Plop—
The Shard Ghost's monstrous hand landed firmly atop Lucian's head.
"Ghost Eye—Awaken!!" a chilling shout erupted from beside him.
Sebastian's pupils lit up with an eerie glow. His entire presence turned cold and feral, exuding a violence akin to a wrathful specter. Crimson veins bloomed across his eyes, pulsating with malice.
Where once Sebastian had merely restrained the ghost within him, now—it was as if he himself was becoming the ghost.
And in that moment—perhaps sensing his brother's transformation—Lucian's mind snapped back into clarity.
"Sebastian! What the hell are you doing?!" he shouted, straining every muscle, but still unable to break free from the Shard Ghost's iron grip.
A twisted smile crept across Sebastian's pale face—barely more pleasant than a weeping grimace. He lowered his gaze to the worn-out talisman their grandmother had begged for to keep them safe.
The veins on his arms writhed like worms under the skin.
"Brother… you can't die. If you die, the Shard Ghost's puzzle becomes complete. But me… I don't matter," he murmured, his voice calm and heartbreakingly resolute.
"All our lives, you've been the one protecting us… but this time… let me be the shield. Take care of Grandma for me, will you?"
Buzz!!
"NO! SEBASTIAN!!! STOP!!!" Lucian screamed, veins bulging, tears spilling uncontrollably.
But Sebastian had already ignited every last ounce of ghostly energy in his body—he was offering his life.
In that same breath—
The usually frail and delicate Sebastian moved—faster than anyone could have imagined.
In a flash, his blood-red hand pierced straight through the Shard Ghost's chest.
Yet… the Shard Ghost didn't even flinch.
It simply looked down at him—curious. Bewildered. As if wondering why such a fragile insect would dare attack a god.
"Ghost Eye: Entomb!!"
Sebastian lunged forward as if trying to bury himself inside the Shard Ghost's body.
Lines of blood erupted from his form, wrapping themselves around the monster like living chains.
The ghost's form began to shudder. Its grip loosened slightly from Lucian.
More and more spectral energy poured from Sebastian, enveloping them both in a cocoon of burning red mist.
"Protect Huadu City… brother…" His voice was barely audible.
Sebastian had made his choice—to drag the Shard Ghost back to the underworld with him, even if it cost his soul.
His Ghost Eyes faded from crimson to sapphire, a silent farewell to the living world.
Lucian, paralyzed, could only watch in helpless horror.
His only remaining family… was dying before his eyes.
BOOM!!
And then—
The Shard Ghost moved like it was swatting a fly.
With effortless ease, it pressed its palm onto Sebastian's skull.
The ghost within Sebastian, burning moments ago, suddenly quieted—snuffed out like a candle.
It retreated into his body as though it had fallen asleep.
In an instant, the man who had chosen to die… was stripped of even that agency.
Cold terror pierced Sebastian's heart.
"Why can't you humans… just die like you're told?"The Shard Ghost sneered.
Its eye glimmered with malice thick enough to drown in.
Despair washed over Sebastian like a tsunami.
His final attack, his sacrifice—
Was nothing to this nightmare.
"AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"
The Shard Ghost screamed in laughter, seizing Sebastian in one hand and Lucian in the other.
Its voice was high-pitched and piercing—like a blade of glass dragged across a soul.
Everyone outside the hospital shuddered.
The wailing echoed like death itself.
Sirens howled through the air.
But inside—
Grandma Wang stood unmoving before the ruined building.
No matter how many tried to pull her away, she stood firm.
Her frail body trembled, but her grip on the talisman from the City God Temple never loosened.
"Lord Chenghuang… please… please save my grandsons…" she whispered through her sobs.
At that very moment—
Outside the city, deep within the Temple of the City God—
An old man opened his eyes.
As if awakening from centuries of silence.
Behind him, two hazy figures emerged from the shadows, swirling with ancient, chilling power.
The Six-Eyed Hound of Truth snapped its eyes open.
And the entire temple quaked with divine wrath.
The Shard Ghost's roar had become the final straw.
It lunged at Lucian's back, eyes gleaming with greed.
Sebastian's eyelids fluttered, barely conscious. Blood oozed from every pore. His body was a canvas of wounds.
Lucian's tears fell freely.
He had failed.
If the ghost claimed his Ghost-Back now, completing the puzzle…
No one in Huadu would be able to stop it.
More and more bloodlines coiled from its fingers, reaching for the old man's face embedded in the spectral tattoo across Lucian's back.
If those threads fully connected—the Ghost-Back would be lost forever.
But then—
Two figures appeared.
Without sound.
Without warning.
One clad in black robes and a black hat, bearing the words "Peace Under Heaven."
The other in white, hat embroidered with "Prosper Upon Sight."
They radiated death.
Not the hollow malice of ghosts—but the pure, awe-inspiring authority of the underworld.
"Foul spirit!" the black-robed figure bellowed."How dare you defile this sacred land beneath the City God's gaze!"
The voice split the air like thunder.
And the Shard Ghost—
Reeled.
It leapt back like a terrified beast.
It didn't even try to finish its attack.
It let go of Lucian and Sebastian at once—recoiling in fear.
It knew them.
No… it feared them.
Feared them more than anything it had ever known.
Even in its broken, fragmentary memory—these two… stood above all.
Like mountains that would never crumble.
Like divine judgment carved in stone.
Its one grotesque eye darted toward the shattered glass window—
And then it ran.
It fled toward the glass—desperate.
As if hoping that somewhere on the other side, there was a world without gods.