[Darkness Ghost HP: 214298/590000]
To be honest, it was the first time Stark fought a monster so... passive.
He could feel its presence and power, yet it wasn't doing anything, just staring at Stark with its empty and emotionless eyes, its body slowly swaying from left to right as if waiting for him to make the first move.
"AURA SMASH!" Stark didn't want to stay in here for too long, so he indeed was the one to attack first, sending his three crimson fists toward the ghostly creature.
But yet again...
"Soul Drain..." it muttered slowly as it raised its two skeletal hands, tanking the attacks and sucking them in once they hit its palms.
"+10000! +10000! +10000!"
"..." Stark's expression turned stoic, "Alright, no more projectiles I guess."
He got ready to dash toward the monster, using his fist to attack, and although it was a ghost, he should still be able to hit it with his aura, right?
Yet, right before he was about to start the assault...
"Bone Shard Barrage...!" The creature hissed, its voice cold and sharp.
Before Stark could react, a barrage of jagged bone shards erupted from the ghost's form, slicing through the air like a deadly storm.
"SHIT!" Stark ducked, rolling to the side just in time to avoid the deadly projectiles that embedded themselves into the wooden walls behind him.
He regained his footing, breathing hard. "Okay, so that's how you wanna play?"
The ghost's empty gaze seemed to challenge him. Stark lunged again, this time aiming for the creature's legs.
"Bone Shard Barrage..." it whispered again, forcing Stark to back away for the second time.
~FWISH~
He tried to avoid again, but not being able to use [Invincible Dodge] made it IMPOSSIBLE to avoid the attack as they were in a closed hallway.
And so...
~PIERCE, FWISH~
Two of the sharp bones that flew in all directions hit his shoulder and hip.
"-17362! -23911!" the [Domination] aura protected him from receiving fatal damage, but he was still extremely low now.
"..." then without wasting a single second, the monster its right arm, enveloping it in its dark aura.
It had been so quiet and calm until now that the fact it suddenly attacked took Stark by surprise.
And yet...
"I... can't... move..." there was a small hole in his hip, which hurt like hell.
The ghost loomed closer, its skeletal arm extending toward Stark, the dark aura swirling around its fingers like smoke.
"Shadow Grasp..." it hissed, and the air grew heavy, oppressive. Stark felt an invisible force wrap around his limbs and body, tightening with a grip that wouldn't let go.
"WHAT THE FUCK," Panic surged through him as he struggled against the grasp, his breath quickening, there were shadows coiled around him, squeezing tighter, drawing him closer to the creature's mouth, basically transporting him to his doom.
Stark tried to struggle, but his hip was still throbbing with a sharp pain that just wouldn't go away, plus the wound was still fresh, blood seeping through his clothes.
And so with the small amount of power he had left in this position...
"Crimson Healing!" he shouted, forcing the words from his lips.
As soon as he activated the skill though, a crimson light began to surround the boy, and specifically the wounds on his hip and shoulder, both of them closing.
"+20000!" and he regained his health, not all of it, but enough to be able to continue.
But there was one problem: this didn't change the fact that some weird shadows were still surrounding him, transporting him toward the creature, who had its mouth open, ready to devour the human.
There was one thing it seemed to forget, though: Stark was an exorcist too, and he had another skill in stock for such situation.
[Description:] Seeps into the ground, transforming its entire figure into dark aura that it can use to lurk underneath its opponents, just out of sight, and it can reappear wherever it wants, though it is indeed possible to hit the aura and damage it.
[Domination Tip: it's going to be behind you.]
...
Stark tried to send one [Crimson Spear] behind him, but they hit nothing.
And so just like that... two minutes passed.
Two minutes where Stark constantly looked around, trying to identify ANY noise that could reveal its location.
And right after that...
['Soul Blind' is deactivated as it only lasts three minutes.]
"..."
Suddenly, Stark retrieved his vision, but there was nothing in front of him.
[BEHIND YOU! BEHIND YOU! BEHIND YOU!] yet, [Focus] warned him like crazy, summoning dozens of panels each saying the same two words.
But before he could even turn around...
~FWISH, GRAB~
He was grabbed by the [Darkness Ghost]'s right skeletal hand.
"What the fuck..." Stark gritted his teeth, "Why didn't it just do that before?!"
[It cannot attack you while you are soul blinded.]
"...Alright," he opened his eyes again, and before him was... the monster's giant face, its hollow eyes looking at him, and its mouth contorted into a giant smile.
"I... got... you... human..." it almost looked like it wanted to laugh, yet couldn't, "Annoying... bug..."
"..." Stark stared at it with a neutral expression though, just wanting to see what it wanted to do now that he was caught.
"YOU... DIE..." it spoke louder than before.
And then...
"NECROTIC TOUCH!"
The skeletal fingers of the ghost's other hand hovered above Stark, the air thick with impending doom.
"..." Stark looked above him with the most stoic of expression though, and he saw the tendrils of dark energy slowly reaching for him from above, ready to seep into his very essence and destroy his human cells as soon as it even as much as grazed him.
But there was a reason Stark was so calm.
Since...
"Dodge Control," he mumbled, and the moment the [Necrotic Touch] was about to reach him, his body quite literally teleported out of the ghost's hand, landing right on top of it.
"...?" even the monster was confused.
But before it could even figure out what had just happened...
~SLAM~
Stark punched it in the "face" while he had the opportunity to.
~BOOM~
The attack quite literally cause an explosion as Stark's [Domination] aura was still merged with [Exorcist], meaning that he did slightly above average damage to the undead.
And so...
"-168372!"
It died.