An explosion, besides releasing a vast amount of energy, also generates a powerful shockwave and high-temperature gases accompanied by a violent sound and bright light.
There were also very significant tremors.
"BOOM!!!"
This was York' first experimental bombing to test its power.
Baker and the others, who had just escaped the building with their lives, and Jeffrey, who had just rushed to the third floor, were already deeply shocked.
They couldn't imagine what had happened inside, nor what kind of battle could cause such an explosion.
"Jeffrey!!"
As Jeffrey quickly rushed to the first floor, Baker stepped out from the crowd of people who looked relieved to have escaped, greeting him with a joyful face.
"Yeah."
Jeffrey gasped for breath and nodded. Before he could say anything, York' second bombing came.
BOOM!!!!!
The massive sound of the explosion echoed through the night, and everyone present could feel the strong vibration in the air.
This was the residual shockwave.
They, including Baker and Jeffrey, stared blankly up at the seventh floor, which was erupting with huge sparks and dust; only billowing smoke and a massive gap remained there.
"What happened?" Baker instinctively thought of the priest who usually didn't talk much and seemed very honest to him.
Not just them, but nearby residents who heard the explosion or security guards and other employees in nearby tall buildings all instantly became alert and entered a combat stance. Unlike in the East, every awakened resident would first take out the firearms they had purchased from somewhere in their room before considering anything else... At this moment, at the site of the explosion in the Jesse Building, a coughing sound rang out from the seventh floor.
"Cough, cough! That's a bit painful..."
York, who had crashed through two walls and stopped in an office, looked ahead and coughed several times; the violently erupting shockwave had indeed caused him some damage.
"Is it over?"
Recalling the violent explosion just now, York looked at the smoke-filled area ahead, took a deep breath, and stood up, gripping his sword.
His back felt a faint pain, and following his instinct, he silently called up his Status Screen.
Skipping over all the attribute values, he focused on his Health. To his surprise, the loss of Health was relatively small, which relaxed him quite a bit.
Higher Health meant he had more room for error and could endure for a long time.
[...]
[Health 93/111]
[...]
After confirming his Health, York looked at the smoke ahead where there was still no movement. He didn't stay idle; instead, he took the opportunity to continue reloading, replenishing ammunition for his winchester m1897 and linebaugh to prepare for battle.
His current mana was very low, with only [mana: 12/159.5] remaining, so he had to rely on close combat for now while waiting for his mana to recover.
According to his estimation, if 10 mana points added to a hand grenade's explosive power could break through a demon's surface defense, then using ten mana points to empower the Cross and Bible would surely cause some damage to the demon.
Ultimately, the Exorcism Trio was the standard equipment for dealing with demons; this was unavoidable.
However, after filling the two winchester m1897s and the linebaugh with ammunition, there was still no movement ahead.
"Is it really over?"
York hesitated slightly, then raised his linebaugh revolver and pulled the trigger toward the smoke ahead.
Bang bang bang bang bang!
Five consecutive shots were fired in the blink of an eye, yet there was still no movement ahead.
He instinctively looked at the Mission Window and found it empty. York breathed a sigh of relief, pulled out the Knights Sword and sheathed it on his back, spun the empty linebaugh, and while taking out .50 caliber custom bullets one by one from the bandolier at his waist to fill the cylinder, he walked forward alertly.
Only after passing through the billowing smoke and reaching the gap did York truly relax. In front of him was a massive gap about the size of an office, with some residual explosion effects, but that humanoid and aesthetically pleasing demon had disappeared without a trace, leaving only a splash of black blood... "It should have been driven away, though I don't know if it was seriously injured..."
York breathed another sigh of relief, holstered the linebaugh on his waist, adjusted the backpack strapped to his shoulder, and walked toward the emergency exit.
From the gap, from the height of the seventh floor, he could already see multiple police cars arriving quickly with their sirens blaring, accompanied by several vehicles that looked like military trucks.
"What a headache. How am I going to explain such a big commotion to the old man?"
"Sigh, whatever. It's not like I was messing around; I was fighting a demon..."
"..."
York' muttering drifted out from the massive gap with the sound of the wind, spreading further and further until it dissipated, and he too disappeared into the darkness.
The next day.
As if nothing had happened, York woke up from his comfortable bed and washed up.
He had a sandwich for a quick breakfast in the living room, picked up the donation box he prepared for today and his usual backpack, and headed to the garage to go to The Church.
However, what happened last night was indeed quite a big deal; York could tell the impact of the event just from the car radio.
Almost every broadcast was proclaiming that the explosion at the Jesse Building last night was a demonstration by some terrorist against the great America, a terrorist attack that threatened human safety... Importantly, in the storage compartment next to him, his phone rang, and it connected to the central console screen right on time.
York glanced at the caller on the screen, his lips twitching instinctively, then he pressed the red phone icon to reject the call.
The caller was Gabriel; it would probably be another lecture, blaming him for making such a big scene.
However, the ringtone rang again after a short while. York glanced sideways; this time it was a caller he could hardly refuse, so he had to press the call button on the car's console screen.
"York, was the Jesse Building incident your doing?" A voice came through, old, calm, and full of a certain magnetic quality that made one think of a kind-looking and charming old man.
"Yes."
York didn't hide it. After all, he would have to write a detailed report about the incident later and send it back to The Church for the records.
"Sigh, I knew it. Child, I'm old, and I can't handle so many phone calls."
"Then don't answer them. Are the people under you all useless? Don't do so much when you're old; you need to take care of your Health. If you get exhausted and go to Heaven, what will I do? Those Bishops won't miss a chance to criticize me."
York' nagging echoed in a luxurious room filled with Cross symbols. An old man still lying in bed held a portable phone with a cord, squinting his eyes and smiling.
"I will seriously consider your suggestion. But child, can you tell me what happened last night? I'm curious..."
Hearing this, York instinctively rubbed his nose.
"I can, but I have a proposal."
The old man smiled kindly. "What proposal?"
"Lend me some money..."