Chapter Ninety-Four: Come Here, Let Daddy Soothe You

Staring at the subtitles before him, Louis fell into deep thought.

At that moment, fragments of voices suddenly echoed in everyone’s minds.

“Kate, my precious little darling, come here, hehehehe, it’s bedtime, come to mommy, I’ll lull you to sleep...”

The voice seemed to carry a kind of psychic contamination; as it sounded, the people in the hall gradually grew dizzy. Some of the weaker-willed servants even began to collapse, their bodies slowly turning puppet-like! Their shadows seemed to come alive, picking up their clothes and wrapping them around.

Kate was the first to be affected—her eyes rolled back as she started to walk forward. But Louis grabbed her firmly and disrupted the magical field around her body, directly dispelling the terrible curse.

Kate snapped awake, covered her face, and leaned against Louis’s shoulder, crying. Though her body was unharmed, her mind was on the verge of breaking.

Suddenly, beams of light flashed from the hands of the priests, brightening the hall somewhat and easing the servants’ dizziness. They scrambled desperately to crawl out, only to find themselves marching in place, unable to reach the door. Stranger still, to the others’ eyes, they weren’t running outward but madly charging deeper into the “web” hall.

Chaos reigned—only Count Crowley remained calm. He drew his revolver, loaded it, and prepared to end the lives of the servants about to commit suicide.

At least this would spare them some torment.

Just then, three torches radiating a sacred aura were brutally thrust into the web hall’s entrance by three “wild wizards” chanting nonsensical spells. One loudly recited meaningless incantations from a book, another pointed at the panicked servants and scolded them harshly, as if rebuking demons.

No one knew the spells were useless, but those who wavered in their resolve found courage in the magicians’ actions. They all grew a bit clearer-headed.

“Don’t be afraid! I told you, that tiny demon doesn’t dare leave the hall!” Red Silk shouted, secretly wiping cold sweat as she assumed an air of authority, berating the hall’s interior.

“Come stand inside the circle I drew! As long as you’re in the circle, even Death himself can’t take you!” Blue Stockings, also sweating, stroked his beard with an air of composure.

“Bishop John, don’t just stand there—don’t step inside the circle! Come here, use your light magic to block that thing in the hall, buy us some time. You, hand out the ‘Dawn Torches’...”

With the magicians’ angry shouts and commands, the situation, on the verge of spiraling out of control, suddenly reversed—as if their spells truly worked. Once the servants’ hearts no longer quaked with fear, their willpower firmed, and they were no longer affected by the psychic interference.

Meanwhile, the priests listened, bewildered, when the magicians asked them to hold the line.

Hold the line?

Is it even possible?

Do they think we’re archangels? Today, each and every one of us will die here! There’s no escape!

But despite their thoughts, when they saw the expectant eyes of everyone, the priests steeled themselves and stepped forward—Ron and the others were right: at this point, their only hope lay in the demon-sealing array. If no one blocked the evil, they’d all perish together.

Some priests began casting various dispersal spells, purifying the hall. Others moved to the door and, from a distance, hurled sacred magic inside. The spells rarely struck their targets, but the priests were zealous, as if flailing their fists to keep the demon away before being ravaged.

Their cleansing magic barely managed to push back the encroaching corruption in the hall, only preventing the situation from worsening.

Yet these “professional” holy men, terrified inside, maintained a commanding presence outwardly—Bishop John and his two assistants calmly unleashed bolts of lightning into the hall. To the uninitiated, they seemed as gods descended.

The knight, cloaked in holy fire and battling invisible foes with loud shouts (but not daring to approach the hall), appeared to be locked in mortal combat with the “invisible demon,” exuding awe-inspiring might.

Thus, though the priests and knights were merely performing rituals, they seemed to be thrashing the demon in the hall—Bishop John, secretly wetting himself, occasionally stroked his beard and gave cool commands to the air, inspiring confidence in all.

Everyone’s hearts were rekindled with courage and hope—especially after standing in the useless circle, their willpower, through self-hypnosis, soared to the maximum, and the monster’s psychic force could no longer shatter their resolve.

Even Count Crowley let out a long sigh of relief.

The three magicians were the same—they exchanged silent glances, sharing a tacit understanding.

“This is a disaster! What is this thing? There’s not a single entry about it in our books!”

“I’m sure it didn’t cast any spells—just a trace of its psychic presence twisted everyone’s shadows into monsters. Thank heavens for the Dawn Torches!”

“We still have a bit of time. According to Mr. Harold’s earlier deduction, it won’t enter the hall until fully awakened.”

“Enough eye contact! Set up the demon-sealing array quickly. The servants are watching us now. We’ve seen the thing, so hurry and complete the last part of the array based on the current state of the hall, then find a way to lure it inside!”

After this exchange, the three, deeply acquainted and in sync, suddenly ripped up the large carpet beneath their feet—revealing a nearly completed sealing array etched beneath. This was evidently their work over the past two days, and Bishop John had confirmed yesterday they’d figured it out.

Then, from the demon-sealing scroll, they took the Moon Garden’s holy powder brought by Bishop John—a high-grade spellcasting material. As they sprinkled the powder to complete the array, it glimmered like sparks.

Soon, they outlined the hall’s scene within the sealing array.

Watching this unfold, Louis—who’d been feigning along with the priests at the doorway for some time—fell into contemplation.

These three magicians had some skill. Aside from lacking magic, they were professionals. They knew that dealing with such evil required willpower above all. If even one person broke down in the room, chaos would ripple outward.

They also seemed worried the evil could “infect,” so they prevented anyone from leaving—and they were right. The seal on the door had been utterly broken upon opening. If anyone ran out today, the curse’s power would follow their shadow out, and even if the monster were slain, it could revive in their shadow, dooming the whole estate.

With this in mind, Louis squinted toward a window at one end of the hall—the seal there was damaged, and the monster could escape at any moment. If it did, all the ghosts and shadows in the house would go with it, making things much more troublesome.

Moreover, this creature was peculiar, able to traverse in and out of paintings like Stuart—but if it were a QR code or even a more advanced matrix, it would be powerless.

But in that case, he’d have to recite a lengthy spell to cast such a powerful magic, and once unleashed, all the “puppets” in the hall would be doomed—there was still hope for them.

However, if the monster dared show itself, and let him grab its hand, things would be much easier.

“What’s going on with this creature? It was so lively just now—has it sensed something? Why won’t it come out?”

Louis glanced at the monster in the room, confirmed his own magical energy was fully contained. Yet the monster cautiously climbed among the ropes—occasionally swatting away a random light blade or lightning from the priests, but remaining extremely careful, quietly watching the crowd outside. It repeatedly focused on Louis most of all.

Seeing this, Stuart’s eye twitched—the thing inside could sense its master’s danger. How did it know? The master looked no different from the priests, even their divine spells were indistinguishable... He seemed a mere ordinary cleric.

If it were him, he would have fallen for the master’s trick.

“Clearly, the more powerful something is, the better it can sense who’s dangerous—it already vaguely feels your threatening aura.”

“I’m just an ordinary person, stop staring at me.”

“Louis, what are you doing?” Helen whispered. Everyone else looked busy, but Louis was slacking off among the crowd.

“Hush, don’t talk, I’m fishing—Stuart, don’t move, just stand there. Don’t twitch! Pretend you can’t see it!”

“Come here, little darling, daddy will lull you to sleep.”