He yawned. The urge to sleep grew stronger. His eyes closed for a few seconds before Zavi suddenly woke up, coughing quite severely.
"Enduring that black smoke for too long really is bad, damn it," he muttered while standing up and brushing the dust off his shirt sleeve.
'It's pretty cold today, huh?'
As he moved to the side, the corner of his eye caught two figures moving calmly across the street before turning into another road leading to the one where he used to relax at the bar.
For the first time, a truly malicious idea took over Zavi's mind. A faint smile formed as he slid down from the rooftop, landing perfectly on top of a mailbox post before his feet touched the ground.
Then he stepped out of the alley, checking whether the knife had injured his lower abdomen. He tucked the knife into his waistband, concealed beneath his white shirt.
After that, he hurried forward, following the two figures, planning to create a diversion there.
Several minutes passed. He hadn't expected the two figures to enter a secluded area, rarely passed by anyone, even though the road was unusually quiet.
Zavi's suspicion grew as he saw the two figures cautiously enter a house by the roadside before slowly closing the door behind them.
"Waiting a few seconds before acting is a good idea," Zavi whispered with a nod, then slipped toward the house from the opposite side of the street, intending to observe more closely from the neighboring house.
Faintly, Zavi confirmed that there were about three people talking from behind the wall he leaned against in the narrow gap between the two houses, all while staying alert to his surroundings.
A firm female voice, a calculating male voice, and another male voice suppressing pain, before the conversation abruptly ceased.
The morning air was cold as it brushed against Zavi's face, seeping deeper through the pores of his skin.
Feeling that, he straightened his body immediately, ready to bring this to an end.
He stepped out from the narrow gap between the houses and walked with steady, hollow, and deliberate steps, passing a small set of stairs before stopping right in front of the house's door.
Knock... Knock... Knock...
The people inside were startled to hear knocking at such an early hour. The three of them exchanged confused glances, nodding as they decided that not opening the door was the best choice.
Receiving no response, Zavi paused for a moment before knocking on the door one last time with the back of his fingers.
Knock... Knock... Knock...