SHAMAN PROTOCOL
Chapter 70: Trial Failed, but Phantom Won.

Chapter 70: Trial Failed, but Phantom Won.

The fire blazed, searing Mikel’s arm as it blew in through the gaps in the window frame. He jumped away to keep himself from being engulfed by the fire tearing through the chapel.

"Damn it..." he breathed out, turning his head toward the altar where the blindfolded woman had stood before.

She was gone, but the echoes of her fading chuckles remained.

Mikel’s eyes widened as he saw the crosses on the chapel slowly turn upside down. Quite familiar — he had seen the same scene in the battle with the Nightbound.

"Burn them!"

"Burn them all!"

His eyes blazed as he looked back toward the entrance, where the angry mob was shouting and throwing their torches, aiming to burn this place, with the people in it, alive.

"I don’t know what your goddamn problem is—" he growled through gritted teeth, taking large strides toward the door. He tried to open it, but it wouldn’t budge. So, he pounded it with his fists until his knuckles started bleeding.

He kicked it and yelled back angrily at the mindless folks outside.

At the same time,in the Memory Echo of Haleth, the young seminarian was doing the same thing. But instead of anger like Mikel, Haleth was pleading — begging through his tears.

While Mikel was yelling, "Damn you all!"

In Haleth’s memory, the young seminarian was crying, "Please! I didn’t—please don’t do this to me! It’s not me! Don’t let them poison your minds!"

Mikel accidentally touched the metal part of the door, only to jolt at the scalding heat. Yet, that didn’t stop him from glaring at it. He continued, throwing stronger jabs with fists that were already raw. Compared to burning from the inside and out, this was nothing.

The same happened in the memory — Haleth had also touched the metal and recoiled. But his desperation pushed him to continue, holding on to some faith in humanity’s heart.

While one acted in desperation, the other acted in determination.

Smoke began to thicken as fire crept in, snaking through cracks and beams, trapping anyone who was inside. Mikel still gave it his all, even as the flames started seeping into the doorframe.

He paused and looked up, clenching his teeth.

"We..." he breathed out heavily as he threw another punch against the door, yelling, "... are getting out of here! DO YOU HEAR ME, HALETH?!"

Mikel didn’t stop. He saw the edge of the door catch fire. And fire, when it meets wood, usually weakens the latter. Without a second of hesitation, Mikel grabbed the burning edge and pulled it like a madman.

"I’m getting you out of here!" he shouted, coughing from the thick smoke, but continuing anyway. "HALETH! I’M GETTING YOU OUT OF HERE — DO YOU HEAR ME!? AND ONCE I DID, YOU’RE GOING TO SIGN THAT DAMN CONTRACT!"

---

In the Memory Echo, Haleth was also trying to touch the burning edge. But the heat forced him to withdraw his hand quickly.

"No," he whispered helplessly, tears blurring his already-swollen eyes.

With the smoke thickening inside, Haleth took a step back as his heart sank deeper.

"It’s over," he whispered. "I will not... get out of here—"

"HALETH!!"

Haleth froze as he heard a faint voice calling out from somewhere. He looked around, coughing and covering his nose with his arm. There was no one.

"I’M GETTING YOU OUT OF HERE — DO YOU HEAR ME, HALETH?!"

The voice echoed again, louder this time, even more forceful than the screaming mob outside. It sounded angrier than the angry mob combined.

"Who..." Haleth whispered. "... are you?"

Suddenly, Haleth caught a figure from the corner of his blurred vision. He turned his head, and there he saw — a young fellow, Mikel, clawing a part of the door while his other hand sizzled as it gripped the attached metal.

"I’m getting you out of here," Mikel hissed, unfazed by the fire and smoke, fully focused on the task at hand. "So, you better sign the damn contract!"

Haleth just stared at Mikel in silence, surprised at first, and then slowly realizing something.

He turned his head toward the other side of the chapel.

There, despite the growing smoke, was the lantern. Its dim flame shrank... until it finally died.

*****

"DAMN IT!"

Mikel kicked the door one last time, using every ounce of strength, and the door finally flew open. He staggered slightly, gasping for air, his body aching from head to toe.

But what met him... was nothing.

No angry mob. No fire. No heat. No voices.

Only the quiet forest. The overgrown weeds at the chapel’s entrance. And Doom’s screen flickering calmly back to life.

[Welcome back, Master.]

[Trial Time Limit: 0]

[Host and Phantom — Compatible.]

[Phantom Contract: Pending...]

Doom didn’t even bother asking how the experience went. No encouragement. No validation. Just the usual barrage of prompts.

Mikel just stood there, frozen. A little disoriented. But once clarity returned, he closed his eyes and sighed.

He turned back to the chapel. His eyes fell on where he had last seen the lantern. There was nothing but a thin stream of smoke left curling upward.

[Ready to Initiate the Phantom Contract?]

[Yes] or [Yes]

"Doom," Mikel muttered, still staring at the smoke, "don’t you know if I succeeded in a trial?"

[It depends on the conditions, Master. Each Phantom Contract varies, and the Protocol’s only role is making sure the Bearer can handle them based on your level, which is my index for your spiritual energy and limit.]

[This trial forbids me from interfering. Otherwise, its validity will be put in question.]

"So in other words... you’re not even aware I failed," Mikel murmured, glancing sideways at the screen.

[Phantom Contract — Pending...]

[Ready for your next target?]

"No," he breathed out, facing the chapel again. "I failed the trial, but I’m not done yet."

He picked up the lantern and walked a distance away from the chapel. Without a word, he placed it down gently.

"Stay right there," he whispered. "I’m not going home tonight without you."

As he returned to the chapel, he slid his backpack off his shoulders. Dark energy began to exhale from his back, his eyes burning ahead.

Without a word, he opened his other palm. He didn’t flinch. He didn’t blink. He was already past asking permission. And from thin air, the Book of the Dead dropped into his hand.

Doom’s screen blinked back:

[Recovery Protocol — Completed.]

[Have fun, Master. Try not to hurt yourself.]

"Damn right I would," Mikel muttered, snapping his beaded bracelet. The sound of the Blood Chain dragging across the stone floor echoed loudly and heavily.

Standing in the center of the ruined chapel, he looked around.

And then, he breathed out, "Let’s tear the whole place down."

[Playing Booster Morale: Eye of the Storm]

Still holding the book in his hand, the Book of the Dead opened on its own, followed by a massive set of limbs bursting from it. Behind the limbs were the deafening howls of the Nightbound. The limbs shot up through the roof, while the screams sent gusts of wind that blew falling debris away from him.

As the book floated midair, Mikel swung the Blood Chain against the wall.

---

The sound of destruction echoed across the forest.

Walls cracked and collapsed. The roof blew apart. Shallow and deep holes opened along the floor, stretching and widening.

And as the chapel fell into ruin, the lantern flickered until its flame returned.

Standing beside it now was a large, robed figure, watching the destruction unfold.

Haleth watched the lone figure inside, bringing down the chapel with unrelenting force. He watched how the place that had imprisoned him finally broke, stone by stone.

"Mikel," the voice rasped, deep and raw — almost animalistic in sound. "That... that is his name. That is the one who called my name... and did not leave."

Haleth watched the one-man demolition, his naturally swollen eyes softening with gratitude.

[Master, you have failed the trial, but have won the Phantom — Congratulations.]

[Phantom Contract Ready to Initiate.]

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