York surmised that the residents of the entire apartment building had likely all been assimilated by demons. The lava rocks on the second floor, along with the even louder disturbances on the third floor, lent credence to this theory.
Standing on the middle platform, York eyed the third floor's landing, continuing to load the last slot of his grenade launcher's cylinder with the third holy grenade. The sound of something scraping, coupled with footsteps and angry hisses, filled his mind with a vivid image.
On the third floor's corridor, one after another, bizarrely shaped "demon people" were furiously charging towards him.
This prompted him to instinctively pull out a holy hand grenade after loading the grenade launcher.
Before understanding the true nature of the situation, he preferred to conserve the supernatural powers at his disposal, relying on technology as the primary means of confrontation.
Feeling the distance closing, he waited for the right moment.
Ping! The pin dropped.
York, standing on the platform between the stairs, gently tossed the holy hand grenade towards the third floor's landing.
It followed a perfect parabolic trajectory, rolling into the corridor.
Just then, a group of demon people with grotesquely wide mouths, resembling classic clowns covered in blood, with heterochromatic pupils, appeared right in front of York, perfectly timed with his action.
One after another, six appeared in an instant, on the walls and the floor.
"Ah!"
"A priest?"
Like the three demon people on the second floor, now reduced to lava rocks, their pupils dilated slightly, fixating on York as if he were a precious treasure, showing signs of madness.
"So fragrant!"
As their hiss ended, the group of demon people lunged at York with ferocious faces.
In the flickering emergency light, their visages were ghastly, resembling zombies in a certain sense but more intelligent and powerful.
If only conventional firearms or attacks were used, these beings would possess a kind of reluctant immortality. Injuries that would be fatal to humans, such as severed limbs or heads, would not stop them from moving. Of course, they were not the original entities; the power they wielded was limited to the human body. Thus, some conventional attacks were effective, destroying the vessel but leaving the residing demon intact…
York, facing these demon-possessed beings, stepped back expressionlessly to the first section of the staircase.
Everything happened within two seconds: the demon people appeared, and York retreated.
"Explode!"
Muttering under his breath, the third second arrived.
Boom! The explosion was louder than the thunder outside.
Holy light illuminated the entire space.
Before the group of demon people could react, they were all torn apart by the explosion of the holy grenade, now empowered with magic.
The shockwave sent lava rocks scattering, crashing into the walls beside York.
Pitter-patter, it rained shards of rock.
York stepped aside quietly, the landing now cleared. The explosion had destroyed the floor and adjacent rooms, sending debris falling to the first floor, leaving only remnants of the platform for him to continue on.
"Continue…"
With the sound of crushing lava rocks underfoot, York proceeded towards the third floor.
From York's perspective, the sudden burst of light in the dark, beast-like apartment building looked like a burst of gunfire smoke.
Jeffrey, Brother Kenny, and Erin, observing the lingering smoke from a distance under the streetlights, realized a battle was taking place inside.
"The situation inside must be intense," Jeffrey said, looking at Brother Kenny.
"Are we sure we don't need to go up and help?"
Brother Kenny, towering and already armed with a knight's sword, shook his head and firmly replied, "For Father York, we are actually a burden…"
He looked at the apartment engulfed in darkness, calmly stating, "Demons are not so easily dealt with. They can quietly erode your sanity, indirectly affecting your emotions. The more you let your emotions fluctuate, the easier it is for them to invade. At that point, you'll become an enemy to Father York…"
…
"You die, you die, you die…"
Whispers suddenly echoed in his ears, overriding the chant from the Bluetooth speaker, as if directly resonating in his mind.
"You die, you die, you die…"
York paused on the third floor's middle platform, undisturbed, looking up at the dark haze filling the third floor, and continued upward.
The staircase above had collapsed for some reason, falling onto the first section of the third floor.
"With this…"
York shook his head, abandoning the option to clear the area with holy hand grenades, and proceeded towards the third floor's landing, his mind echoing with whispers as if someone was speaking beside him. But this did not sway York's steadfast will.
To conserve magical energy without forcibly dispersing it, York did not immediately disperse the whispers but walked through the dark haze into the third floor's corridor.
From the detailed information Hannah had sent, York was already familiar with the structure of the apartment building, which included main and fire escape stairwells.
According to building standards in the United States or other countries, every high-rise must have these facilities, such as fire escapes and essential fire-fighting equipment.
The Reed Apartment Building, with its forty floors, fell within the range of high-rise buildings.
Tap, tap. The silent and dim third-floor corridor echoed only with York's footsteps.
Doors to the apartments were all open, with disfigured bodies or those covered in blood lying in the dim corridor.
Even without emergency lights, York's magically enhanced vision allowed him to see blood smeared everywhere, like tomato sauce.
Looking at the bloody handprints on the walls, York could easily imagine the torture the body at his feet, missing a large chunk of its chest and exposing its innards, had endured before death.
"So, what exactly triggered this paranormal event?"
Without understanding everything, York could not imagine that the source of this paranormal event was merely a child's curiosity.
He simply glanced into each open door as he passed, ensuring no demon person was overlooked.
Until he found the sealed fire escape.
The door handle was secured with two finger-thick chains and a fist-sized padlock, difficult for an average person to break.
Considering the impending demolition of the building, York found nothing unusual about the sealed fire escape and kicked towards the right side.
Bang! An inhuman scene unfolded as the right door, along with the doorframe attached to the corner of the wall, was kicked in, flying inside…
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