Chapter 247 Forced Return

'What's… wrong with me…?' Keng gasped for air. His chest tightened and the sea of hair swarmed straight for him.

"Keng!" Ritsuka's body moved faster than he could think. He moved forward and watched the hairs of the ghost woman strap themselves oto him. His body started to grow black.

"Ritsu…ka…!" Keng gasped. Ritsuka's body started to blacken. He gasped for air as his knees started to buckle. Keng dropped to the ground, falling to the side.

The ghost man squeezed at Lee Seng's heart. Lee Seng gasped as his legs gave in. The ghost man chuckled as he forced the young man up. His eyes drifted over to his friends.

'What's… wrong with me…?' Keng's voice echoed in his head. He watched as Ritsuka moved to block Keng from being hit. The hair tangled around him and his body slowly grew black.

"No…" Lee Seng croaked.

"You shouldn't have done anything, stupid Fox." The ghost man chuckled. He squeezed a little harder. "And now you'll all die!" Lee Seng's eyes started to shut and a familiar woman's chuckle echoed in his ear.

"You thought you could really get rid of me?" A pale woman stood in front of him. She didn't look familiar to him. She had a skintight suit on her with Dark Matter energy coursing behind her like tentacles.

"Who… are you…?" Lee Seng asked.

"Who am I?" The woman chuckled. She moved forward and reached with her left hand and raised Lee Seng's head up to her. "You didn't think I'd let you easily control me, did you?" She moved in and embraced him with a kiss. The cold kiss shocked his body. He began to groan in pain. Dark Matter energy shot out of his body and flew straight for the ghost man. The energy decapitated the ghost man's hand as small Dark Matter energy dripped onto the ground.

"Argh!" The ghost man screamed in pain.

"Protocol XI has started its fourth ramage." The woman smiled. Lee Seng's body immediately healed and his body. His muscles tightened as the skintight grew back. The gold energy coursing to his chest and his tails sinking into his body, coursing white throughout the suit. "Now, Lee Seng," the woman whispered in his ear. "Just embrace me."

Lee Seng raised his arms to embrace her. He could feel the woman trying to get into his head. He wrapped his arms around her hand held her tight.

"That's right." She chuckled. "Embrace me." Lee Seng held her for awhile. She chuckled and watched the ghost man behind Lee Seng slowly stand. His arm wasn't regrowing.

"What the hell is this?" He glanced at his arm. "That couldn't have been Light magic! What did you do to me, stupid Fox boy!?!" Lee Seng didn't react. He continued to hug the woman. To the ghost man, he was simply hugging the air. He moved forward and reached out for him. Dark Matter energy flew out of the body suit and pierced the man.

"Argh…!" The ghost man's eyes grew in surprise as the unfamiliar energy started to eat at him.

"Good." The woman's lips curled into a bigger smile. "Now kill them all."

Keng's eyes shot open, his lips sucking in air as he watched Ritsuka's darkened body drop to the ground.

"Ritsuka!" Keng reached out.

"You know you're useless against me and you decide to throw yourself in front of your friend? Your life has been cut short." The woman cackled. A quiet laugh escaped Ritsuka's lips. The woman's cackle was cut short and Keng grew in surprise. Ritsuka's body twitched and his fingers tightened around Angerfang. Angerfang glowed red and started to pull the energy into the blade.

Ritsuka's blackened body slowly disappeared. Ritsuka sucked in a sharp breath of air, coughing and groaning as his body sat up.

"I guess you really didn't understand what I could do, huh?" Ritsuka asked Keng, even though he kept his eyes on the surprised ethereal witch.

"W-w-what… How?" Keng stuttered. Ritsuka stood up and brushed the dirt off his silk shorts.

"Angerfang is a pain in the ass to use, y'know. I don't think I actually told Lee Seng this, either. Unlike Obsidian Glass, it's always siphoning my energy. Which means, effects like this witch lady's decaying hair, doesn't really work on me. Even though it hurts like hell, as long as Angerfang is summoned, she'll always try to take my life." Ritsuka explained, his lips curling into a big smile. "So, ghost witch lady, I might not have the skills to defeat you, but at least I can literally be a meat shield if I have to." Keng watched as Ritsuka's body shimmered red.

"How are you getting energy back then…?" Keng whispered.

"How am I getting energy back?" Ritsuka crouched, pulling Angerfang back with his right hand and twisting his body slightly. "Y'see, Angerfang is siphoning off of me, so I kind of learned to do the same." He smiled and dashed forward. The ethereal witch lashed her hair forward. Ritsuka plowed through with Angerfang, which started to siphon and decay the hair, closing the distance.

"Gluttony: Piercing Red." Ritsuka uttered in Japanese. Ritsuka twirled the scythe and slashed the hair to pieces. He swung the scythe downwards, missing the witch as she leapt backwards into the house. He pulled Angerfang backwards, the scythe blade glowing bright red as his lips curled into a smile. "You should've stayed in an open space." His body blurred into red and in an instant, he slashed horizontally, missing the witch's feet as she jumped. He quickly jumped and slammed his feet into the wall and propelled himself forward, connecting the scythe with her body, slicing it in half.

"Oh, I think that's my cue." Keng's body shimmered brightly. Just as dashed forward from the ground, his eyes caught Lee Seng in the corner of his eyes. His head slowly turned to reveal a woman being embraced by Lee Seng. Lee Seng wore the dark matter suit and the ghost man was screaming in pain and the black liquids started to invade his body. His eyes couldn't pull away from Lee Seng. His body pivoted and turned towards Lee Seng.

"Lee Seng, what're you doing?!? Don't give in!" He shouted as he ran. Ritsuka slid outside, watching Keng leave him and the witch. The witch's cries erupted as her body pulsed red and landed in half.

"Why isn't my body… healing instantly?" She screamed. Strands slowly attached as the red energy began to grow brighter. Whatever the scythe wielder did to her, inhibited her from fully healing right away. It was like her body had the effects of her own decay on her.

"Keng?" Ritsuka asked, standing.

"Lee Seng, get away from her!" Keng motioned. Ritsuka didn't see any girl near Lee Seng. He only saw Lee Seng in a strange skintight black suit with orange and white outlines. His tails were gone and it looked like he was just hugging air.

"Kill them all." The woman repeated her sentence. "We can have it all if you kill them all. You don't need them to achieve your dreams. You only need the power of the Protocol and I'm willing to give myself to you." Lee Seng's dull eyes stared past her as she pulled away from the embrace. He straightened himself as she caressed his face with her pale fingers.

"My dear, kill that annoying virus there first. It looks exactly like you and I don't want two of you. I only need you." She motioned at Keng. Lee Seng turned and Keng noticed the color of his eyes. They were mixed with black.

"Don't do it, Lee Seng! She just wants your body for her own!" Keng shouted. He held his hand out. "I… I thought about it, alright? When you left me yesterday, I thought about it! I know these are two parts of you that you can't differentiate! I know that, but I was selfish to think you'd choose me wholeheartedly. I thought if you and I experienced my origins, you'd be more willing to be a Fox Spirit, one hundred percent! I just…" He bundled his left hand into a fist.

"I just thought you could heal from everything if you left it all behind… I'm sorry for even thinking that was an option. I don't know if you can have both like you wanted, but I should've never thought you would leave everything behind. I know you want to be an adventurer and explore the Old World on Earth! We can do that! We can do that just like we're here together because you were worried for me! Just don't give into the Protocol! This chick won't ever help you! She can't ever help you like I can!"

Keng's eyes were full of worry. He knew Lee Seng was capable of figuring things out, but what he knew about Lee Seng from watching all of his memories, didn't mean he truly understood what Lee Seng was thinking. He and Lee Seng instantly bonded because Keng found him in the darkest part of his life.

'I knew you were at your lowest and I thought I had really lifted you up, when I just barely got you out of the light.' Keng thought.

"We don't have to worry about the decision now." Keng softly spoke to his human partner. "We don't have to deal with that. We have time to choose that. Let's just enjoy life and make a decision later, alright?"