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Lionel and the Old Priest followed the young couple to their apartment. The Old Priest leaned over and asked Lionel, "Lionel, what are you going to do?"
Although this World has supernatural powers and various deities from myths, the Old Priest truly has no special abilities whatsoever; his only possession is devout faith. Therefore, when it comes to actually dealing with malevolent spirits, the Old Priest is very worried.
"Don't worry, isn't there a clear path? People die when they are killed. As long as we deal with that doll, won't the problem be solved?" Lionel was very confident in handling this malevolent spirit incident.
"I'll be relieved if you're confident." The Old Priest felt much more at ease.
As soon as he walked into the apartment building, Lionel felt something was off. It was too gloomy here, like entering the set of a horror movie.
Given the extreme gloom, Lionel joked, "Is your apartment always like this? Is the rent very low?"
"The apartment environment is very good, it might just be because it's a cloudy day!" The man responded stiffly, even though the lighting here came from light bulbs.
His wife, Mia, exclaimed in panic, "This is just like what I encountered in the garage that day! That malevolent spirit has started again!"
Lionel secretly speculated, "Did it sense danger and launch an active attack?"
The corridor lights began to flicker rhythmically, and a faint electrical hum could be heard.
"This spiritual pressure, it's at least a seated officer!"
Lionel sighed, impressed by the atmosphere created by the malevolent spirit.
Something was there; Lionel felt something watching them from behind. They were currently in the apartment's long corridor, and behind them was the spot they had just walked past.
He quickly turned his head to look.
"Ah!" Mia's shriek rang out.
Before Mia shrieked, Lionel had already clearly seen what was behind them: it was a woman, a woman identical to Mia in appearance and clothing. The only difference was that Mia held their child in her arms, while the woman behind her held a sinister doll.
"Mia, don't be afraid. The Priest and Mr. Lionel are right here; nothing will happen." The husband embraced his wife to comfort her. Seeing that he was still relatively calm, Lionel asked,
"Is that the doll you mentioned she's holding?"
The husband looked at the woman who resembled his wife, then observed the doll 'she' held in her arms. Only half of the doll's body was visible, but the man still recognized it and nodded, saying,
"That's the doll!"
"Good, it seems this malevolent spirit is very enthusiastic; it appeared to greet us as soon as we arrived."
Saying this, Lionel moved closer, shielding the three behind him. "I must say, I'm not impressed by this doll's makeup. What made you think of buying such a doll? It looks unsettling."
The man was a bit embarrassed, as his wife's other dolls had similar makeup.
After easing the tense atmosphere, Lionel's black eyes instantly turned iridescent. His Mystic Eyes of Death Perception activated, and the weaknesses of all things appeared before him. Whether facing ghosts or malevolent spirits, as long as he landed a close-range attack, they would vanish into thin air.
"It feels a bit strange, not like a physical object."
In Lionel's eyes, the fake 'Mia' in front of him and the death lines of the surrounding environment were one. This indicated that the malevolent spirit before him and the gloomy corridor were the same thing. So... Lionel once again drew his short sword; he still preferred to use a blade as the conduit for his Mystic Eyes of Death Perception ability.
Instead of striking the fake 'Mia' in front of him, Lionel thrust his sword into the wall.
Instantly, the gloomy atmosphere of the corridor vanished, and with it, the female ghost 'fake' Mia and the doll in her arms also disappeared.
"Mr. Lionel, what happened?" the man asked.
Putting away his short sword, Lionel explained,
"Everything we saw just now was fake, an illusion created by that malevolent spirit. Its purpose was probably to scare us away, or rather, to scare me away."
Seeing that the surroundings had returned to normal, the couple also calmed down considerably.
"Alright, take me to your apartment. I think this malevolent spirit's ability can only go so far."
"Yes, Mr. Lionel!" Lionel's actions just now made the couple believe even more in his exorcist abilities. With a mere slash of his sword through the air, the malevolent spirit was forced to retreat.
Without delay, the couple led Lionel and the Old Priest into their apartment.
After surveying the apartment's layout, Lionel asked the couple, "Where did you put that doll?"
"Before going to the church, we put it on the sofa."
Lionel pointed to the living room sofa, "This one? There's nothing on it."
Mia was very bewildered, "I remember putting it on that sofa. How could it not be there?"
The husband picked up the throw pillows on the sofa one by one but couldn't find the doll either.
"It seems it's hiding. Do you mind if I search inside the house?" Lionel swept his hand through each room.
"Of course not, Mr. Lionel, please feel free to do whatever you need!" They had no objections.
Because he was unfamiliar with the couple's house layout, Lionel searched from the outside in, room by room. During this time, his Mystic Eyes of Death Perception remained active, his iridescent eyes scanning every corner of the room.
Bathroom, kitchen, bedroom, study. Lionel arrived at the innermost room. "What's this room for?"
Mia said,
"This is our daughter Lia's nursery. The doll used to be in this room, but after a series of strange occurrences, we never put that doll back in. Yet, it still always appears in this room out of nowhere!"
"Mm," Lionel nodded, indicating he understood.
Entering Lia's nursery, there were many dolls on the walls and shelves. Lionel asked Mia, who had followed him in, "Is that doll on the wall?"
Mia carefully scanned every doll on the wall, shaking her head. "None of these are it."
There was nowhere else left. Lionel's gaze fell on the only unexamined spot in the room: the crib in the center. The crib was currently covered with a blackout cover, concealing what was inside.
He made Mia stand behind him. Lionel slowly lifted the blackout cover from the crib. As he lifted it halfway, Lionel glimpsed a white dress inside.
Swish!
The closed window inexplicably opened, and a strong gust of wind suddenly arose, sucking all the items in the room towards the window.
"Hey!"
Pressing down with his right hand on Mia, who was almost sucked towards the window by the wind, Lionel hooked his left hand onto the crib, preventing the doll from escaping with the wind.
"Get out first!"
Lionel exerted force with his right hand, flinging Mia towards the door. The nursery door opened inwards and hadn't closed during the suction. The husband was at the doorway at this moment and directly caught his wife as she flew out.
Oww—
An inhuman cry rang out. The malevolent spirit summoned three black monsters resembling monkeys. They crawled on the ground, hissing lowly, then pounced towards Lionel.
Lionel, with his right hand now free, quickly drew the short sword from inside his clothes. Three swift slashes, and the three monkey monsters turned to ash.
The crib was still shaking violently, trying to escape Lionel's grasp. The shaking grew more and more intense until, at a certain critical point, snap, the wooden crib fell apart.
The eerily made-up Annabelle doll flew towards the window.
Lionel reached out to grab it, but his hand passed right through the doll.
His eyebrow twitched; he couldn't grasp it. In a flash, Lionel thought of a solution: he equipped the Entry [Armament Haki]. His left hand, not holding the sword, was imbued with colorless Armament Haki.
He managed to grab Annabelle before she fell out the window.