The man and woman before her were completely unaware of the approaching danger behind them.
Bathsheba’s form flickered, emitting no trace of yin energy or sinister aura.
But just one second before she was about to touch Su Fan, she suddenly stopped.
Too smooth.
Something’s wrong.
Realizing this, the evil spirit immediately retreated.
In that very instant, the young man, who had been sitting motionless on the sofa with his back to the spirit, twisted his waist and spun around with explosive speed.
A heavy punch, brimming with terrifying blood-energy and devastating power, arced through the air in a half-moon trajectory—capable of shattering even iron walls!
The fist grazed Bathsheba’s face by a hair’s breadth!
Though it didn’t land directly on her main body, the gust of blood-energy that accompanied it still shredded the pale woman’s face, carving away nearly her entire head!
Bathsheba, reeling from the attack, could hardly believe it!
Unlike the searing sting of spiritual energy, this peculiar power born from the body itself felt like a massive sledgehammer slamming into her face.
A dull, throbbing pain—something she hadn’t experienced since her death—now sent a wave of terror through her!
She had clearly blocked this exorcist’s perception—how had he still detected her?!
Bathsheba retreated instantly, her face beginning to regenerate amidst billowing black ghostly energy.
Her newly restored eyes gleamed with a faint, ghostly light, overflowing with venomous malice.
The young man standing opposite her raised his fist, the lingering black fragments on it evaporating under the rising tide of blood-energy.
“You sniffed out the danger ahead of time, huh? Your mongrel nose is pretty sharp.”
Under Teresa’s stunned gaze, Su Fan cracked a grin.
And where was the exhaustion or weakness on that face now?
“Su, are you alright?”
“Not as bad as you were thinking.”
Well, it wasn’t exactly fine.
The side effects from the Dream-Entrapment were still there, leaving him far weaker than his prime.
Even with a 50% boost to his recovery speed, it would still take a long while before he returned to full strength.
But to say he couldn’t handle this evil spirit? That would be underestimating him.
Hearing this, Teresa suddenly understood.
“You deliberately showed weakness just now to lure it out?”
“Something like that, but there were other reasons too.”
Those controlled by the evil spirit couldn’t even leave the house.
In the original film, the group had tried to take the possessed Caroline out of the house.
But the moment she stepped outside, her flesh and skin began to decay and tear severely—one more step and her life would have been in danger.
Only by making the enemy believe victory was certain would it focus all its attention on killing him.
Only then could the nine ordinary people who drank the cursed water safely leave the battlefield.
“You… this is impossible… you’re just an exorcist—how can you recover faster than a lord of Hell?!”
Realizing Su Fan had been feigning weakness earlier, Bathsheba’s grotesque ghostly face twisted with rage as she let out a shrieking howl.
“You mean Paimon? He’s just a loser I’ve already beaten. Isn’t it only natural he’s no match for me?”
At these words, Bathsheba froze.
The ambush had been exposed, and trying it again was out of the question.
His condition was far better than she’d ever imagined.
But soon, Bathsheba revealed a sinister smile.
“Bluffing won’t do you any good, exorcist.”
“You haven’t recovered your full power.”
“If you could still use that ability to attract objects and energy, I wouldn’t have escaped your attack just now.”
“If you’re scared, then run. Take that nun beside you and flee.”
“In your midnight dreams, you’ll relive the terror I bring you, over and over again.”
With the Perrin family—her hostages—and the two later unlucky arrivals released, she no longer had any leverage to keep Su Fan.
Bathsheba immediately shifted tactics, provoking him with words.
“Shut up! You filthy, wicked viper!”
Su Fan stayed calm, but Teresa beside him was furious. She hurled the holy water straight from her cup!
Even without direct contact with the evil spirit, the holy water, infused with faith, still suppressed it as it landed around her.
Bathsheba dodged frantically, her ghostly form flickering and erratic, but she couldn’t entirely avoid it.
The burning pain awakened her evil nature.
She opened her mouth toward Teresa and unleashed a roar charged with concussive force!
Tiny, sharp teeth, an elongated jaw, vertical green pupils… inhuman features fully manifested on her face, horrifying beyond words!
Wherever the shockwave passed, the floor shattered, like an invisible giant stampeding forward—only to be casually swatted aside by the young man standing before Teresa, with a single wave of his hand!
The water pipes inside the house burst, spraying cursed water everywhere, black wisps weaving and flowing around Bathsheba in an encircling current.
Water control?
Teresa’s heart tightened at the sight.
She hadn’t expected the evil spirit to possess such an ability!
Teresa reached for her holy salt.
The bishop had once taught her that holy salt, combined with a crucifix and prayer, could turn ordinary water into holy water.
Maybe she could use that to help Su Fan!
“No need for all that trouble.”
But just as she was about to act, she heard Su Fan’s voice from ahead, his back still turned to her.
At that, Teresa stopped.
To break Bathsheba’s tricks, Su Fan had plenty of methods—a simple talisman drawn on the fly would do.
But it wasn’t necessary.
He’d let her see with her own eyes just what so-called brute force could really accomplish.
With a single step, his figure vanished from the room.
The water around the evil spirit contracted, then suddenly burst outward in high-pressure jets!
Yet not a single drop touched Su Fan. Somehow, his form had appeared on the inside of the water net!
And in the next instant, he was right in front of the evil spirit, fist raised, ready to strike!
His punch wasn’t particularly fast.
Bathsheba even had time to pull in a mass of water for defense.
These raging torrents could drain the momentum of even a bullet, turning it into useless scrap metal.
But the fist, heavy as a mountain, crashed down with unstoppable force—scattering it all into nothingness!
The water that came into contact with Su Fan’s fist, due to the violent impact, heated up instantly and evaporated into steam!
White mist billowed, and in the blink of an eye, half the living room was shrouded in hazy vapor.
“You’re right. I’m not what I used to be. I’ve gotten weaker. But so what?”
“You think that makes you strong enough?”
A figure walked slowly out of the mist.
The ethereal female ghost was gripped by an inexplicable terror—one so profound it even made her forget to flee!
Bathsheba had never imagined that she, a worshiper of demons and devotee of evil, could feel such dread!
High-pressure water jets, powerful enough to cut steel, shot toward the figure repeatedly—only to be casually shattered by a single punch!
Seeing the tide turn against her, the evil spirit finally realized she couldn’t win and tried to fall back on her old trick—fading into the shadows—only to have Su Fan appear in front of her in a flash, his hand gripping her throat!
This evil spirit, which had tormented others in the house for so long, no longer wore its fearsome visage.
Restored to a human face, her eyes were filled with terror. She didn’t even dare to struggle!
“The gap between you and me is like a chasm.”
“The authority the demons gifted you is nothing but a few worthless pebbles.”
“Trying to fill an abyss with a handful of gravel—so foolish it’s laughable.”
Su Fan’s voice was calm, yet it made Bathsheba’s very soul tremble and blur.
The sheer pressure, mixed with blood-energy, drained all her strength just to resist.
Transforming, escaping—pure fantasy.
Even Teresa, watching the entire scene, could feel the overwhelming pressure in the air, instinctively holding her breath!
“Where is your almighty demon lord now? Why don’t you call them out to save you?”
Su Fan didn’t rush to kill Bathsheba; instead, he smiled and asked, even pausing for a moment as if waiting.
“It seems the seventy-two demon pillars aren’t that protective of an evil spirit bearing the title of Matriarch.”
“Still no movement. You’re already a discarded pawn in their eyes.”
“Baal, Asmodeus… and one more, right? Besides them, how many of the seventy-two have gotten involved?”
“Never mind. Once they come, I’ll ask them personally.”
With those words, Su Fan squeezed, and her body burst apart.
The scattered fragments of her soul were incinerated by the surging blood-energy, vanishing without a trace.
As Bathsheba was completely destroyed, Li Jie and the others not far from the door felt a sudden lightness wash over them, as if an invisible burden had been lifted.
Inside the house, Su Fan opened the door, letting the steam gradually dissipate, and sat back down on the sofa.
[You have used your formidable physique and blood-energy to destroy the evil spirit without using any spiritual power!]
[Physique +15! Recovery Speed +20%!]
[Key Intelligence Acquired: The Devil’s Gaze]
[As the first person unrelated to God who can slay demons, you have drawn the attention of many demon lords in Hell.]
[As an outsider, you are not protected by God’s rules. Like a firefly in the darkness, you attract countless malevolent gazes.]
[They watch you, long and steadily, from the abyss of shadow.]
A notification appeared in Su Fan’s mind.
The Devil’s Gaze…
So this counts as key intelligence.
It had been a long time since Su Fan had received any prompts regarding hostile entities—not since his strength had grown.
Clearly, the Supreme Four Pillars of Solomon’s seventy-two demons had all set their sights on him.
Beyond that, one critical detail stood out in the prompt.
Not protected by God’s rules—what does that mean exactly?
“Ignoring others for so long is quite rude, Mr. Su Fan.”
Just as Su Fan was pondering, Teresa’s slightly chilly voice came from beside him.
He then remembered—there was still a nun here.
Teresa had stayed on the sofa from the beginning of the battle to the very end.
After Su Fan told her not to interfere, she had obediently remained seated.
At first, she’d worried that the shockwaves from the fight might reach her and cause harm.
But as it turned out, she’d worried for nothing.
Shockwaves come from a battle—what happened before her eyes should be called a one-sided stomp.
Watching Su Fan wipe out the enemy, Teresa finally let out a breath of relief.
But just as she was about to speak, she realized she’d been ignored.
“I was thinking about something. Sorry.”
“About what?”
“Some theological matters.”
Teresa was a little surprised to hear that.
Was this man going to convert?
The thought crossed her mind, and she was about to share the Lord’s love with him.
But she quickly realized that whatever theological questions he was pondering were probably unorthodox.
Better keep her mouth shut.
And honestly, Teresa’s guess was spot on.
Su Fan was indeed thinking about the relationship between God and the Devil.
Many people have a misconception—”Satan” doesn’t refer to one specific demon, but to a collective term for a group of demons.
The word “Satan” comes from Hebrew, meaning “the enemy of God and Christ.”
Demons opposed to God are countless, and they are all different entities.
Yet many believers interpret them as different incarnations of the same demon—Satan.
Take Leviathan, for example. Or Beelzebub.
The most powerful demon, of course, is Lucifer, the Morning Star.
And before his fall, he was an angel of Heaven.
That means even the mightiest demon is still a creation of God.
Can his power truly rival God’s? Obviously not.
In the Book of Revelation, it’s foretold that Michael, who could not defeat Lucifer on his own, overcame him after receiving God’s blessing.
God had the power to destroy him entirely but chose not to.
From the evidence, God doesn’t seem to love humanity in the way the churches preach.
Or rather, His love isn’t especially preferential.
Demons seem to be an indispensable part of the system He built.
Demons torment humanity. Humans turn to God, gain power, and drive the demons back to Hell.
Before long, the demons escape Hell again, and the cycle repeats.
The demons aren’t dead. Believers increase. And God’s glory is magnified.
Is that too much of a conspiracy theory? Su Fan mused.
Regardless, the situation now was that within this established system, a being who could actually kill demons had suddenly appeared.
It was like playing a paintball game where everyone had fake guns—and then someone showed up with a real one. And they didn’t belong to any side.
[I see.]
Su Fan finally understood his position.
Having figured that out, he also grasped what “not protected by the rules” truly meant.
[In other words, from now on, even the demon lords of the Supreme Four Pillars can go all-out against me—without being bound by any of those endless restrictions.]
[They might even send their true bodies?]
Fine, fine, fine.
Su Fan suddenly grinned.
He was just wondering how to kill Paimon’s true body anyway.
Since you’re coming, why not just stay?
“Let’s go.”
After finishing his thoughts, Su Fan rose from the sofa and glanced around the room.
The floor was damaged and a little messy, but nothing major.
The evil spirit was destroyed. The family survived. Their home was left mostly intact.
This exorcism mission went pretty well, all things considered.
Su Fan nodded to himself, then led Teresa out of the house.
Outside, not far away, Li Jie, Sheriff Daniel, and the five sisters were all watching from a distance.
When they saw Su Fan and Teresa walk out safe and sound, the two men exchanged a look and breathed a sigh of relief.
As for the five sisters, they swarmed around him like a flurry of butterflies, their eyes filled with both hope and a hint of unease.
Under everyone’s gaze, Su Fan stretched lazily.
“You tell them, Teresa. I’m going to rest for a bit.”
Su Fan stepped aside, and Teresa stepped forward, announcing with a smile:
“The evil spirit in the house has been destroyed. You can live here peacefully from now on—no more strange occurrences. Rest easy.”
Hearing Teresa’s words, the five sisters all broke into smiles. The more spirited ones, like Nancy, couldn’t help but jump for joy.
Just then, Roger and Caroline, who had been placed nearby, both woke up.
Li Jie and Sheriff Daniel relayed the good news to them as well.
