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Rise of the Spiritualist: Entry Ten
Before I had any time to prepare myself, the horrible hybrid zombie rushed at me with inhuman speed, its six arms reaching out at me as it lunged forward. Luckily, my reaction time saved me; I dodged away and sank into a ready stance as the beast-man recovered, turning back to me and growling from somewhere in its twisted throat. I didn't plan on giving it another chance for the initiative; instead, I decided to give myself the upper hand against my foe. I put the palms of my hands to the rock wall behind me, and my chakra began to flow into the stone and clay.
"JIKRAMA (Advanced earth/metal manipulation)!!"
The hard surface of the wall behind me began to crack, and all at once, the rocks and solid dirt gathered and hardened around my arms, forming a protective armor of sorts around them. Now that I had the power of the earth on my side, I would be able to match the foul pest's brute strength in a head-to-head battle.
Finally, the dog-headed zombie let loose a horrible roar and charged me head-on, gnashing its rotting fangs as it stared at me hungrily. Without hesitation, I threw a straight, solid punch with one of my rock-armored fists, cursing the weight of the rocks that kept me from moving as fast as I would have liked. That lack of agility gave the beast-man a chance to survive; it threw its six rotten yet powerful arms forward and blocked the strike, digging its rear feet into the ground and stopping the blow. Before it could recover from its guard, I used my chakra again, this time to separate the armor from my hand, and once I had pulled my arm from it, I spun anti-clockwise and hit the discarded armor with my remaining rock fist, sending both it and the dog-zombie flying into the opposite wall of the cave chamber.
As the stone fist made impact with the wall, it cracked and fell apart with a deafening BANG. As the grit flew, I could just make out the battered silhouette of the zombie dog-man, laying against the wall, gagging and coughing on the airborne dust. I slowly approached the defeated undead hound and stared down at it in sympathy. This horrible monster had once been a human and a canine, and Forte had mercilessly twisted them and forced them into a single body to do his bidding, even after its spirits had passed on. I could not help but pity the wretched beast as it looked up at me with its eyes filled with anguish and sadness. With the hand not covered in stone, I put a hand to the small septagram in my pocket as I shut my eyes and focused all my powers into the creature's body.
"Rest now in peace, fallen man and beast, and let your spirits be free of life's merciless clutches. HIMEDIANGANOTON (powerful exorcism)."
A holy light shone in the cavern as the zombified beast's body was covered in holy symbols, some of which I recognized. The holy power of my exorcism wrenched Forte's clutches away from the beast, and its body slowly disappeared, fading into the light of the spirits. As it passed on, I heard a dog barking, and a man's voice echoed in my mind.
Its only words to me were, "Thank you."
As the holy light from the chakra dissipated, I felt dark energy descend into the tunnel ahead of me. Knowing that Forte had to be nearby to exercise control of the beast I had just vanquished, I started running again, doubling my pace to find the necromancer and exact justice upon him.
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