Rebirth Of The Bastard Spirit Summoner

The ledge was tall. Even if Stark was at a hundred percent, climbing it would have been far too difficult.

There was only one way to climb over it were the thick vines that came down from the other side.

Stark grabbed one of them and tugged on it, watching narrow-eyed as the vine bounced.

After his unfortunate incident the first time, his trust in them was beginning to waver. If the vine were to snap, then they would both fall to their deaths.

"You have to be careful with them. These vines aren't too sturdy," Stark said, handing Jade a vine.

She stared at him, saying nothing just before she levitated above the ground.

"Spirit, remember?" she asked with a deadpan expression.

Acting as though he had not heard anything, Stark grabbed the vine and began to hoist himself up.

His chest was still aching, and his arms were not any better, but he continued to push forward. Inch by inch, he got closer and closer to his goal.

But at the middle mark, his hands began to vibrate, shaking like a cat left out in the cold.

His fingers were going numb, and blood dripped down his palms, combining with the rain and sweat to create a horrible combination.

Stark stared down…

He gulped and looked back up, he had received sufficient motivation.

Jade floated by his side and giggled. "Come on, you're a man, aren't you? Put those muscles to work."

Stark turned to glare at her when—

Slide!

"Shit!"

His hands nearly slipped off the rope. He sucked in a sharp breath and tightened his fingers around the vine.

The vine rattled, sending dust spiraling down, and then from above, a sizable rock came tumbling down at him.

"?!"

Stark's eyes widened.

"Of all things!"

He considered swinging out of the way, but with his hands slick with blood, all he would accomplish was losing his grip on the rope.

There was no way for him to dodge it, so he braced himself for impact. Getting bashed in the head was far better than bursting into pieces.

Stark closed his eyes, anticipating the crash, but it never came.

Just before the rock could ram into him, Jade grabbed it with both hands and tossed it to the side.

The rock made a whirling sound as it tore through the air, and Stark watched as it exploded against the floor, shattering like a melon.

For a moment, he imagined the rock being his head.

He let out a quiet breath. "Thanks…"

"Sure, now get moving."

With the rain still pouring as intensely as ever, and mud caking his body, he pulled himself further.

The only way was up.

•

Eventually, Stark pulled himself over the edge of the cliff, immediately collapsing to the muddy floor and breathing heavily.

His arms felt on fire, and his lungs were burning in his chest, each breath ragged and desperate.

He was like someone who had nearly drowned, gasping for air.

The raindrops exploded against his face, and Stark opened his mouth to let a few drops in before rushing to his feet.

With a huff, he sat up straight. "Jade, we should get going—"

Skreee!

Stark clenched his jaw just as a loud, inhuman wail cut past them, causing his ears to bleed.

It was not as intense as before. The sound was at a lower tempo, like the calm before a storm…

Jade, who was a few inches away from him, glanced back. Her stoic face did little to show how much trouble they were in, but her words told him all he needed to know.

"We are screwed."

There were three banshees in total, each one ghostly and terrifying in appearance. They were humanoid in shape, with ragged garments that hung loosely on their slender frames.

With no flesh on their picked bones, all that greeted them was an inhuman skull locked in an everlasting smile. And on their bald skulls were a few strands of long white hair.

Currently, they were watching them… not that they had eyes, it was their eye sockets following their every movement.

It was unnerving.

A long crystal spear formed in Jade's hands and she handed it to him.

"It looks like we have to fight."

Stark took his stance, his eyes locked ahead. "You're a great spirit, right? How are our chances?"

"These three aren't shy of being great spirits either."

"Well, isn't that great."

The first banshee opened her mouth, her bones creaking just before she unleashed an ear-piercing shout.

Whoosh!

Stark moved before the sound even came, and yet he was almost caught up in the blast.

The wail tore into the ravine, sending gusts of wind up the ledge.

He was running, moving in a circular pattern to avoid getting hit by the blast.

One of the banshees had locked on to him and was following his every movement.

Like an archer, she was calm. Patient enough to wait, and with enough foresight to predict his path

Skreeee!

This time, Stark jumped, the wind from the wail brushing past his feet as it exploded against the ground, shattering it.

Seeing that he was in the air, the banshee followed up with another horrifying screech, the rolling sound waves charging toward him.

Stark made use of his staff, slamming it against a tree and using its momentum to push himself to the ground.

He did a barrel roll, just before appearing next to the first banshee.

Both he and Jade reached them at the same time.

Wham!

Stark drove his spear right at its heart, but the banshee blocked with a single hand.

He pushed further, yet he was not even able to move the arm by an inch.

Crack!

His body caved as the banshee slammed her arm into his gut, with so much strength that he coughed out saliva.

She lifted her hand once more but Stark grabbed onto it, swirling around to her back with ease.

He drove his fist into her bony spine, sending her stumbling a few feet forward—added a flying kick for good measure, right before driving his spear right through her back.

Stark jumped back and took a deep breath, wiping the rain off his face.

'That should do—what the hell?'

The banshee's head rotated 180 degrees, like a demonic owl, her jaw wide open.

Screech!

He tumbled to the side, as the leaves scattered into the air, followed by a cloud of dirt and debris, his ears ringing.

"How the fuck do I kill this thing?"

Meanwhile…

Jade's knee exploded into the gut of a nearby banshee, and she felt its ribs crack from the pressure.

A heavy chop sent the wild spirit to its knees, and then she stomped down hard on its shin, snapping the bone with a loud crack.

Immediately she did, she twisted her body as a wail came barreling toward her—

And then the ground imploded, a gigantic crystal spike rolling out of it, charging toward her attacker.

The banshee jumped back, before shattering the crystal with a sound wave.

Then she locked her eye sockets on her.

'This one is far stronger than the others,' Jade thought.

It had a far more potent presence, leading her to believe her initial assessment had been wrong.

It was a great spirit just as her—

Whoom!

The banshee whose legs Jade had broken unleashed a wail, at point-blank range.

Crystals sprung out of the ground, and Jade jumped back, the crystals blocking the attack and crumbling to pieces.

Using the moment of distraction, the banshee raced back to meet its senior, barely able to stand upright.

"Tch." She scoffed before glancing at Stark.

'He is in bad shape… I can't let him die when I'm this close to leaving this cursed place.'

She had to finish them fast.

Large crystals suddenly began to emerge from the floor, each one bigger than the last, and then Daphne's gaze landed on them, her eyes sharp.

The most effective way to kill a banshee…

Was to pulverize it, grind its entire body to dust in one go.

One of the large crystals slowly floated into her hands, a chunk so large that it cast a shadow over them.

The banshees opened their mouths to scream, but before the first one could even whisper, the gigantic crystal came crashing down on her head.

In an instant, she was crushed to dust, her body fizzling away with the wind.

Jade smiled darkly, and the second crystal levitated to her hand, but just before she could unleash it, a slight tingling filled her ears.

Slow at first. Chaotic a second later, like a spiraling centipede locked in her brain.

The banshee had its mouth open, but Jade had not seen anything coming out.

Her eyes began to tingle as the loud shrill danced in her brain.

The crystal shattered and she fell to her knees. "W-what the h-hell?"

The world began to darken.