「Warning: When two or more individuals who have been infected by the monster enter close proximity with each other, the monster becomes restless.」
Reading the warning section of the quest one more time filled Merlin with a sense of dread. He interpreted this as the ghost becoming more aggressive. Its behaviour up until this point felt more like it stalked its victims, giving them a grace period before attacking. But now it was possible that he'd be attacked immediately after leaving the town that now acted as a safe zone.
He checked on Sir Redmond's condition, only to see that the man also seemed to be in pain, but before he could say anything an ear piercing whistle rung out from outside the building, grabbing the attention of both Merlin and Sir Redmond. The two turned to face the window towards where the sound seemed to originate from.
Merlin saw that Sir Redmond's office had a view over most buildings in the market area, as well as a clear view towards the eastern gate. He also noticed that there was practically a straight road from the gate to the mansion illuminated by only nine streetlights.
"Oh no. Not again." Sir Redmond mumbled. Merlin turned around only to see that the old man's body was shaking, and his facial expression indicated that he was terrified.
The ear piercing sound returned, followed shortly after by a strong gust of wind that blew through the town. The windows of the mansion started shaking violently, threatening to shatter if they received any more force. Several loud banging sounds could be heard from outside as the wooden shutters of the various buildings down the street started flailing around in the wind.
Sir Redmond fell back from the window and started crawling towards his desk. Before Merlin could ask him what he was doing, a flash of light caught his eye. When he turned around to see what changed, he noticed that the lantern that was hung on the eastern gate was no longer lit.
It didn't take him long to piece together what was about to happen, he saw several individuals moving towards the gate like something had happened. But not even a few seconds later he heard a collective scream, and another streetlight had vanished.
Merlin's attention snapped back towards Sir Redmond, who at this point was frantically trying to unlock a small chest he had stored away in his desk.
More screams rung out, they were getting louder, indicating that whatever was causing them to scream was getting closer.
When Merlin dared to turn towards the window once more, he saw the silhouette of several people getting impaled by a long tendril, only for the light that barely illuminated the scene to vanish moments after.
There were only four streetlights left, and it seemed people had finally caught on to what was happening, as they were now running away while screaming in terror, rather than walking towards it with curiosity.
Merlin took his shield and gladius out of his inventory and equipped them quickly. He wasn't sure what he planned on doing next, but now that settlements were no longer safe zones, he didn't have a chance to just run away.
Two more streetlights were destroyed, and Merlin could feel his heart almost beating out of his chest. He dared to peer out of the window once more, and now he could see the creature barely illuminated by the various sources of light coming from the nearby buildings.
There it stood in the middle of the market area, with its thorn-covered tendrils now dripping in blood. A familiar scene that left a bad taste in Merlin's mouth.
As if it could feel Merlin's gaze, the ghost's head snapped up and it stared directly at him. Merlin just stood there in a daze as he stared directly into the vacant sockets where its eyes would have been.
"God, I hate that thing." Merlin couldn't help but mutter out loud as he suddenly felt his arm hairs standing on edge.
"Finally!" Sir Redmond shouted out with desperation as a small click sound could be heard.
Merlin glanced over at what the old man was doing for a second. He saw that what was inside the chest was several vials of glimmering liquid. It was something Merlin was very familiar with, to the point he had been splashed with it moments before his return to the past. Holy water, at least a dozen vials of it.
This seemed to be Sir Redmond's last resort against the monster, this alongside the issue with the overspending on lantern oil showed that he was incredibly paranoid when it came to the ghost, to the point he didn't care what price he had to pay for even a little bit of comfort. But it also showed that he was a meticulous individual who always had a backup plan, an annoying trait to have for a corrupt noble, but fortunate when faced against the same enemy.
As his attention snapped back towards the monster, he heard glass shatter as the final lantern leading towards the mansion had been extinguished.
A blood-soaked tendril was thrust towards the window Merlin was standing behind. Merlin instinctively raised his shield and leapt backwards as the window shattered into tiny fragments.
Two more tentacles shattered the remaining windows, and a fourth tendril quickly pierced through the two lanterns closest to that side of the room, extinguishing them.
The old man screamed out in pain, Merlin glanced over to see that the man had a couple glass shards sticking out of his back, and he was weakly crawling over to the side of the room with functional lanterns while shielding the chest with his body like his life depended on it.
A loud creaking noise resounded from the tendrils as a silhouette slowly floated up towards the window, rather it looked like she was suspended in mid-air than actually floating, it was more accurate to say she was using her tentacles like they were spider legs.
Now only a few meters away, and being lit up by the remaining two lanterns, Merlin could properly see his enemy. A pale woman with dishevelled black hair, blood red lips and nothing but endless black voids where her eyes should have been.
She was wearing the same tattered red dress that Merlin had seen her wear during every other encounter. Although now that she was standing still, he could see that it was actually an expensive looking nightgown, one that would be marketed towards noble women for a hefty sum.
This fact raised a couple questions about who the ghost previously was. But Merlin was pretty confident he could at least guess who she was connected to in some shape or form, namely the man cowering in the corner while hugging the chest full of holy water.
The ghost began staring Merlin down, but her attention snapped towards Sir Redmond as he started clinking glass vials together while trying to grab one. Her long claw-like fingers wrapped around the window frame as her body gently hovered into the room.
Merlin didn't dare make any sudden movements, he just watched as the ghost slowly walked towards Sir Redmond, shards of glass were crunching under her bare feet after every step she took.
"E-Evaline, please don't." Sir Redmond muttered as he clenched a vial of holy water.
Evaline? Merlin made a mental note of that name, although he couldn't remember anyone mention that name, he was going to look into it further. But as he had suspected, Sir Redmond had some kind of relationship with the monster prior to her death.
Merlin slowly grabbed one of the remaining two lanterns that was closest to him, making sure not to alert the creature. Fortunately for him she seemed laser focused on the old man.
"No, get away!" Sir Redmond shouted as he threw one of the vials towards the monster and then made a mad dash towards the door where Merlin was standing.
The vial didn't get close to the ghost, instead being blocked by one of the thorn-covered tentacles. It began sizzling, but ultimately didn't result in much damage, instead it served to anger the monster more.
Merlin opened the door to the room and took a couple steps out into the hallway, Sir Redmond followed shortly behind. But before he could escape the room, a black tendril pierced the man's throat, causing him to lose all the strength in his body and forcing him to drop the chest full of holy water.
"E... va.." Sir Redmond's last words were cut short.
Several of the vials shattered upon impact, but Merlin wasn't concerned about that yet. The old man's body went completely limp, yet he was still suspended in the air by the tentacle that pierced his body.
Several servants that were standing in the hallway witnessed that their master's body had quickly become a corpse. Some ran away, hoping to save their own lives, while others fell to the floor helplessly, resigning themselves to their fate.
Moments later the old man's body was dragged back into the room. It was almost comical how his limp rag-doll body was dragged into the darkness, or it would have been, had the situation not been incredibly morbid.
A tendril flew through the door frame, it was aiming towards Merlin's head, but he suspected that he'd be the next target and prepared himself. Merlin grabbed the chest of holy water and rolled out of the way, causing the tendril to overshoot and embed itself into the wall behind him.
The chest lid flew open, revealing that only four vials remained, while the rest of the holy water was pooling at the bottom of the chest alongside shards of glass. Fortunately for Merlin, the four vials were glistening in such a way that Merlin could tell they were considered items by the system, not temporary items, meaning he could store them in his inventory.
He threw the four vials in his inventory and closed the chest, he didn't want the remaining holy water to spill out.
The next tendril flew towards him, but it didn't take much effort to step out of the way, causing the tendril to hit the wall behind him again, it seemed the monster was having a tough time fighting in tight spaces.
Due to the hallway Merlin was standing in being lit by several more lanterns, he didn't have to worry about the ghost suddenly peeking its head out and chasing him down the hallway like a typical horror villain.
The creature attacked Merlin once more, and he retaliated by throwing the lantern he was holding at it, to which it responded as usual, piercing the lantern with its tendrils. But Merlin followed it up by emptying the chest's contents on the creature like he was trying to splash someone with a bucket of water.
What little liquid that remained in the chest splashed at the monster, shards of glass and holy water sprayed the creature, causing its body to sizzle wherever it was hit.
The ghost shrieked in pain as it fled back into the dark room, and Merlin watched as it escaped through the window it entered from, dragging Sir Redmond's corpse along with it.
「You have completed the quest, "The Redmond's Curse", rewards have already been claimed.」
