(On large construction sites, groundwater seepage is common when digging foundations. To deal with this, heavy-duty water pumps are always on standby to drain excess water.)
Renée Chu made her move.
At the last moment, when all else had failed, the ghost chose the most desperate tactic—possession.
No wonder this instance of "The Mountain Village Old Corpse" was ranked Nightmare Level.
Once Renée Chu resorted to this, how many Samsaras could possibly survive?
But she had underestimated Fenric.
Her will slipped into his body like a dark tide—but she hit a wall.
Fenric's mental power surged like a fortress of steel. His spiritual strength was more than ten times that of an ordinary person, further amplified by the Brave's Heart, making his will unshakable.
Even if ten Renée Chus descended upon him, none could control his mind.
But the ghost was desperate. She couldn't seize his core consciousness, so she targeted the next best thing—
his left arm.
"Smart," Fenric murmured coldly as his fingers curled without his command.
Renée Chu, terrified of his "draining the pond" tactic, had no choice but to sabotage the pumps by force. His left hand clenched into a fist and swung toward the nearest water pump.
Then came the sound that froze the world.
Pshhhhk!
A blade flashed black under the dim light.
Fenric—expression calm, eyes like ice—severed his own arm.
Blood fountained from the stump, spraying across the dirt like crimson rain.
"!!!"
The workers stared in mute horror. The fat manager dropped to his knees, his lips trembling.
They had seen ruthless men before. But this?
A man who cut off his own hand—without a second of hesitation?
This was something else. Something inhuman!
Even Renée Chu faltered.
For the first time, the ghost felt fear.
Fenric's face turned pale as bone, his breathing ragged. But his eyes… his eyes burned with killing intent.
Pain?
He didn't care.
As long as he returned to the Samsara Space, the Samsara System could heal any wound. Hands could grow back.
A severed limb was nothing compared to failure.
If not for that certainty, Fenric would never self-amputate. He wasn't stupid—just ruthless.
A strange twitch ran through his other hand.
"Huh? Again?" Fenric sneered, his voice dripping with contempt. "You think the same trick works twice?"
His entire body shimmered as Armament Haki flared to life, coating him in obsidian armor.
"GET. OUT!"
His roar cracked through the night like thunder.
A surge of domineering will exploded outward. Renée Chu's attempt shattered like glass. Her essence recoiled violently, unable to hold him.
She tried again. And again. Each time, she failed.
Fenric's voice cut through the air like a death knell:
"Renée Chu… even King Yama won't save you tonight."
Yes—she was pitiful in life. Betrayed. Wronged.
But Fenric?
He didn't care.
This ghost had crossed his bottom line. She had hunted him relentlessly, forced him to extremes. Now, she would pay the price.
Ten minutes crawled by.
"Boss… the pool's drained." The fat manager's voice quivered. He was clutching his mutilated hand, desperate to escape and find a hospital.
Fenric rose slowly, towering like a demon drenched in blood. His gaze shifted to the pool—now little more than mud and bones.
And there it was.
A straw-wrapped corpse, waterlogged for decades, finally surfaced under the pale light.
Time had stripped away flesh, leaving only bones twisted in agony, skeletal hands frozen like claws reaching for vengeance.
Even now, the hatred radiating from those bones was palpable.
Beside the skeleton lay a bracelet, corroded black by time, tangled in weeds.
Fenric's eyes narrowed.
A key item.
This bracelet had been Renée Chu's favorite possession in life. According to the original script, returning it would pacify her spirit—temporarily.
But Fenric didn't come here for peace.
He stepped into the muck, boots sinking into sludge, and picked up the bracelet. Cold, slimy. Heavy with resentment.
"Found you," he whispered.
As he approached the skeleton, the air froze.
A figure materialized before him—blue robe, tangled hair, reeking of death. The ghost herself, no longer hiding.
"G-Ghost!!!"
The fat manager shrieked, bolting like a rabbit. The workers scattered, screaming into the night.
Fenric didn't even glance their way. His eyes locked on Renée Chu, calm as a predator before the kill.
"Do you still think you can stop me now?"
For the first time, she spoke—her voice a hollow whisper dripping with despair:
"What… do you want… to let me go?"
Fenric laughed.
He didn't answer. He didn't need to.
He walked forward, straight through her phantom form, until he stood over her bones.
The ghost howled, ripping her hair aside to reveal a face ravaged by decay—skin blackened, features grotesque beyond imagination.
A nightmare given form.
But Fenric didn't flinch.
He slipped the bracelet onto her skeletal wrist.
Om—
A burst of golden light flared, cutting through the gloom. The raised hands of the skeleton slowly sank back to the earth, like a beast finally tamed.
"NOOOO!!!"
Renée Chu's scream shattered the silence as her figure dissolved, splintering into mist that drifted into nothingness.
Her grudge—purged.
For now.
Fenric's voice was ice.
"Negotiation? With me? You think I'd let a tiger nurse its wounds?"
With a thought, the skeleton rose from the muck, dragged by an invisible force. He hauled it onto the dry earth like a butcher pulling a carcass.
Then, without hesitation, he drenched it in gasoline.
Boom!
The flames roared to life, devouring decades of resentment. Renée Chu's scream echoed one last time before being torn apart by fire.
Bones—the ghost's last anchor—turned black, then gray, then ash.
Only when the fire died did Fenric stir.
A faint glimmer caught his eye among the soot. The bracelet—untouched by flame, its luster restored.
Fenric bent down and picked it up, brows arching as the Samsara System chimed in:
Ding! Special Item Detected!