Not knowing the situation inside the building, this approach was the optimal choice.
As mentioned before, in the eyes of a demon, the Church's 'three-piece set' was no different from having something disgusting shoved in its face.
For instance, the chanting coming from the Bluetooth speaker in the small bag was the equivalent of shouting profanities at a demon.
Combined with the low Holy Imbuement points—only one point meant low damage but extreme insult.
York wasn't worried at all that the demon wouldn't come looking for him.
So instead of searching for it himself, it was better to use the chanting from the Bluetooth speaker to provoke the demon and make it come to him.
Of course, he could also use the floor where Bridget was located to find the key location quickly and accurately.
As for the specific situation, he would have to see it with his own eyes to judge.
Abandoning the dangerous elevator, York stepped onto the main staircase, which was lit only by flickering emergency fire lights, and continued to scroll through the information Hanna had sent on his phone.
Meanwhile, the chanting from the bag slung over his shoulder began to echo through the stairwell. The volume was loud enough to cover the entire area, showing no concern for disturbing residents or anything else.
York made no attempt to hide his intentions; he wanted someone, or something, to come find him.
Walking up to the second-floor landing, York found a document among the excessive data regarding all the residents of the Reed Apartment Building.
It was extremely detailed, name after name, quite dizzying. He wondered whose computer Hanna had hacked to obtain this information.
On the landing, illuminated only by the flickering emergency lights, York squinted and began searching for Bridget's name.
Although the apartment building was slated for demolition, it still had quite a few residents. Each floor had at least seven or eight units, and the building had a total of forty floors.
This undoubtedly increased the difficulty of the search, though it wasn't quite like looking for a needle in a haystack.
York paused for a moment before finally finding Bridget's unit number.
Floor 10, Unit 1032. Mother: Lisa; children: Danny, Bridget, Kathy... Unexpectedly, Morse—the guy whose vasectomy reversal had failed—actually lived in Unit 1031, right next to 1032.
This reminded York of the story the young man, Morse, had once told about his single-mother neighbor.
There was actually a connection between them.
York silently put his phone back into the bag, gripped his Rotary Grenade Launcher, glanced at the second flight of dim stairs, and prepared to rush up in one go.
For him, the tenth floor was just a moment away.
However, as he stepped onto the first stair, perhaps thanks to the chanting from the Bluetooth speaker, York heard some sudden movement in the second-floor corridor.
The movement in the silence sounded like a faint rustling or scuttling, accompanied by hissing.
In the darkness, it undoubtedly added a touch of horror.
"Hm??"
Expressionless, York immediately turned toward the second floor and looked up in the next second.
Three people with blood-covered faces suddenly appeared above. Their limbs were stuck firmly to the walls like spiders, their upper bodies leaning forward.
They looked grotesque and extremely eerie, yet their movements were swift.
"Hiss! A priest?"
One of them, a woman in pajamas, saw that the source was a priest. Her angry, hideous face seemed to freeze for a moment, and she opened her bloody mouth to take a sniff.
"What a fragrant soul!"
The other two were the same. Their pupils were dilated as they stared at the expressionless priest with intense longing. With heads tilted like beasts, they watched him as if he were prey.
To an ordinary person, this bizarre and supernatural scene would be terrifying, and the horrific aura emanating from the three would be enough to freeze them in place with fear.
It was like being targeted by several predators in the wild, ready to pounce, leaving one unable to move.
Boom!
A muffled roll of thunder sounded outside, and a flash of lightning illuminated the three's terrifying speed and beast-like pupils.
It also lit up York' sharp eyes. He stared at the three 'Spider-people' moving rapidly along the walls, his mind racing as he pieced everything together.
There wasn't just one demon in this building; in fact, all the demonic possessions had reached the final stage. Once it reached this point, the hosts were essentially dead, leaving behind only human shells controlled by demons.
It seemed the residents of the entire building were already... The thought flashed by. Expressionless, York quickly aimed his Rotary Grenade Launcher at the fastest and closest woman and pulled the trigger.
"We will not die!"
The woman had just hissed when the grenade, fired at close range, shattered her upper body. What exploded wasn't flesh or gore, but something like fragmented volcanic rock, which rained down from the ceiling onto the floor.
The lower half of the woman who claimed she wouldn't die fell to the floor and shattered like volcanic rock as fragile as an eggshell.
"It really is the final stage..."
York looked at the assimilated human body and sighed inwardly, quickly shifting his aim to the second demon-assimilated middle-aged man.
Seeing his dazed state while stuck to the wall, York pulled the trigger and fired again.
"You!"
The middle-aged man seemed to sense it. His limbs were stuck to the wall, and he leaned his upper body out, shouting at York with a hideous, distorted face.
York tilted his head, not even looking at the middle-aged man's fate. In a seamless transition, he clenched his left hand into a fist like a professional boxer. As his body quickly shifted to the left, his fist moved, delivering a heavy blow to the last young man who had lunged at him in that brief moment.
An explosive sound rang out.
A fist the size of a sandbag slammed hard into the upper abdomen of the young man who was right in front of him, suspended above.
Bang.
A powerful force erupted.
Crack!
The demon-assimilated youth felt as if he had been slammed by a speeding dump truck. The violent impact sent him crashing into the ceiling above, shaking loose a cloud of dust.
The demon inside began to feel that the human body it controlled was now like a robot with rusted joints, jamming everywhere.
Urgh!
Realizing he couldn't move for the time being, the youth stared fixedly at the priest below, who had already aimed the Rotary Grenade Launcher at him. A flash of confusion crossed his beast-like pupils as he fell.
That single punch had caused the upper half of the assimilated human body to rupture, with shoulders and other bones twisting and piercing through the skin.
Why was this human different from the others?
Unfortunately, York wasn't going to answer. His barrel was already aimed, and he pulled the trigger.
Boom!
On the dim landing, a burst of sparks erupted from the muzzle.
The last demon-assimilated youth was blasted into fragments of volcanic rock in mid-air.
Patter, patter. The stone fragments scattered across the floor.
Snap! The remaining part of the body hit the ground, but instead of a dull thud, it made a crisp snapping sound, cracking like volcanic rock... Putting away the grenade launcher, York glanced at the smoking volcanic fragments covering the landing, two questions surfacing in his mind.
Are they all low-level demons?
So what exactly is the reason? Is it another Gates of Hell like the one at Saint Kata Monastery?
He then looked up at the stairs leading to the third floor and stepped onto the landing between the two flights.
Just investigate and find out!
The Bluetooth speaker in his bag continued to play the chanting of prayers.
Click!
York stared at the third floor, where movement was starting to occur. He swung out the cylinder of the grenade launcher, and with his right hand, he plucked a Holy Grenade from the bandolier on his chest and loaded it in...