Transmigrated as a Ghost

Once Arriba's form had completely dissipated a single green jewel remained. This was his magic core and the last item Marcus required for his evolution.

'Would like to absorb this Ghost King's Core? Yes/No'

The moment he picked up the item this message suddenly popped up in front of him.

Marcus nearly accepted without much thought but caught himself before he did. There was no telling what might happen once he did.

For all he knew his evolution might be triggered immediately upon absorbing the core without another prompt appearing. If it occurred instantly then that would be fine, but it was possible the process might take days or even weeks.

'It will have to wait till later. This is neither the time nor place.' Marucs thought, regrettably rejecting the message and storing the Ghost King's magic core into his item box.

Turning around he saw Alyna was still in the process of purifying the last remaining souls freed from the undead weapon, while Zorot had recovered from the shock of seeing his masterpiece destroyed and was slinking away. The demon knew he was outmatched now that Arriba had been defeated and was strategically retreating.

"Does he really think I'll just let him get away so easily?"

Marcus held his hand forward and cast the tier three spell lighting bind towards the fleeing demon. Zorot had been the true cause of the tragedy that befell this city and there was no way Marcus was just going to let him escape.

Of course, Zorot was not going to let himself be caught easily and countered the spell coming towards him.

Looking unconcerned, Marcus conjured his next spell and began closing the distance between him and his target.

"He's a slippery one alright."

Having just finished up cleaning the last malignant spirit, Alyna appeared next to Marcus and joined him in hunting down Zorot.

The two of them slowly closed in on the demon while using magic to corner him.

Soon they had the body of the man he was controlling trapped in a cage of light and bound in chains of darkness.

Nevertheless, the parasitic demon worm used its last resort and ejected its main body from the host it was controlling.

Seeing its true form for the first time, both Marcus and Alyna grimaced.

Its pale body had pulsing green lines running down it and a vile light purple mucus surrounding it.

Several misshapen heads that looked like screaming people were spasming along its body at random intervals. There was no doubt that it was a truly grotesque creature.

In a final attempt to escape, Zorot began tunneling into the ground. There was no semblance of the confident demeanor the demon had displayed when it first arrived to interfere with Marcus' battle with eh Ghost King. Now it was acting just like the pathetic monster it was.

"Shall we finish this?" Alyna said, holding her hand towards the demon and charging it with mana.

Nodding his head, Marcus followed suit and prepared to cast the tier six light magic spell Quasar Blast. He could tell that Alyna was planning to use this spell as well and was preparing to combine their magic into one massive blast that would vaporize Zorot.

Yet before they launched their spells Marcus paused for a moment and turned his head in a completely different direction.

"Alyna, whatever happens, don't panic."

The instant after Marcus gave this warning there was a swift flash of his automatic barriers created by several magic items on his person. Almost immediately all of the protections Marcus had were shattered and a thin gleaming line sliced through his neck.

His head then separated from his body and went flying into the air.

Alyna nearly screamed in distress, but quickly remembered what Marcus had just told he.

Rather than losing her cool, she assessed the situation while using the mana she had been collecting to finish off Zorot to fortify her defenses instead.

Following the direction the attack had just come from, she saw eight individuals rushing towards her and Marcus.

Three of them appeared to be people, one human, an orc, and a race she was unfamiliar with. However, the other five were undoubtedly demons of some sort. Nothing else in the world gave her the same visceral reaction as they did.

At first, she thought these might be Zorot's allies. Except, three of the demons broke off from the group and dragged the parasitic demon worm out of its hole. Without any sort of comradery, the three demons tore Zorot apart until it had been reduced to only a head.

After that they returned to the others who were now within around a hundred meters of Alyna.

"You're not on our list of designated targets. Who are you and what is your relationship to him?" The man at the leader of the group of demons said while pointing at Marcus who's headless from was lying on the ground.

Taking just a moment to assess the situation, Alyna glanced at every one of the individuals she considered to be enemies.

The five demons were all the same type. Each was around four meters tall and had heads like feral boars. Their bodies were shaped roughly like a person's, standing on two legs with two arms that ended in clawed hands. They were covered in patchy black fur and their torsos were bafflingly rotund.

Still, Alyna had already seen how fast and ferociously they could move and would not underestimate them based on appearance.

As for the people accompanied by these demons, one looked to be a human man with dark hair and eyes. He was not particularly bulky but the way he held himself was that of an experienced warrior, and a sheathed sword hung from the belt at his waist.

On the man's right was a woman with shoulder length dark orange hair, a pitch-black horn sporting out of the center of her head, and a dark red tail coming out of her lower back.

To his left was a towering orc over three meters tall decked out in full amethros armor and holding a towering amethros shield.

'They're strong.' Alyna thought, fighting the dread she was feeling from appearing on her face.

If she were to compare them to someone from her group of friends that were forcefully turned into undead, she would have to pick Daniel. Among them he was the only one she felt was as powerful as these three.

That was not all through. She sensed several other immense presences appearing within the vicinity of Marcus' companions. There was no doubt that this was a coordinated attack against them.

"Please answer my question. Depending on what you say, we may not need to kill you like we did him."

Turning towards the man with black hair, Alyna glared at him and gave her answer.

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"I'm his adjutant. I don't know who you are, but I'll make sure you regret attacking us."

Holding both of her scimitars, she took up a defensive stance and prepared for battle.

Sato sighed when he saw this, but nevertheless moved to grasp his sword and finish things quickly.

Except, before he could attack Alyna, Marcus' headless body suddenly sat up and pointed both of his hands towards Sato's party.