Bayue and his partner didn't hesitate. After exchanging a glance, they rushed toward the staircase behind them, which had already become a pile of ruins.
After clearing away the scattered rubble and debris, a broken staircase quickly reappeared before their eyes.
"Cleaning complete! Retreat!" Bayue shouted, then lightly leaped onto the broken steps.
His teammate looked back one last time and saw the Bizarre slowly pulling its long sword from its body.
CRACK! A crisp sound echoed. As the Bizarre clenched its hands, accompanied by a hissing sound of corrosion, the long sword instantly broke into several pieces.
Damn it, this is a big loss!
With a pained look at the remnants of his weapon, he suppressed his fury and turned to jump onto the broken staircase.
"Touk, we can retreat now!"
After yelling, the two of them ran straight down the stairs and out of the villa.
Down in the basement, Touk faced the Bizarre alone. He shivered as he saw its slightly thinned form and the malice in its blood-red eyes.
Xie Te, the hatred seems a bit too strong!
He glanced back at the cleared entrance and, without hesitating, turned and ran toward the exit.
The next second, a sudden force from behind sent him flying, slamming into the entrance like a cannonball.
COUGH... COUGH COUGH...
Struggling to his feet amid the rubble, Touk saw the Bizarre now right before him, and the corner of his mouth twitched.
Damn it! Why is it always me getting hit?
Touk, trapped in a dead end, didn't dare to leap up in the face of the approaching Bizarre. Looking at his nearly broken gauntlets, a fierce glint flashed in his eyes.
Fuck it, I'll just make a better pair!
Spiritual Power surged from within him into the nearly ruined gauntlets. Runes suddenly lit up, and even the gradually appearing cracks glowed brightly.
"Take this!"
When the gauntlets could no longer withstand any more Spiritual Power, Touk's hands shook. The finely cracked gauntlets instantly detached from his hands and crashed toward the Bizarre up ahead.
BOOM! Two fiery glows instantly lit up the dark basement.
Following the thunderous blasts, nearly half of the Bizarre's body was blown apart.
"I WILL RIP YOU TO PIECES!"
The Bizarre, after being silent for a while, finally spoke, its voice filled with resentment and vengeance. The black mist around it began to turn faintly red, instantly doubling the pressure on Touk.
Damn, it can transform too?
Not daring to stay any longer, Touk jumped up onto the staircase.
Without looking back, he charged out of the villa.
"Samor, get ready! That Evil Spirit is coming out!" Bayue shouted after running out from the villa's main entrance. He and his partner hurried towards the area underneath a full moon.
"How come it's just you two? Where's Touk?"
"He..." Before Bayue could finish, a figure suddenly flew out of the villa's door.
"It's Touk!" Samor frowned slightly as he saw the figure crash to the ground. "Are you okay?"
"COUGH... COUGH COUGH... Of course! Now it's your turn," Touk said, getting up from the ground. He waved his hand and then pointed towards the villa's front door.
Seeing that Touk was fine, Samor also breathed a sigh of relief.
Following the direction Touk pointed, Samor's gaze immediately turned to the villa's main gate, and his pupils constricted.
A thick black fog, like flowing water, gushed out from inside the villa. In just a moment, it covered all the land surrounding the villa.
The eerie aura within the black fog caused a solemn look to flash simultaneously in the eyes of the Exorcists positioned under the three full moons.
"It's out, Samor!"
Touk, who had already retreated beneath a full moon, keenly sensed a smear of blood-red fog appearing at the villa's entrance.
Alerted by Touk, something stirred in Samor's heart. The sphere in his hand floated up, and a beam of light suddenly shot from it toward the sky above the villa.
Simultaneously, the three full moons, positioned in three directions around the villa, also instantly projected beams of light, each as thick as a bucket, converging at the top of the villa.
In the blink of an eye, a great sun unexpectedly appeared above the villa.
It's really so beautiful! Touk couldn't help muttering to himself, sitting beneath the full moon and looking at the brilliant sun in the sky.
"Maybe," Bayue said, looking at the villa entrance where the Bizarre had yet to emerge. He spread his hands. "But I feel like we should have waited for it to come out before..."
Fuck! Why has it suddenly become such a coward?
Coming back to his senses, Touk cursed under his breath, stood up, took a few steps towards the villa, and waved his arms.
"Hey, dumbass! I'm right here!"
Touk's conspicuous actions successfully caught the Bizarre's attention.
Its blood-red eyes, filled with hatred, were fixed on this damned human.
Even the red fog around its body began to churn.
Meanwhile, Samor, controlling the great sun above the villa, finally locked onto the Bizarre's presence.
Although I'm a bit rusty, thankfully there were no mistakes...
The corners of Samor's mouth curled up slightly as something stirred in his heart. The great sun above the villa finally unleashed its might.
BOOM!
A column of scorching light, tens of feet wide, abruptly descended, piercing a large hole through the villa's roof.
"Oh, I think Mr. George won't be happy to see this!" Bayue shook his head as he watched the villa shudder under the great sun's onslaught.
"TSK! That's his son down there. Do you think he'd care about a mere villa?" Touk, having returned beneath the full moon, clearly disagreed with his teammate.
...
Under Samor's control, this improved Array gradually began to exhibit its power.
With just a few more beams, the villa where the Bizarre was hiding was reduced to rubble.
The Evil Spirit, the Array's main target, no longer possessed the momentum it had moments before.
The black fog on the ground had dissipated. A thin wisp of blood-red fog lay weakly in the huge crater, passively awaiting the next column of light.
"Is this the Evil Spirit?" The Exorcists gathered around the crater looked down at the Bizarre, sprawled below like a dead dog, pointing and talking among themselves.
Touk, catching up, saw their relaxed postures and furrowed his eyebrows. "Be careful! This is an Evil Spirit! It's not like the ones you've dealt with before."
"You mean this dead dog with no ability to resist?" an Exorcist laughed, stretching out his hand and pointing towards the Bizarre below.
The next second, accompanied by a screech, the Bizarre, which had seemed incapable of resistance, suddenly transformed into a ball of red light and charged towards the people above.
"XIE TE!" This unexpected turn panicked everyone.
However, a beam of light that followed closely from the sky instantly sent it crashing back down.