"It is not an evil spirit, but a demon."

Seia’s answer was brief and to the point, yet it caused Elise’s expression to shift slightly as well.

Noticing the sudden, uncanny shift in the atmosphere between the two, Josh couldn’t help but ask, "What’s wrong? Is there a difference between the two?"

"Yes." Knowing he lacked knowledge in this area, Seia nodded and explained, "Evil spirits are ghosts transformed from deceased humans, whereas demons are denizens born of Hell. Compared to demons, evil spirits can influence the material world with fewer restrictions. On the other hand, though demons are far more powerful, they must interfere with human consciousness to seize a physical body."

"Once they have possession of a body, they can use that human form to affect the material world."

"Meaning, a demon is much more dangerous than an evil spirit once it takes over a body?"

Josh finally grasped the distinction between them, and panic began to set in. "Then we have to get Dalton and Clark back to their bodies as fast as possible! Otherwise, if their bodies are stolen..."

"We do indeed need to help them return as soon as possible."

As Seia spoke, she looked toward Josh and offered a reassuring smile. "However, the real cause for concern isn’t that. It’s the situation within the Further."

"The Further... ah!"

It clicked for Josh.

If the material world referred to where they currently stood, then what about the Further, that realm of souls?

A demon faced heavy restrictions in the material world, but inside the Further, it was vastly more dangerous than any evil spirit.

Elise spoke up next. "I am already prepared on my end. Through a ritual, I can use a blood relative of the lost to pinpoint the location of their souls. However, I must enter alone."

Having finished, she looked at Seia to see if the girl had a better alternative.

"I have my own way of entering the Further, so please do not worry." Though Seia didn’t possess a superior method, she was capable of going along, which brought a slight measure of peace to Elise.

With their course of action decided, the five of them returned to the first-floor living room.

At that moment, Josh’s mother, Lorraine, was comforting a visibly distressed Renai. Seeing the others descend, both women looked over.

Once the adults were gathered, Elise began her explanation.

She detailed the procedure of the ritual and gave a stern warning: "This method is extremely risky. If something goes wrong, not only will we fail to recover the souls of Dalton and Clark, but whoever goes in to help stands a massive chance of becoming lost forever."

"This..."

Josh, Renai, and Lorraine exchanged glances. Then, Josh summoned his courage and said, "If that’s the case, let me go! I am Dalton’s father. When it comes to blood relations, no one is more suited than me."

Though he hadn’t believed in ghosts and gods at the start, the moment he accepted the truth, he immediately shouldered his responsibility as the head of the household.

"There is no need for everyone to be so anxious."

At that moment, Seia suddenly spoke. "My method of entering the Further differs from Ms. Elise’s. While I cannot track down a specific person through blood ties, simply bringing someone back is quite easy."

Her words eased the tense atmosphere in the room, instilling a great deal of confidence in everyone’s hearts.

With one capable of locating the target and another ensuring a safety net, they at least possessed a relatively secure means of operation.

Once the arrangements were settled, the ritual commenced immediately.

Down in the basement storage room, Elise placed an oil lamp in the center of a round table. Everyone sat around it, holding hands, remaining completely silent in accordance with Elise’s strict instructions.

The room fell deathly quiet. No one dared to breathe heavily, their eyes fixed intently on Elise’s every move.

After a moment, Elise’s voice softly echoed, "I have found Dalton’s soul... but he seems to be terrified of something, he doesn’t dare to communicate with me... Father Clark’s soul is not by Dalton’s side..."

She felt a wave of confusion and worry over this development, a sentiment shared by everyone present.

The priest’s absence not only meant Dalton’s safety was left completely unguarded, but it also indirectly implied that the priest himself was currently in a dire situation.

Otherwise, he would never leave a child to wander the Further alone.

Of course, it was also possible that Father Clark and Dalton had simply never crossed paths, though that likelihood was slim.

The news filtering back from the Further cast a dark shadow of impending crisis over everyone’s hearts. Only Seia, who had read the script beforehand, quietly drew the handgun holstered against her leg.

The very next instant, a sudden, freezing wind blew out of nowhere into the previously tranquil surroundings.

Elise’s voice instantly spiked with panic, "Oh no! My communication with Dalton has been discovered by that demon!"

The lights in the room began to flicker violently. Everyone knew things had taken a turn for the worse.

Amidst the strobing lights, several eager silhouettes of evil spirits manifested from all directions, instantly launching an attack on everyone present.

Terror filled the eyes of Renai and Josh, while even Lorraine, who had experienced this once before, froze up completely.

Elise immediately raised her oil lamp. This was a holy artifact she had acquired years ago; when fueled by her spiritual power, it could inflict immense agony upon evil spirits. Though dealing actual, permanent damage was difficult, it was more than enough to handle most situations.

Yet in the next second, a loud bang—a sound incredibly familiar to any American—echoed through the room.

Seia’s handgun had already been aimed at a bald evil spirit closest to Renai.

When dealing with demons or demonic familiars, it might take a few extra shots, but for these wandering ghosts and isolated spirits, a single round was enough to completely incapacitate them.

Her action undoubtedly drew the attention of every evil spirit in the room. Instead of showing even a shred of fear, they collectively surged straight toward her.

"Get back!" Elise rushed over to the others, lantern in hand, shouting fiercely at the spirits attempting to strike them.

The flesh of any spirit that drew near her instantly began to blister and scorch. Accompanied by their wretched screams, Elise shielded the group together before turning her gaze to check on Seia.

This basement storage room wasn’t narrow; it spanned roughly a hundred square meters. Although it was packed with shelves and clutter, it provided more than enough space for Seia to maneuver.

Bang!

The first spirit to charge Seia had its skull completely blown open.

Silver bullets infused with holy power were an absolute form of dimensional suppression against these entities. While piercing through the skull, the bullet even embedded itself deep into the wall.

Noticing this, Seia decisively chose to aim for their torsos. As her bullet tore through one evil spirit, it simultaneously dissipated the spirit standing directly behind it.

The little fat bird also noticed the situation outside. Tucking out from her hair, it flew straight into an evil spirit attempting a flank attack on Seia. Having truly earned the title of a ’divine beast’ by now, the bird struck the spirit, instantly turning it into a cloud of black dust.

Seia had initially thought the sheer number of evil spirits might prove a bit troublesome, but... reality proved that the Nun she had challenged at the very beginning was a high-tier endgame boss.

Far from being troublesome, these spirits couldn’t even manage to get close to her. Simply standing her ground and firing was enough to resolve the entire crisis.

Whenever she needed to reload, the little fat bird was right there in front, blocking any spirits from drawing near.

Compared to facing Valak, this entire combat sequence felt like mere target practice.

Elise had no idea what Seia was thinking, for she was entirely struck with awe.

Though she had tried to estimate Seia’s abilities as highly as possible, seeing her dispatch so many evil spirits with such fluid, effortless grace completely shattered and rebuilt her worldview.

One had to understand that for an ordinary exorcist, let alone dealing with multiple spirits at once, even a single evil spirit was usually enough to give them a run for their money.

Yet here was Seia, casually handling a whole horde simultaneously.

"Incredible..."

Once the basement fell silent again, Elise walked over to Seia with a stunned, vacant expression.

Lorraine didn’t know much about the exorcism circle, but she did have some passing knowledge; otherwise, she wouldn’t have known an intermediate like Elise.

In her understanding, when people in the exorcist community praised or described someone’s prowess, it was usually along the lines of "so-and-so once dealt with five evil spirits," "so-and-so dealt with seven," or "so-and-so handled over a dozen."

The number of spirits was essentially the benchmark for an exorcist’s experience and strength. But looking at the horde just now, there were easily a dozen, maybe even over twenty spirits, and they had all been eradicated by a single person.

Furthermore, seeing Elise—a medium of renowned reputation—looking completely astounded made Lorraine realize just how extraordinary this feat truly was.

And this girl was still so young.

"My god... Is this what a legendary exorcist looks like?" Lorraine recalled how her daughter-in-law, Renai, had introduced Seia when they first arrived. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Hearing this, Josh and Renai also remembered that moment.

In fact, even Renai herself had nearly forgotten about it.

After all, no matter how grand the titles sounded, without seeing the actual display before one’s eyes, it ultimately lacked a sense of reality and conviction. But the girl’s actions and combat prowess just now brought them a profound sense of peace.

"Seia, do you need to rest?"

Elise gradually composed herself, her tone carrying some concern for Seia’s condition.

"It is quite alright. I barely exerted any effort just now; it did most of the work." Seia glanced upward. Though she couldn’t see the top of her own head, everyone else followed her gaze and noticed the plump, white bird resting atop Seia’s hair.

"This is...?" Elise could tell this bird was different, given the unmistakable holy aura radiating from its body.

Renai remembered the bird. It was the pet the girl kept by her side when she visited her room earlier. However, due to her anxiety at the time, she had only given it a passing glance without paying much attention.

She never imagined this bird could actually defeat evil spirits.

Josh looked at the little fat bird with curiosity, but his expression held more of a deep yearning. "What kind of bird is that? Can we buy one just like it?"

"It is a long-tailed tit," Seia introduced simply. "I am sorry, Mr. Josh, but there is only one in this world. Other long-tailed tits do not possess this kind of special power."

"I see..."

Hearing this, Josh felt a wave of disappointment. He desperately wanted a bird like that; after all, since it could defeat evil spirits, having it around would provide an immense sense of security for him and his family.

But knowing it was impossible for Seia to sell it to him, he could only nod regretfully.

Seeing that Seia showed no signs of fatigue, Elise bypassed the lighthearted topic. After all, they still had unfinished business.

"Just now, in order to locate Dalton, I established a connection with him inside the Further. However, that connection was noticed by the demon targeting him, and it used that link to manifest those spirits into the real world..."

"Manifesting evil spirits into reality..." Josh frowned.

"Yes."

Elise’s expression grew solemn.

"Demons cannot excessively interfere with the material world; that is a law, a fundamental rule." Seia offered everyone a calm smile, her voice steady, clearly unbothered by the red-faced demon’s actions. "The reason I came here is precisely because of it."

"Do you possess the gift of precognition?" Elise hadn’t expected to hear those words.

As a powerful exorcist who also possessed extraordinary medium faculties, Seia had overturned her decades-old worldview more than once today.

"In the Church, this is referred to as a blessing."

Seia shook her head, not quite agreeing with Elise’s secular terminology, though her unchanging smile proved she wasn’t offended.

This made Elise feel a bit self-conscious. Although she had friends within the Church, she rarely dealt directly with Church exorcists.

From her friends’ accounts, she knew that many ordained exorcists—and regular parishioners alike—held a distinct prejudice against independent spiritualists.

Because many independent mediums didn’t worship God, yet frequently borrowed His power during exorcisms, it was undoubtedly seen as a form of irreverence in the eyes of believers.

Furthermore, because there were plenty of naturally gifted individuals among independent spiritualists, Church exorcists and certain believers viewed them as textbook examples of hypocrites who received blessings but chose to profit from them instead of fulfilling religious obligations.

The events that had just transpired had delivered a major shock to Elise, causing her to instinctively fall back on her secular phrasing.

She hadn’t expected the girl before her to not only be incredibly capable, but also highly tolerant of their informal terms.

Then again, it made sense; from the moment they first met, this girl hadn’t shown an ounce of rejection toward her.

"My apologies, I meant no offense." Since the other party had shown such grace in not minding, Elise offered her apology and let the matter drop. "Because of the red-faced demon’s presence, I cannot send Mr. Josh directly to Dalton’s side."

Everyone had witnessed the scene just now. With that red-faced demon watching, before they could even send someone over, they would likely face another assault from evil spirits, destroying the ritual entirely.

"Therefore, we must enter the Further directly and find Dalton by foot. As for Father Clark..."

Elise looked at Seia, finding the latter half of her sentence difficult to utter. "I cannot locate his position. If we want to find him, we will have to rely on other means..."

The Further was a disjointed space where time and geography were chaotic and unstructured. Without a way to anchor a location, even if Clark stood completely still, one could search for a lifetime and still never find him.

"You can leave Father Clark to me. I have a way to find him."

Seia signaled for her not to worry.

While she technically didn’t have a concrete plan at the moment, relying on a bit of intuition and faith would surely see them through.

Seeing that Seia’s confidence didn’t seem feigned, Elise finally nodded.

"Very well, let us begin."

--+--

T/N: If you want advance Chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL