The Married Alpha Who Refuses to Be a Heartthrob (A/B/O · Alpha POV) - Chapter 37

Even though the two hid in the darkness, the enemy could pinpoint their location by the direction of the attack. Adam rose and moved backward.

Though Adam appeared to walk leisurely, his figure moved with ghostly speed, heading straight toward Kaes and the others.

“Ah!” The Skin-Skin Ghost let out a hoarse roar, shifting its two transparent legs beneath the skirt to sprint toward the pair.

A wave of water-sword energy struck from the side. Startled, the Skin-Skin Ghost hurled a ball of flame to collide with the wave. Turning, it saw Long Shi, Fan Sen, and their group.

Long Shi had trained sword techniques by the sea with his master since childhood. Most of his strikes carried wave-like energy, earning him the playful nickname “Water Blade Commander” among his subordinates.

Sword in hand, Long Shi moved with lightning speed, circling halfway around the Human Skin Ghost. A semicircular wall of water surged, threatening to engulf it.

Behind it, the musketeers fired relentlessly.

The Human Skin Ghost’s power surged dramatically. It bellowed, its body erupting with a blinding light as bright as the sun. A powerful explosion of fire elemental energy seemed imminent.

Vansen held his spellbook aloft, floating in midair as he surveyed the battlefield. He chanted the incantation: “May the Lord grant me His favor…”

A massive golden magic circle materialized beneath his feet, encompassing the stage and its perimeter. The golden array radiated a sacred glow.

The Skin-Skin Ghost shrank like a deflated fireball. Its nearly erupting flames were suppressed, and its overall power was significantly weakened.

Confused for a second, it quickly realized the magic circle was to blame. It attempted to float to another corner beneath the stage, believing only by moving far away could it escape the magic circle’s influence.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Long Shi’s figure flickered, closing in behind the Human Skin Ghost as he swung his sword at it.

The Human Skin Ghost darted aside with agility, then began frantically hurling fireballs at the group like a madman: “Die! Aaaah!”

A jet of flame erupted from its mouth.

The pages of Vansen’s spellbook turned without wind. With a wave of his hand, he cast golden shields over himself and the others below. Though not as potent as the one protecting the puppy, they could withstand one or two attacks.

The skin-faced ghost glared hatefully at Vansen above. This support was stronger than it had anticipated, practically controlling their entire battlefield.

“Moon in the night’s embrace, reflecting sorrow’s tear, I still remember our love at first sight at the ball a year ago.”

The Skinless Ghost devised another scheme, croaking out the song in its strange, grating voice. This rendition carried an eerie quality, inducing dizziness and disorientation.

Long Shi and his companions felt excruciating pain in their ears. Covering their ears, they experienced a phantom sensation of piercing pain and bleeding, followed by a gradual loss of hearing.

Dizzy, they collapsed to the ground. Only Fan Sen retained a sliver of clarity.

“Ha ha! Die, all of you!” The skin-ghost cackled maniacally. These men were nothing special. It hurled a fireball, instantly incinerating a musketeer.

“Aaaah!” The musketeer screamed as he turned to ash.

Captain Tom, hearing his comrade’s screams, instinctively pulled the trigger. He didn’t know which direction he was firing, only that the enemy was nearby.

The deafening gunfire jolted Vansen back to his senses. This skin-ghost’s demonic arts were truly numerous; its song attack was exceptionally powerful. Had they not cast a suppression magic circle beforehand, they would have had no chance of staying awake.

The Skin-Wearer Ghost aimed to eliminate Long Shi first, as the others posed little threat. It hurled a fireball at him. Fan Sen scrambled to his feet, sitting on the ground as he hurriedly chanted a spell. The previous shield had already been depleted.

A new shield materialized around Long Shi, withstanding the fireball before vanishing. Vansen’s abilities were significantly weakened by the song attack, forcing him to cast shields one by one, each a single-use item.

“Damn it!” The skin-less ghost, refusing to give up, hurled another fireball. Its power was restricted by the magic circle. The circle was too large; to attack these people, it had to stay within the circle or it couldn’t hit them.

Vansen chanted again, casting a single-use shield over Long Shi.

Long Shi lay on the ground, half-conscious, only his fingers twitching slightly.

“Long Shi! Wake up!” Vansen shouted Long Shi’s name. Kaes and the others had already lured Adam away. Only a few remained on the stage—no one could rescue them.

Frustration nearly made Vansen hurl his spellbook. His hand brushed against a gun, and he desperately wanted to throw it at Long Shi. But when Long Shi’s eyelids fluttered, Vansen abandoned the idea—what if he knocked him unconscious? “Long Shi!“

”Aaaaaaah!“ The Skin-Skin Ghost was utterly enraged. Its translucent, skin-like hands tugged at the ornaments on its head. Vansen was driving it absolutely mad.

The Skin-Skin Ghost shrieked. Against Vansen, it could only sing that song again, hoping for a stronger effect: ”Moon in the night…”

Vansen’s face darkened. He dreaded this song most of all. Other attacks were manageable, but he couldn’t silence the Human Skin Ghost’s voice.

“Vansen?” Long Shi heard his name, faintly mixed with that sickening song. His senses sharpened, his consciousness struggling to awaken, like forcing himself out of a nightmare.

Long Shi opened his eyes to see the Skin-Masked Ghost, its mouth twisted and grotesquely wide, launching another mental assault at Fan Sen. A surge of rage ignited within him—he couldn’t stand seeing anyone attack the gentle, nurturing father. Gripping his sword hilt once more, he snarled, “You monstrosity, dare to sing again?”

The skin-ghost was mid-spell when a wave of water suddenly slammed into its back. Its form staggered, the red skirt fluttering on the ground before it froze rigid. It heard Long Shi’s voice behind it: “Bring whatever dark magic you have at me.”

“Why isn’t it moving?” The musketeer, slowly regaining his senses, saw the motionless skin-ghost.

Captain Tom remarked, “Is it being controlled by the commander? …Where’s my rifle?”

The others were still dazed. Vansen recalled the hint Kaes had given him: the skin-ghost would freeze for ten seconds after a physical attack. He hurriedly shouted, “Now’s our chance! Long Shi, rip off its mask!”

Long Shi knew the window was brief. Fearing insufficient time, he swung his sword for another strike. The ghost swayed slightly from the blow but remained frozen in place.

Long Shi moved to the front of the ghost. Flames burned across its body, and raging fire blazed from its empty eye sockets, as if fueled by hatred toward them.

He couldn’t remove it barehanded. Long Shi used his sword to pry off the mask, which fell onto the stage with a dull thud.

The flames on the Human Skin Ghost vanished. It transformed into a limp, ordinary piece of human skin lying on the ground.

“How did I become this?” The mask suddenly spoke in Abe’s voice, his consciousness tragically returning just before death. “Kaes… Am I dead? …It hurts.”

The faded red gown lay like a withered flower, and the stage, once illuminated by flames, instantly darkened.

The crowd froze for a moment. They had indeed heard Abe’s original voice.

“We won! Thanks to the Commander and the Bishop, though… where’s my gun?” Tom scanned the area and found it clutched in Vansen’s hand.

Long Shi glanced at the fallen trophy but didn’t rush to pick it up. Instead, he helped Vansen, still seated on the ground, to his feet: “Are you okay, Bishop?”

“I’m fine…” Vansen stood up, masking his awkwardness and disarray with a smile. He dropped the gun, and Tom came over to pick it up, his eyes questioning why Vansen had taken his weapon.

Vansen smiled without answering, straightening his slightly disheveled crimson robe. He couldn’t very well say he’d intended to smash it over Long Shi’s head.

“Thanks to the Bishop, everything went smoothly.” Long Shi returned the smile, sheathing his sword before turning to pick up the mask from the ground.

The others gathered around. They saw the mask inlaid with numerous small magic stones, like colorful diamonds. Long Shi flipped the mask over to reveal that each stone bore a single letter.

Together, they spelled—Abbe.

“Poor Abbe,” Long Shi murmured, his low voice tinged with sorrow and resignation. The light mask suddenly felt heavy. He had arranged for Abbe’s ashes to be shipped back to his foster father’s home.

Abbe was, in a way, his romantic rival. But he had long ceased to judge the chaotic twists and turns of Kaes’s marriage.

He’d essentially given up, no longer seeking to compete. Simply staying by Kaes’s side each day was enough.

A hint of sorrow flickered in Vansen’s eyes. Closing the spellbook, he lowered his eyelids: “May he rest in peace.”

Tom and the Musketeers traced crosses over the human skin, mourning Abe.

To be exploited by an evil wizard even in death, skinned and turned into a puppet—how pitiful.

Abe’s life ended in such tragic misery.