[Chapter 249: Let Me Eat It]
Buzz--!
A powerful, mysterious force sealed the magnetic field throughout the entire room.
The phantom that had tried to escape slammed into the invisible barrier, erupting into a cloud of black smoke as it let out another roar of pain.
"Mr. Cross... what... what just happened?"
Hearing the noise, Scott burst through the door. Seeing the room bathed in red light and the twisted, monstrous shadow hovering mid-air, his legs weakened with fear.
He had to grab the doorframe to keep from collapsing to his knees.
Daniel didn't look back. "Get out! Close the door!"
Seeing that his daughter was safe for the moment, Scott didn't dare linger. He gritted his teeth and retreated behind the door, gripping the handle tightly.
Daniel stared at the phantom as it lunged left and right inside the Ward.
The creature finally revealed something of its true form.
It had no fixed shape -- more like a mass of rotten flesh stitched together from countless agonizingly grinning faces.
On every face was that stiff, twisted smile stretched nearly to the ears.
It wasn't just a mental virus; it had evolved in this world into an anomaly known as the "Smiling Demon."
"Hehe... You can't... save... her..."
Layered echoes emanated from the phantom.
Daniel sneered. "Just because of you?"
The phantom, stitched from countless smiling faces, suddenly accelerated, turning into a streak of dark red light that shot straight for the space between Daniel's eyebrows.
Daniel stood firm, neither blinking nor assuming a defensive stance.
"Whoosh--"
The phantom passed through Daniel's body like wind blowing past solid rock.
Daniel was completely unharmed; his figure didn't even sway.
The phantom abruptly stopped in mid-air and turned around. The countless smiling faces simultaneously showed shock and uncertainty.
"How is this possible... Why do you... have no trauma?"
The layered echoes rang out again, this time tinged with obvious panic.
"Trauma?" Daniel turned, a mocking curl at the corner of his mouth. "Of course there's trauma, but your level is simply not high enough."
He looked up, eyes cold. "I have never seen anyone infected by you commit suicide right before me. Your rules don't affect me."
The phantom let out an angry roar.
Refusing to believe it, it charged again at Daniel.
It even manifested countless bloody hands, trying to tear through the man's mental defenses.
But with every strike, it passed right through Daniel's body. It couldn't even leave a single wrinkle on his clothes.
This was the limitation of rule-based evil spirits.
Until their rules are met, they are invincible and mysterious. But to those outside those rules, they are as weak as mere illusions.
Realizing it could do nothing to Daniel, the phantom suddenly veered and lunged toward Taylor in the hospital bed. If it could dive back into Taylor's consciousness, it could continue to hide.
"In your dreams."
Daniel gave his right hand a light flick, and Taylor's body erupted with streaks of golden light once more.
"Bang!"
The phantom slammed into the golden light like hitting a red-hot iron wall.
It burst into a cloud of foul-smelling black smoke and was sent flying back with a scream.
"Please... Let me go... I'll leave this place..."
The phantom began begging for mercy, its voice sharp and miserable.
It tried to rush for the door, but it was sealed inside the room by the power of the Ward.
Daniel flipped his hand, and a Bell appeared.
"Ding--"
With every ring, the phantom shrank.
Its massive size gradually thinned under the bell's vibration.
Daniel toyed with it like someone playing with a fly trapped inside a glass bottle.
Whenever the phantom tried to break through one way, he casually fired a blast of energy from his finger to push it back.
"Don't you like making people smile?"
Daniel walked to the corner, looking at the phantom now shriveled into a trembling ball.
The countless mouths on the phantom were tightly shut.
It could no longer emit that hair-raising laughter.
It pounded repeatedly against the red light condensed by the Ward.
Its arrogance had vanished, leaving only utter despair.
It realized it had been completely locked into this dimension by this man. It couldn't get out, couldn't escape.
It even felt the man gradually grinding away its mental source power.
"No... Don't destroy me... I'm willing to go somewhere else..."
"A thing like you is poison to the air every second it remains."
Daniel's gaze sharpened, his playful expression fading.
His left hand formed a Thunder Seal, and violet electric arcs flickered faintly in his palm.
The thunderous light at Daniel's fingertips grew blinding.
Violet arcs crackled loudly, almost setting the distorted air around him aflame.
Just as he was about to call down the lightning, the air beside him shifted.
"Master, wait a moment."
Chris's magnetic, somewhat urgent voice rang in his ear.
Immediately after, a cloud of pink mist condensed in the air.
Chris's curvaceous figure slowly emerged.
She didn't look at Daniel but stared intensely at the "Smiling Spirit" trapped in the Ward.
Her eyes sparkled with undisguised greed.
Daniel glanced at her sideways, his voice cold, "What do you want to do?"
Chris swayed her slender waist and walked to Daniel's side, her bedroom eyes full of allure.
She said in a flattering tone, "Master, killing it directly would be too wasteful. Don't forget, I'm also a type of spiritual entity. Although this 'Smiling Spirit' is disgusting, its mental power is incredibly pure and stable. That's the nourishment it's gathered from its continuous 'seeding' over time."
Daniel's heart stirred. The thunderous light at his fingertips retracted slightly.
"So?"
Chris leaned close to Daniel's ear, her breath sweet as orchids, voice low.
With a seductive hook to her tone, she said, "If you let me devour it, my Mental Core will be greatly reinforced. Then I can not only help you handle more complex financial and network information... but even during... during moments of pleasure, I won't have to reveal that mangled true form anymore. I can always maintain this perfect state that satisfies you. No matter how violent the 'fluctuations' get, I won't lose control."
"That's it?"
Daniel spoke flatly, expressionless.
However, the hand flickering with thunder suddenly flipped.
The violent thunderous intent instantly withdrew, transforming into a tangible mana barrier.
He pinned the phantom firmly against the corner.
"Why haven't you started yet?" Daniel barked coldly.
"Hehe, thank you for fulfilling my wish, Master."
Chris let out a charming laugh, her expression instantly turning sharp.
She no longer held her enchanting human form; instead, her entire being exploded.
She transformed into a massive Mental Vortex shimmering with eerie pink light.
The vortex carried powerful suction, instantly enveloping the phantom stitched from countless smiling faces.
"No... No! What is this thing! Let me go!"
The Smiling Spirit let out its final, most piercing scream.
The once solid smiling faces were torn to pieces by the vortex.
They dissolved into strands of pure black energy, eroded and devoured bit by bit by the pink light.
The red light in the room flashed violently, and the Ward stakes buzzed.
After a full ten minutes, the black shadow completely vanished.
Chris's figure condensed once again mid-air.
*****
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