Mikhail, dressed in a brown jacket and long-sleeved collared shirt, saw a fire in the direction of the café. He was with the town's local watch, barring anyone from entering the town. Seeing the situation, he asked one of his fellow town watch members to report to the mayor. As their friend left, only three of them remained before the barricade they had made.

Thunder began to roar as lightning flashed. The sky darkened with clouds above, and a chilly wind began to blow. Mikhail looked at Mike, who wore light clothes. "What do you think you're doing? Go look for a coat or something!" he ordered his friend, who was shivering from the sudden change in weather.

"No, I'm fine!" Mike replied, despite his shivering.

"Fine, if it suits you," Mikhail replied.

Moments later, Mikhail saw a group of ten mercenaries in khaki uniforms led by a bald man with a scarred face. He and his fellow town watch members stood up to meet the incoming mercenaries, armed with pitchforks and some firearms.

Second Lieutenant Armstrong, seeing this, was unfazed but rather annoyed by the town watch's presence. He knew their presence would hinder their progress. He had to save the Salamanders in the town, or the mission would end in failure.

"Who goes there!?" Mikhail bravely yelled at Second Lieutenant Armstrong's group.

"We are from the Legion, boy! You'd better not stop us in our tracks," Armstrong warned him.

"Then what are you going to do? Even if you are from the Legion, if you're not invited by our mayor, you can't go in!" Mikhail replied to the Lieutenant.

"This kid!" Armstrong was stopped by his fellow mercenaries when he tried to rush towards Mikhail.

"The sky, don't you notice that there's an anomaly going on?" Mitchell suddenly asked Mikhail.

"What about it?" Mikhail replied.

"You should evacuate while you still can, or all of you will be wiped out!" Mitchell continued.

"The exorcists were here earlier; they did not solve the situation as they promised," Mikhail said.

Second Lieutenant Armstrong and Mitchell exchanged stares after hearing what Mikhail said. Mitchell then proceeded to ask, "Where are the Salamanders? The exorcists who came in earlier?"

"I don't know. All I hear is that they were trapped inside an anomalous zone. A place they said to be haunted by Phantasms. However, I cannot let you in! It's by the mayor's orders. Please understand," Mikhail replied.

"Can't do that, boy. We are on a mission to retrieve those exorcists. You are not stopping us!" Armstrong protested.

Mikhail looked at John beside him, a town watch member carrying a pitchfork, and asked, "Can we make exceptions? If those pesky exorcists leave this village, we will rid ourselves of problems."

"I don't know... I'd like to ask the mayor myself, but he's locked himself in," John replied.

"What now, boy? We can't leave empty-handed!" Armstrong said.

"Fine!" Mikhail yelled. "If you want the exorcists, then I will let some of you in. Only six of you can enter!"

Armstrong looked at his team, then retreated and talked to Mitchell. "I will let you decide who comes with us," he said.

Mitchell carefully chose who to bring with him. He overlooked Lucia, feeling she would be a liability. After selecting the six, Mitchell was about to speak, but Lucia rushed in front of him and said, "I will go with you!"

Mitchell shook his head. "No! You will stay here and tend to the wounded if they..."

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"I said no, take me with you!" Lucia protested, wanting to be part of Mitchell's team.

Seeing her determination, Armstrong was impressed and advised Mitchell, "Give her a chance, boy! I am sure this lass wants to be with you."

Mitchell placed his palm on his forehead, thinking of the absurdity of the situation. "Fine!" he replied and looked at Lucia. "You will come with us!"

Lucia smiled happily. "I promise not to bring you down!"

"You'd better not," Mitchell replied.

Lucia went back to her line, but as Mitchell looked at Vashni, he noticed Vashni was deep in thought. "I will remain here, Mitchell," Vashni said.

"Why? I need every help that I could..."

Before Mitchell could finish talking, Vashni said, "No, Mitchell. We need an expert here as well. You will meet with the Salamanders, correct? If I were there, my purpose would be redundant. We need someone to help these people," Vashni referred to the Local Town Watch.

"I understand..." Mitchell replied.

After finalizing the team, Armstrong, Mitchell, Lucia, and three other mercenaries went inside the town with John as their guide. Mitchell, looking at John, said, "You can leave your pitchfork. We won't harm anyone, and it will be useless against the Phantasms or any creature they possess."

Hearing this, John dropped his pitchfork and continued walking with the group. Lucia was holding a candle patterned with runes. It was an improvised ward made by both Mitchell and Vashni. It combined the powers of the elements of pure fire and pure water.

"A ward?" John asked Lucia.

"Yes, what about it?" Lucia asked.

"I saw those exorcists carrying a similar one. But the difference is the runes. The ones they were carrying didn't contain runes or any other symbols," John said.

Lucia looked at Mitchell, but he did not meet her gaze, which made her wonder. She did not bother him because she noticed that Mitchell was carefully observing their surroundings. As the device Mitchell was holding emitted a sharp tone, he looked at Lucia and ordered her to light the candle. A bright bluish light ignited from the candle, and the ward was activated.

"What's this?" Lucia and the others were surprised by the color of the ward.

"We don't have to worry about anything approaching us for fifty meters. Just hold the ward, Lucia, it will keep the Phantasms away. The additional feature of that ward gives us a barrier against any forced entry by phantasmal beings," Mitchell explained.

"Where did you get such a powerful ward?" Armstrong asked.

"It's a combined power of the pure fire and pure water elements. Vashni helped me get one from one of his friends," Mitchell replied.

Mitchell almost slipped his tongue, but his quick thinking made him cover it up. As the candle in the ward was lit, the seven people, including Mitchell, Lucia, Armstrong, and John, continued.

"Where are you taking us?" Armstrong asked John, who led them to the town center.

John replied, "I was thinking of heading to the Town Hall where the mayor is. However, he locked himself in his office. Going to where the exorcists were earlier is dangerous because the block around it is locked. No one's allowed to enter that location."

"I see. We saw a place burning when we arrived. Do you know where it was?" Armstrong asked.

"Oh, that direction? It was a well-known café. It is surrounded by the danger zones in the town," John said.

"What about it, Mitchell?" Armstrong asked.

"We will have to navigate to the areas closer to the safer zone. In the area we are right now, there is slight phantasmal activity. From the sound of my device here, there's a slight chance of anomaly could occur anytime. The ward we have here is protecting us from such instances," Mitchell explained.

"How about splitting the team?" Armstrong asked again.

"Not a good idea, Lieutenant. We only have a few wards, at least four since we have used one right now," Mitchell replied.

"I see. Wards only last for thirty minutes. We have to act fast!" Armstrong added.

John stopped for a while. He was observing his surroundings. Noticing the eerie silence of the place, he felt shivers in his spine.

"Everyone, this place... used to have people guarding it," John said.

Mitchell turned the knob of his device to detect any phantasmal anomaly in the area. As the sound of his device started to shift from static to a sharper tone, he knew that something was up. "Silence, everyone!" Mitchell said and turned his device off. "There is something approaching!" Mitchell added.

The Lieutenant ordered everyone in his team to form a circle to observe the area. Moments later, Mitchell found a figure. It was moving slowly and groaning several meters away from them. When it saw the light of the ward, it began to wail and rushed towards their location. It was a human, turned ghoul by the phantasmal anomaly. John recognized the ghoul as a former friend of his.

"NO!!! Gerard!" he shouted.

"Stop!" Mitchell reprimanded him.

The noise of John's yelling attracted several ghouls and swarmed before the limits of the protection of the ward. A barrier suddenly appeared and protected Mitchell's team, stopping any ghoul from entering the fifty-meter radius. Mitchell and the others saw at least fifty ghouls surrounding them outside of the ward.

Second Lieutenant Armstrong told three of his men to cover John's mouth as he cried, seeing his friends and loved ones turned to ghouls. Lucia, looking at Mitchell who pitied John, asked him, "Is there something we can do about them?"

Mitchell shook his head and replied, "No, I believe not..."

"We have to move, now!" Armstrong said to Mitchell and the rest of the team after silencing John.