The renowned Silver-Horned King, personal attendant to the Grand Supreme Elder Lord, died just like that—confused, overwhelmed, and besieged by a few outsiders.
By the time the trio on one side had finished off the Silver-Horned King, the battle on the other side had also come to an end.
Ghostshadow, having swiftly eliminated the Golden-Horned King as a competitor, picked up the treasure chest. Then, seeing that this side's fight had ended as well, she suddenly raised her hand and fired a shot in their direction.
The bullet vanished mysteriously in midair—and when it reappeared, it was already right in front of Qin Ming, aiming straight for his eye.
Sensing the sudden wind, Qin Ming instinctively raised his arm to block. Sparks exploded on impact, and he forcibly deflected the bullet.
But at the exact moment his arm lifted out of reflex, Ghostshadow—still standing in the distance—instantly blinked forward, snatched up the key dropped by the Silver-Horned King, and teleported away again.
Seeing the boss key actually get snatched, the faces of all three members of Qin Ming's group changed. Especially Qin Ming—his expression twisted in sheer rage.
Since entering Nightmare Space, this was the first time anyone had dared to steal from him!
"You're courting death!"
With a furious roar, Qin Ming burst forward in a stream of blood, moving with astonishing speed.
But no matter how fast he was, Ghostshadow was even faster.
Blinking all over the cave, dodging their attacks again and again, she used her unique innate skill to widen the gap repeatedly. Her mocking smile said it all.
"Oh? You mad now? No need to be so angry! Don't be so petty~"
Even as she spoke, Ghostshadow vanished again.
Qin Ming, lunging through the air, ended up striking nothing but air. His shoulder slammed into the cave wall, instantly cracking it with a loud boom.
Before he could turn back in fury, a sudden gasp came from behind.
Hearing it, Qin Ming's pupils shrank as he whipped around—only to see Kasamoto Eri, who had been following close behind in the attack, get both of her weapons forcefully snatched by Ghostshadow!
With a swoosh, Ghostshadow reappeared dozens of meters away, successfully putting distance between them.
Now in full view again, Ghostshadow examined the Demonic Sword and Banana Fan in her hands, looking extremely pleased.
Raising the weapons and giving them a little shake, her brows lifted in open provocation.
"Next time, hold onto your weapons tighter—unless you want someone else to walk off with them."
Toying with bosses—or even other adventurers—had become one of Ghostshadow's favorite pastimes.
What they called "innate skills" were actually just the manifestation of an adventurer's spirit. The kind of personality you had would influence the kind of power you awakened.
And Ghostshadow? Her nature was inherently mischievous and cheeky, which was exactly why she had awakened this bizarre teleportation ability.
With this skill in hand, she had provoked just about anyone she met along the way, and rarely paid a price for it. This time was no exception.
That said, even she found this opponent to be a real headache.
Don't let her swift takedown of the Golden-Horned King fool you—that boss had been entirely dependent on treasures to survive. His actual combat strength was mediocre at best.
But Qin Ming? He could literally turn his body into blood. That kind of creepy ability made it hard for even Ghostshadow to figure out how to counter him.
Well—that was before. Now the situation had changed. Now, she had the Banana Fan in her hand.
And this was a fire-type Banana Fan! Perfect for suppressing evil entities!
Grinning wide, Ghostshadow suddenly flicked her wrist—unleashing a wave of blazing flames.
The fire erupted like a tidal wave, engulfing the trio in an instant and blasting them backward.
When the fire finally died down, Mai Shiranui was already critically injured. Kasamoto Eri had been burned to a crisp. Only Qin Ming managed to barely endure the blast, relying on his exceptional defense.
Seeing one dead and two seriously injured, a glint flashed in Ghostshadow's eyes, and she couldn't help but exclaim:
"Truly worthy of being a treasure from the Dao Ancestor... what a goddamn effect. One's already dead—how many more hits do you two think you can take?"
As she spoke, Ghostshadow raised the Banana Fan again, ready to press the advantage.
But just as she was about to strike, she suddenly noticed Qin Ming, who was kneeling on one knee, head bowed—with the faintest hint of a smile curling at the corner of his lips.
The moment she saw that strange smile, Ghostshadow's pupils shrank. A bad feeling welled up inside her.
Right then, Qin Ming slowly raised his head and spoke softly:
"It's best not to mess with things that don't belong to you."
Ghostshadow froze for a moment. Then, as if something had suddenly clicked in her mind, she instinctively looked down at her own body.
What she saw made her blood run cold—the black sword in her left hand was now emitting thick, billowing black mist.
The dense fog was already spreading up her arm, seeping into her flesh—and her entire arm had turned pitch-black!
The Demonic Sword had possessed her!
"Ah?!"
The sudden change startled Ghostshadow. She panicked and tried to fling the Demonic Sword away.
But as she moved her arm, she realized in horror that it was no longer responding to her commands at all.
This discovery terrified her. She began blinking erratically through the cave while shoving handfuls of potions into her mouth.
And those potions—each one was a high-grade item, likely life-saving treasures to other adventurers.
Unfortunately, no matter how high the potion's level, it was useless. The possession effect of the Demonic Sword didn't deal HP damage—so medicine had no effect at all.
By the time she saw the black mist climbing higher, already reaching her shoulder, Ghostshadow finally snapped out of her panic and drew a weapon to slice off her own arm.
But even then, she was still too slow.
The mist that had already seeped into her body was not severed—and it continued to spread.
First it fused with her body—then it surged through her limbs—finally targeting her head!
Her body convulsed violently, muscles locking up. Ghostshadow collapsed with a thud, her expression twisted in terror as black veins rapidly spread across her face.
Realizing something was terribly wrong, she struggled to pull out a Return Scroll, desperately trying to teleport back to Nightmare Space.
But before the scroll could activate, her other arm was already engulfed in black mist—no longer obeying her commands either.
Clatter—the scroll slipped from her hand and hit the ground.
Her final wide-eyed gaze was quickly devoured by the encroaching black fog.
The cave fell completely silent.
Several seconds later, the fallen body of Ghostshadow twitched slightly—then slowly began to rise.
Only… she wasn't Ghostshadow anymore.
She was Kasamoto Eri—her body now occupied like a bird's nest stolen by a cuckoo.
The Demonic Sword!It didn't just possess corpses—it could possess living beings too!
However, that wasn't part of the sword's original ability. It was something it had gained after being upgraded.
Kasamoto Eri had always been Qin Ming's loyal follower, so he cared deeply about her.
He had no interest in legendary-quality items, so he spent several months selling off valuables and trading until he'd saved enough to upgrade the Demonic Sword to legendary rank.
And with that upgrade came a new effect—the ability to possess living hosts.
Of course, the ability came with limitations. First, the possession process was slow. Second, it could only work on targets with less than 50 Constitution points.
Clearly, Ghostshadow didn't meet that benchmark.
Which made sense, honestly. With a personality like hers—constantly pissing people off and always messing with others—it was impossible she'd have any powerful allies.
And without strong backers, she'd have no way of knowing the secret to becoming a top-tier adventurer.
She wouldn't know that to fuse one's power, you need balanced attributes.
Ghostshadow, who practically never got hit in combat, had no reason to invest in Constitution at all.
I mean, seriously—why would an assassin spec into Constitution?
(End of Chapter)