The blast of wind spread instantly to York's side. If it were an ordinary person or the Warren couple present, they probably would have been blown away.
"Protego (Shield)"
Already accustomed to such situations, York softly uttered, casting a spell he had learned to protect both himself and Janet with a protective circle.
This evil spirit, existing in nursery rhymes and possessing a physical form, was somewhat strong. Each person's shield, with a total of two magic points, could just barely withstand this dark assault.
[Four magic points used]
Hearing the prompt beside his ear, York moved the gun barrel and continued to pull the trigger aiming at the hunchback.
Bang!
The shot hit its small chest, but only produced a sound like steel colliding, the impact only pushing the hunchback back a step.
With no attack weapon but an umbrella, the hunchback roared and charged at York. Standing over two meters tall, its slender figure twisted and turned, possessing a terrifying impact force in the narrow hallway.
"Quite powerful..."
York's eyes remained undisturbed. The moment the hunchback took a step, he had already pulled the trigger repeatedly, thinking if not for suppressing fire with a rapid-fire gun, then when?
Bang!
The first shot exploded on the hunchback's chest, a dazzling spark appeared and quickly extinguished, blasting the hunchback back a step.
The blasted hunchback wanted to continue charging, but another loud bang, York's second shot pushed it back again.
Bang bang bang bang!
The gunfire sounded like a signal for attack, York began firing fully, the continuous booming sounds kept exploding,
The result was dazzling sparks appearing on the hunchback's chest and quickly extinguishing.
The explosive firepower blasted the hunchback, continuously twisting its form, moving backward until it hit the wall behind it, unable to retreat further, its face starting to show pain.
The hunchback pressed its hands against the wall behind, but wherever it wanted to move, dazzling sparks exploded.
The holy bullets' relentless barrage inflicted effective damage on the hunchback. Its tattered suit was shattered, revealing its blasted flesh and blood.
"Roar!!"
The hunchback roared in pain.
The roar was piercing, even Janet behind him showed pain, subconsciously covering her ears.
But York remained expressionless, emptying the magazine in one breath.
The gunfire ceased, the hunchback's eyes red, staring deadly at York, roaring again and charging furiously,
It wanted to tear apart the person before it!
However, the hunchback didn't know there was a new magazine for the gun,
York, watching the furiously charging hunchback, smoothly ejected the magazine, his right hand quickly pulling a full magazine from his belt and inserting it into the SHAK-12, the action fluid and pleasing to the eye.
The hunchback, feeling the distance was enough, swung its right hand at York, its sharp and thin nails gleaming coldly.
York, with an unchanged expression and even without moving, aimed the gun at the hunchback's approaching right hand and pulled the trigger.
In an instant!
The continuous gunfire roared again.
Under York's shooting, several holy bullets accurately exploded on the hunchback's right hand, dried up like vines, sparking one after another.
The hunchback roared in pain again.
Its right hand wasn't as tough as its chest, just five holy bullets blasted its dried-up right hand like a tree trunk, vaporizing into the void.
"Like a tree, the trunk is the chest, and the branches are the limbs?"
York noticed this and took advantage of the hunchback's painful roar. He quickly aimed at its chest and fired three shots, pushing it back three steps, then quickly shifted the gun to its slender right leg, continuously pulling the trigger.
Just four shots directly blasted the slender right leg, the hunchback's face showing extreme pain, lacking the support of its right leg, it fell forward, right at York's feet.
The hunchback, with a fierce face, raised its intact left hand, intending to scrape the person in front of it to death, but a foot fiercely stepped on its left hand.
"You were already finished, darling, and also... you're too weak."
Looking at the hunchback under his foot, York, with an expressionless face, aimed the gun at its left hand and pulled the trigger.
Bang...
Five continuous shots, the left hand, like the previous right hand, was blasted to pieces, flesh and blood flying and vaporizing in the air.
"Roar!!!"
The hunchback screamed in pain, attempting to struggle to rise, but a foot then stepped on its head,
The hunchback only felt an unstoppable, powerful force exploding on its head, its available strength instantly crushed.
Bang!
For a moment, the hunchback's fierce face smashed into the floor of the hallway, it was suppressed by this force, unable to move.
"Game over."
York, merely with his right foot pressing down the hunchback, casually ejected the magazine with three holy bullets left, easily pulling a new full magazine from his belt into the SHAK-12, then aimed the gun at the hunchback's head beneath his foot.
"Two choices, tell me who's behind this, and you live. Otherwise, you die."
The hunchback again tried to struggle forcefully, but all its strength seemed to vanish like a drop in the ocean, the foot on its head remaining, the gun still aimed at the back of its head.
"You were born from a nursery rhyme, evolving to this point wasn't easy, which is why I'm giving you this chance."
York didn't care whether the hunchback underneath could understand or not, continuing to mutter.
"I'll only count to five."
Looking at the hunchback beneath his foot that seemed to have given up resisting, York began to count down.
"Five,"
"Four,"
"Three,"
As he counted to three, a voice resembling a British accent rang out.
"I'll talk!"
Hearing this, York didn't release his foot nor did he move the gun away from the head.
"Speak, who is it that could make you try so hard?"
"I was given, and also taken, I existed when you were born..."
The moment this sentence was uttered, York shook his head, looking at the hunchback beneath his feet that had already disappeared, then glanced back, even Janet had vanished without a trace, but the house remained the same, and so did the hallway, only darkness was spreading.
"Pulled into a psychic space?"
York looked around at the suddenly changing surroundings, smacking his lips, his gaze finally resting on a dark corner downstairs, staring at the nun who looked exactly like the one in the painting, and grinned.
"Turns out to be a nun! No wonder it felt so familiar, but you're just a projection?"
York felt the other's sense of being somewhat hollow, listening to the suddenly arising random mission with some surprise.
[Random mission triggered]
[Exorcism]
[Eliminate the demon's projection]
[Success reward: +8 points]
[Accept the mission?]
"Roar!"
The nun, seemingly not expecting York to discover it, opened its mouth full of spiralized sharp teeth, bulging out like a worm, roaring at York.
With the roar, the entire house began to shake, and darkness flowed from all directions like water currents.
"Huh."
York, with the magic power in his right hand and relying solely on his strong physical ability, waved his hand to easily dispel the wind waves coming at him, silently accepting the mission in his mind.
[Mission accepted successfully]
Hearing the prompt, York immediately took out a holy grenade that had been previously enchanted with a double-layer buff, totaling 65 points of holy power and 160 points of enchantment.
In situations like being pulled into a psychic space, using a holy grenade against a mere projection with only eight points reward was the best choice.
This was a chance to test its power because everything would happen in the psychic space and would not affect reality.
"Pulling me in was your mistake, I'll blow you up!"
With a quick thought, York watched as darkness rapidly spread from all directions. With a single hand, he unscrewed the grenade's pin and threw it towards the nun hiding in the dark corner downstairs.
The moment the grenade left his hand and spun in the air for a second, York decisively moved away quickly. He had experienced the power of a 120-point enchanted grenade, and this 160-point enchanted grenade might blow up the entire building.
He forcefully opened the door next to him and rushed into the room, not stopping his actions, softly chanting the Exorcio (Exorcism) spell, using ten magic points to slash away the incoming dark water currents and make his way out of the window.
Two seconds.
York forcefully broke through the window and was already outside the house, four or five meters away in the air.
Three seconds.
Boom!!!!!
A deafening explosion erupted, brilliant holy light and fire instantly took over everything, seen by York floating in the air, the house looked like a porcupine, with holy light refracting out from it, filling his vision.
The impact created a ripple-like wave that rapidly spread, destroying all obstacles in its path, unstoppable, the house exploded like a powder keg on the spot.
The nun bore the brunt, with screams following.
"Protego (Shield)"
York's pupils contracted, estimating the explosion's impact force before it reached him, softly uttering a word.
[Thirty magic points used]
A transparent circle appeared in milliseconds, enveloping him, and York softly chanted another spell, Repello (Repel), trying to offset some of the impact force.
[Twenty magic points used]
Through the spell conversion, the surging magic power collided with the incoming shockwave, but it collapsed upon contact, though not without effect. The explosion's shockwave seemed to be somewhat negated, the residual force continued to hit York's protective circle.
Bang!
York was still blown away, breaking through the already near-shattering psychic space.
In the last moment, the nun, bathed in holy light, struggling and screaming as if drowning, was reflected in his eyes.
Snap!
The space shattered, the breaking pieces exploding like a glass bottle.
"..."
"I only know that He comes from hell."
"Eh?" York's eyes flashed with the battle and the nun's screaming fragments. He blinked again to find himself still standing in the hallway, while the mission completion prompt began to sound in his ear, York subconsciously looked down at the hunchback reappearing at his feet,
He had returned.
[...]
[Elimination of the devil's projection (Completed)]
[Success reward: +8 points (Issued)]
[...]
"I don't know who He is, just kill me!"
The hunchback's voice revealed unwillingness.
York didn't respond, turning to look at Janet who was in a daze, ensuring her safety, letting the hunchback speak, and continued to look at the virtual window, focusing on the life points first.
[Life: 120.5/125]
"As expected, not bad, the biggest damage from a holy grenade isn't the enchantment but the holy power..."
Recalling the nun bathed in holy light, York looked down at the hunchback beneath his feet, continuing to summarize the fight.
"The grenade exploded too quickly; if it was timed, I could've gotten further away..."
"Just kill me!!!" The hunchback struggled and roared.
York stopped thinking, looking down at the hunchback beneath him, seriously considering for a moment before deciding to pull the trigger.
This guy was cooperating with the nun earlier.
Bang...
York emptied the SHAK-12's magazine in one breath, twenty consecutive 12.7 holy bullets instantly unloaded into the hunchback's back of the head.
The gunfire roared non-stop until the hunchback beneath York's feet exploded into a mist of stars and disappeared into the void, then he stopped.
"Whew,"
Looking down at the now empty space beneath his feet, York exhaled softly, stopped pulling the trigger, turned off the Bluetooth speaker playing the recitation with his phone, and paused.
"You passed the test..."
The ghost downstairs had passed his test, despite the pain, it didn't come up to attack.
The silence of the Bluetooth speaker returned the house to calm, listening to an old voice downstairs as if sighing in relief, York pressed the switch next to him, and the dim hallway was lit up again.
Janet called out weakly.
"Father York..."
York turned to look at Janet, who stood obediently in her place, as he put away the SHAK-12, smiling easily.
"It's over."
...
It was a sunny day.
Confirming the exorcism was complete and there were no lingering issues, York didn't stay long, deciding to leave, although there was still a loose end he hadn't figured out.
"Father York!"
Janet, who had been lively again with her family, watched the priest walk away and couldn't help but break free from her mother's hand on her shoulder, rushing out and hugging the surprised priest tightly.
"Thank you!"
York grinned, patting the top of her brown-haired head, looking ahead.
The Peck family was at the yard gate, smiling big and small, the gloom they had seen before had disappeared without a trace.
He had saved another family, a very special feeling...
"No need to be polite." York felt good, looking down at the top of the brown-haired head and said gently.
"Do you remember what I said before?"
Janet looked up at the priest, who was like a mountain in her heart, and nodded hard, "Remember, if I want to learn about exorcism, I'll call you."
York's smile remained unchanged, although Janet's talent was good, it also depended on her willingness, because stepping into this world different from ordinary people, the risk also increased.
"Good, go back to your mom."
Janet was reluctant, having seen the priest as a father figure in her heart after just a few days.
Feeling the embrace's strength, York smiled and said.
"Child, we'll meet again."
Behind her, Peggy also spoke, "Janet! Don't make it difficult for the priest!"
Hearing this, Janet could only let go of her hands and said quietly.
"Goodbye, Father York."
"Mhm."
York patted Janet again, nodded to the Peck family, turned, and walked towards the eight-seater SUV waiting for him...
Bang! The car door closed.
York sat firmly in the back seat, looking back at Ed who was looking at him, and said calmly.
"Let's go, Ed."
"Sure, Father."
Ed, still responsible for driving, nodded, straightened up, shifted into gear, and pressed the accelerator.
The car slowly moved away.
"Father York!"
Just then, Janet suddenly called out loudly.
York looked back through the half-open window and saw her eyes sparkling, almost frighteningly bright.
"I'll definitely call you!" she shouted earnestly.
"Has she made her choice?"
York was silent for a moment, then with a light laugh, he waved his hand before closing the window, isolating everything outside as the car began to move away from the Peck family's sight.
"Father, do you really plan to take her in?" Rolin's voice followed.
"If she wishes, I will respect the child's choice." York replied while taking out his constantly vibrating phone.