A haunted house, huh?
Eren glanced at Lilith, snuggled in Fregra's arms, and silently made a note to himself:
"Seems I'll have to pay that house a visit eventually."
The dense Miasma of Calamity surrounding Lilith wasn't something any ordinary haunted house could produce.
Even if Fregra ended up not joining Miracle Group, Eren would still investigate that place.
Not for anything else—
But because that house might be hiding a Fate Point.
··········
While Eren was quietly lost in thought…
Lilith, resting in her father's arms with her back to Eren, showed a moment of hesitation in her eyes.
Just as she opened her mouth—wanting to say something—her pupils suddenly reflected a dark shadow.
Lifting her gaze slightly, she saw a vague silhouette behind Fregra.
A flicker of terror surged through Lilith's eyes.
Whatever she'd wanted to say instantly died in her throat.
········
At the same moment Lilith's emotions spiked, Eren's Spiritual Sight immediately picked up the change in her aura—especially the sudden flare of fear.
What is going on…?
Just as confusion stirred in his heart—
A bone-deep chill crept up Eren's spine.
It felt as if an indescribably dreadful being had locked its gaze on him—radiating a malice colder than death.
This sudden oppressive feeling...
It was nearly on par with when the Ancient One had enveloped him in her killing intent.
The intense sense of danger made Eren tense instinctively.
But before he could react, the terrifying aura vanished as abruptly and eerily as it had come.
Gone without a trace.
Even though the malicious presence was gone, Eren didn't dare relax in the slightest.
He swept the entire room—corner to corner—with all his senses, but found nothing that explained what he had felt.
It was as if... it had all been an illusion.
But—
Rather than ease his mind, this only made Eren more vigilant.
He knew it wasn't a hallucination.
Lilith's lingering fear confirmed it.
············
That sudden malice disrupted Eren's investigation.
After exchanging a few more words with Fregra, Eren found a reason to excuse himself and left Manhattan Central Hospital in a hurry.
Only after completely leaving the area did his tense heart finally begin to calm.
Taking a deep breath, Eren parked his Aston Martin in a quiet corner of a nearby park.
He pulled out a silver-white coin—
And began a divination on the spot.
"Is there danger nearby?"
"Is there danger nearby?"
·········
Seven times he asked.
And each time, the result was the same—negative.
Only then did Eren relax slightly.
Without hesitation, he activated his spiritual power and leapt into the Scales Domain.
Arriving safely, he checked himself.
No curse. No mark. No trace of contamination.
Eren finally let out a long breath.
"This is really turning out to be more complicated than expected."
All he had wanted was to find a reliable CEO for Miracle Group.
He never imagined things would take such a turn.
After a brief pause—
Eren started another divination, this time to investigate the source of that terrifying chill he'd felt in the hospital.
While the Scales Domain didn't strengthen his divinations, it did block external interference—making the results far more accurate.
He spent two Fate Points to conjure a round-bellied fountain pen and a notebook within the domain.
Then he quickly wrote down his divination question:
"The source of the malice I sensed earlier in the hospital."
He recited it seven times silently.
Then sat cross-legged atop the flowing mercury-like mist and meditated, diving into his own memories.
Inside that gray world of recollection, Eren replayed the moment in the hospital.
And this time—
Without distraction or interference—
He saw a scene he hadn't noticed before.
When Fregra had spoken of Lilith's childhood and his guilt, Lilith had tried to speak.
But just as her lips moved—
A vague black shadow suddenly appeared in the room.
The moment she saw it, Lilith's face twisted in pure fear, and she immediately fell silent.
And this time, thanks to the deep meditation, Eren could feel the depth of her terror.
That thing…
With full concentration, the illusion began to peel away—
And the black shadow in Eren's memory slowly came into focus.
A woman with two faces appeared, quietly observing the entire room.
One face looked gentle and kind—with features somewhat resembling Lilith's—gazing at the child with a look of maternal affection.
But the other face was twisted, hideous—filled with seething hatred—and its eyes swept across the room with murderous malice.
It was that gaze that had triggered Eren's primal sense of danger.
In the memory, the black shadow had raised its right hand slightly—clearly about to make a move against him.
But the other hand had suddenly pressed it down.
Then, shrouded in black mist, the entity vanished without a trace.
As the memory faded, Eren slowly opened his eyes—brows furrowed deeply.
Something about that face… was familiar.
As a Seer, he quickly recalled why—
He had seen that face recently. In a photo. Alongside a dossier.
Kelif Elizabeth.
Lilith's mother.
The woman who had supposedly died in that car accident two years ago.
Eren swiftly manifested her photo in the Scales Domain—
And compared it to the memory.
It was a perfect match.
"So it was her…"
Looking at the nearly identical faces—the kind and the twisted—Eren connected the dots.
"Fregra said that after the accident two years ago, Lilith stopped attracting those strange disasters…"
"That means… after Elizabeth died, for some unknown reason, her spirit fused with this dark entity and used its power to secretly protect her daughter."
"And judging by how she stopped that hand from attacking me… she still holds some degree of control over the darkness."
"Thankfully so."
"If not… even if Fregra had agreed to join Miracle Group, I wouldn't have dared try healing Lilith."
Eren recorded all his deductions in his notebook—
Then took out the silver coin again and began another divination.
He recited seven times.
Then tossed the coin.
It landed in his palm.
Heads up.
Success.
The information was sufficient.
The divination confirmed that treating Lilith wouldn't provoke the dark entity.
Eren finally exhaled in relief.
If the answer had been different—
He would've had no choice but to back off until he was strong enough to protect himself.
············
A few minutes later—
Eren wrote a new divination question in the notebook.
This time—
His focus shifted away from Fregra and Lilith…
And turned toward the head of Hydra—
Alexander Pierce.
·············
Time passed.
Several hours later.
That night, the skies over New York were bleak and foreboding.
Even the half-moon in the sky was dimmed by thick clouds. The streetlamps glowed weakly through layers of mist.
Inside Alexander Pierce's luxurious estate—
The man himself, looking a bit disheveled, stared coldly at a monstrous wraith pinned to the floor by a gem-encrusted crucifix.
If it hadn't been for the Cardinal—who happened to be visiting from the Vatican in search of the Six-Winged Angel—Pierce would've been torn to pieces by now.
He glanced around at the carnage.
Corpses were strewn everywhere.
Some were elite Hydra soldiers.
Others, knights of the Vatican.
All had died to the claws of the vengeful spirit.
Only the Cardinal's holy artifact—the gemstone crucifix—had managed to stake the entity down and stop it.
As the spirit screamed and writhed under the crucifix's sacred light, slowly turning to ash…
Pierce exhaled in relief.
Once the horror was gone, he turned to the pale, injured figure slumped on the couch—Cardinal Canterbury.
Though Canterbury had successfully banished the ghost from the TV—yes, Sadako herself—he had been critically injured in the final clash.
"Cardinal Canterbury, are you alright? Hang in there. I'll get you to a hospital."
The Cardinal gave a weak smile, clutching his bleeding side. "I'd appreciate that…"
Canterbury might be a high-ranking figure in the Vatican—
But his position was earned through scholarship, not power. He wasn't one of the Church's combat specialists.
If not for the sacred crucifix, he wouldn't have stood a chance against Sadako.
Even so, that final blow from her had probably cracked a few ribs—at the very least.
Just as Pierce bent down to help him up—
Bang!
A silver handgun was suddenly pressed against Canterbury's back.
Bang bang bang!
Three shots, straight into his heart.
His chest exploded into a mist of blood and bone.
As Canterbury's lifeless body slid from Pierce's grasp, the Hydra leader crouched and said softly:
"Sorry. I thought it over. You're better off dead."
He gently closed the man's glassy eyes.
Then stood, took the handgun from his subordinate, and fired one more bullet into Canterbury's skull—just to be sure.
After wiping the blood from his shoes with a pristine white handkerchief, he turned and ordered:
"Dispose of the bodies."
Once the corpse was dragged away, Pierce finally turned to the crucifix still pinning the wraith's remains.
Truth be told, the only reason he'd let the Cardinal live that long was because of that sacred relic.
But before he could even take a step—
Clap clap clap…
A mocking applause echoed through the villa.
"Bravo. That was quite the performance, Minister Pierce… I never expected such a twist ending."
(End of Chapter)
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