Ghost Force; Haunts Of The City

Reference of Inspiration: https://kaliworks.wordpress.com/2015/04/29/dont-give-them-a-reason-snap-out-of-the-illusion/

The malevolent manifest of manifestos stood before the bloody maiden in the midst of his militant men, towering over them with a glowering green glare that would almost seem to want to suck out one's soul and scorch them in their glow. What sounded like a hoarse crow echoed through the dark skies as the Ghost Force engaged its target directly.

Lord Bacon, who had sniffed out the souls of some other tasty morsels about his abode would gaze over to the buildings beside him, scanning for any lingering souls to steal. One look into his eyes would turn them into Flies and have his Militant Force grow even stronger. The flesh of his adversaries lay draped just lightly over his shoulders, hooded over his head to shroud his true form and create convolution in the deciphering of his spirit. He was, indeed, Lord of the Flies, and the stench of his garments gave way to it.

Communicating to his men that there was 'One of Them' in the area through a series of oinks in Morse Code, he, too, would immediately step into the fray, knowing that any of the 'Children' were no threat to be taken lightly in the slightest. And there was backup, apparently, already ready to take out the men. "Conshume Them," his static-filled voice snorted from under his clearly hog-shaped mask, differing from his lower ranking Militant Forces, which were donning fly-shaped masks, some even having other insectoid gas-masks on. The streets of the city suddenly went abuzz with their footsteps, the hum of their resonating spirits of pure War of which was known as 'Zamzummim.' The Flies would start to buzz, their Spirits harmonizing in malevolence as a great and powerful red aura like that of an inferno encompassed their bodies, which were vibrating intensely with their fury. They were ready to swarm at any given time, and their Malice Resonance reverberated in the bowels of the barren streets.

"Blitzkrieg," Lord Bacon uttered in a deep, thundering, staticy voice. The troops stormed off to the buildings, setting their sights on the Souls of the Phantoms, as if to swallow them all up as soon as they were spotted. Meanwhile, he, himself, would confront the hooded girl, knowing she was about to be trouble.

"Khhhkhkhkhkh..." he laughed, watching as his men dropped like flies from what they were doing, "Only Front-Line Infantry." As his muffled, static-bound chortles bubbled through his snout, from his eyes would be revealed a great treasury of sorts; a band of souls that were woven together inside of his garments. From the Bacon Strips that were donned upon him, his Robe of Lost Souls, 'Rephaim,' would release more Pigs to the Slaughter. The loyal souls would migrate back to their new bodies as instructed by their Shadow Hog Overlord, resuming their duties as instructed in taking out the Phantoms.

"We are not called the 'Ghost Force' for no reason, little girl." His draped cape of the skins of the fallen comrades would cover his footsteps; his scent; his true presence. He was so covered in their filth, no one could make out his true form anymore, and that was the way he liked it. Kept little shits like her in line when they started trying to rise up. "And we've got more souls under our belt than you know what to deal with, missy." He did not seem, at all, phased by her blade nor its potent flame that just wiped out his entire army. It must have meant that he wasn't bluffing and that there was more to him than meets the eye. "Though I must say, that was a very good move. I'm interested in your talents for militant destruction. I could use a new General." He came closer, with giant black hole eyes boring into her soul, as if looking for its next meal. "... Give you anything you want... Whatever your heart desires..."

"Menholdjerfire" he said immediately in a garbled mess that only they could understand; a dialect they'd picked up from one of their adversaries in the line of combat. Each one of the Flies at that moment would halt, on the dime, and nor pursue the Phantoms any longer. Lord Bacon was aware that if they were to touch them, they would have their souls burnt to a crisp and taken over and made part of her already rising army. "... So... You're not just a savage, are you...?" Lord Bacon took great honor in games of strategy and skill as well as tactical warfare, which it seemed, from how he traced her movements and deciphered her carefully placed and crafted words, that she was all for it. "... And if me and my men win...?"

Lord Bacon snorted a disdainful grunt at her impudence, though took delight in her fervor, as well as her diplomacy, even though she was witnessing what he was right before her very eyes. She was correct that she was very powerful to be able to resist a Demon Lord's presence, especially one of his prestige and power, however... He could tell that she was more than ready to strike him dead if he made any wrong moves as well. Careful of his every action, as it seemed as long as he was also making moves in a fair and tactical manner with precise logical execution, she wouldn't be incurred to attack for any reason. She was definitely worthy of his eye, and he wouldn't be ashamed to have her in his ranks.

Finally, after giving her question very serious and deep thought, as could be told by the abysmal depth of his large, round, cavernous eyes looking up to the Crystal Tree, he said with certainty, "... Souls..." His eyes had long been beyond his head, and now, what once remained wide and pearly with a shine for something grand now held only a deep blackness that could only be filled with more spirits supporting and enveloping him. "... I need more souls..." He turned to his men, the Flies, which were quite literally buzzing with a certain unheard hum that was their rotting corpses. They no longer had their own wills; all of the spirits inside of Lord Bacon were part of Lord Bacon himself, and shared in his deep desires to acquire more souls for his army. "... As long as I have my men... And they have me... We will take down this Tree of Prophecy and claim it as our own!"

At that moment, the spirits of the Flies didn't buzz with Malice; they buzzed with Loyalty. Lord Bacon had grown savvy to the little girl's ability to use their War-Mongering Spirits to her advantage, and as such, he would then inspire them with a false sense of self; it didn't come from them, but came from Lord Bacon's soul. It was a sort of large-scale Self-Resonance, which caused the pressure of his spirit, comprised of each of the corpses of his men woven together upon his true spirit to be bound as a great and powerful Militant Force that opposed the Goddess of Fury and her 'Punishment.' "Do you see now... What my men will do for me? How far I am willing to go?"

"Good girl," he said in a gruff, garbled mess, "But if you'd been paying attention, I already had before you dispelled my forces." Because Lord Bacon specialized in indirect attacks and many other covert operations, he was well aware of how to prolong attacks and set up feints, of which the all too easy young Tensei had fallen straight into. The 'Blitzkrieg,' which was a two-part technique (one for gathering spirits and the other for launching them; Charge Move), would be finally sending in the cavalry. "Bravo Position," he commanded, and each of his men took shelter behind Lord Bacon as the aerial troops moved in. Thousands of souls came down from the sky like a meteors falling from the sky, crashing down just before Lord Bacon and just out of the Danger Zone of his Air Strike. The resulting blast should have swallowed up the bloodsoaked 'Runt of the Litter' in a heartbeat, yet leave Lord Bacon and his men, who were just out of the blast radius, from receiving any damage. They were 'Kamikaze Bomb' spirits that were from the souls of the fallen; those that he'd picked up a long time ago in, what was known in his world as 'The 40's.' He was not opposed to using any sort of military tactic there was in the book, whether the young girl knew or not. "Though, I'd suggest you alert your authorities if this is War. Don't you think that's best?" Though Lord Bacon detested giving away ANYTHING to ANYONE, ESPECIALLY the ENEMY, he was all for her sportsmanship, which was something he could actually agree with about this. He wanted to have the full fledged experience of this sort of assault, and would stop at nothing to see if he could win this game... As it seemed he was going to do soon, since she was now completely outnumbered. He brought with him ALL of the souls of his world inside of him, and they were at the ready for a full-scale invasion.

"I'm impressed," he said straight out, surprised that even one of them could bring him out this far into the open. He was able to stand before any threat and already have a plan in execution before they attacked, ensuring that if any mistakes were made, he was already prepared to take advantage of them and suck them up straight into his snout, specialized for whiffing whiffs.

"However, let me teach you a few things about the Art of War, missy." He raised a hand up into the air and snapped his fingers, calling in the next wave of Militant Spirits to rush at her city, having effectively lured her out into the open to wage a war, in the first place. "I'm SURE you didn't think we'd attack you STRAIGHT at the Head, did you?" He nearly wanted to ruffle her hair for being so easily fooled, after it was also made clear that he was an expert on feints. "Leapfrog." At the sound of his command, already embedded into their hearts made as hard as iron in the Army, drilling tactics into their heads like Sergeants, Frog Spirits rained from on high as the next wave of the 'Blitzkrieg,' which grew stronger as long as it was happening. Even as it was attacking her, it was still charging up and getting stronger as it progressed. The next stage was called 'Leapfrog' for a reason, and insisted that he found it necessary to escalate the grandiose proportions of his assault even greater than what he'd already had it set to before in order to eradicate the city.

The Frog Spirits were great and large; enough to drop upon several large buildings and easily crash through skyscrapers, and weighty enough where they wouldn't be able to be lifted so easily. Each of the Curses that were bound to each of the Souls that comprised Lord Bacon's robe was also at his disposal, which he could place upon any land where he embedded one of his Plagues. The Giant Frogs would rain like hail, just like the first wave of Pig Spirits; the Sacrifices for the others to come out... Larger, more destructive and more numerous. "... You were lured right into the trap, and now you can't back down..." He was pleased. Quite pleased, actually. She held very much prospect, even if now she was getting a little ahead of herself. "... So... I wouldn't say that I'd lost so soon, girlie." He waved another hand, calling for someone to place a chain beneath him so that he could take a seat whilst they continued this little game, of which he still had all such intent to win. "... You're fresh out of the womb and believe you can defeat a being that has been here for longer than you can even count up to so easily? How naive." He chuckled, kicking a leg up over the other and waving a hand again for one of his men to bring a table for him to rest his elbow upon as he facilitated the attack immediately right in the middle of the streets of the City. He continued staring her straight in the eyes, a large sickening green steam starting to pour from his eyes as his breathing increased heavily through his garbled laughter, "I thought that, with your level of skill, you'd have been taught better than that yourself." A sharp glare was shot through the gaseous gaze of the grotesquely elegant hog monster of Greed and Gluttony. "This battle is JUST getting started, now isn't it...?"

There was no way that the Ghost Force would be able to outnumber all of the dead they'd killed, especially if they were all also upset about being slaughtered and would want to come back to slaughter them on the day of their coming out of the shadows... Which, it seemed, was actually this day. He watched as he was basically consumed by a force and a light so bright, it was unable to be opposed, for it was as clear as day and right before his eyes. All of it was done to the utmost perfection, causing the large bulbous black lenses on his mask to burst. At that point, immediately, he and his men would be completely consumed by the flash as quick as lightning, as hot as the sun and as cool as ice as it rested upon the land along with the Hog Kaiser's head, "... Yes, My Lord," was all he said at that point. "... I Surrender."

Considering the circumstances of the Hog Kaiser's death, as well as the lesson to be learned about 'Gluttony,' 'Greed' and 'Selfishness' in general from his being slain, he would, rather expertly and wisely, choose to become all of those Spirits of the Dead that were just taken in the name of the Phantom. Only, this time, instead of consuming them in his name, which was for a single cause and purpose, he would become them all as individuals that made up the great flowing river of souls that he tried to once keep contained from and hidden under. Now that he was not 'Many As One,' but 'One As Many,' the 'Great Ancient Spirit' that had been covered in the darkness of his own fallen men's losses, drowning in their sorrows and taking them up as his own, was purified and made just as clean as all of the rest that he connected to and flowed with in harmony from now on.

"Thank You..." the Will of the Spirits said as they fluttered about and populated the city, searching for their Vessels that they were supposed to inhabit. "... For Releasing Us From Our Prison." What stood before Tetra was a cute little pig-mole like thing that squeaked with some sort of triumphant victory. It was a special Spirit sent from another world as a sign of Peace and Prosperity... Loyalty of the Oink, in Badge Form as a Living Body that dwelt alongside the Veritas, as well as within it... The Will of the Spirits. At that point, they would be free to roam the Veritas as seen fit, ESPECIALLY in Valparaiso, where they would be stationed. Now, instead of feeding just one, which was the Head of the Army, the Head would be feeding All The Spirits Of The Dead... Starting with the Phantom, since all such belonged to him, and he was going to need all of that Spiritual Energy in order to take care of so many Spirits and Wills resting upon his shoulders now. "Take Care... Of Yourself And Of Us." With that, they were off, back into their proper places or locations of their choosing in their new home; the Veritas.