Chapter 224: 224
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"Poor guy. Those Dybbuks are very dangerous it looks like," Luuk concluded.
"Yes, but they can't possess just anyone. According to what I read, someone must have a strong repressed feeling for the creatures to be able to control them. Maybe that man has secretly been wanting to kill his wife, and the creature just helped him realize it," explained the detective.
Luuk nodded and then concealed the severed hand under his sweater, making it hold on to his belt like a buckle. He then increased his pace to catch up with Graham.
"Where to next?"
Pointing at a direction confidently, Graham answered, "This way."
Spooky carved pumpkins still lined up on each side of the cobblestone street, illuminating their way along with the street light up above. The two men headed west, walking past villagers who were sitting around in front of their houses.
"It's sure nice to live a simple life like them. No need to stress about overdue assignments and upcoming examinations..." Luuk muttered longingly. University life was killing him.
The detective shrugged. He had once experienced those hectic moments in his life and was glad that he didn't have to experience it again. Although, back then he could simply switch with Valentine for lectures that he really didn't want to attend.
The two men stopped in front of a building that looked like a storage house. The street in front of it was empty and the lights were not working. Through the windows, Luuk could see objects upon objects being piled on top of each other. There was an ominous feeling coming from the building, which tipped them off about the whereabouts of their target.
Graham gestured at Luuk and the latter nodded.
"Your lock is mine!"
As he made a swiping motion with his right hand, a rusty iron latch suddenly appeared in it. Luuk quickly discarded the object and got the Hand of Lauriere ready.
Graham opened the storage house and entered it carefully. A musty smell penetrated his nose at once the moment he took a step inside, and the thick layers of dust on the objects were blown up by the gentle wind that accompanied him.
Luuk followed closely behind, walking as lightly as he could. Inside, besides boxes and crates stacked on top of one another, there didn't seem to be any signs of humans activity. However, if he looked carefully, there was a faint marking on the floor which showed that something had been dragged on top of the layer of dust recently.
"Who is there?!" shouted someone from deeper inside the storage house. The voice belonged to a woman, but there was an animal-like ferocity in it.
Whoosh!
A strong gust of wind blew Graham and Luuk away all of sudden, while in front of them, a bloody woman was standing savagely, like an angered beast. Her footsteps were so light that they left no mark on the dust on the floor and her speed so fast that they almost couldn't see her coming. Her bloodshot eyes looked esurient and her teeth glaring.
"I order you to stop moving!"
Her whole body got immobilized right away. She looked like she was trying hard to break free, but her struggle was fruitless.
"We need to lure her outside. Burning the creature here will trigger an explosion," explained Graham the moment he noticed the floating particles in the air which came from a sack of flour behind the woman.
"I order you to follow me!"
Graham quickly ran towards the exit and the woman followed him for several steps. After that, the effect of Order ran out while she was still nowhere near the exit.
Crash!
The possessed woman had grabbed a wooden crate near her and threw it at Graham with all her strength. The detective, not being fast enough, was hit in the face by the crate as he turned around. He didn't even have the chance to defend himself using his cane.
"I order you to stop moving!"
Graham hastily moved the pieces of broken crate away from him and ran in another direction. His face hurt and his nose was bleeding slightly. The power of her throw was extraordinary, and if it had been something else like metal, his head might have been crushed.
"Your strength is mine!"
Luuk threw the severed hand at the immobilized woman and it quickly grabbed the woman's hand that was closest to it. After that, the young medical student pulled the rope along with the severed hand that was now holding a shiny orb.
"She must be a Contractbound. That strength is not normal," Graham concluded.
The woman now suddenly looked very weak like someone who hadn't eaten for weeks. However, her speed was still scarily high. The moment the effect of Order ran out, which happened only a few seconds later, she retreated like the wind.
"Can you make the stolen strength your own?" asked Graham, looking at the orb in the severed hand.
Luuk shook his head.
"Not with my current power. But I have a feeling I'll be able to do it once I get stronger,"
The woman was now in hiding since her strength had been stolen. Going deeper into the storage area was a bad idea, but they had no other choice. They had to get the woman out of the storage somehow, and since she seemed to still retain her intelligence, luring her would not work. Graham had to use his new trick to do the job.
The detective concentrated on the belt that he was wearing and sent some energy into it, causing one of the patterns to glow.
"I, in the name of the Deity of Deception and Hidden Thoughts, call forth Illusion Substitutes to defend against the enemy's attacks!"
Several illusory ink sketches appeared and merged into Graham's body. He could now use Valentine's weaker version of Illusion Substitutes twice.
He nodded at Luuk and the two of them quickly dashed inside, following the path that the possessed woman might have taken. The storage house was much bigger than it looked from the outside, and the path was like a maze of boxes and crates.
The smell of dust was starting to slowly mix with the smell of blood. They followed the iron stench and found a severed body of an unidentifiable person not long after. It looked like the person was being eaten by a beast.
"I order you to stop moving!"
Graham shouted the moment he noticed the woman who was hiding behind a giant crate. She seemed to be planning to run away again when she saw them.
"Your intention to run away is mine!"
Luuk swiped his right hand and an orb appeared there. He now already had two stolen objects that he was keeping, so he couldn't steal anything else for the time being.
Graham praised his partner in his heart. It was exactly what he needed. The woman needed not to think about escaping so strongly or his ability wouldn't work.
Concentrating on the immobilized and weakened woman who had no intention of running away, Graham began shouting an Order.
"I order you to think about staying in front of this storage house!"
With just that, the woman would start thinking about going out of there. However, that would be it. If she was still thinking about escaping from them, the Order would be wiped instantly as she changed her mind back, but now Graham had some extra seconds to chant his next ability.
"I, in the name of the Deity of Domination and Order, intensify your desire to go to the entrance of this storage house!"
The thought that she just had was suddenly intensified, along with the urge. The moment Graham's immobilizing Order wore out, the possessed woman started running at a frightening speed towards the entrance, leaving the two men behind.
"Let's go now, quick!"
Graham and Luuk followed the woman and found her standing at the front of the storage building solemnly. It was as if she was fulfilling her desire of being there. She didn't even pay attention to the two men who were following them.
The street was luckily still empty around the dark storage house. Luuk went on standby while Graham conjured a tiny floating flame which he used to see the Dybbuk's true form. The moment the creature's true form was revealed, Graham used an Order on it.
"I order you to leave the woman's body!"
A transparent figure that looked like an old, hunch-backed man with hollow eyes and mouth began coming out of the woman slowly. It appeared that the creature was resisting the Order, but Graham was much stronger than it. The woman collapsed to the ground the moment the creature was completely out.
Whoosh!
Graham had readied a real flame and used it to burn the creature, which was trying to return to the woman's body. The flame set fire to the Dybbuk and burned it, turning it into a cloud of smoke that dissipated quickly. All the while, it was shrieking in pain as if it was being burned by the fire of hell itself.
An object resembling a green pearl was left behind by the dead Dybbuk, lying near the bloody woman who was slowly regaining consciousness. Luuk quickly used his ability to snatch the pearl away after releasing the woman's stolen intention. After that, the two men disappeared into the dark street.
"That's two. I need four more. So it's not always easy," Graham complained.
Although his divination showed him there was no danger, it didn't mean the mission would be a walk in the park either.
Sigh...
Luuk handed the green pearl that was emitting an ominous aura to Graham, who then stuffed it inside his briefcase, along with the other materials that he had bought.
"Where to next?" asked Luuk.
If they were not fighting, the situation in the village was actually very peaceful. The glowing giant pumpkins added a calming, soothing feeling to the moonlit night, and the villagers' chattering brought liveliness to the atmosphere.
"The edge of the village. We wasted too much time with that woman, so I hope they're still there."
Graham and Luuk increased their pace.
"Anyway, how many abilities do you have now?" asked Luuk curiously. Just after leaving the city for four days, the detective had suddenly grown much stronger.
"Let's just say it's a lot," he replied mysteriously. Graham knew that Luuk knew about his switch of personality, but the young man didn't know the detail. He would like to keep it that way for now.
The farther they walked away from the village, the darker it got. The street lights became scarce and the pumpkin lanterns were occasional. Plants replaced stone houses and a wall of trees waited for them in the distance.
Graham conjured his illusory flame again to help him see, as well as to divine the locations of his remaining targets. Apparently, there were three Dybbuks staying together and another one just a short distance away.
"Three at the same time? Will it be alright?" asked Luuk hesitantly, remembering their encounter with the beast-like woman just now.
The detective nodded in confidence.
"It should be fine. My divination told me this mission is safe."
"Then I will trust you. Let's just hope the next three targets are not Contractbounds," Luuk shook his head and then followed Graham who was walking ahead of him.
"Would you rather they were children? So it's like stealing candy from children?" he joked. However, there was no reaction from Luuk. It made him want to punch a wall hard.
The forest ahead of them, where the Dybbuks were supposed to be, was strangely quiet. There was no sound of night animals or the rustle of leaves. It even gave off an eerie feeling.
Towering trees welcomed them to the forest as the man walked off the last cobblestone path of the village. The air suddenly became chilly and sharp, and the smell of the forest penetrated their noses. The soil, the leaves, and the barks of the trees each emitted a different kind of smell that mixed together.
The soft soil sank under their weight as they walked the forest floor. Gradually, they started hearing a faint singing-- or chanting, from the direction in front of them. It sounded like children's voices, eerie and sinister. There was also the rustling of leaves being crushed rhythmically like some people were jumping around uniformly.
Graham and Luuk walked slowly and cautiously, the latter could see perfectly in the dark while the former had to reduce the light of his illusory flame to such extent to avoid being seen in the dark forest. It made it possible for him to only see Luuk and nothing else, so Graham was relying on his neighbor to show him the way.
The moment they reached their targets, the sight perplexed Luuk.
"Oh, dove the silly dove..."
"You fell under yet you came from above..."
"The Lord gave you wings and made you sing..."
"But then He took your soul and let you burn in a hole..."
"Oh, dove the silly dove..."
"I'll pluck your eyes and gut your insides..."
"Place them on the altar to please the Ones in the skies..."
"Then I'll get some pie before I die..."
In front of them, in the small opening of the forest, there were four children. Three of them were dancing and singing while holding hands, jumping around the last one who was lying on the forest floor. The lyrics of the nursery rhyme that they were chanting disturbed the two men. On top of that, the calm expression on the children lying on the ground was unsettling.
Around the child lying on the ground were bloody intestines of animals, along with their heads. The lifeless eyes of deer and squirrels all looked like they had died in pain. The blood had seeped into the leaves and the soil, creating a circle of crimson around the child.
"What the hell are those kids doing..." Luuk whispered at Graham.
The children somehow heard Luuk's whispering and turned their attention to him. The way they turned their heads was simultaneous, which looked very unnatural. The moment they lied their eyes on the two adults hiding behind a tree, they started giggling.
"Hehehehehee..."
"Hahahhaaa..."
"Hihihihiiii..."
The giggling in the dark forest sent a chill down Luuk's spine as he looked at his partner.
"Mr. Hymes, this is too much,"
Graham increased the size of his illusory flame and concentrated on the belt that he was wearing. He then smiled sinisterly and spoke, "You are not the only ones who can be scary, you little brats!"
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"Poor guy. Those Dybbuks are very dangerous it looks like," Luuk concluded.
"Yes, but they can't possess just anyone. According to what I read, someone must have a strong repressed feeling for the creatures to be able to control them. Maybe that man has secretly been wanting to kill his wife, and the creature just helped him realize it," explained the detective.
Luuk nodded and then concealed the severed hand under his sweater, making it hold on to his belt like a buckle. He then increased his pace to catch up with Graham.
"Where to next?"
Pointing at a direction confidently, Graham answered, "This way."
Spooky carved pumpkins still lined up on each side of the cobblestone street, illuminating their way along with the street light up above. The two men headed west, walking past villagers who were sitting around in front of their houses.
"It's sure nice to live a simple life like them. No need to stress about overdue assignments and upcoming examinations..." Luuk muttered longingly. University life was killing him.
The detective shrugged. He had once experienced those hectic moments in his life and was glad that he didn't have to experience it again. Although, back then he could simply switch with Valentine for lectures that he really didn't want to attend.
The two men stopped in front of a building that looked like a storage house. The street in front of it was empty and the lights were not working. Through the windows, Luuk could see objects upon objects being piled on top of each other. There was an ominous feeling coming from the building, which tipped them off about the whereabouts of their target.
Graham gestured at Luuk and the latter nodded.
"Your lock is mine!"
As he made a swiping motion with his right hand, a rusty iron latch suddenly appeared in it. Luuk quickly discarded the object and got the Hand of Lauriere ready.
Graham opened the storage house and entered it carefully. A musty smell penetrated his nose at once the moment he took a step inside, and the thick layers of dust on the objects were blown up by the gentle wind that accompanied him.
Luuk followed closely behind, walking as lightly as he could. Inside, besides boxes and crates stacked on top of one another, there didn't seem to be any signs of humans activity. However, if he looked carefully, there was a faint marking on the floor which showed that something had been dragged on top of the layer of dust recently.
"Who is there?!" shouted someone from deeper inside the storage house. The voice belonged to a woman, but there was an animal-like ferocity in it.
Whoosh!
A strong gust of wind blew Graham and Luuk away all of sudden, while in front of them, a bloody woman was standing savagely, like an angered beast. Her footsteps were so light that they left no mark on the dust on the floor and her speed so fast that they almost couldn't see her coming. Her bloodshot eyes looked esurient and her teeth glaring.
"I order you to stop moving!"
Her whole body got immobilized right away. She looked like she was trying hard to break free, but her struggle was fruitless.
"We need to lure her outside. Burning the creature here will trigger an explosion," explained Graham the moment he noticed the floating particles in the air which came from a sack of flour behind the woman.
"I order you to follow me!"
Graham quickly ran towards the exit and the woman followed him for several steps. After that, the effect of Order ran out while she was still nowhere near the exit.
Crash!
The possessed woman had grabbed a wooden crate near her and threw it at Graham with all her strength. The detective, not being fast enough, was hit in the face by the crate as he turned around. He didn't even have the chance to defend himself using his cane.
"I order you to stop moving!"
Graham hastily moved the pieces of broken crate away from him and ran in another direction. His face hurt and his nose was bleeding slightly. The power of her throw was extraordinary, and if it had been something else like metal, his head might have been crushed.
"Your strength is mine!"
Luuk threw the severed hand at the immobilized woman and it quickly grabbed the woman's hand that was closest to it. After that, the young medical student pulled the rope along with the severed hand that was now holding a shiny orb.
"She must be a Contractbound. That strength is not normal," Graham concluded.
The woman now suddenly looked very weak like someone who hadn't eaten for weeks. However, her speed was still scarily high. The moment the effect of Order ran out, which happened only a few seconds later, she retreated like the wind.
"Can you make the stolen strength your own?" asked Graham, looking at the orb in the severed hand.
Luuk shook his head.
"Not with my current power. But I have a feeling I'll be able to do it once I get stronger,"
The woman was now in hiding since her strength had been stolen. Going deeper into the storage area was a bad idea, but they had no other choice. They had to get the woman out of the storage somehow, and since she seemed to still retain her intelligence, luring her would not work. Graham had to use his new trick to do the job.
The detective concentrated on the belt that he was wearing and sent some energy into it, causing one of the patterns to glow.
"I, in the name of the Deity of Deception and Hidden Thoughts, call forth Illusion Substitutes to defend against the enemy's attacks!"
Several illusory ink sketches appeared and merged into Graham's body. He could now use Valentine's weaker version of Illusion Substitutes twice.
He nodded at Luuk and the two of them quickly dashed inside, following the path that the possessed woman might have taken. The storage house was much bigger than it looked from the outside, and the path was like a maze of boxes and crates.
The smell of dust was starting to slowly mix with the smell of blood. They followed the iron stench and found a severed body of an unidentifiable person not long after. It looked like the person was being eaten by a beast.
"I order you to stop moving!"
Graham shouted the moment he noticed the woman who was hiding behind a giant crate. She seemed to be planning to run away again when she saw them.
"Your intention to run away is mine!"
Luuk swiped his right hand and an orb appeared there. He now already had two stolen objects that he was keeping, so he couldn't steal anything else for the time being.
Graham praised his partner in his heart. It was exactly what he needed. The woman needed not to think about escaping so strongly or his ability wouldn't work.
Concentrating on the immobilized and weakened woman who had no intention of running away, Graham began shouting an Order.
"I order you to think about staying in front of this storage house!"
With just that, the woman would start thinking about going out of there. However, that would be it. If she was still thinking about escaping from them, the Order would be wiped instantly as she changed her mind back, but now Graham had some extra seconds to chant his next ability.
"I, in the name of the Deity of Domination and Order, intensify your desire to go to the entrance of this storage house!"
The thought that she just had was suddenly intensified, along with the urge. The moment Graham's immobilizing Order wore out, the possessed woman started running at a frightening speed towards the entrance, leaving the two men behind.
"Let's go now, quick!"
Graham and Luuk followed the woman and found her standing at the front of the storage building solemnly. It was as if she was fulfilling her desire of being there. She didn't even pay attention to the two men who were following them.
The street was luckily still empty around the dark storage house. Luuk went on standby while Graham conjured a tiny floating flame which he used to see the Dybbuk's true form. The moment the creature's true form was revealed, Graham used an Order on it.
"I order you to leave the woman's body!"
A transparent figure that looked like an old, hunch-backed man with hollow eyes and mouth began coming out of the woman slowly. It appeared that the creature was resisting the Order, but Graham was much stronger than it. The woman collapsed to the ground the moment the creature was completely out.
Whoosh!
Graham had readied a real flame and used it to burn the creature, which was trying to return to the woman's body. The flame set fire to the Dybbuk and burned it, turning it into a cloud of smoke that dissipated quickly. All the while, it was shrieking in pain as if it was being burned by the fire of hell itself.
An object resembling a green pearl was left behind by the dead Dybbuk, lying near the bloody woman who was slowly regaining consciousness. Luuk quickly used his ability to snatch the pearl away after releasing the woman's stolen intention. After that, the two men disappeared into the dark street.
"That's two. I need four more. So it's not always easy," Graham complained.
Although his divination showed him there was no danger, it didn't mean the mission would be a walk in the park either.
Sigh...
Luuk handed the green pearl that was emitting an ominous aura to Graham, who then stuffed it inside his briefcase, along with the other materials that he had bought.
"Where to next?" asked Luuk.
If they were not fighting, the situation in the village was actually very peaceful. The glowing giant pumpkins added a calming, soothing feeling to the moonlit night, and the villagers' chattering brought liveliness to the atmosphere.
"The edge of the village. We wasted too much time with that woman, so I hope they're still there."
Graham and Luuk increased their pace.
"Anyway, how many abilities do you have now?" asked Luuk curiously. Just after leaving the city for four days, the detective had suddenly grown much stronger.
"Let's just say it's a lot," he replied mysteriously. Graham knew that Luuk knew about his switch of personality, but the young man didn't know the detail. He would like to keep it that way for now.
The farther they walked away from the village, the darker it got. The street lights became scarce and the pumpkin lanterns were occasional. Plants replaced stone houses and a wall of trees waited for them in the distance.
Graham conjured his illusory flame again to help him see, as well as to divine the locations of his remaining targets. Apparently, there were three Dybbuks staying together and another one just a short distance away.
"Three at the same time? Will it be alright?" asked Luuk hesitantly, remembering their encounter with the beast-like woman just now.
The detective nodded in confidence.
"It should be fine. My divination told me this mission is safe."
"Then I will trust you. Let's just hope the next three targets are not Contractbounds," Luuk shook his head and then followed Graham who was walking ahead of him.
"Would you rather they were children? So it's like stealing candy from children?" he joked. However, there was no reaction from Luuk. It made him want to punch a wall hard.
The forest ahead of them, where the Dybbuks were supposed to be, was strangely quiet. There was no sound of night animals or the rustle of leaves. It even gave off an eerie feeling.
Towering trees welcomed them to the forest as the man walked off the last cobblestone path of the village. The air suddenly became chilly and sharp, and the smell of the forest penetrated their noses. The soil, the leaves, and the barks of the trees each emitted a different kind of smell that mixed together.
The soft soil sank under their weight as they walked the forest floor. Gradually, they started hearing a faint singing-- or chanting, from the direction in front of them. It sounded like children's voices, eerie and sinister. There was also the rustling of leaves being crushed rhythmically like some people were jumping around uniformly.
Graham and Luuk walked slowly and cautiously, the latter could see perfectly in the dark while the former had to reduce the light of his illusory flame to such extent to avoid being seen in the dark forest. It made it possible for him to only see Luuk and nothing else, so Graham was relying on his neighbor to show him the way.
The moment they reached their targets, the sight perplexed Luuk.
"Oh, dove the silly dove..."
"You fell under yet you came from above..."
"The Lord gave you wings and made you sing..."
"But then He took your soul and let you burn in a hole..."
"Oh, dove the silly dove..."
"I'll pluck your eyes and gut your insides..."
"Place them on the altar to please the Ones in the skies..."
"Then I'll get some pie before I die..."
In front of them, in the small opening of the forest, there were four children. Three of them were dancing and singing while holding hands, jumping around the last one who was lying on the forest floor. The lyrics of the nursery rhyme that they were chanting disturbed the two men. On top of that, the calm expression on the children lying on the ground was unsettling.
Around the child lying on the ground were bloody intestines of animals, along with their heads. The lifeless eyes of deer and squirrels all looked like they had died in pain. The blood had seeped into the leaves and the soil, creating a circle of crimson around the child.
"What the hell are those kids doing..." Luuk whispered at Graham.
The children somehow heard Luuk's whispering and turned their attention to him. The way they turned their heads was simultaneous, which looked very unnatural. The moment they lied their eyes on the two adults hiding behind a tree, they started giggling.
"Hehehehehee..."
"Hahahhaaa..."
"Hihihihiiii..."
The giggling in the dark forest sent a chill down Luuk's spine as he looked at his partner.
"Mr. Hymes, this is too much,"
Graham increased the size of his illusory flame and concentrated on the belt that he was wearing. He then smiled sinisterly and spoke, "You are not the only ones who can be scary, you little brats!"
"Poor guy. Those Dybbuks are very dangerous it looks like," Luuk concluded."Yes, but they can't possess just anyone. According to what I read, someone must have a strong repressed feeling for the creatures to be able to control them. Maybe that man has secretly been wanting to kill his wife, and the creature just helped him realize it," explained the detective.Luuk nodded and then concealed the severed hand under his sweater, making it hold on to his belt like a buckle. He then increased his pace to catch up with Graham."Where to next?"Pointing at a direction confidently, Graham answered, "This way."Spooky carved pumpkins still lined up on each side of the cobblestone street, illuminating their way along with the street light up above. The two men headed west, walking past villagers who were sitting around in front of their houses."It's sure nice to live a simple life like them. No need to stress about overdue assignments and upcoming examinations..." Luuk muttered longingly. University life was killing him.The detective shrugged. He had once experienced those hectic moments in his life and was glad that he didn't have to experience it again. Although, back then he could simply switch with Valentine for lectures that he really didn't want to attend.The two men stopped in front of a building that looked like a storage house. The street in front of it was empty and the lights were not working. Through the windows, Luuk could see objects upon objects being piled on top of each other. There was an ominous feeling coming from the building, which tipped them off about the whereabouts of their target.Graham gestured at Luuk and the latter nodded."Your lock is mine!"As he made a swiping motion with his right hand, a rusty iron latch suddenly appeared in it. Luuk quickly discarded the object and got the Hand of Lauriere ready.Graham opened the storage house and entered it carefully. A musty smell penetrated his nose at once the moment he took a step inside, and the thick layers of dust on the objects were blown up by the gentle wind that accompanied him.Luuk followed closely behind, walking as lightly as he could. Inside, besides boxes and crates stacked on top of one another, there didn't seem to be any signs of humans activity. However, if he looked carefully, there was a faint marking on the floor which showed that something had been dragged on top of the layer of dust recently."Who is there?!" shouted someone from deeper inside the storage house. The voice belonged to a woman, but there was an animal-like ferocity in it.Whoosh!A strong gust of wind blew Graham and Luuk away all of sudden, while in front of them, a bloody woman was standing savagely, like an angered beast. Her footsteps were so light that they left no mark on the dust on the floor and her speed so fast that they almost couldn't see her coming. Her bloodshot eyes looked esurient and her teeth glaring."I order you to stop moving!"Her whole body got immobilized right away. She looked like she was trying hard to break free, but her struggle was fruitless."We need to lure her outside. Burning the creature here will trigger an explosion," explained Graham the moment he noticed the floating particles in the air which came from a sack of flour behind the woman."I order you to follow me!"Graham quickly ran towards the exit and the woman followed him for several steps. After that, the effect of Order ran out while she was still nowhere near the exit.Crash!The possessed woman had grabbed a wooden crate near her and threw it at Graham with all her strength. The detective, not being fast enough, was hit in the face by the crate as he turned around. He didn't even have the chance to defend himself using his cane."I order you to stop moving!"Graham hastily moved the pieces of broken crate away from him and ran in another direction. His face hurt and his nose was bleeding slightly. The power of her throw was extraordinary, and if it had been something else like metal, his head might have been crushed."Your strength is mine!"Luuk threw the severed hand at the immobilized woman and it quickly grabbed the woman's hand that was closest to it. After that, the young medical student pulled the rope along with the severed hand that was now holding a shiny orb."She must be a Contractbound. That strength is not normal," Graham concluded.The woman now suddenly looked very weak like someone who hadn't eaten for weeks. However, her speed was still scarily high. The moment the effect of Order ran out, which happened only a few seconds later, she retreated like the wind."Can you make the stolen strength your own?" asked Graham, looking at the orb in the severed hand.Luuk shook his head."Not with my current power. But I have a feeling I'll be able to do it once I get stronger,"The woman was now in hiding since her strength had been stolen. Going deeper into the storage area was a bad idea, but they had no other choice. They had to get the woman out of the storage somehow, and since she seemed to still retain her intelligence, luring her would not work. Graham had to use his new trick to do the job.The detective concentrated on the belt that he was wearing and sent some energy into it, causing one of the patterns to glow."I, in the name of the Deity of Deception and Hidden Thoughts, call forth Illusion Substitutes to defend against the enemy's attacks!"Several illusory ink sketches appeared and merged into Graham's body. He could now use Valentine's weaker version of Illusion Substitutes twice.He nodded at Luuk and the two of them quickly dashed inside, following the path that the possessed woman might have taken. The storage house was much bigger than it looked from the outside, and the path was like a maze of boxes and crates.The smell of dust was starting to slowly mix with the smell of blood. They followed the iron stench and found a severed body of an unidentifiable person not long after. It looked like the person was being eaten by a beast."I order you to stop moving!"Graham shouted the moment he noticed the woman who was hiding behind a giant crate. She seemed to be planning to run away again when she saw them."Your intention to run away is mine!"Luuk swiped his right hand and an orb appeared there. He now already had two stolen objects that he was keeping, so he couldn't steal anything else for the time being.Graham praised his partner in his heart. It was exactly what he needed. The woman needed not to think about escaping so strongly or his ability wouldn't work.Concentrating on the immobilized and weakened woman who had no intention of running away, Graham began shouting an Order."I order you to think about staying in front of this storage house!"With just that, the woman would start thinking about going out of there. However, that would be it. If she was still thinking about escaping from them, the Order would be wiped instantly as she changed her mind back, but now Graham had some extra seconds to chant his next ability."I, in the name of the Deity of Domination and Order, intensify your desire to go to the entrance of this storage house!"The thought that she just had was suddenly intensified, along with the urge. The moment Graham's immobilizing Order wore out, the possessed woman started running at a frightening speed towards the entrance, leaving the two men behind."Let's go now, quick!"Graham and Luuk followed the woman and found her standing at the front of the storage building solemnly. It was as if she was fulfilling her desire of being there. She didn't even pay attention to the two men who were following them.The street was luckily still empty around the dark storage house. Luuk went on standby while Graham conjured a tiny floating flame which he used to see the Dybbuk's true form. The moment the creature's true form was revealed, Graham used an Order on it."I order you to leave the woman's body!"A transparent figure that looked like an old, hunch-backed man with hollow eyes and mouth began coming out of the woman slowly. It appeared that the creature was resisting the Order, but Graham was much stronger than it. The woman collapsed to the ground the moment the creature was completely out.Whoosh!Graham had readied a real flame and used it to burn the creature, which was trying to return to the woman's body. The flame set fire to the Dybbuk and burned it, turning it into a cloud of smoke that dissipated quickly. All the while, it was shrieking in pain as if it was being burned by the fire of hell itself.An object resembling a green pearl was left behind by the dead Dybbuk, lying near the bloody woman who was slowly regaining consciousness. Luuk quickly used his ability to snatch the pearl away after releasing the woman's stolen intention. After that, the two men disappeared into the dark street."That's two. I need four more. So it's not always easy," Graham complained.Although his divination showed him there was no danger, it didn't mean the mission would be a walk in the park either.Sigh...Luuk handed the green pearl that was emitting an ominous aura to Graham, who then stuffed it inside his briefcase, along with the other materials that he had bought."Where to next?" asked Luuk.If they were not fighting, the situation in the village was actually very peaceful. The glowing giant pumpkins added a calming, soothing feeling to the moonlit night, and the villagers' chattering brought liveliness to the atmosphere."The edge of the village. We wasted too much time with that woman, so I hope they're still there."Graham and Luuk increased their pace."Anyway, how many abilities do you have now?" asked Luuk curiously. Just after leaving the city for four days, the detective had suddenly grown much stronger."Let's just say it's a lot," he replied mysteriously. Graham knew that Luuk knew about his switch of personality, but the young man didn't know the detail. He would like to keep it that way for now.The farther they walked away from the village, the darker it got. The street lights became scarce and the pumpkin lanterns were occasional. Plants replaced stone houses and a wall of trees waited for them in the distance.Graham conjured his illusory flame again to help him see, as well as to divine the locations of his remaining targets. Apparently, there were three Dybbuks staying together and another one just a short distance away."Three at the same time? Will it be alright?" asked Luuk hesitantly, remembering their encounter with the beast-like woman just now.The detective nodded in confidence."It should be fine. My divination told me this mission is safe.""Then I will trust you. Let's just hope the next three targets are not Contractbounds," Luuk shook his head and then followed Graham who was walking ahead of him."Would you rather they were children? So it's like stealing candy from children?" he joked. However, there was no reaction from Luuk. It made him want to punch a wall hard.The forest ahead of them, where the Dybbuks were supposed to be, was strangely quiet. There was no sound of night animals or the rustle of leaves. It even gave off an eerie feeling.Towering trees welcomed them to the forest as the man walked off the last cobblestone path of the village. The air suddenly became chilly and sharp, and the smell of the forest penetrated their noses. The soil, the leaves, and the barks of the trees each emitted a different kind of smell that mixed together.The soft soil sank under their weight as they walked the forest floor. Gradually, they started hearing a faint singing-- or chanting, from the direction in front of them. It sounded like children's voices, eerie and sinister. There was also the rustling of leaves being crushed rhythmically like some people were jumping around uniformly.Graham and Luuk walked slowly and cautiously, the latter could see perfectly in the dark while the former had to reduce the light of his illusory flame to such extent to avoid being seen in the dark forest. It made it possible for him to only see Luuk and nothing else, so Graham was relying on his neighbor to show him the way.The moment they reached their targets, the sight perplexed Luuk."Oh, dove the silly dove...""You fell under yet you came from above...""The Lord gave you wings and made you sing...""But then He took your soul and let you burn in a hole...""Oh, dove the silly dove...""I'll pluck your eyes and gut your insides...""Place them on the altar to please the Ones in the skies...""Then I'll get some pie before I die..."In front of them, in the small opening of the forest, there were four children. Three of them were dancing and singing while holding hands, jumping around the last one who was lying on the forest floor. The lyrics of the nursery rhyme that they were chanting disturbed the two men. On top of that, the calm expression on the children lying on the ground was unsettling.Around the child lying on the ground were bloody intestines of animals, along with their heads. The lifeless eyes of deer and squirrels all looked like they had died in pain. The blood had seeped into the leaves and the soil, creating a circle of crimson around the child."What the hell are those kids doing..." Luuk whispered at Graham.The children somehow heard Luuk's whispering and turned their attention to him. The way they turned their heads was simultaneous, which looked very unnatural. The moment they lied their eyes on the two adults hiding behind a tree, they started giggling."Hehehehehee...""Hahahhaaa...""Hihihihiiii..."The giggling in the dark forest sent a chill down Luuk's spine as he looked at his partner."Mr. Hymes, this is too much,"Graham increased the size of his illusory flame and concentrated on the belt that he was wearing. He then smiled sinisterly and spoke, "You are not the only ones who can be scary, you little brats!"
