The earth-shattering roar seemed to subside, though the destructive golden energy still left a scorching heat in the air.
However, before Kyoko could even catch her breath, a wave of malice even thicker than before washed over them!
"Wooo—!!"
"Roar!!"
The entire apartment building awakened, like a giant beast that had been thoroughly enraged!
In the hallway, large chunks of mottled paint peeled off the walls, revealing not concrete beneath, but dark red, foul blood.
*Drip.*
A thick, pitch-black liquid resembling asphalt began to seep from the ceiling, carrying a nauseating stench of rot.
Suddenly, she saw a bloodshot, crimson vertical pupil snap open on the wall, staring dead at her!
"Ah..."
Kyoko wanted to scream, but her throat felt as if it were being choked by an invisible hand. She couldn't make a sound.
An eerie noise echoed from the hallway.
The darkness there was gathering and taking shape.
Dozens of twisted, shadowy figures crawled out from the ceiling, floor, and walls. Howling, they lunged at each other in a frenzy, tearing off one another's arms and heads to forcefully attach them to their own bodies.
Finally, an abomination stitched together from the fusion of dozens of vengeful spirits appeared in the corridor. Its massive body nearly filled the entire hallway, with several faces contorted in agony undulating across its flesh as a multitude of arms scratched about wildly.
A smile on his face, Yang Yi slowly raised the dark-gold Bolter in his hands.
"Praise The Emperor," Yang Yi's calm voice rang out. "Praise the Machine God."
Then, he pulled the trigger.
An intense beam of light erupted from the muzzle, and for a split second, the world fell completely silent.
"BOOM—!!!"
In the next second, a deafening explosion echoed out.
It wasn't the sound of a gunshot; it was the roar of a god!
A beam of pure golden holy light, mixed with The Emperor's endless wrath, transformed into a devastating torrent of energy that instantly engulfed the entire hallway!
Kyoko couldn't see anything at all; her vision was entirely filled with gold.
The moment they came into contact with the holy light, all the vengeful spirits in the corridor simply vanished.
The golden light continued unabated. The hallway's walls, ceiling, and floor... the very architectural structure of this apartment building was incredibly fragile in the face of The Emperor's wrath.
The holy light effortlessly pierced right through the side wall of the apartment building.
"Rumble—!"
The entire building shook violently.
When the light dissipated, Kyoko tremblingly opened her eyes.
Before her appeared a perfectly smooth, circular breach dozens of meters long and over three meters in diameter, punching straight through the entire building from where she stood! The edges of the tunnel were even radiating faint golden embers.
Through that massive hole, she could clearly see the distant city's nightscape and flashing neon lights!
This building was... was shot straight through with a single bullet?!
"Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!!"
While Kyoko was lost in her shock, Tomie's "exorcism" was still ongoing.
The runic submachine guns in her hands continuously spat out ghostly blue tongues of fire. Countless bullets gleaming with blue light shot forth.
The eerie shadows attempting to flee were tracked down and struck by the bullets, pinning them to the walls.
Immediately after, ghostly blue runic flames ignited. The shadows were burned to ash amidst their agonizing screams, leaving only scorched brands on the walls.
...
Deep within the apartment's foundation, in the darkest sludge of the lowest level.
A figure dressed in rotting monk robes suddenly snapped open its hollow eye sockets. It was the "Master" of this building, the strongest earthbound spirit entrenched in this place.
Just moments ago, it had sensed two exorcists entering the building. It was just preparing to make a move and kill them when it saw that pillar of light.
It abandoned all thoughts of resistance and made the most difficult decision an earthbound spirit could make—forcibly severing its century-long soul connection with this building!
Even if its vitality was severely damaged, even if it was brought to the brink of death, it had to escape.
Without a shred of hesitation, its figure decisively burrowed deep underground.
...
Back in the hallway, with the "Master's" escape, that oppressive malice instantly dissipated.
Satisfied, Yang Yi put away The Emperor's Bolter. He turned to look at the massive hole and the riddled walls before him, then snapped his fingers at the wall.
*Snap.*
Amidst the crisp sound, Kyoko witnessed a miracle.
The gaping hole that had been punched through, the scorched walls... everything was reversing! Rubble flew back into place, the concrete healed, and the paint automatically reapplied itself. In less than three seconds, the hallway was as good as new.
It was as if everything that had just happened was merely Kyoko's nightmare.
At this moment, Kyoko was absolutely certain that compared to the ghosts, these two were the real "monsters."
*Thank goodness these two monsters are here to save me!*
*Thud!*
Kyoko fell to her knees once again. This time, she prostrated herself completely, kowtowing desperately in Yang Yi and Tomie's direction.
"Masters! Immortals! Living Bodhisattvas!"
Unable to hold it in any longer, she hugged Yang Yi's trouser leg and bawled, "Masters, I'm begging you, please save my cousin!"
Kyoko Yotsuya cried so hard she could barely catch her breath. "My cousin's name is Miko Yotsuya! She's been acting really strange lately! She often trembles at thin air, cries secretly by herself, and sometimes suddenly freezes in place, as if she's seen something absolutely terrifying!"
"I used to think she was just under a lot of academic pressure, but now I know, she must have... she must have been seeing these filthy things too!"
"Please, I'm begging you, save her! She's much more timid than I am. If this keeps up, something bad is going to happen to her sooner or later! Wuu wuu wuu..."
"Miko Yotsuya?"
Hearing this name, Yang Yi immediately became interested. *That strong-willed girl who can see ghosts but desperately pretends she can't? Interesting.*
"Whoa, a new toy?"
Tomie grew excited as well. She put away her submachine guns and swept her gaze over the corner, where a few lingering old man ghosts were shivering in fear.
She immediately curled her lips in dissatisfaction. "Tch, these ugly things are way too low-level. They're no fun at all, getting wiped out so quickly."
"Heh," Yang Yi chuckled lightly. "Tomie, these pieces of trash you're seeing are merely the surface layer of this world."
Tomie paused. "The surface layer?"
"Want to see something truly fun?" Yang Yi slowly walked up to her and, under Tomie's expectant gaze, gently covered her eyes with his hand.
"Don't move. Look through the gaps in my fingers."
A sliver of psionic radiance leaked through his fingers, allowing Tomie a glimpse into the "deeper" world.
Tomie's body trembled slightly.
Then, looking through the gaps in Yang Yi's fingers, she saw a brand-new world.
The city outside the window had completely transformed into hell!
The pitch-black sky was shrouded by twisted, indescribable, massive shadows slowly cruising through the clouds. Clinging to the tallest skyscraper in the distance was an unimaginably colossal lump of flesh, covered densely in swiveling eyeballs!
Tomie was trembling all over with excitement.
"Wow!" Her eyes sparkled. "So this world is actually this amazing!!"
The very moment she voiced her marvel.
Beside the apartment building, a massive one-eyed evil spirit that happened to be wandering by suddenly stopped in its tracks.
Its gigantic, bloodshot eye slowly swiveled, looking toward Tomie and Yang Yi inside the apartment.
"You can see..."
"You can see me..."
"BOOM—!"
The one-eyed evil spirit's massive body charged straight toward the apartment. Wherever it passed, weaker ghosts and monsters were directly stomped into oblivion.
"Whoa! That big guy is coming over!" Instead of being afraid, Tomie shouted with a face full of disgust, "You're too gross! Stay away!"
Hearing Tomie's provocation, the excitement in the one-eyed evil spirit's eye burned even brighter.
"You can see! You really can see!"