Taking Office

This evil spirit seemed to possess an incredibly bizarre ability.

Not only could it pass through solid walls, but its hands also seemed to carry a strange power that prevented the Witch Hunter, Rhode, from breaking free.

After only a few seconds, his eyes began to turn bloodshot and crimson; this was definitely not normal, but rather the result of being "eroded" by an extraordinary ability!

While struggling, Rhode suddenly dropped his right hand, pulled a metal test tube from his waist, ripped it open, and splashed a spray of liquid onto the hands gripping his throat.

Poof!

A burst of light exploded.

The warm and gentle liquid, imbued with the power of light, landed on the evil spirit's translucent palms, immediately emitting a hissing sound as a large amount of white smoke rose up.

Holy Water of Light! An extraordinary item crafted by the Church of the Goddess of Light, it had miraculous effects on vengeful spirits and other spectral entities!

Those hands, nearly melting under the light, immediately retracted into the wall.

Rhode fell to the ground, gasping for air, a purple-black handprint on his neck looking truly shocking.

But Sulu noticed that the purple-black color around the print was slowly fading; this was the effect of the Witch Hunter's resistance.

If it had been him, he likely would have died within a second of being grabbed by the evil spirit.

While contemplating, Sulu did not remain idle; he grabbed a small table and smashed it into the last Little Imp, knocking back its attack.

"We're leaving!"

Rhode opened the stopper of another test tube, carefully observing his surroundings: "This is no longer a simple mission involving demon worshippers... it's a complex supernatural incident! We must go back and make the Church pay more! That profiteer! I won't let him get away with this!"

"Agreed!"

Sulu raised both hands in support of this proposal.

With the two of them working together, the only remaining imp circled in the distance, not daring to attack.

What Rhode and Sulu were wary of was not the imp, but that terrifying evil spirit!

Sulu walked to the front door and pulled it open, only to see pitch-black darkness outside.

Thick black fog, like a solid wall, completely blocked their path.

"This is..."

He reached out and discovered that the dark veil felt like a wall, firmly barring him from leaving the house, and he couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

"This evil spirit is at least equivalent to a Tier 2 elite!" Rhode explained with a grim expression: "It can even influence the power of the Spirit World, projecting its influence into reality to temporarily seal off an area!"

"Is there no way to break through?" Sulu asked immediately.

"Unless we eliminate the evil spirit or possess the ability to 'Spirit World Traverse,' even if you break through the black fog, you'll find that the outside is no longer where it used to be. If we're lucky, we'll still be in the real world; if we're unlucky, not even the gods would know where we'd end up." Rhode took a deep breath: "The good news is... as the cost and core of this area, the evil spirit cannot leave here either!"

"Why do I feel like that's the worst news possible!"

Sulu turned around, staring nervously at the hall, and suddenly looked up.

He saw strands of black hair hanging down from the ceiling, and a bright red figure emerged—it was the evil spirit!

Her limbs were twisted in a bizarre fashion, and her neck was turned one hundred and eighty degrees; like a spider, she crawled across the ceiling on all fours.

Those two hands that had been severely damaged by the holy water were now completely intact!

"How much holy water is left?"

"Four vials! It might not be enough to eliminate this evil spirit! I'm sorry..." Rhode's expression was somewhat dejected: "This is all my fault! If I had scouted the information beforehand..."

In reality, this was because he had trusted the Church of the Goddess too much.

Or rather, even the scouts of the Goddess of Light could not uncover the full history and consequences of every mission.

"From now on, conserve the holy water; we can't afford to waste it!"

Sulu took a deep breath and glanced at his status bar: [XP: 150].

He knew that he was nothing more than a burden right now, but if he could harvest just 50 more experience points, he could promote to a [Medium]!

When it came to dealing with spectral entities, a [Medium] had a specialty!

He looked at Rhode: "Do you trust me? If you do, give me the revolver!"

"Of course!"

Rhode was fully focused, watching as the evil spirit crawling on the ceiling suddenly vanished, and he shoved the silver revolver into Sulu's hand: "The third round inside is a purification bullet; its effect is slightly weaker than holy water! Be careful, this evil spirit can also turn invisible!"

"Don't worry!"

Sulu gripped the revolver tightly and quickly searched for the trace of the remaining Little Imp.

One Little Imp was worth 50 experience points; one more, and he could promote to [Medium]!

Of course... even if he promoted to [Medium], it didn't guarantee he could handle the evil spirit, but at least he would have some self-preservation ability, and perhaps he could even coordinate with Rhode to kill it.

Sulu's eyes scanned rapidly, and he found the last Little Imp.

It was hiding in the shadows behind the sofa, its ears twitching.

Don't be nervous, don't fire immediately, I must close the distance.

Sulu took a deep breath and stepped forward, one pace at a time.

Rhode did not quite understand his actions, but he stayed close by his side.

Just then, the fingerprint left by the evil spirit on Sulu's left arm began to ache violently. "This is... oh no!"

His pupils constricted as he realized that, at some unknown moment, the Red-Clad Female Evil Spirit had arrived beside him, reaching out with both hands to grab his throat.

"Get lost!"

Rhode let out a roar like a beast and lunged forward, slamming into her like a black bear.

Bang!

He grappled with the evil spirit, crashing through the wall and into the endless black mist beyond.

"Kee-kee!"

With Rhode gone, the Little Imp hiding in the shadows darted out, reaching for Sulu with its demonic claws.

"Did you really think I was that easy to bully?"

Sulu flew into a rage and fired his gun.

Bang!

Amidst the gunpowder smoke, the Little Imp twisted its body in an uncanny arc, leaving a circle of bullet holes on the floor as it reached Sulu.

"Tiger Power! Tiger Style!"

Sulu brought his left arm down in a single-handed chop, simultaneously activating Tiger Power.

In an instant, a terrifying force surged into his left arm, causing even the fingerprint left by the evil spirit to rapidly fade.

My strength stat was originally 1.6; with the amplification of Tiger Power, it's 2.0! This is strength that exceeds the limits of a mortal!

Or rather, after the amplification, Sulu's strength had become supernatural.

Whoosh!

His tiger claw descended, slamming the Little Imp onto the floorboards with such force that they cracked, leaving the creature stunned for a split second.

Seizing the opportunity, Sulu raised his revolver, aimed at the Little Imp's head, and pulled the trigger.

Bang!

Following the gunshot, the Little Imp's head exploded, splattering fluids all over the floor.

[XP+50]

A brand-new notification appeared on his attribute panel.

"Finally, 200 experience points!"

Sulu clenched his fists, not daring to waste a single second: "Class change to [Medium]!"