The Legendary Ghost Hunter

"… The air feels so hot and sticky," Iris muttered with an uncomfortable expression on her face, riding on Finn's shoulders. "I hate it."

Since her mana wasn't unlimited, they decided to conserve as much as they could by having Iris ride on Finn like usual unless it was absolutely essential for her to walk on her own. Iris didn't say it out loud, but she much preferred being on Finn's shoulders like this rather than walking on her own. She was afraid Finn would think she was weird or babylike if she admitted this to him, though, so she kept it to herself.

"… See any Specters?" Finn asked, keeping his footsteps light and almost inaudible.

"Hm… no. The sun is bright so it might camouflage them in this bright rainforest, but… so far, I'm not spotting anything," Iris replied. "These tall trees don't give me a great feeling, though… we should keep an eye in the air."

"You mean you should keep an eye in the air," Finn muttered in reply, then tilted his head upwards. "But rather than that…"

Suddenly, he activated his wings, and flew upwards. Iris used her wings to help, and together, the two lifted from the ground, rising up along the tall skinny trees of the rainforest.

But as they did so-

"Careful—!" Iris suddenly pulled out her gun and unleashed a bullet without any hesitation into a white amorphous being that looked like a glowing blob of goo.

"…!" Finn hurriedly activated Devil's Timing, just in time to dodge the white blob that had been split into two and were now falling down towards the ground.

But there wasn't just one of them.

Specters worked in groups, like a pack of wolves. And as Iris looked up, she could see countless more of them falling towards them, each trying to catch onto their clothes and eat away at their minds.

"Oi, kid! Better do something! If ya let a single one of those gross bastards touch me, I'll kill you!" The sword growled in a panic, and Finn furrowed his brows a bit."

"… Tch." He crossed his arms in front of him in an X-shape, palms facing towards him, and used his Lightning Breathing technique to instantly ready himself for casting.

And then…

'Shock Field.'

Immediately, a sphere of electricity formed around him and Iris, formed of raw lightning that pulsated and slowly rotated around them as they flew up. This was one of the Abilities taught to him by Lei Feng, and it was one of the few defensive powers of the Stormbringer Angelica.

The incoming Specters clearly had not been expecting this, and as soon as they made contact with the lightning field around Finn and Iris, they were zapped into nothingness, reduced to mere atoms that were far too frail and small to do any damage.

However, every time this happened, Finn was also getting drained of his mana. He was also using his wings, so that consumed energy as well, and by the looks of it, there had to be at least a couple hundred more Specters raining down from the tall, tall trees.

"Finn… hang in there!" Iris encouraged, as there was little else she could do apart from that. Her guns and Oculus Angelica would be next to useless inside this shock cage, since just like the Specters, her bullets would be instantly vaporized upon contact with the electricity.

But what were mere words of encouragements going to do? Supply Finn with mana?

"Ngh…!" Finn gritted his teeth as the two continued flying up. There was no turning back now—the entire rainforest was teeming with these things, and even if they tried to avoid the ones falling on them from this tree, they would only be met with more from a different tree.

At this rate, he wouldn't last much longer, and the top of the trees was still a good 20 meters away.

'What do I do…' Iris thought, racking her brain for answers. She felt powerless. She felt useless. It was always Finn protecting her, not the other way around. The only thing she could help him with was seeing things. And even then… she had failed to notice these Specters earlier, had she not?

Seeing Finn trying his best like this… it only made it painfully clear how lacking Iris was. Was she even fit to be his partner? No… he deserved better. He deserved better, and yet… Iris didn't want to let him go. Not after all the moments they've shared, and all the time they've spent fighting side by side.

But to do that, she needed power. She needed the strength to support him properly, the ability to let him be able to rely on her for a change. That was her desire—the wish from the bottommost parts of her heart: power.

'So, you've finally chosen to awake to your other self?'

Time seemed to stop as Iris heard this voice inside her head, and her eyes widened slightly as she was suddenly alone in a pure white world of nothingness. The voice sounded like her own, yet it carried a touch of evil and darkness that she thought she had long abandoned. Standing in front of her was the owner of that voice, and as expected, it was the spitting reflection of herself, only instead of white, the reflection was wearing black.

'What…? Who are you…?'

'I am you, and you are me. We are two sides of the same person, two souls of the same body. I have laid dormant for many years, waiting for you to finally awaken me. And now, that time has finally come. The lust for power… the desire for strength… all shall be fulfilled. Iris Sylvoir—do you accept our deal?'

'I…'

This was herself she was talking to. She was not lying. Power would be hers, so long as she accepted this deal. As long as she said a simple 'yes', she would finally have the power to support Finn and satisfy her one most heartfelt wish.

'I… accept.'

The other her smiled and extended her hand out, then whispered in a soft, alluring voice.

'Then let us sign our contract.'