In the moment of him hitting the floor and tumbling, Shin managed to stuff his hand into the pocket of his trench coat and grab hold of the 'Wanderer' charm.

When he managed to recite the charm's name, he caused his entire being to disappear from the visible plane. The 'invisibility' he received was not simply an optical illusion but more in-depth. He had fully transferred to the spiritual realm, a somewhat lesser version of the Waking Hour, to hide his existence.

However, the effects that came from the 'Wanderer' charm demanded an exorbitant amount of spirituality. Which he had very little of after his failed attack on the creature.

Now he desperately needed to refill his exhausted pool of spirituality.

Still struggling to regain his bearings, Shin managed to get to his knees after much laborious effort.

With his vision having cleared a bit, he quickly took in the surroundings. He saw that the monster had begun to patrol the hallway looking for him. And it was slowly making its way towards his location.

Remembering the warning about the 'Wanderer' charm from Tsuki, Shin knew that its effects will only last for about 10 seconds. And when he gets thrown back into the visible plane, he will certainly be offering himself on a platter.

Taking out the Monster's Essence Pearl, he stared at the flowing river of colors intertwining with each other.

He took a heavy breath and began to focus on the pearl.

Struggling with all his might, he managed to guide the essence throughout his entire body. Slowly he could feel the spirituality flow from the colorful orb and trickle into his parched pool of spirituality.

After a few moments he could feel the process become easier; the flow of spirituality had little resistance now, but then it became overwhelmingly easier. All the spirituality from the Essence Pearl suddenly flooded into him, like a starving beast had just awoken and greedily slurped everything up.

And there it was, that unknown hunger that was deep inside him.

Shin felt it the first time he had ever absorbed an Essence Pearl, even though he partly managed to absorb it. The majority of that essence had actually been used to quench an extreme thirst inside of him. And now it reared its head again, stealing the essence he desperately needed.

No…no…no. Stop it. Shin pleaded in frustration as he grabbed at his right arm, holding the Essence Pearl. The colors of the pearl began to fade at an alarming rate.

Trying to free the pearl from his hand, Shin suddenly felt a pulse in his right arm. The pulse then turned into a torturous pain that tore all the way down his arm towards his hand holding the Essence Pearl.

Shin's bloodcurdling scream tore into the hidden veil, echoing into the far-off distance.

Looking at his right hand, he saw a sideways slit had formed on his palm.

The slit opened up to reveal rows of canine-like teeth that made way for a slithering tongue that greedily slurped up the fading Essence Pearl.

Shin barely had a second to digest this scene when suddenly the veiled environment before him faded. He had been returned to the visible plane. And sensing his return, the scythe-wielding giant immediately began to charge.

…

Tsuki had become a bit worse for wear after a few bouts with the tattered-clothed monster. She managed to kill it a few times, but every time she did, the creature would just reappear moments later.

Out of the few scuffles she lost, the creature had always attacked her unarmed. It was surprisingly light for its size and would always attack from unexpected angles, which would force her to use even more spells to protect herself.

This fruitless battle had slowly drained her spirituality, which forced her to take a passive stance.

As an Evoker, who used the language of runes to channel her powers, spirituality was a lot more important. However, she had to preserve as much spirituality as she could, because she still had to find Shin and the core of the array.

"Verban!" She chanted, causing chains of lights to shoot out at her target. This was the rune name that powered a 'Bind' charm.

With the monster now bound, she quickly dashed along the corridor to find any signs of activity. But no matter how much she searched, all she found was more darkness in this never-ending hallway.

Why struggle so much? Do not deny my gift. The soft voice spoke again, trying to tempt Tsuki; however, she remained silent and kept running down the corridor.

After a few minutes, she heard the familiar growl of the monster, indicating that it had once again freed itself.

Soon she saw the tattered-clothed monster appearing out of the darkness, its single right eye locked on her.

Huffing a few breaths of air, Tsuki suddenly heard footsteps approaching behind her. It had a measured pace, as if someone had just casually decided to take a stroll.

"Tut tut. Falling into an array, that's too rookie, Tsuki." The masculine voice sounded out of the darkness, poking obvious fun at her.

"Captain?" Tsuki immediately recalled who this voice belongs to.

However, she still didn't let her guard down, because she knew that all manner of supernatural entities can draw out your memories and just as easily construct familiar personas.

"At ease, Agent Tsuki, 'expurgate omnia mala'."

Upon hearing that phrase, her entire demeanor softened. Tsuki now knew that this was the real Captain Gin.

"Quickly get out of here and find Shin. I'll handle this one." Gin simply instructed.

And without any objections, Tsuki immediately heeded the command and took off in the direction that Gin had just appeared.

Now all alone, standing face to face with the tattered-clothed monster, Gin calmly matched his gaze to the creature's single eye.

"A Twin Wraith, huh? No wonder you kids were struggling. Want to tell me where your brother is?" Gin jested, completely unbothered by the monster's terrifying appearance.

In that moment, silver scales began to erupt from Gin's skin, crawling up into his neck and stopping at his jawline. His gray, pupil-less eyes formed serpent irises reflecting the Twin Wraith.

"Your Apostle calls upon thee."

"'He who devours fate'."

"Ouroboros."