Hide and Seek: The Mad Girl Sees All novel Chapter 113

Chapter 113

Chapter 113

KIFA

The eleven souls pressed deeper into the shattered streets.

The buildings on either side of the ruins looked more and more rundown, and not a single Wraith was crawling around; trying to absorb energy from the ground.

Lyra glanced around. “Huh? Where are the Wraiths? Is that it?”

Jane stepped forward and sensed the area for a couple of seconds. “I think all the Wraiths around here got pulled over by the commotion earlier. Did you notice when the last batch started screaming and summoning others?”

“Huh?” Lyra blinked, a little confused.

“After that, no new Wraiths showed up,” Jane explained.

She turned to Lyra. “That means we’ve cleared out this area.”

“That’s all?” Lyra asked, a bit surprised.

“This is just the outer edge,” Jane replied.

Her voice grew serious. “The closer we get to the core, the more Wraiths there’ll be. Out here, it’s just a few stragglers.”

She paused. “The real trouble is waiting for us inside.”

Lyra collected herself, saying nothing more. Without another word, she pressed on, scanning her surroundings as she moved forward. When the time was right, she fired off a green flare.

Ahead, the ground was scattered with broken stones and twisted metal, like the remains of some huge machine that had been smashed to pieces.

Suddenly, Jane’s soul darted forward, stopping next to a pile of rubble.

“Lyra.” Jane called out.

Lyra hurried over. Jane was crouched down, her spectral hand hovering above a piece of black metal.

It was a gun. The barrel was broken, the stock crushed beneath the rubble, and the surface was covered in dried black liquid.

Jane’s soul was trembling. “This is standard-issue for the Draconia military

Lyra crouched down, staring at the broken barrel.

Jane looked up, emotion swirling in her eyes. “It’s from the squad that went in ahead of us.”

No more words were needed.

Lyra stood up and glanced to the left. About three meters away, the sole of a military boot was sticking out from a pile of broken bricks.

“Jane, there’s something over here too,” Lyra called out.

Jane drifted over, her spectral hand brushing aside the broken bricks. Under the boot was a torn piece of camo pants, the blood dried into a crust.

But there was no one inside.

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Chapter 113

It was just empty. No one left.

Lyra followed the trail of debris, and every few steps, she spotted something new: a glove, a broken walkie-talkie antenna, an empty magazine, all the rounds spent.

When she reached the back of a collapsed wall, Lyra stopped.

Three military uniforms lay scattered, their fabric blackened and soaked with dried blood.

Name tags hung from the collars, but Lyra didn’t check them.

Jane drifted over, and when she saw the uniforms, her spectral form shuddered.

Without a word, Jane let her soul power flow from her palm, gently lifting the first uniform. She brushed off the dust and rubble, folded it carefully, and placed it by her side.

She folded the second uniform.

And then the third.

Jane turned back, picking up the broken rifle, the magazine, the boot, and the glove, gathering them one by one, her soul power enveloping each item and keeping them close at her side.

Lyra noticed Jane’s hands were shaking, but she folded the uniforms with painstaking care, making sure to fold each corner just right.

“Jane,” Lyra called softly.

Jane didn’t respond.

Lyra bent down, picked up a piece of a broken walkie-talkie from the ground, and held it close.

She walked a few more steps and found half a helmet, which she picked up too.

“Jane, don’t feel bad,” Lyra said softly, offering the items to her.

Jane finished gathering the last boot, straightened up, and floated in the air, her soul wrapped around a pile of mementos. Her translucent face was unreadable.

Lyra drifted closer, her voice soft and comforting. “When someone dies, their soul just slips out of their body. Maybe the soldiers’ souls are still here, somewhere in Sunvale District.”

Jane’s soul wavered for a moment.

“We know how to take these things down now,” Lyra said, her voice steady. “Next time, we’ll come back fully prepared and push our way in, bit by bit.”

Lyra clenched her fists. “When we find their souls, I’ll seal them into the Soul Deck, just like I did for you all. I’ll bring them

home.”

Jane stared at her for a couple of seconds, a faint smile tugging at her lips. “Okay. Thank you, Lyra.”

She took a deep breath. “Find them. Bring them home.”

The eleven souls drifted deeper into the ruins. After a while, Jane’s soul suddenly stopped.

“There are Wraiths up ahead,” Jane warned.

Lyra leaned forward for a better look. At the end of the street, seven or eight Wraiths were crawling around the playground

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of a half-collapsed school, their mouths pressed to the ground, their throats bulging and twitching.

Lyra drew Wraithslayer and gave a quick signal to the others behind her.

No words needed. The ten souls split up into pairs, flanking the Wraiths from three sides and closing in.

Their teamwork was honed to perfection, this time, they moved even faster than before.

Ivana burst in from the right, grabbed a Wraith’s head with both hands, her fingers digging in as she twisted, shatteringit completely.

Sunhwa barreled in from the left and cracked another Wraith’s skull with one punch.

Jane held the center, sending out four soul tendrils, each twisting and shattering a head at the same time.

Lyra patrolled the outskirts, Wraithslayer ready in her hand, always quick to finish off any Wraiths that got missed.

In less than thirty seconds, all seven or eight Wraiths were wiped out. The souls who didn’t even get a chance to jump in just exchanged looks. Seriously, if you were slow, you missed all the action!

The Wraiths’ dying screams echoed, sending waves of soul energy rippling out in every direction.

“Here they come. They’re summoning more,” Lyra said, gripping Wraithslayer tightly.

All the souls instantly shifted into battle formation.

Ten seconds later, a dozen Wraiths crawled out of the distant ruins, charging toward them on all fours.

“Take them out!” Lyra shouted.

“Drain them!” Jane echoed, ready to absorb their energy.

Once they were wiped out, another wave of screams echoed, and another wave of Wraiths came rushing in.

“Finish them!” Ivana yelled.

“Drain them!” Jane called out.

The Wraiths screamed again.

And so it went, over and over.

Lyra pulled Wraithslayer free from the pile of Wraith remains, shrinking it back to dagger size.

After several rounds, Lyra checked the Soul Deck. Ivana was C Tier, Jane was C+ Tier, everyone else had risen at least half a tier, and the gold at each soul’s heart was brighter.

She put the cards away, reached into her pocket, and found two flares.

She pulled them out and checked what she had.

One green, one red.

“Jane, this is the last green flare left,” Lyra said.

“Seriously, where’s that damn door?” Lyra muttered, gripping the last flare as she turned to Sunhwa.

“Sunhwa, have you sensed anything? Is there something weird in any direction? Maybe we should try a different path?” Lyra asked.

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Sunhwa’s soul floated for a bit, closed her eyes to focus, then shook her head.

She said something in North Dawn Tongue, and Ivana translated, “She says it’s all the same everywhere. She can’t tell which direction is special.”

Lyra let out a deep sigh. Ugh, was her luck busted or what? She still couldn’t find the door.

Jane drifted over to Lyra, her soul power still holding the pile of mementos steady at her side.

“Let’s head back.” Jane said.

Lyra looked up at her.

“We’ve figured out enough for today,” Jane said.

She started counting off on her fingers.

“First, we confirmed that the sound waves in the Wraith invasion zone are exactly like the sounds I heard back when I was conscious. This might be how the real world and the game are linked.

“Second, souls can move around freely in the invasion zone, but the living can’t.

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