Under suffocating pressure, exceptional witches often awaken new powers.
Madison was precisely such a case at this moment.
Put plainly, the Salem witches were all sorceresses with magical bloodlines. They did not need to study magic day and night; they only needed to strive to tap into their untapped potential.
Among them, the High Priestess stood as the most gifted of all.
Though Madison fell short of the High Witches, her innate talent ranked among the very highest of all witches.
Facing mortal peril, after mastering telekinesis, she had just awakened the ability to control fire—one of the Seven Arrays.
"Are you alright?" Ruboo inquired urgently.
"I'm perfectly fine," Madison replied, glancing down at the flames still burning below. A look of excitement flashed across her face, still bearing traces of terror.
Crack!
The floor erupted once more with a violent crackling sound.
Having learned their lesson, Ruboo and Madison had retreated to a safe distance.
Moments later, Heather crawled up, reeking of scorched flesh and looking even more repulsive and grotesque.
Just as she lunged forward, her eyes blazing with venom,
Madison stepped forward with utter disdain, coldly declaring, "You vile, hideous hag, go straight to hell."
Boom~~
Madison's eyes locked onto Heather as the flames roared to life once more.
Though not as potent as the flames Fiona had unleashed earlier,
Under Madison's sustained release of flames, Heather could only roll about in agony, wailing incessantly.
Watching Heather's body steadily melt within the flames, Madison flashed Ruboo a confident smile. "Seems the exorcism spell won't be needed after all."
Yet she was swiftly proven wrong.
A piercing, hellish wail erupted from Heather's mouth.
The next instant, her body collapsed of its own accord.
As it turned to ash, extinguishing the surrounding flames, the shadowy form of a one-armed woman emerged. She appeared to be in her thirties, possessing a fair face, yet her expression was hideously distorted.
A chilling wind howled.
The room's temperature plummeted.
Before them stood the true form of the malevolent spirit known as Heather.
Having fought continuously for so long, the now highly experienced Madison needed no prompting from Ruboo to move against her. Yet, the instant she did, Heather vanished without a trace.
At that very moment, a chill wind swept across the back of Madison's neck.
She turned her head warily.
Suddenly!
A hideous, grotesque face appeared mere inches from her eyes.
Ah!
A shriek pierced the air.
No matter how brave one might be, such a sight would startle anyone in that instant.
Madison, a witch herself, was no exception.
Just as her face turned deathly pale, Heather surged into her body without a moment's warning.
Possessed!
In an instant, Madison's dazzling golden hair writhed like snakes without a breath of wind. Black veins bulged across her stunningly beautiful face as words of unspeakable filth, mere hearing of which stirred revulsion, poured incessantly from her mouth.
"Bloody hell!" Ruboo blurted out, staring dumbstruck at the scene.
It all happened far too quickly.
In the blink of an eye, reality had transformed into this.
The situation was critical, leaving no time for hesitation.
Without hesitation, Ruboo pinned Madison's body down and shouted into her ear:
"Madison, hold on to yourself! Don't let that evil spirit scare you!"
"This is your body, your domain! You are destined to become the Supreme Witch—how could you be defeated by a mere evil spirit!"
Possession by an evil spirit was more a clash of souls than anything else, a collision of wills.
Typically, the spirit would first unsettle and intimidate its target through a series of disturbances. Only when the victim's resolve weakened sufficiently would possession occur.
This maximises its chances of success.
But for Heather, the situation had already become perilous.
There was no time for further manoeuvring; it had to force possession.
Yet Madison, being a witch, was no ordinary mortal.
Though initially caught off guard, she quickly regained her composure and began resisting Heather's influence.
At that moment, the shouts of encouragement from Ruboo gave her tremendous resolve.
"Think of Hermès! Think of Chanel! Think of Louis Vuitton! Think of those coveted handbags, perfumes, necklaces, watches, and stilettos—Madison, are you prepared to lose all this?"
"And think of your Hollywood stardom! Are you prepared to be a washed-up actress for the rest of your life?"
"Or would you rather become as repulsive and hideous as Heather? No man would ever look at you then!"
Ruboo didn't resort to clichéd "love" tropes like in the movies to help Madison.
With his profound understanding of her, he cut straight to the heart of the matter with every word.
Sure enough!
A piercing shriek erupted from Madison's throat.
Violent, invisible waves surged outward from her at breakneck speed.
As Ruboo hastily retreated, he caught sight of Heather, now even more ethereal and weakened than before, withdrawing from Madison's body in a flustered state.
"My... Golden Arm..."
At this moment, the severely weakened Heather could only fix her target on Ruboo, desperately hoping to use his body to reclaim the golden arm.
Even without a physical form, Heather moved with astonishing speed.
Ruboo attempted to evade, only to find the entity had already attached itself to him.
Before he could even turn pale.
In the blink of an eye, he was astonished to see Heather flee from his body in sheer terror, her wounds appearing even more severe.
It was inconceivable that the very embodiment of terror and evil, the malevolent spirit, could one day feel fear.
Ruboo glanced at the Containment Book within his mind.
He noticed that the instant Heather possessed him, the previously silent Containment Book suddenly turned a page, and Heather was immediately dealt a heavy blow.
Evidently, the Containment Book already residing here did not wish for other entities to approach.
Ruboo, unexpectedly delighted by this turn of events, refocused his attention on reality.
After two failed possessions, there was nothing more they needed to do. Heather was barely holding onto her own existence.
Madison, who had only just recovered and hadn't witnessed the previous scene, noticed Heather's state and, without a second thought, began chanting the exorcism spell once more.
This time, no further incidents occurred.
Amidst Heather's unwilling wails, its form grew increasingly faint.
It seemed poised to depart this world entirely.
Suddenly, the Book of Containment in Ruboo's mind stirred, its pages formally opening.
A spirit light, visible only to him, shot from Heather's body and entered the Containment Book.
[Ding!]
[One anomalous entity contained. Containment tome updated.]
[Initial metrics completed]
Receiving the notification from the Containment Book, Ruboo breathed a sigh of relief.
At last, it was over.
Not only had the Golden Arm spectre been dealt with, but the containment mission that had weighed heavily upon him these past days, even disturbing his sleep, was finally complete.
Though only temporarily.
But the hardest part is always the beginning.
With this first successful experience under his belt, the second and third times should prove considerably easier.