Unlike the zombies, the wraith gave her an ominous feeling. The way its eyes bore into her, as if trying to pry her open and scan her secrets. They were like a maelstrom drawing her in, trying to take control of her entire being. She almost could not resist.

Almost.

She looked away, her strained features evidence of the difficulty of the task. As the embers of the wraiths ocular ensnarement vanished a heavy torrent of fear rose from within her core.

It was trying to control me! She realised.

She was definitely in trouble! This creature was able to influence her!

The wraith’s face expressed its surprise. It clearly had not expected its attempt at mind-control to fail. The next moment its already hideous face became even uglier. It uttered an enraged howl and flew towards her, clawed hands outstretched. She did not dare harbour thoughts of meeting its challenge.

Fight and flight instincts kicking in, she made a dash for it. From behind her the wraith’s furious howls came. Along with it, the zombies’ footsteps could be heard. They too were chasing her.

What about the one that followed me here? She wondered, looking back.

She was disappointed when she saw it among the horde and chasing after her as well. It seemed that the wraith had put it under its control. It had probably done the same to the other zombies.

I’ll just go look for support from somewhere else, she declared. If she could find another horde led by a wraith she might be able to escape.

That hope was short lived.

With the zombie that was previously chasing her joining the horde, there were now four zombies that outclassed her when it came to speed. They caught up to her an instant after she stopped looking back. They flailed at her furiously, their hands passing through her abdomen. All they managed to do was hit each other.

Then she heard the wraith’s screech. Amazingly, she understood what it was saying. It was ordering the zombies to quit the chase. A sense of foreboding hit her when she heard the order. That thought was proven right when, the next instant, the wraith appeared in front of her. One moment it was not there, the next moment it was; just like teleportation.

She came to a halt and jumped to the side just as the wraith swung its clawed hands at her. Unlike with the zombies, she had no doubt that its claws would touch her. After all, from the information she had gleaned, they were both spectral creatures. The wraith could harm her. The opposite was likely true as well. However, she was not willing to test the theory. Using her ability to glide to avoid falling, she landed on her two feet. Then she was sprinting away once more.

The wraith’s angry cries came from behind. She paid them no mind and kept running. Once more the creature teleported in front of her and took a swipe at her. She managed dodged to the side. The creature followed with a vertical swipe which she managed to evade and watch from the side as it sank into the grey sand.

From that she learned something.

Wraiths were different from ghosts. They were able to affect physical objects.

Fucking bastard! She cursed.

Why could that arsehole not turn her into a wraith? If she had been a wraith she could have defeated the first zombie. Then she would never have bumped into the second one and the chain of events that happened after that would never have happened. If only she had been reincarnated as a wraith she would not be in this situation!

She dodged another swipe from the wraith. However, this time she had not evaded in time. The tip of the creature’s claws managed to graze her arm. She did not feel pain, however, the part that was grazed began to feel numb. In a panicked state, she manage to haphazardly separate herself from the wraith. She took a momentary glance at her affected arm after putting more distance between herself and the wraith. It seemed fainter than before

If those claws pass through me completely I’m done, she realised, panicking even more.

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If she were not in her current situation, she would consider death- if it could be called that in her current state- a welcome change. If she “died” she would finally be able to get out of this God-awful place. It was unfortunate- and sad on her part- that she realised just how much she clung to survival. What she had right now could not be called a life, but she would struggle to maintain it. To die would mean to return to the Abyss and converse with the creature that lurked within it. She was not hopeful that she would be given another chance considering how much she had been cursing him. Most likely, the being in the dark would wipe her memories and reincarnate her somewhere else. That reincarnated person would be someone entirely new.

She did not wish for such a fate.

When the wraith attacked again she dodged and launched an attack of her own. She dropkicked it right in the middle of its hideous face. The creature had not been expecting the move. The kick pushed it backwards and it would have tumbled into the sand if not for the fact that it could hover. It managed to stabilise itself and gave an angry roar. It tried to attack her again, but she was ready for it. Dodging once more, she landed a roundhouse kick on its temple.

Back when she was still alive one of her schemes went horribly wrong, leaving her bedridden for months. After she got better she decided to learn mix-martial arts and parkour. The latter was to make her better at escaping when she was found out and the former was to defend herself if there was no escape route. This was what she used right now.

Although the creature was raging it did not look hurt. With the way things were it would probably take thousands- if not millions- of kicks and punches to beat this creature. If she were still human it would be impossible, but in her current state it was something she could definitely see herself doing. It would take a long while, days by her estimation, but she deemed it feasible; as long as she did not lose focus. One direct hit from the wraith’s claw and it would be over. If she could manage to avoid it everything would be fine.

This was her plan as she poised herself to face the wraith’s next assault.

An assault that never came.

Confused, she turned around only to see that the creature had distanced itself from her. She saw it raise its hand and suddenly got a bad feeling. She made to jump out of the way. However, she could not evade in time.

She could not evade at all.

It happened in an instant. One moment she felt something in the wraith stir, the next she was hit with an uncomfortable feeling. There was no pain or numbness to indicate she had been hurt, but she knew something was wrong.

Looking down at her body she realised what the change was. Her body still had an ethereal glow, but it had become more solid. When she heard the wraith order the zombies to attack her she knew what had been done to her.

Oh Shit!

Those creatures were going rip her apart!

What to do! What to do! She thought hurriedly, watching the creatures dash towards her.

Wide-eyed and delirious, she raised her hands and shouted.

WAIT!

She did not expect them to listen. But, much too her surprise, the zombies stopped. The four Grade 4 zombies’ fists were mere centimetres from her when they did so.

What the hell…

She looked around and saw that the others had stopped as well.

What was going on?

The wraith looked to be just as surprised as her. It raised its hand and pointed at her, ordering the creatures to attack once more.

STOP! She ordered.

Weirdly, the zombies seemed to follow her orders over the wraiths. It was a result that caused both joy and frustration to rise within her.

Why didn’t I try it out sooner? She lamented. All the things she could have avoided!

The wraith was still trying to order the zombies but they were not listening it. If the circumstances had been different she would have found the situation humorous, especially seeing the wraith raging. If not for its hideousness she would have likened it to a child throwing a tantrum.

Right now though, she was pretty pissed at everything she had gone through and the wraith was just the creature to take her frustrations out on.

Attack! She commanded, pointing a finger at the wraith.

The instant she finished the four big zombies were already within the wraiths range. They raised their arms and swiped at it… to be met with the same fate as when they tried to hit her. The wraith swiped a claw at one of the zombie, leaving a deep gash in the process.

She pursed her lips when she saw it.

Fucking unfair! She exclaimed.

Still screaming, the wraith raised its hands at the zombies. She felt something stir with the creature again. Then green liquid appeared out of nowhere and splashed the zombies. She watched in horror as the walking corpses began to melt wherever they were touched by the liquid.

Acid, she realised. The wraith used a magic spell to melt the zombies.

This fight is unfair! She complained again.

The wraith could hit the zombies yet their hits passed through it. Added to that was the fact that it was using magic against them. How then were they supposed to beat it?

Why can’t I use magic? She wondered. According to the {Index} she possessed more mana than the wraith. So, how was it able to cast spells when she was unable to?

The sound of melting flesh struck her out her thoughts just in time to see the wraith cast its acid spell on all of the remaining zombies. She watched in horror as the two dozen ghouls that had just fallen under her control began to melt. Many of them began to drop to the ground as the acid chewed through their skulls. Within a minute all of them had ceased activity, leaving the only ones standing her and the wraith.

The look it was giving her was far from the friendliest. It promised great pain and suffering.

When she saw it she could not help but think, Oh fuck!