Ghost finally made his way through the sea of bodies and caught sight of the abnormal woman once more, her eyes boring into his own as if she had not lost sight of him the entire time… But things were not as he had expected.

For starters, there were an additional 8 humans that appeared around her, materialising into existence at the same time that his Spirit Sense picked them up and staring into the sea of Blood Fiends with noticeable wariness but even more courage. Obviously, they had been using the same technique that the strange woman was using, but the other even scarier alternative was that rather than them all using the same technique, it was that strange woman that was extending her own ability to hide to others, and only now chose to reveal them.

However, although Ghost gave this matter surface-level considerations, he didn’t care to ponder any deeper. All he desired in this moment was for the blood of his foes to drench his body and for the rest of their body parts to become the materials for his next creation, whether it was 1 foe or 9. The rage flowing through his veins wouldn’t be satisfied by anything else.

Besides, those pitiful Humans, even if they were a strange variant called ‘High Humans’ that had managed to reach the illustrious 4th Realm, were still only at the first Stage. He couldn’t detect much from their obvious leader even now, but he could tell that she was much stronger, probably in the 7th Stage like him, maybe even the 8th or 9th. But each and every one of those extras were in the bonafide 1st Stage. Utter trash.

Perhaps they would be able to make waves elsewhere… but here, where he had with him Fiend Lords that had reached higher stages like the 3rd and even the 4th, they would only become the nourishment that would enrich the powers of his people.

“SLAUGHTERRR!!!” Ghost roared out as a crimson aura flared around, enhancing the colour of his red hair and completely red eyes.

“““SLAAAUUUGHHTERRRR!!!””” The Fiends echoed back, striking terror into the residents of the Forest. They descended onto the large branch where the High Humans awaited (the branch being big enough to safely withstand about 20 people), and heads immediately began to fly.

Unfortunately, they were not the heads that he wanted. These heads held red eyes that were frozen in shock, not the golden or other eye colours of his enemies. His Blood Fiends were somehow already dying, and it was even in such a quick and effortless manner.

‘How?!’ Ghost inwardly growled, his rage and frustration climbing even further. He was losing control of everything and nothing made sense anymore. The Blood Fiends that had just died were only in the 1st Stage, but that was still no excuse for that appalling display! They were fighting HUMANS! To die in such a fashion was not only a disgrace, but it was also supposed to be impossible!

A Blood Fiend versus a Human was like a Lion versus a Rabbit. If they had even roughly the same cultivation, a Human would always, always, always suffer defeat. But what was this situation? What was he seeing?

A DISGRACE! A DISGRACE OF THE AGES!

However, infuriated to the skies and back that he was, his battle instincts honed by over a hundred years of merciless warfare refused to allow his rage to cloud the fact that for such a reality-bending sight to happen, there had to be a cause, and he had to be extremely wary of it.

Perhaps High Humans had more innate capabilities than just talent in cultivation. Did they have divine strength? Perhaps sharp retractable claws that could take off heads in a single moment?

He soon found out that the answer to those questions was no.

The real reason appeared the glowing weapons constructed from Mana that were being wielded by their owners to separate his Blood Fiends into multiple pieces, leaving trails of light in the air and humming with power as they went.

‘What is that?’ Ghost questioned with astonishment. But he didn’t have much time to think any further, his body had finally arrived at the branch and if he didn’t want his own head to fly, he better start fighting.

Sending a bit more Mana into his legs, he bounded forwards once more and instantly arrived in front of one of the humans, this one being a tall male that had blue hair and dark eyes. The colour of his aura and by proxy his Mana was a vivid blue colour and carried the distinct nature of Water Affinity. The weapon he carried was a thin sword of the exact same colour and was easily identifiable as a masterful concentration of Water Elemental Essence. 

But unfortunately for him, Ghost wasn’t at all like those beheaded Blood Fiends and there was nothing that could save him from death.

His clawed hand struck out with mind-boggling speed and created its own trail of red lights that tore through the air with malevolent viciousness. Only, before it could meet its intended target, a flash of Golden light zapped through his peripheral vision, and suddenly instead of striking flesh he was striking the flat side of a golden sword. This one much wider than the last and humming with power that was completely incomparable.

Naturally, it belonged to the newest bane of his life.

However, he didn’t get shocked and his instincts drove him to instantly strike out with his other hand with an even greater speed, aiming at the location that he had subconsciously calculated the owner of the sword to be, based on the position and trajectory of the sword.

This experience was something that he had gained thanks to his numerous clashes with Demon Kings that wielded all sorts of weapons, with the clashes against the Lord of all Monsters being the most enlightening.

*WHOOSH*

Unexpectedly, he failed to hit his target once more, his old target having been displaced in a manner that he- expectedly, failed to understand. But now that things had slowed down a few tics, he used that moment to actually focus on what he was striking at and caught the sight of the woman bringing her upper body back to a vertical position.

He quickly understood that she had dodged by leaning backwards and decided to push further whilst her balance was still disturbed. But in the back of his mind his mood was only continuing to drop.