With a sudden jolt, Francoise’s body convulsed violently. The frequency of her spasms increased, and in an instant, her face swelled to three times its size, with her eyeballs and skin peeling away to the floor. Her head transformed into a massive, exposed skull, while her body continued to decay, grotesquely disproportionate to her skull. Maggots spilled from the gaps between her ribs. We all instinctively recoiled from Francoise, who had become a nightmarish figure.
“Ugh…”
Roel covered her mouth, struggling to suppress her nausea. The putrid stench threatened to overwhelm her senses, igniting a mix of disgust and anger within her. Was there truly a need for things to come to this? I refused to be defeated by something like this.
Francoise has transformed!
A Living Wraith has appeared! HP 1222
“Surprising… a Vengeful Spirit… transformed into a monster…”
“Transformed into a monster? So she’s just a monster now?”
“Probably…”
I could see Truppo’s skepticism, but I seized this moment as an opportunity. If she had shifted from a Vengeful Spirit-type to a Ghost-type, then we could handle her just like the others we had fought to get here. In other words, we would crush her with everything we had. Yet, the aura emanating from her was far stronger than anything we had faced before. We needed to end this quickly before Roel and Truppo were harmed.
“Ahhhhhh!”
The sound emitted by the Wraith, devoid of vocal cords, was indescribable. As her head bobbed unsteadily, I launched a powerful kick at her. There was no way I was touching that with my fists. Her head exploded in an instant, showering us with a foul stench and fragments of her decaying body.
Rua’s attack! Dealt 4456 damage to the Living Wraith!
Living Wraith 1/1222
Had she completely lost control? The body, barely able to support its own head, staggered unsteadily. Without hesitation, I followed up with a flying kick aimed at her body. It slammed into the wall with such force that she crumpled to the block floor. This time, I could feel the impact. But something felt off.
Rua’s attack! Dealt 4123 damage to the Living Wraith!
Living Wraith 1/1222
The body slowly rose, swaying as it regained its footing. Was it regenerating? No. I had fought monsters in the Abyss Cave that healed their wounds at an incredible rate, but this was different.
“I… AM… FRANCOISE…”
Though her head was gone, words were unmistakably coming from her body. Roel stepped closer to the monstrous form.
“Roel! Be careful!”
“I can’t just stand by and watch.”
Roel’s eyes were red from tears. Fearlessly, she stood before the creature. The Wraith swayed, on the verge of collapsing, yet somehow remained upright.
“Francoise, please stop…
I don’t know what happened, but if you have any lingering attachments, I will help you as much as I can. So please, find peace…”
With those words, Roel cast Heal on Francoise.
“FIND… PEACE…”
Francoise’s body was enveloped in a soft light, and with it, she vanished.
Roel cast Heal on the Living Wraith!
The Living Wraith has been defeated! 0/1222
Even after it was over, Roel continued to cry.
The basement fell silent, as if the battle had been a mere illusion. What remained were the mummified bodies of a girl and a man. Thanks to Roel, the situation had been resolved. Yet, I still couldn’t grasp what had truly happened.
Suddenly, in the center of the basement, the girl and the man appeared. They stood not as corpses, but in their living forms. Roel rushed toward them.
They smiled at us. Then, they transformed into light, and the surroundings turned white.
///
When I regained my senses, I found myself looking down at a family of three gathered around a dining table, happily enjoying their time together.
Next, I saw Francoise dining with two unfamiliar women. One of them was boasting about her child. The other was doing the same. Francoise wore a smile.
In a child’s room, Francoise was scolding a girl. The girl was forced to sit at a desk, studying or something similar.
Francoise was berating a man. The man’s vineyard was struggling, and Francoise was furious about it.
The two women and Francoise were present again. One woman was showing off a sparkling necklace, while the other flaunted her dress. Francoise was desperately trying to maintain her smile.
The man sat on the sofa, his head in his hands. Francoise relentlessly criticized him. Finally, the man, pushed to his limit, slapped Francoise hard.
The girl was not allowed to leave her room. She was tied to a chair, unable to go to the bathroom. She kept calling out her mother’s name.
Francoise was fixated on the household budget, her expression stern as she counted something with one hand.
When the man went to check on his daughter, he found her slumped over, exhausted. Francoise tried to stop him from helping her, leading to a struggle that ended with her being shoved aside. The man carried his daughter out of the room.
In the living room, Francoise struck the man on the back of the head with a vase. The man collapsed, blood streaming from his head, motionless.
With frail hands, Francoise dragged the man, taking breaks as she slowly transported him to the basement. She also locked the girl away in the basement.
Soon after, Francoise began to suffer from the haunting phenomena of the mansion.
—Once again, light spread, and we returned to the basement.
///
It was a fleeting moment, but I had witnessed everything that had transpired in this mansion. No, it was more accurate to say that the two ghosts had shown it to me.
“We used to live together happily…”
“I can’t believe it either. It’s insane.”
The cold basement lay still, with the two corpses resting. They had lives once. If something hadn’t gone wrong, they wouldn’t have ended up like this. What could have led to a future where this didn’t happen? I couldn’t find the answer, no matter how much I pondered.
Next time, the haunted mansion’s ghost series will come to an end.