Chapter: 31. Master of Ghosts
“…Are they fantasy monsters? It seems those guys from the academy…”
The team leader, piloting the star-shaped aircraft, couldn’t help but mutter as he watched the storm chasing behind them.
The storm roared in like a tide, with lightning zigzagging through the clouds as if to tear apart the night sky itself.
The aircraft trembled in the fierce winds, the roar of the engine was swallowed by the storm’s howls, and the rain fell like thousands of silver needles, mercilessly stabbing at the wings, creating fine sprays of water on the metal surface.
“We’re being caught!” Other team members sitting in the back shouted anxiously.
Professor Amakusa, however, looked at the people in front of him with a grave expression.
He felt that the fear and urgency on the faces of the invaders were not feigned.
He could sense the magical fluctuations of the fantasy monsters coming from the storm behind them.
As one of the elders of the Star Academy, Professor Amakusa naturally knew the abilities of all the psychics in the academy, and none had made contracts with fantasy monsters that could summon storms, so the fantasy monster behind them absolutely did not originate from the Star Academy.
But after personally experiencing this series of events, he could be certain that the storm did indeed emanate from the Star Academy—
Could it be that there are things in the academy that I don’t even know about? Professor Amakusa couldn’t help but think.
“No, we’ve entered its territory…”
At that moment, the team leader’s voice came from the cockpit.
Upon hearing this, Professor Amakusa immediately shifted his gaze to the window.
Through the cabin, the night sky was completely shrouded in dark clouds, with raging winds and torrential rain howling around the aircraft, and the flashes of lightning between the clouds illuminated the boundless expanse ahead—seemingly endless.
“We… are trapped…” someone muttered.
The expressions of everyone in the cabin darkened.
“It’s a fantasy monster of the rank of a Class Servant…”
“…And there’s more than one…”
Amidst the howling storm.
A mass of lightning rapidly caught up with the star-shaped aircraft from behind.
“Captain, should we counterattack?”
“No, we just had our magic power drained by an S-class… It’s impossible to fight against a Class Servant right now…”
One of the team members spoke as he shifted his gaze towards Professor Amakusa.
It seemed he hoped that using him as a hostage might achieve some effect.
But Professor Amakusa calmly shook his head: “It’s useless. I know nothing about such fantasy monsters existing in the academy… Most likely, I won’t have any effect on them…”
“Then why are they chasing us?”
“Who knows… Either they’re after me, or…”
“…Eliminate you.” The team leader completed Professor Amakusa’s thought.
“You must have an insider in the academy, right?” Professor Amakusa said. “That’s how you managed to infiltrate the academy and organize this operation.”
“…” The team leader didn’t respond, but his silence confirmed the professor’s statement.
“Since there are traitors in the academy, it’s not surprising that some would want to take this opportunity to eliminate me as well…”
Everyone present silently agreed with Professor Amakusa.
No one wanted to gamble with their lives in such a situation.
If those two fantasy monsters really came to take Professor Amakusa’s life—stopping now to negotiate would be tantamount to sentencing themselves to death.
Just as hints of despair flickered across everyone’s faces, suddenly, an unusual sensation filled everyone’s hearts.
They all reflexively turned their heads.
The scene behind them hadn’t changed.
The storm continued to stretch infinitely.
And a mass of lightning was closing in.
But everyone felt—someone was watching them.
That unmistakable gaze came from directly behind them.
Before Professor Amakusa could comprehend what was happening, he heard his teammates beside him cheerfully shout, “It’s the Master of Ghosts!”
No sooner had the words been spoken than the lightning behind them was almost upon them.
A massive bird formed of thunder spread its wings, as if propping up half of the thunderous sky; the thunder roared like war drums reverberating through the air, locking onto the fleeing star-shaped aircraft, with lightning chains wrapping around it like serpents.
Just as the lightning was about to strike, a white mist silently emerged.
Like a soft veil, it lay between the lightning and the star-shaped aircraft.
The moment the lightning collided with that layer of white mist, the violent current instantaneously fell into silence.
The entire attack seemed to fall into a deep pool, swallowed without sound.
At the same time.
A discordant white light suddenly flickered across the night sky ahead.
At first, it was just a strand of mist moving against the wind, yet it remained unmoved in the fierce gusts, seemingly defying all physical laws.
The white mist unfurled like satin in the air, gently yet eerily emitting a faint glow, eventually condensing into a slowly rotating ring.
In the center of the ring, a palm-sized puppet silently appeared.
“Is this all you have? I’ve seen much stronger giant birds than you—”
The puppet’s mouth opened and laughed.
Fantasy Monster – Evil Spirit Doki Doki-chan.
No, that was its former name.
Perhaps it should now be addressed by this name—
Threat Level 11, Divine Rank, Fantasy Monster – Master of Ghosts.
“Thank you, Master of Ghosts—”
The people in the cabin, except for Professor Amakusa, collectively sighed in relief at the moment they saw the white mist appear.
Doki Doki-chan, having heard this, clapped her hands towards the star-shaped aircraft.
“Let’s save the pleasantries until we safely return to the base. Hurry up and leave, or if it catches up—” Doki Doki-chan’s eyes were fixed tightly on the lightning bird and the howling storm behind it, as if some enormous entity lurked within the black thunderclouds.
“It?” The crew in the cabin were taken aback; it was the first time they had seen the Master of Ghosts display such a serious expression.
“Ah, ah, within the Star Academy… there are unimaginable things…”
Doki Doki-chan recalled the B team she had saved earlier, a wave of fear rising in her heart.
Although Doki Doki-chan understood where this feeling came from, she trusted her instincts.
That fellow hiding in the shadow of the research institute was anything but ordinary.
And these two fantasy monsters before her were clearly also servants of hers.
“I just tore a rift in the territory; you can leave through there.”
“I understand, you need to be careful as well, Master of Ghosts—”
The people inside the star-shaped aircraft immediately realized that they were nothing but a burden here.
Having lost their magical power, they could do nothing against the fantasy monsters with authority.
As the star-shaped aircraft’s engine’s rear light cut through the storm, heading toward the exit Doki Doki-chan had indicated—
Suddenly, dark raindrops began to fall from the storm behind the lightning bird in the same direction.
No, that wasn’t rainwater.
But rather, dark silhouettes, emitting a crimson light in the area of their faces.
They charged straight towards the star-shaped aircraft like an airdropped army.
“You think you’re the only one with an army?” Doki Doki-chan smirked, revealing a crescent-like twisted smile.
The next moment.
A dense white mist once again appeared in the air, blocking the countless shadows from the star-shaped aircraft.
The mist instantly coalesced into human shapes—transforming into ethereal “ghosts.”
This was a technological achievement from the Star Association long ago.
It was also an extraordinary phenomenon that once appeared in Kawano City.
Now it had been mastered by Doki Doki-chan—artificial fantasy monsters.
