[Chapter 248: It's Here]
Daniel glanced at her, his tone cold. "That was just an illusion it created."
"The subconscious doesn't lie, Master." Chris floated before Daniel, her finger tracing his jawline. "This little girl was just admitting in her heart that she'd rather you force her than face some monster. Tsk tsk. It seems your 'Messenger of Justice' aura is absolutely devastating to teenage girls like her. You're practically 'committing a crime,' you know."
"I think you're about to get another lesson." Daniel withdrew his gaze, his voice deepening.
Instead of fear, Chris looked like she had just heard a delightful command. She slumped softly onto the carpet at Daniel's feet, her eyes hazy and lips curled into a darkly excited smile.
"Yes, Master." Chris pulled open her collar, revealing a smooth expanse of skin. Her voice dripped with sickly sweetness. "It's not like you don't know -- your servant loves Master's 'punishment' the most. Quickly, use your magic to whip me hard, just like you do with those evil spirits. Don't show me any mercy."
Daniel stared at the shameless succubus at his feet and felt a wave of helplessness. Mental beings like her, impervious to reason and with such unusual fetishes, were truly difficult to deal with.
"Get back into the phone," Daniel barked.
"If Master doesn't whip me, I'm not going back."
Chris coiled around Daniel's leg like a snake. "This little girl is sleeping soundly. We could do some meaningful... 'experiments.'"
"Don't make me say it twice." A flicker of lightning flashed in Daniel's eyes.
Startled by the intensity, Chris shrank her neck and finally stood up with a sour expression.
"You really don't know how to appreciate a mood." She gave a soft huff and turned to smoke, but not before adding one last line before vanishing, "Master, remember not to lay a hand on that little bean sprout; it would be beneath your status."
The room finally fell silent.
Daniel sat back on the sofa and flipped open the magazine.
...
The night passed quickly.
As the horizon turned the pale color of a fish's belly, the distant sound of a street sweeper echoed through the streets of Beverly Hills outside the window.
Daniel closed the book and looked over at Taylor on the bed. The girl's eyelashes fluttered open slowly. Her complexion looked much better than the day before.
"Good morning, Mr. Cross."
Taylor sat up but quickly looked away, her small hands clutching the corner of the quilt subconsciously as the memories of last night resurfaced.
"Morning." Daniel stood, his tone calm as always. "Go wash up. Your father will be here soon."
"Oh, okay." Taylor lowered her head and hurried into the bathroom.
A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door.
Scott walked in carrying breakfast. He sized up the atmosphere in the room and looked at Daniel. Seeing that both of them appeared normal, he breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
"Mr. Cross, how was last night?" Scott asked with concern.
Daniel took the coffee calmly. "All is well."
...
The day passed with unusual tranquility.
The three of them stayed in the hotel.
Aside from occasionally flipping through the magazine, Daniel spent most of the time resting with his eyes closed.
Having reached the rank of Higher Ascendant Order, Daniel's Heart had become far more stable.
Not just for a day, he could remain calm and seated for a week or even a month.
This calm only made Scott more anxious; he always sensed it was the eerie silence before the storm.
...
Night fell. It was 1:00 a.m.
Taylor had already fallen into a deep sleep under the soothing effect of the Seal.
Daniel sat on the single sofa, his Spiritual Sense stretched like a fine spiderweb, enveloping the entire bedroom.
He was reviewing last night's situation.
When Taylor had fallen into the illusion last night, he hadn't noticed immediately.
This 'Smiling Spirit' was truly bizarre.
It didn't invade from the outside; instead, it was like a virus insidiously hidden in the genes.
It erupted directly from the depths of the victim's consciousness.
There were no Dark energy fluctuations, no spatial ripples. Unless he had used a 'Mind-Linking Seal' at the time to forcibly link to Taylor's mental world, to the outside world, she would have simply appeared to be dreaming.
If not for Chris, a fellow mental entity sensing the abnormal distortion in Taylor's brainwaves, Taylor might have lost her life strangling herself in that illusion.
"Master."
Chris's voice suddenly rang in his mind, urgent. "It's here. Taylor's consciousness is being forcibly taken over -- and it's happening very fast!"
Daniel snapped his eyes open.
Moonlight spilled onto the bed.
Taylor, who had been lying on her side, suddenly flipped stiffly to lie flat on her back.
Her eyes flew open, pupils shrinking to pinpoint dots. The whites were a dense web of bloodshot veins.
"Heh..."
A raspy sound escaped Taylor's throat.
Then Daniel saw the corners of her mouth twitch.
The muscles on each side seemed hooked by invisible strings, pulling upward and backward bit by bit.
The distortion far exceeded normal human limits.
Skin pulled taut, almost translucent, veins visible beneath the surface.
In less than two seconds, a monstrous grin stretched nearly from ear to ear, revealing two rows of deathly pale teeth that stretched across Taylor's youthful face.
"Heh heh heh..."
A weird laugh came from Taylor's mouth, but there was no joy in her eyes. Tears streamed down her cheeks.
The look she gave Daniel was full of silent pleading.
Clearly, she knew what she was doing but couldn't control herself.
She jerked upright, movements stiff as a broken puppet.
Her head tilted, that twisted smiling face looked utterly hideous in the faint moonlight.
"Go!"
Daniel's voice rang out, deep and commanding.
He formed a gun gesture with his fingers and pointed it at Taylor.
Buzz!
Blinding golden light exploded from Taylor's body as she lay on the bed.
The lights shot out like countless tiny needles from every pore.
"Ah--!"
A piercing scream blasted through the room.
It wasn't coming from Taylor's mouth.
Instead, it seemed to vibrate simultaneously through cracks in the air and every corner of the room.
Daniel had already planted a 'Spirit-Suppressing Seed' -- a magic power imbued with a sacred prayer seal -- into her consciousness.
It was designed for this exact moment.
Without hesitation, Daniel started reciting incantation:
By heaven's order and earth's foundation, let all corruption disperse.
Let hidden darkness be brought into holy light.
May the guardians of every direction bear witness and restore what is true.
By sacred decree and sanctified seal, let this command be known above and below.
Let what is bound be released, what is lost be guided.
Let every troubled soul find its rightful passage.
By judgment and mercy together, be cleansed and be at peace.
The Heart Purification Mantra. A sacred liturgy for dispelling illusion, resisting spiritual corruption, and restoring clarity to the mind and soul.
As the final words echoed through the room, the surrounding air rippled violently as if it were being boiled.
"Ah! Ah! No..."
The screams grew more terror-filled and desperate.
Taylor's face, nearly translucent from muscle strain, was forced back as if by invisible hands.
The corners of her mouth twitched shut, and her twisted stiffness rapidly receded.
Tears slid down her cheeks.
Her body weakened entirely, and she slumped back onto the bed, falling into a deep coma.
Almost simultaneously, a translucent, distorted, wave-like phantom was squeezed forcibly from the center of Taylor's brow.
The creature writhed frantically in midair, trying to dive into the floor.
"Trying to escape?"
Daniel's expression remained cold as he turned his right hand over, revealing three crimson ward stakes engraved with consecrated seals.
"Stay right there!"
He threw them with a backhand motion.
The three ward standards embedded themselves into the floor in a perfect triangular pattern, each occupying an anchor point.
The consecrated sigils etched upon them ignited with brilliant crimson light as streams of spiritual power linked the three anchors together.
"Ward... arise!"
*****
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