Max's lips were almost touching his ears, as he couldn't stop the grin forming on his face. He held a medium sized earthen pot in his hand, tightly sealed by a lid made of the same material.
"Is that it? How are we going to use it?" Charlotte asked, closing in on him.
Max stood up and said, as he began walking out of the room. He said, "Let's talk while walking. We need to get this kill as soon as possible."
"Okay? So, are we heading towards the basement now?" the magenta-haired healer asked.
"Yes! As for your earlier question, this pot contains the ashes of Baron Marcus," Max said, giving a side glance to Stelle who was silently following them.
He shifted his gaze forward and continued, "It's related to that civilization and its belief. You see, they used to cremate the dead family members and then put their ashes in their holy river for the salvation of their souls."
Stelle and Charlotte listened attentively as Max continued his explanation.
"I'm guessing that Baron Marcus died while they were in a war and because of that, his ashes didn't reach the holy river and that means he didn't get salvation. His spirit continued lingering in the castle and turned into a powerful wraith. And that's what we're going to face."
"Then, if we follow your information, putting those ashes in the holy river would purify his soul and give salvation, meaning his defeat," Charlotte quickly guessed from the information she had just received.
"Beauty and brain," Max wasn't shy in giving away compliments. "Yes, that's why I said anyone can defeat him as all it needs to defeat him is throwing these ashes in the Holy river."
"But do we have a Holy river here?" Stelle asked. "I don't think there is any kind of river here, well, except for the river of blood because of the battlefield."
"We technically don't need a holy river since we can use holy water instead," Max replied as he stopped before a pile of debris.
"Wait! If they had holy water then why didn't they just give him salvation already?" Charlotte asked in confusion.
"I don't know about that but it's probably related to the war," Max said, looking down at the wooden door stuffed below the debris. "For now, let's finish our target."
"You mean we need to face a Second-Grade Monster head on? Especially a Wrath?" Charlotte asked, wondering if he was joking. "He can kill us easily."
"Yes, he can but we still have something we can use against it," Max said, looking down at the pot. "Do you guys have something against smearing dead people's ashes on yourselves?"
The two ladies fell silent hearing that, so Max just sighed and opened the pot. It was filled with gray ashes to the brim. He put two fingers in it and pasted some of the ashes on his hand.
He then showed it to them and they also reluctantly did as he said. They didn't want to do it, but they also wouldn't back away from this challenge now.
"It's his ashes so he can't directly strike you, like physically. But he can definitely try to influence your mind and also use the debris and stuff to throw at you," Max explained as he began to shift the debris on the basement door.
They nodded and also got on work. In just a few seconds, they cleared enough to open the gate and stood before it looking at it with a hidden resolve in their eyes.
Then, Max pulled open the handle with all his strength as the wooden door creaked open to reveal long stairs leading downstairs.
A chilling feeling assaulted them, making them shiver. Max licked his lips and gestured for them to move forward with Stelle taking the lead.
Just to be safe, Max also put away the wooden door. He had watched enough movies to know that ghosts would seal his exit first.
The more they descended, the more the chilling feeling grew. It was as if something invisible and cold was caressing their skin, giving them goosebumps.
"Damn! We can easily make a horror movie here!" Stelle commented to hide her nervousness.
"We can if Mister Baron is willing to star in it," Max chuckled as they finally stepped in the basement.
It was a vast space filled with pillars that supported the castle above. Aside from a few old rusty weapons, there were nothing else there.
However, the group didn't relax in the slightest and continued to look around. All of a sudden, the corners grew darker with the illumination stones fluctuating between on and off.
Max didn't bother with it as his eyes were looking for something else and he soon found it.
In one corner, there was a coffin and its lid was half opened. Max cursed when the lid began to move.
"Watch out!" Max shouted.
In the next moment, the coffin's lid came hurling at him at an insane speed.
Stelle stepped forward and smashed the incoming lid with her hammer, as it shattered and its pieces flung to the sides.
Looking at her arms, Stelle muttered, "That was one hell of a shot. Even in this state he's powerful and can one-shot us if we're not careful!"
Max nodded and took out a few silver coins. He didn't have any weapons since his dull blade was destroyed, so he had picked up some silver coins.
The three of them stuck close with each other as they walked down the basement. There were more attacks but they had a Silver Rank healer whose senses were good so she warned them in advance.
Stelle and Max were more than enough to defend against those attacks. However, they knew it wouldn't be the end to it.
"Kekekkekekeke!"
A creepy laughter echoed in the basement, as the trio tensed up. A shadowy, ethereal figure began to form before them gradually, as if trying to scare them with slow motion.
'Why hasn't he attacked properly yet? No way the ashes are enough to keep him away?' Max thought, as his eyes darted from one corner to another.
'And where the hell is Holy water?'