Uruvi took a swipe at the Bhootha. She swung her axe, trying to slice through its torso. But the blade simply passed through its body. “What the fuck!” she cursed. She watched as its blade rose into the air, ready to strike.

  “Barricade!” she said and immediately leapt back.

  The Bhootha spun around, striking the shield with both its swords. The shield shuddered with each hit, but did not shatter.

  ‘I guess that proves the body is not hiding behind the veil.’

  The Bhootha closed in, appearing to phase through the shield. Its swords followed it, passing through the tint. Uruvi felt a surge of fear flood her body. She watched it lift its right arm and take a swing at her neck.

  She ducked beneath the arc of the attack and quickly rolled away, landing before the foot of the stairs. The Bhootha spun around and followed her, swinging its sword at her once again. She quickly brought her axe up and parried the first sword. But the second sword passed right through the axe’s blade, its tip seemingly cutting through her throat.

  Her body froze for a second before her hand reached for her throat. She felt no blood or any cuts, which put her at ease. She stood back up and bolted up the stairs.

  She took a peek behind her. Her eyes focused on the monster, searching for weak points. However, there weren’t any red spots on it. “Arya, scan the building for the body!” she said.

  “Scanning…”

  The fleet of stairs lined the opposite walls of a hollow space at the center of the building, with a balcony connecting them.

  She could see the Bhootha fly through the air and reach her in a matter of seconds. It began an onslaught of swings, using both its swords to try and strike her down. She parried each of its attacks, but with each successful parry, she could feel it getting. ‘Strange! My speed should be increasing as well.’

  “Barricade!” She put a shield between them, just as it swung its blade. The monster slammed into the invisible shield and bounced back, giving her a window to flee. However, the bare steps beneath her feet cracked and collapsed, sending her falling one story down.

  She hit the stairs hard and tumbled down a few steps before coming to a stop. The sharp edges of each step left a dent in her muscles, making her squeal in pain.

  “Seven bodies detected. Two on the first floor, three on the second, and two on the last,” said Arya.

  She watched as the Bhootha descended upon her, pointing its blade at her. She rolled to her left, missing the initial strike. “Thunderclap!” she shouted. The blast was powerful enough to throw the monster across the room. She quickly pushed herself off the stairs, her body screaming with each move.

  “Seven! Can you tell me which one of them I should destroy?” she asked.

  “Negative. Acquire Skill – Third eye to detect metaphysical presence.”

  “That is not an option now, Arya. Fine. Let’s do this by the numbers. First one!”

  Arya gave her an accurate position of the body. She leapt off the stairs, just as the Bhootha reached her, onto the other side of the room. Landing on an exposed balcony, she rushed through the scorched doorway into a small apartment. She spotted two bodies sitting on a couch; all three were nothing but carbon. She struck the couch with her axe, and the two bodies, along with the couch, crumbled to dust. An uneasy feeling kicked in, but she bit through it.

  Looking behind her, she saw the Bhootha charge at her. “Barricade!” she shouted, just as the monster reached her, but it phased right through the shield and swiped at her. She jumped to her right, barely dodging the blades.

  “Thunderclap!” she shouted, throwing the monster into the wall as she dashed out of the house. “Arya! Next one!”

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  As she began to ascend up the stairs, the Bhootha phased through the wall and appeared beside her. She parried its swords in the nick of time. She cast another shield before turning around and dashing up the stairs. Three bodies, two in a room on her right and one on the balcony outside the house on her left.

  ‘Statistically, I have a better chance of finding it among the two, right?’ She wondered as she traced the path provided by Arya. She found the body, semi-burnt, lying on the ground in a fetal position. ‘Things keep getting disturbing…’ “Burning fury…” she said and slashed both the bodies. They turned to dust, but the pursuing Bhootha did not fade.

  She danced around its flurry of swipes and fled back through the door. Soon, she was back before the flight of stairs. “Where is the next one on this floor, Arya?” she asked.

  “Suggestion. A body is on the flight of stairs above you.”

  She looked above her at the concrete slab. “Above me?” she repeated, before jumping up and onto the balcony above. Turning towards the stairs, she saw a charred body lying on the steps, just as Arya said.

  She lunged towards it, only to be interrupted by the Bhootha, who rose up from the floor. “Thunderclap!” she said. The burst of energy passed right through the monster, who appeared unfazed. “Fuck!”

  The monster spun in a circle, swinging the sword around like a top. She leapt over it and adjusted her trajectory to land on the body. However, the Bhootha jumped before the body and took the hit from her axe. Its health bar shrank by a few points, but it recovered almost immediately and swiped back at her. She hopped onto the balcony before turning back to face the monster.

  There was a wide grin on her face. “What is this? Seems like you are eager to protect that body. I wonder why…”

  Red aura formed around her as her health dropped. A strange mark appeared on the Bhootha as she leapt at it. Her speed shot through the roof, while the Bhootha’s speed tanked. The two engaged in a dance of blades. She parried every attack it threw at her, while the monster phased through all her attacks.

  She patiently waited for a window of opportunity to open up. As the Bhootha pulled back, ready to launch an attack, she lunged forward. Bringing her axe above her head, she brought it back down onto the foot of the stairs. Cracks cut through the fragile concrete like streaks of lightning before the entire section of the stairs collapsed.

  She leapt over the edge, following the body. It fell through the broken flight of stairs, plunging down towards the last fleet, where it landed with a hushed thud. Her axe cut through its brittle torso, moments before the Bhootha’s blade touched her back.

  She felt the pressure of the tip pressing against her back for a split second before vanishing. The last flight of stairs collapsed under the force of her plunge, sending her crashing down to the ground floor.

  She laid on the pile of rubble, covered in soot and cement dust, trying to recover her breath. “I hate those fucking things…”

  Her XP bar filled up, and the number changed to 11. She felt her body reset and her strength return. “Well, at least I got something for all that effort.”

  ***

  The body of the man, who first attacked her, laid on the ground before her. “Arya. Can you fetch me details of this man?”

  “Searching… Name – Chedu. Age – 32. Chakras…”

  “I don’t care for all that,” she interrupted. “Was he a local thug or a goon?”

  “Affirmative. He worked at a tea stall in the market but was a killer for hire.”

  “I guessed with how cold and emotionless he looked when he came after me.” She placed her hands on her hips and asked, “what was his rank?”

  “He was rank 30.”

  She wondered for a moment how many people he had killed. “I don’t even want to know what he did with the bodies.”

  She turned towards the door and walked out of the building. A young man stood at the entrance, resting against the wall. He turned around in a panic and looked at her in disbelief.

  “You survived the building? How?”

  “Hmph!” She flicked a strand of hair on her shoulder behind and said, “pure skill.”

  “What was inside there?”

  “A contestant setting up traps for other contestants and a Bhootha who refused to die. No, they weren’t working together. They just didn’t know the other existed.”

  Suddenly, her phone began to vibrate in her pocket. She pulled out the phone and saw a message onscreen. “Help! Assistance needed. Monsters are swarming Nilgiri Apartments. – Ashwin.” She instantly recognized the name.

  “Seems like the guy who has been setting up phone lines needs our help.” She looked up to see that he had disappeared. “Oh. I guess I am going by myself then.”

  Uruvi followed the route drawn up by Arya and came upon the apartment in less than ten minutes. It was a single block, isolated from the neighbors by a large compound wall. The entire place was crawling with Pisacha and Mrugam. They appeared aggressive, trying to push their way up.

  “What the hell is going on here?” She wondered out loud. She looked around and noticed that there was a lack of people.

  “Warning! Elite enemy detected,” said Arya.

  A loud crash could be heard coming from the rooftop. She looked up to see a body being flung off the roof before smashing into the pavement before her. It was a tall and bulky Pisacha, which slowly began to turn to dust. “Is that it?”

  “Negative.”

  “Hmm… A monster that controls other Pisacha, and now even Mrugam. I think I know what we are dealing with.” She reigned in her nerves and mentally prepared for the slaughter that was to come.