The Wraith slipped forward like a shadow come to life, its shape flickering and shifting in the dim light of the healing aura Chrissy was frantically casting. The insidious whispering grew louder, filling the tunnel with a hiss of terror. Each member of the group sagged as the heavy weight of the Wraith’s passive Skills bore down on them, threatening to crush their will before the fight had even begun.

Lorelei’s mind was racing as she sought to formulate a plan. In many ways, they were in worse shape for this fight than they had ever been against the Chimera. This Wraith was immune to physical attacks, her own Skills were off the table, and Zorrobar’s fire spells were out of the question. They were trapped in a tunnel that seemed to be alive, surrounded by darkness, and within moments of being wiped by something akin to a spectral mole.

***Quite The Pickle Message***

However, and I mean this in all love, if you get wiped by this fucking thing I am going to be less than impressed. I’ve put quite a bit of time into you over the last couple of days, so it’s going to be a crushing disappointment if something sub-level 20 ends you. Maybe, I don’t know, try and fucking do something.

Light, she thought, the idea suddenly popping into her head. It’s so dark here because it fears the light. “Chrissy,” she said, her voice barely audible over the growing hubbub of whispers. “Your healing light . . . you need to amplify it. It’ll hurt it!”

Chrissy, bless her soul, understood immediately, raising her hands towards the monster. The soft glow of her Skill intensified as she poured all her mana into the spell. Her palms flared brighter, casting eerie, elongated shadows on the walls around them from which the Wraith immediately shied away. However, as Lorelei had feared before they began this quest, it seemed that Chrissy's inexperience as a Healer would be their undoing. Even as she was casting, the intensity of the light began to dial down. She simply did not have enough control over her mana to get the job done.

Not enough, Lorelei thought, her mind racing. We need more. She looked towards Kris, who was clutching the tunnel wall, staring wide-eyed at the monster. "What have you got? Any Adoration sloshing about in there?"

Kris hesitated, "Hardly any. And most of it is being taken up on health regeneration."

Hild leant forward to swipe him on the back of his head. "Leech, if you don't start using it to get some fucking light in here, I can promise you the last thing you're going to see is me ripping your cock off. See if you have enough Adoration to heal through that! You fucking understand me!"

The light from Kris’s hastily cast spell caught the reflective surface of the Valkyrie's axe, amplifying it slightly, but even that wasn’t enough. Desperation gnawed at Lorelei as she sagged down on to her knees. There had to be a way out of this. Fortuna wouldn’t have thrown into something there was no way through.

I mean, that is absolutely not true, I am afraid. However, I can confirm that, on this occasion, I would expect you to be able to win your way clear, my dear.

“Is there anything that you can do?”

Not on this occasion. It’s like an Old One’s convention on this planet right now – I need to keep my head down. At least until you get me that amulet. Good luck!

Lorelei cursed, but thought Fortuna had a point. The Wraith wasn't even that strong in the grand scheme of things. A Womble with a fucking torch could probably kill it. If only she didn't have this fucking debuff running, she'd have all sorts of options available. The debuff . . . “Guide, how about I try to trigger the ability has stolen,” she whispered, feeling the shape of the Skill she had 'borrowed' off one of the acidic puddles outside. "However, instead of it working properly, all sorts of luck-based oddness takes place, and I somehow end up stealing off Chrissy?"

***Intrigued Message***

Colour me interested, cupcake.

"So, if that event took place, I imagine you'd want to max out all sorts of negative impacts on me to balance something unlikely like that happening, wouldn't you?

***Still Just About Interested Message***

And what's in it for me, sugarplum?

"You’ve said it yourself. It’d be a waste for this to bit it, wouldn’t it? I mean, you’re clearly having all sorts of fun fucking with me. Do you really want it to finish here? I'm sure you can come up with something suitably shitty for me to deal with if I just about scraped through here. I mean, if you wanted me wiped, you wouldn't have warned me about this quest, would you? Just have me 'luckily' steal the healing Skill and then go to town on me with the worst debuff you can think of."

Her Guide didn’t reply.

She was just on the edge of losing consciousness, so without waiting to see whether the Guide agreed, she triggered . The energy from the Skill flowed through her, a wild torrent that threatened to overwhelm her senses. Her body screamed in protest as the debuff latched onto her, a burning agony that made her knees buckle.

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

Focus, she told herself, gritting her teeth against the pain. You can do this.”

Then the pain was gone as flared brightly around them all. The Wraith recoiled, its form flickering as Lorelei's borrowed Skill burned through the monster’s essence, anchoring it into the real world. Lorelei felt a momentary surge of triumph, but it was quickly quashed by the realization that the Wraith was far from defeated.

“Still not enough,” Steffan hissed, his voice sharp with fear. “It’s still too strong just to dispel with light!”

Lorelei knew he was right. The glow from the healing Skill was hurting the Wraith, pinning it so it couldn't advance any further, but it wasn’t going to be enough to destroy it. It was just a healing Skill after all. They needed to weaken it further.

“Kris!” she shouted. “You need to leech it!”

Kris stared at her, eyes wide with fear. “What? I can’t—there’s no Adoration there for me to siphon!”

“Not Adoration,” she spat, the effort of speaking under the pressure of the Wraith’s attacks almost too much for her. “Fear. It’s feeding on our fear—so just change it up and pull on that instead of love. It can't be that hard, can it! You need to drain the fucker!”

Kris’s face went pale, "I've not tried to do that before. Doesn’t that feels like it would be crossing a line?"

"As opposed to what!” Hild yelled back. "Fucking dying? Pull this off, and we can talk about us ladies trying to find you less disgusting. How about that?"

Kris closed his eyes, reaching out with one of the Skills he had not dared use yet. locked on to the tendrils of fear that connected them all to the Wraith. For a moment, nothing happened, and Lorelei’s heart sank as the Wraith’s pressure ground her down. But then she felt it – they all did - a slight ease in the unpleasant whispering, a subtle weakening of the Wraith’s control of them as Kris began to draw away the fear that had fuelled the creature.

The Wraith hissed, its feeding frenzy halting as its connection to their terror was severed. Then its form wavered, its shape flickering like a candle in a strong wind. In response, it lunged forward, its skeletal fingers elongating into razor-sharp claws. It swiped at Pete, scraping against his shield with a sound like nails on a the biggest chalkboard in the world. The force of the blow sent Pete stumbling back, his shield arm trembling from the impact.

“Keep going, Kris!” Lorelei urged. She could tell that the around her was dimming, her mana nearly depleted. And that was without considering whatever debuff the Guide had thrown her way tightening its grip on her, squeezing the life out of her with every passing second. Her notifications were going crazy, but she simply didn't have the time to glance at them.

“Hang on.” Zorrobar barked. “It’s solid now. Physical attacks will affect it!”

Pete was the first to move, his shield raised as he charged the Wraith. He slammed into it with all his might, his sending a shockwave through the cavern. The Wraith screeched, its form flickering wildly as Lorelei's and Kris’s continued to weaken its phasing abilities. Then Hild was right behind it, her one-booted foot kicking up dirt as she brought her axe down in a mighty swing. The blade passed through the Wraith’s form, Lorelei’s holy light clinging to the metal and burning straight through it. The Wraith’s screeching grew louder, more desperate, as it struggled to maintain its form.

Steffan stepped forward, Ent moving up to protect him, his hands glowing with a sickly light as he activated his own recently acquired Skill, . The Wraith’s form convulsed under the casting, what passed for its life force being ripped away, dragged towards Steffan’s outstretched hands. The Necromancer’s face was twisted in concentration - he hadn't tried to use this Skill before - and his eyes glowed as he pulled the Wraith’s essence into himself.

Lorelei felt the breath leave her lungs as the monster shrieked and threw out all sorts of nasty abilities, the impact sending a jolt of pain through her already battered body even as she sought to heal both herself and the rest of the group. Chrissy started to pitch in with some minor healing Skills of her own. Then the Wraith’s form began to coalesce, the darkness swirling around it like a vortex. It was reforming, its skeletal face contorted in rage as it prepared to strike again.

“Not today, ye fucker!” Pete roared, pushing himself to his feet. He raised his shield high, charging forward with a taunt that echoed off the walls. The Wraith spun to face him, claws once again raking across his shield, gouging giant rents into it, but Pete held firm, pushing the creature back and, shouting out incoherent taunts, keeping all of its attention on him.

“Now!” he shouted, “Hit it with everything ye’ve got!”

Michael and Michelle, who had been circling the Wraith in eerie synchronicity, struck in unison. Their joint Skill allowed them to move faster than the eye could follow, their daggers slicing through the Wraith with precision. Each cut - delivered to impossibly identical spots - left behind a trail of dark energy that sizzled and burned, weakening the Wraith further. As if in response, Ent let out a guttural roar as it lumbered forward. It grabbed hold of the Wraith, its massive hands crushing the creature’s form with a sickening crunch.

By this point, Lorelei was barely able to stand, but still managed to channel the last of her mana into a final blast of . The silvery glow around her flared one last time, blinding in its intensity as she directed it all towards keeping Pete going. The Wraith convulsed away from the glow surrounding the old tank, screaming as the reflected light burned through it even further.

Hild, seeing the Wraith on the brink of destruction, embedded her ace in the head of the monster, her face twisted in pain as she ripped it free, and the last remnants of the Wraith’s essence splashed over her face. She collapsed, silently, Chrissy running over to her, concerned and casting spell after spell on to the fallen Valkyrie. However, that had been the key moment. The Wraith let out one final, ear-piercing shriek before its form shattered into a thousand pieces of dark energy, dissipating like smoke.

After the tumultuous noise, the cavern was suddenly, eerily silent. Lorelei collapsed back to her knees, the weight of the mysterious debuff crashing down on her like a tidal wave. Her vision blurred, her body trembling with exhaustion and pain. She could barely hear the others as they regrouped, her mind utterly fogged. She couldn't even access her notifications to see what had been done to her.

“Lorelei!” Pete’s voice cut through the haze, a lifeline in the darkness. He was at her side, his strong hands pulling her back to her feet. “We did it, pet. We did it. It’s okay.”

She nodded weakly, barely able to keep her eyes open. Her body felt like it was on fire, every nerve ending screaming in pain. She knew she wouldn’t be able to fight again—not for a long while.

“Let’s keep movin’,” Pete said, his voice firm but gentle. “We need te get outta here, afore somethin’ else finds us.” The group nodded in agreement, their movements sluggish and pained as they began to make their way out of the cavern.