Chapter 163: A Fatal Miscalculation

Resolve, as unbending as steel, shone in his narrowed eyes.

Grip tightening on his abyssal blade, his eyes darted between the poltergeist's cruel smirk and the chilly fog condensing into another volley of hovering arrows.

A drop of sweat rolled down his temples. Like a cowboy locked in a lethal duel, he had to deliver a swift, devastating blow to end his adversary. But where was the girl?

She had faded and now lingered in the shadows. Perhaps lying an ambush behind or most likely waiting to impale his chest the moment he charged the boy.

Even if he was wrong, one thing was sure: passiveness would lead to death.

As he pondered, the boy flexed his arms playfully.

"Come on, big demon! Use those huge muscles of yours to entertain us."

The taunting in his youthful voice resonated with the whispers. Dark and gleeful, they rippled against the silence, growing louder and urging him to surrender to the darkness.