[Never mind that was what he himself had thought, after encountering Malicant in person; to hear it from someone else pricks at his conscience, and he draws himself up, ruff flaring indignantly.]

There are plenty of people here who have fought spirits; I do not see how this one is any different from the others, except perhaps bigger. We have fought ghosts before, on the turtle, and I am not afraid to do it again.

[If his voice wavers a little, he covers it well.]