Transmigrated as a Ghost

'I still can't believe that I made this thing.' 

From out of his item box, Marcus had pulled out a giant adamantine tube that was around twenty meters long. Though, while it was incredibly long, the thickness of the adamantine was only around a quarter of a centimeter.

During his most recent stint of crafting Marcus had gotten a bit carried away and made this weapon that was quite impractical.

It was meant to increase the power of his railgun spell to the upmost limit, but the giant adamantine tube was unwieldy and could only be fired once before the enchantments became damaged and needed extensive repairs.

Nevertheless, Marcus knew that this weapon was the only thing he possessed that might possibly be able to produce an attack that could pierce through the barrier around The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent's central head.

Of course, it was going to be a gamble. He was uncertain if it would pack enough of a punch to break through the barrier and he would not be able to produce a second shot should his first one miss.

'Still, I feel like I've got to give it a try. No one else's attempts have gotten through and I feel that we are going to run out of steam soon if nothing changes.'

Having made up his mind, Marcus pointed the giant railgun cannon towards the Tower of Heaven's guardian.

A tremendous amount of mana began flowing from his body into the weapon, and the intricate etchings in the barrel glowed brightly.

Once the initial activation had started, Marcus conjured his iron sphere and placed it inside the bottom of the tube.

After that, several long spikes extended from the cannon and pierced deep into the ground to hold it in place. Without these spikes to brace the weapon, it would end up blasting itself along with Marcus away when fired.

Time seemed to slow down for Marcus as he put all of his focus into powering his railgun cannon. This was not an item he could wield without putting his all into it.

However, as the powerful cannon charged up to launch its single attack, The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent felt its instincts calling out to it that it was in danger.

Despite having been solely focused on catching and killing Mrazivý just a moment before, it lifted its head and turned its full attention towards Marcus.

Just behind Mrazivý, who had constantly been slicing up its body with her sword skills empowered by her Supreme Skill, The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent had marked Marcus as the next biggest threat.

Yet with its heightened senses and intuition, it could tell that he was preparing an attack that posed it serious danger.

Abruptly, The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent turned away from Mrazivý and made a beeline towards Marcus.

'That's not good.' 

In Marcus' mind he had envisioned that The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent would continue chasing after Mrazivý, and when he was ready to fire his railgun, he would have her lure it into his line of sight.

Unfortunately, his plan was thrown into complete disarray when the Tower's guardian decided to take him out first.

Now that he had activated the railgun cannon it could not be moved and disengaging it would be impractical. If he stopped now, he would have to give up on using the weapon and any possibility of victory.

'Um, I understand that this might be a tall order for me to ask, but I need about two minutes to charge up an attack that might be able to beat the guardian. If we still want to win, I need everyone to work together to keep it off me until I am ready to launch my attack.' Marcus said over telepathy to the entire expedition squad.

For a second everything was silent, before he received a number of complaints telling him that what he asked for was impossible.

During the entire battle they had struggled to stop The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent for more than a few seconds at a time. With its sights locked on Marcus and him being unable to move from his position, it would be pretty much impossible to protect him even for just a single minute, let alone two.

'I will do what I can, but I make no promises that I can hold it for that long. Please prioritize your safety if things go wrong.' Evette said, being the first to give Marcus a positive response.

Immediately after her Mrazivý chimed in and said that she would do all she could as well. 

Following those two that showed no hesitance in supporting Marcus, others like Miguel and Thegia offered their support.

Soon everyone was onboard whether they liked it or not, and the entire expedition squad put their hopes on Marcus.

It was not but a moment after everyone put their weight behind Marcus that The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent unleashed a barrage of ranged attacks at Marcus with intense ferocity.

This was the first of many attacks that would need to be blocked and Marcus had to put his faith in everyone else to protect him.

Thankfully, before he was overwhelmed, a giant aurora formed around him and offered its protection.

At the same time Miguel stood in front of Marcus with his shield at the ready and a six-meter tall four-armed creature that was covered in thick, rocky armor and was emitting a holy glow from its face.

Whatever attacks breached through Mrazivý's Protective Aurora Unique skill Miguel and his strongest summoned creature deflected.

 "Spirit Sapping Chains."

Moving to the frontlines, Evette abandoned her role as supporter and healer to use her Supreme Skill to hold down The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent just as she had done to the colossal robot.

Giant spectral chains rose from the ground and wrapped themselves around the giant beast and began draining its spiritual energy.

"Rhhhhhhh!"

After it had been entangled by chains, The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent let out something between a roar and a hiss. Try as it might, it could not break free from Evette's Supreme Skill even as it thrashed its body around.

Still, as powerful as the chains that bound it were, the guardian of the Tower of Heaven was simply too large to be fully held down by Evette's Spirit Sapping Chains. Despite its advance having been slowed, it still pushed its way towards Marcus.

Others did what they could to slow the giant serpent down, but it was simply too titanic for any of them to fully stop.

Before long it had gotten close enough to Marcus to attack him physically and reared its central head up.

With one big motion it moved to slam itself down on him and crush him with its sheer mass.

'Damn it! Its too soon, but I don't have any choice.'

With an attack he could not afford to take eminent, Marcus increased the length of the spikes protruding out of the front of the railgun cannon and angled it upwards. He had not had as much time as he wanted to fully charge up his attack, but he was left with no choice but to fire now or be crushed.

But right before he pulled the trigger, a single voice called out for him to wait.

Marcus hesitated for less than a second, before doing as Fianna had said and instead continued to charge his weapon with mana.

A single arrow then flew in front of his eyes and impacted against the central head of The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent.

When the arrow connected it shone brightly before transforming into a massive blast like a volcano that had just exploded.

This was Fianna's Eruption Arrow unique skill and the strongest single attack she could unleash.

After the power behind the attack had faded, there was still not a single scratch on the central head's barrier, but it had pushed it back long enough for Marcus to finish preparing his railgun to fire at full power.

Yet an instant before he launched his attack, the sea serpent head that had remained completely on the defense since it was the only remaining subordinate head lashed out at Marcus.

One moment he was looking up at the massive golden king cobra head, and the next thing Marcus knew everything had gone black.

As a last-ditch effort, the sea sneak head opened its mouth wide and swallowed Marcus. Planning to digest him within its stomach that was filled with powerful acid that could easily melt even adamantine.

"That was a bad move."

From inside the sea serpent head's mouth, Marcus fired his railgun and launched the five meters in diameter iron sphere at Mach twenty-eight.

Filled with unstable force the iron sphere moved along the magnetic track within Marcus' railgun cannon.

Once it was released, the powerful projectile pierced through the sea snake's head and blasted a giant hole through it. The iron sphere continued to fly in a straight line and impacted against the central head's golden barrier.

Sparks flew as an unstoppable force met an immovable object.

Several seconds went by as the railgun attack attempted to pierce through the barrier.

The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent was focusing all of its power on protecting itself, and it seemed that it would hold out until Marcus' ultimate attack ran out of power.

Except, as the iron sphere started to lose momentum, the sea snake head finally perished, and the golden barrier around central king cobra head shattered.

Without its greatest defense, The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent could no longer hold off the attack from Marcus' railgun cannon, and the speeding mass of iron continued on unobstructed.

In just an instant the iron sphere pierced through the central head and finally lost all of its power around two thirds of the way in.

Feeling intense pain, The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent began thrashing about in a panic. 

Even after it had part of its central head destroyed by Marcus' attack, it was still far from dead. Though, it was not going to last much longer despite having survived.

Now that its protection was destroyed, everyone that had any strength left fired off their strongest attacks.

Powerful explosions that shook the sky and the earth erupted around The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent, until it finally breathed its last. Its once majestic body that would bring awe and fear to any that saw it was torn apart and almost unrecognizable.

'We won, right?' Marcus thought as he pushed his way out of the dead sea snake's head.

He was covered in all manner of fluids and was truly hoping that the battle was over. If the guardian got back up again, he was certain that he would not have it in him to continue.

Thankfully, The Celestial Seven-Headed Serpent was undoubtably dead, and the proof came just a second later.

What remained of its colossal body began to turn into motes of light that flew back towards the Tower of Heaven.

Within just a half minute the etching on the tower that depicted the great serpent was restored and the guardian was taken back into the tower now that its role was finished.

'Congratulations, you have defeated Tower of Heaven's guardian. You have now earned the right to enter the Tower of Heaven and the restrictions of Haze Island will no longer apply to you.'

After their victory, everyone in the expedition squad received this same message from the system.

Naturally this came as a surprise, as they had not expected the island's restrictions to also be lifted.

Immediately, Marcus cast the tier three fire magic spell, flame jets and shot into the air.

Unlike before, no unexplainable power forced him back to the ground and he was able to fly around with ease.

Other seeing his tested out their flight abilities as well and likewise were able to ascend without issue.

'Okay, that is enough messing around. We still have much to do.' Evette said, trying to bring order back to the expedition squad.

It took a minute for everyone to calm down after their victory, but soon they had gathered back in front of the Tower's entrance.

Like before those that did not meet some other restrictions could not enter, but when Marcus approached the gate, it opened up to him. In front of him was a staircase that ascended farther into the Tower.

He was about to turn to the others that could enter and suggest that they give the inside a cursory glance when something else drew his attention.

From within the Tower, he could hear footsteps and when he turned around, he saw a shadow that was stretching down the stairs and getting closer.