Wilt fell silent as he looked at the evil spirit, now twice as powerful as before.
He cast a subtle glance at Melissa nearby, wondering whether the series of events today had anything to do with the Evernight Goddess.
"Ah, what kind of monster is that!" Elizabeth cried, covering her mouth with her hand. She felt as though her worldview had been turned upside down.
Selena's face was frighteningly pale too, and she stood rooted to the spot, at a loss. "Could that be the kind of supernatural creature Mr. Vincent talked about?"
Melissa was in the best shape of the three. Though she was just as frightened as the others, she had kept her wits about her:
"Selena, Elizabeth, run!"
"Let's go to the church!"
In Melissa's view, if supernatural creatures really did exist in this world, then the church must also have the strength and means to deal with them.
So running to the church was the safest choice.
Unfortunately, the moment Melissa finished speaking, the evil spirit attacked, and its first target was Melissa:
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!!"
A dense mass of black, thorn-covered briars shot toward Melissa.
"Bang, bang!" Wilt made his move, firing two orange-yellow bullets that glowed faintly gold at the evil spirit.
The bullets had been enchanted with sarira and were extremely deadly to evil spirits.
Sensing the threat, the evil spirit hurriedly withdrew all its briars to shield its spirit body.
"Pfft! Pfft!"
The bullets punched through the briar defense and struck its spirit body directly.
"Ah!!!"
"Roar, roar, roar!!"
For a moment, the countless faces on its spirit body either twisted in pain or let out piercing screams.
Wilt turned the Manipulator Beyonder item into a ring and put it on to guard against accidents. At the same time, he said to Melissa and the other two:
"Go, now! I'll hold it off for you!"
"That's too dangerous. Mr. Wilt, you should run with us!" Melissa said anxiously.
"Bang!" Wilt fired another shot at the evil spirit.
"Don't worry about me. I have my own way of getting away."
"Remember, after you leave here, go to..."
Before Wilt could finish, he saw every face on the evil spirit's body open its mouth in unison, then unleash an invisible shriek.
"Boom!" Wilt felt as though something had struck him on the head. His vision swam, but he quickly recovered.
What was that? Could it be a weaker version of Wraith Shriek?
Compared with Wilt, who was Sequence 7, the other three fared far worse.
"Pfft!"
"Pfft... cough, cough!!"
All three fell to their knees, their faces deathly pale as they spat blood.
Wilt: "..."
Whose subordinate is this, to be so fearsome? You've left Mr. Fool's sister in such a terrible state. Aren't you afraid the future Lord of the Mysteries will come through time and space to settle the score with you?
Oh, right, I'm the one who brought this about. Then it's fine...
That's a huge problem!!!
Wilt decided to grind the evil spirit to dust today, so thoroughly that even divination from Sefirah Castle wouldn't turn up a single clue.
Just as Wilt was about to act, he saw the evil spirit charge straight at Melissa and the others.
"Bang, bang, bang!!!" All three bullets struck the evil spirit, dimming the spirit body beneath its briars considerably.
But the evil spirit neither dodged nor evaded, determined to charge the three girls.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!"
The evil spirit's briars shot toward Elizabeth and Selena, who were closest to it.
"Clatter!"
"Pfft!"
The briars instantly wrapped around their bodies and limbs, and the thorns on them lengthened, piercing the two girls.
"Sluuurp-!" The evil spirit then used its ability to devour the blood and energy in the girls' bodies, healing its own injuries.
"Ahhh!!!" Elizabeth and Selena immediately lost consciousness.
"Selena, Elizabeth!" Melissa cried weakly. She tried to get up and stop it, but the injury to her soul left her unable to move.
The evil spirit then sent some of its briars toward Melissa.
Damn!
Wilt gripped the monocle in his pocket and used a demigod-level Beyonder Ability: Steal!
"Whoosh!"
Wilt vanished from where he stood and appeared beside Melissa, having stolen the distance between them.
"Whoosh!" Silver light flashed as the dagger in Wilt's hand severed the briars binding Selena and Elizabeth. He then grabbed Melissa and lunged aside, dodging the briars' attack.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!!" After the attack missed, more than a dozen black briars came at them again.
In that case, don't blame me!
Wilt decided to stop pretending altogether. He would reveal his identity as a Beyonder and kill the evil spirit outright. He injected Spirituality into the ring:
"Mind Storm..."
Wait!!
Wilt suddenly spotted three people in the distance, two women and one man. More importantly, their clothes bore the emblem of the Church of Evernight.
The Nighthawks are here!
Wilt instantly changed tactics, quickly rolling aside with Melissa in his arms.
"Pfft, pfft, pfft!!" The evil spirit's attacks kept missing, its black briars plunging into the ground one after another.
When Wilt finally came to a stop with Melissa in his arms, only three briars reached them from above. Wilt silently injected Spirituality into the amulet on Melissa.
"Hum!!!" A translucent barrier instantly enveloped them both.
"Crack!" Three seconds later, the barrier shattered, and the Nighthawks finally arrived.
They threw charm after charm at the evil spirit in the air:
"Darkness!"
"Slumber!"
"Purification!"
The evil spirit's body instantly stopped moving. A rapid volley of gunfire rang out, and enchanted bullets of various colors flew toward it:
"Bang, bang, bang, bang!!!!"
"Roar, roar, roar!!!!" The evil spirit awoke from its slumber. Having completely lost its reason, it let out a deafening roar and charged recklessly at the Nighthawks.
Wilt pretended to breathe a sigh of relief. He quickly let go of Melissa and said somewhat apologetically, "I'm sorry, Miss Melissa!"
"I reacted in an emergency just now... Please forgive me for any impropriety."
"Not at all." Melissa sat up, her face pale. Still shaken, she said, "I should be thanking you for saving me, Mr. Wilt."
"Oh, right, Selena and Elizabeth!" Melissa remembered her companions.
She was just about to stand and check on them when her legs gave way, nearly making her fall again. Fortunately, Wilt reacted quickly and caught her.
"Miss Melissa, please don't worry. Now that the people from the Church of Evernight are here, I'm sure the problem will soon be resolved, and the church will certainly heal your friends."
Wilt then helped Melissa over to Selena and Elizabeth. He was just about to remove the briars from them when a voice came from behind him: "You'd better not do that!"
Wilt turned and saw the people from the Church of Evernight. They had already dealt with the evil spirit.
The one who had spoken was an elderly man among the three. As he walked over, he continued, "Your companions were attacked by the evil spirit. Removing these briars rashly will only make their injuries worse."
With that, he took out four potions and held them out to Wilt. "Drink this potion first, then remove the briars."
Wilt did not take the potions. He looked at the elderly man and fell silent:
It's him!