Kansutoppu! Chapter 15 Part5

Francoise's body suddenly reappeared and rose up off of the floor. Her face began to grow, swelling to three times its previous size. Her skin and eyeb.a.l.l.s had peeled away from her face after I had crushed it into the ground. The flesh was also gone from the body, and maggots spilled out from between the ribcage. But the bones of her body hadn't grown to match the size of the head. Francoise, who was completely top heavy, gave off a menacing aura. We all retreated backward at the sight.

Roel had her hands to her mouth and looked like she might be sick. My nose was a.s.saulted by the smell of something rotting, and it only fueled my anger. I had to do something. Could it have thought I was going to lose?

[ Francoise changed form! Living Wraith has appeared! HP 1222 ]

"Surprised… vengeful ghost… change… monster…."

"It's a monster now? So that means I can hit it?"

"Probably…"

Even though Torepo only seemed half convinced, I was going to take advantage of the opportunity anyway. If Roel had turned the vengeful ghost to a normal ghost-type and we could use the same trick on others, then that was perfect. In that case, I'd be able to smash them with everything I had. But the version of Francoise before us still seemed to have a pretty dangerous aura. I had to finish it before it got anywhere near Roel or Torepo.

"Ahh… Ahh…. Ahh… Ahh"

It seemed like it had no vocal cords left and was limited to simple groans. It made its way toward us, but I kicked with all my strength right at its head. I would have used my fists but I didn't want to touch it. That thing was gross. The moment my foot connected, the head exploded, sending fragments of skull and brain flying through the air and leaving a more intense rotting smell behind.

[ Ryua attacked! Living Wraith took 4456 damage! ]

[ Living Wraith HP 1/1222 ]

I thought that would be the end of it, but somehow the body managed to get back to its feet and totter forward again. This time I was going to directly kick the body. If I kicked the center of the body, it was sure to be sent flying, defeated.

[ Ryua attacked! Living Wraith took 4123 damage! ]

[ Living Wraith HP 1/1222 ]

Once again, the body slowly got back up, its legs wobbly but otherwise able to stand. Was it regenerating? I had fought regenerating monsters in the Caverns of h.e.l.l, but they were different.

"My… fa… mi…. ly…."

It didn't have a head and yet somehow was still speaking from its body. It slowly made its way toward Roel.

"Roel! Look out!"

"I can't watch this anymore." Roel was crying so much her eyes were completely red.

But she stood before the monster without any fear. Despite looking like it would fall over at any second, the monster was still standing.

"Francoise, please stop… I have no idea what happened here, but please be at rest. I can help you..." Roel cast a heal on Francoise.

"Rest… is… okay…?" Francoise said. Her body was wrapped in a faint light, and then she disappeared.

[ Roel cast Heal on Living Wraith! ]

[ Living Wraith was defeated! 0/1222 ]

Roel had tears streaming down her face even after it was over.

As if the battle hadn't happened at all, the bas.e.m.e.nt was suddenly quiet. The only things remaining were the mummified little girl and the bones of the man. It seemed like Roel was able to take care of it, but I didn't really understand what had happened.

Then, the little girl and the man appeared in the middle of the room, but not as corpses. They looked like they must have when they were alive. Roel started to jog towards them. The two smiled at us as they turned into bright lights that filled the entire room.

----------

The next thing I knew we were in the dining room looking down on the scene below. All three members of the family were sitting around the table. They looked so happy together.

The scene s.h.i.+fted and showed Francoise sitting at the table with two women. Both were going back and forth boasting about their children. Francoise was simply sitting there with a forced smile on her face.

Then we were in a child's bedroom. Francoise was scolding the child, forcing her to sit still at a desk and study, but she just looked nervous and sad.

Next we saw Francoise yelling at the man. The man was a vintner, but his crop was dying and sales were on the decline. Francoise was blaming him for all of their problems.

The scene switched to the two women and Francoise again. One was boasting about her s.h.i.+ny new necklaces, while the other couldn't stop talking about her new clothes. Francoise desperately tried to maintain a calm smile.

Then we saw the man sitting on the sofa, his head buried in his hands as he grasped his hair. Francoise was yelling at him worse than before. She must have reached the absolute limits of his patience because he suddenly hit her.

The young girl was forcibly being kept in her room. She was tied to her chair, so she couldn't even go to the bathroom. She called endlessly for her mother.

Francoise was glaring at the family's accounting book. With a grim expression, she was raising and lowering the fingers on her hand, counting.

The man went to check on the daughter, but found her limp in the chair. He went to help her but Francoise tore him off, stopping him from doing anything. There was a short struggle, and he pushed Francoise away from him. The man picked up the daughter in his arms and left the room.

In the living room, Francoise hit the man on the back of the head with a vase, causing him to crumble to the floor. Both the girl and the man were laying there, not moving. The man had blood flowing from the back of his head.

The girl was awake now. Despite how weak and skinny she had become, she dragged the man along. Struggling, she managed to make it with him down to the room in the bas.e.m.e.nt. The girl locked the both of them down there.

The final scene showed Francoise as she began to be tormented by the strange occurrences in her house.

The white light consumed everything once again.

----------

The two ghosts had shown us their entire sad story.

"They seemed so happy…" Roel looked like she couldn't believe how it turned out this way.

"I can't believe it either. How could it be possible…?"

The two corpses lay on the cold bas.e.m.e.nt floor. They had been alive once. Maybe if things had happened differently, they would have still been alive. It was hard to imagine what kind of lives they could have had.

No matter how much I thought about it, there was no way I could possibly know.