As soon as he stepped out of the safe room Bob let out a low whistle. “This is some room.”

He wasn’t wrong. Not only was the Ballroom gigantic, but it was immaculately decorated using velvet drapes, ivory caving, and gold covered reliefs. The entire room was filled with dancers, spectral couples that waltzed around in complex patterns that left very little space for anyone to squeeze through.

 

If we had encountered the ballroom earlier there was a good chance I might have written off the entire stage as someone trying to show off their wealth, instead of taking the fight seriously. I knew better now. Every single floor, every single encounter was carefully tailored to make the journey through The Wailing Manor more difficult, but not impossible. This was no different.

 

“What do you think, Bandit?”

 

The little fox paced back and forth, scanning the area. “The dance is incredibly complex, but there is a pattern to it. I think we’re supposed to take advantage of the gaps to cross without disturbing the dancers.”

 

“Why don’t we just ask them to stop?” Bob asked.

 

“I don’t think that’ll…” I started, but Bob had already wandered forward.

 

“Excuse me can we…” he started, but the ghostly dancers he was talking to ignored him and danced away. He just turned to another pair. “Pardon me, would you mind…”

 

I just shook my head as I watched him bounce between five or six couples before finally stepping into the swirling mob.

 

“Hey! I’m trying to be polite here!” Bob yelled, only to have a pair of dancers phase right through him. “Rude!”

 

“Well, at least we know they can’t affect you or Bob now,” I muttered. “What do you think’ll happen if one of them touches me?”

“Oh, that’s easy. They’ll steal your life force,” Bandit declared in a completely different voice.

 

“Nyx… nice of you to finally join us. Where have you been the last few rounds?” I demanded.

 

“Watching! It turns out I can tap into the broadcast frequency and see what the audience sees. Fascinating stuff. The production value is top notch, the equivalent of any professional sports team back on earth,” my AI replied.

 

“Wait, how is that possible? Isn’t everything here done with magic?” I asked, confused.

 

“It is… I suspect our host may have tweaked something, making it so I can intercept the signals,” Nyx said.

 

“Why would she do that?” I asked.

 

Bandit’s body shrugged. “Boredem? When you have nearly limitless power it doesn’t take long for you to see nearly everything, so you need to take advantage of strange new experiences!”

 

“You say that almost like you relate to her,” I muttered.

 

Nyx grinned. “Maybe I do… Anyways, back to the ghosts. Based upon human myths and legends ghosts yearn to feel the warmth of life again, so they steal the lifeforce from living people. I suspect that might be what’s happening here.”

“But they’re not trying to take my lifeforce, they’re just dancing,” I grumbled.

 

“I’m only telling you what occurs in the legends. If you don’t believe me, feel free to stick your hand into one and check,” Nyx replied with a casual shrug.

 

As I stared at the whirling mass of spectral bodies I felt a shiver go down my spine. “Nah, I’ll pass thanks.”

“Suit yourself! You’re almost to the end, and I’m rooting for you. Good luck!” Nyx declared.

 

“Wait! Where are you going?” I demanded.

 

“To watch the broadcast of course. You still have a few more fights left, and I assume you’ll still want Bandit for them. His AI isn’t strong enough to share control, so I have to give up the shell to allow him to take control again,” Nyx explained. “Talk to you later!”

 

A second later Bandit slumped, placing a hand against his head. “I hate when they do that.”

“Are you okay to cross the dancefloor?” I asked.

 

“Should be simple enough for me, you’re the one that has to slip between the gaps and avoid getting hit,” Bandit replied.

 

I glanced back at the dancers, noting the short infrequent gaps, and shook my head. “Nah.”

 

“Then how are you going to get across? The dance is covering about twenty meters of dance floor, and they’re passing through the walls so you squeeze by the sides. What are you going to do? Fly over?” Bandit asked sarcastically.

 

“That was my plan, yes,” I replied glibly. “Hey Bob, you think you can give me a boost?”

 

Bob stared at me blankly for a minute, then recognition sparked in his eyes and a small smile grew on his face. “Absolutely.”

 

Putting his back to the dancers he squared off and locked his paws together, giving me a launching point.

 

“Just make sure you give me enough to clear this lot,” I said, lining up with the bear. “On three. One, two, three!”

 

I sprinted towards the bear, placed my foot on his paws and was catapulted straight over the dance. A couple ghosts even seemed to forget themselves for a moment, and looked up as I sailed over. I cleared the mob with a meter or two to spare, landing lightly and rolling to absorb the shock and bleed momentum.

 

“See? Easy,” I smirked, rising to my feet. As I turned back towards the dancers, that smirk instantly fell. Bob and Bandit were strolling through the dancers, ignoring their ghostly touches, but they weren’t the only ones. A handful of pale, humanoid figures in ballgowns and tailcoats had detached themselves from the wall and were swiftly closing in on Bandit.

 

“Bandit! Heads up! Bob, help him!” I shouted. Seeing the figures running unhindered gave me the confidence to reach back onto the dancefloor. I instantly regretted it. As the nearest dancers passed over my hand it felt simultaneously like it was freezing and burning, and the limb almost instantly went numb. I snatched it back, wiggling my fingers, trying to regain some sensation as I watched the ambush play out.

 

The small group of black clad party goers feel upon Bandit like a pack of wolves, striking at him from all sides. He tried to hold them back with the knife, slicing deeply into one of the women, but despite what should have been a fatal wound, she kept slashing at him with wicked clawed fingers.

 

When it became apparent their slashing attacks weren’t working the group changed tactics, they grabbed Bandit’s limbs and started wrenching them in different directions. A human would never be able to exert enough force to even restrict Bandit’s movement, yet the group not only restricted him but slowly began taking him apart. Metal screeched as they used their super natural strength to pull his knife arm, ripping it from his shoulder.

 

Bob reacted quickly, but by the time he arrived back at Bandit’s location and started smashing the pale attackers it was too late. A trio of the attackers worked together to wrench Bandit’s head around pulling so hard that the thicker neck joints snapped and gave away. They only had a moment to hold up their prize in victory before Bob smashed them into the ground.

 

Both Bandit and the aggressors simultaneously dissolved into motes of bright light, leaving Bob standing alone.

 

“Sorry boss, I was too slow,” the big bear muttered.

 

“It’s not your fault. We should have expected an ambush when we were most vulnerable. I should have seen it coming,” I replied quietly.

 

“Bandit should have seen it coming,” Bob grumbled.

 

“I’m pretty sure he did,” I replied. “He probably just didn’t expect that they could move that fast, or pass through the ghosts unhindered.”

 

“That feels like cheating,” Bob huffed.

 

“It was an ambush, and a smart one too,” I muttered. “No point in crying over it, what’s done is done.”

I glanced back over my shoulder at the massive stage at the far side of the ballroom. There was a full orchestra set up on one side, providing the music that the dancers moved to, and setting the tone of the entire floor. They were skilled, and filled the entire place with music, but they weren’t what I focused on.

 

Instead my eyes were drawn to the dark haired woman dancing in the middle of the stage. She wore a heavily stylized black and red ballgown which fit her like a glove. Even though her black hair bounced with each step it never covered her blood red eyes. At her feet was a massive black and yellow spider which scuttled back and forth, like it was dancing with her.

 

She was beautiful, and graceful, but her most striking feature had to be the six long, arachnid legs that emerged from her back.

 

I didn’t know exactly who she was, but I knew one thing. She was the last boss, the last hurdle, between me and Lanivia.

 

“Bob get out of there,” I growled. “We have work to do.”