Though the eye sockets were empty, Joey felt an intensely cold, sinister gaze fixed on him.
This was no test. It was nothing like he had expected. He had thought it would be a session of psychological hypnosis, but now it seemed Harvey had been corrupted. His body was gradually mutating into a mythical creature form.
"You're not a knight of the sanctuary."
The corners of Harvey's mouth slowly split apart, revealing a brilliant smile, as though Joey had told an amusing joke.
"The sanctuary? A knight? Do you mean him?"
His mouth split wider and wider. Like a great snake shedding its skin, he sloughed off his human exterior, and an enormous centipede crawled out. Its head bore Harvey's face, but its body was that of a hundred-legged insect.
Run. I have to run now!
That was Joey's only thought.
As he escaped the godforsaken place, every last point of luck he had stored up was exhausted.
Harvey pursued him closely, only to trip for no apparent reason. He fell several times in succession, and the distance between them gradually widened.
After passing through a small door, Joey returned to the church hall. Sunlight streamed down through the image of the goddess on the dome. Harvey's sinister eyes remained hidden in the darkness. He did not follow Joey out, but slowly retreated.
Just as Joey thought he could finally breathe a sigh of relief, Harvey's hoarse voice drifted out:
"You can't escape. I miscalculated this time. I didn't expect you to have gained power too. We'll meet again."
Joey gazed at the enormous, sacred, solemn cross, still shaken.
Had they not been in the sanctuary, Harvey probably would have attacked without restraint. Yet it was precisely because this was a church that Joey had fallen for the trap.
It