An Extra's POV: My Three Fiancees Hate Me-Chapter 277: Ghosts?

Riven was lucky. No one tried to stop him or question him. Everyone could see he had skill, and he was clearly not in a mood worth provoking. It wasn't worth starting a fight this deep in the dungeon, where supplies were scarce and healing items even scarcer.

The man who had approached Riven seethed, his face twisted with anger as he watched Riven walk away. He wanted to strike, to prove the kid hadn't just blocked him. He lunged forward, but one of his party members intercepted him, stepping between them and giving him a look that said, back off.

Reluctant and burning with fury, the man recognized the authority in the interceptor, he was the party leader. Swallowing a sharp, pained breath, he stepped back, casting a final glare at Riven's retreating form. He secretly hoped to catch Riven deeper in the floors, where no one would watch, and finish him then.

Riven felt the malice directed at him, but his mind was elsewhere. He needed to find and rescue Jack, Noel, and Sophia. He didn't know if they were alive or dead, only that he had to move fast.

He descended the spiral stairs to the next floor. The stairwell wound down for several minutes before he finally stepped onto the level below. Instantly, a bone-deep cold greeted him, sharp enough to freeze the hairs along his neck.

There was no snow, no ice, yet the temperature had plummeted to an absurd degree, one that would challenge even a normal human's endurance. Each breath he exhaled hung in the air as fog.

'What's with the weather?' Riven thought, scanning the area warily. He could only see a short distance ahead. Despite the absence of fog or darkness, his vision refused to extend more than a few meters.

This floor radiated danger. He could feel it deep in his bones.

"This floor doesn't seem like the others," Twilight said.

"Yeah, it's definitely a big change," Riven replied.

He took a single cautious step forward, then crack.

The sound made him freeze. He looked around sharply, searching for its source. Then something coiled tightly around his leg. Before he could react, his body shot upward, crashing hard into the ceiling before being violently dragged away.

The impact dazed him for a few seconds. When he came to, he gripped Twilight with both hands and stabbed toward his leg, but hit nothing. He could feel something clutching him, squeezing tight, yet no blade could touch it.

Desperate, he conjured a flame in his free hand and sent an arc of fire toward his leg, risking burning himself.

It worked. The flames struck something, and a piercing screech echoed through the air. A faint silhouette flickered, something distorted and formless, before he was dropped. Riven crashed hard onto the frozen ground, gasping in pain.

He pushed himself up quickly, scanning the area, but whatever had attacked him was gone.

"It's invisible," he muttered.

"What are we going to do?" Twilight asked.

"Run," he said, and immediately sprinted forward.

He wasn't equipped to fight an invisible enemy. Not like this. He needed time to think, to understand what the hell he was dealing with.

But the presence returned. He felt it at his back before he even turned.

Riven spun and slashed, but his blade met nothing. Then something seized his arm, yanking him upward and slamming him against the wall. His head cracked hard against stone, blood trickling down his temple.

He gritted his teeth and ignited the flames along his sword. The blade flared, and when he swung, the fire connected.

Another screech tore through the air as the burning arc slammed into the unseen enemy, hurling it into the wall. Its form flickered again, vague, humanoid, and writhing, before vanishing once more.

"It seems magical attacks work on them," Twilight said.

"Yeah, but we still can't see it," Riven replied, breathing hard, eyes darting around.

"If we can't see them, then use the Inferno Domain," Twilight suggested.

"It's still magic, even if it's not a direct attack."

Her idea made sense. If the flames could reveal those invisible things before, then the Inferno Domain should do the same.

Riven nodded. He drew in a deep breath, then released the Inferno Domain.

Flames spread from beneath his feet, burning faintly as they rolled across the icy floor. Instantly, the shapes of his attackers began to take form, pale silhouettes flickering into sight. They looked human. No, humanoid. Their bodies were translucent, like mist molded into flesh.

But there was no life in them. No pulse. No spark.

They felt just like the undead knights he had fought before.

"Could they be… ghosts?" he muttered.

"Possible," Twilight replied sharply.

Riven frowned. He didn't even know if ghosts existed in this world. He'd never encountered anything like them, and his knowledge of undead creatures was limited at best. But that explanation felt like the only thing that made sense.

The figures realized they'd been seen and shrieked, a hollow, echoing sound that chilled his spine. They lunged forward, gliding above the ground, their long, blackened nails extending like claws.

Riven braced himself as one came down with a heavy overhead slash meant to cleave him in two. He caught the attack, parrying it aside, then dodged the next swipe. But there were too many. Four of them came at once, pressing him back against the frozen wall.

With no room left to move, he slashed his sword in a wide arc, sending waves of fire through the air. The flaming blades struck each creature, hurling them backward. They screeched, bodies writhing in agony—yet moments later, they rose again, unburned.

Riven gritted his teeth, unleashing another barrage, pushing them back again and again, but nothing seemed to work.

Then, waiting for an opening, he gathered his strength and released a flame blast.

The explosion thundered through the corridor, heat rippling across the frozen floor. The creatures were hurled aside, their forms shattering like glass.

When the smoke cleared, all that remained were their crystals.

"That was all it took?" he muttered aloud, staring at the crystals in disbelief.

After everything, could it really have been that easy?

He didn't think so.