After Marthas’s voice came through the broadcast, Su Fan vanished from the crowd.
Before leaving, he had handed over all the talismans he was carrying to Anne and Teresa.
They would be enough to protect themselves in most unexpected situations.
Stepping over the green screens below, leaping across numerous temporary set pieces, Su Fan made his way to the high-level control room.
All he could see was an impenetrable darkness.
Channeling his spiritual power, his eyes turned deep and penetrative. Both the physical scenery and the evil aura were laid bare before him—nothing could hide.
The entire space was now filled with a murky, foul energy, pouring endlessly from deeper inside the passageway outwards.
Once this powerful evil aura began to flow, it was like countless blades slicing through clothing and cutting straight into flesh and blood. Ordinary people couldn’t even get close.
As Su Fan walked, he surged his vital energy and blood to ward off the black miasma that kept trying to invade his body.
If this had been before his battle with Paimon, he would have had to rely on spiritual power or draw talismans for protection.
His current physical strength was a blessing in disguise—a silver lining from that ordeal.
With a few flickers of movement, Su Fan appeared in front of the broadcast room door.
The wooden door was slightly ajar, unlocked. He pushed it open, and the scene inside was laid out before him.
The broadcasting equipment was intact but emanated an ominous aura.
Beneath the console, the announcer lay motionless on the floor.
There was no sign of the demon inside, only lingering evil energy.
Su Fan glanced at the announcer’s body and could tell that his soul was already gone—likely devoured by Marthas.
Souls, again.
For demons, human souls and lives were always the finest nourishment.
Compared to the crowd of actors and crew members gathered together below, the lone announcer in the broadcast booth was the perfect target.
Su Fan didn’t linger. He immediately went to the broadcasting equipment.
The evil sounds emanating from the speakers were continuously eroding everyone’s minds below.
Once their collective will shattered, the demon would feast on their souls and grow stronger in an instant!
“So you just left that poor announcer lying there? How noble of you, exorcist.”
Just as Su Fan was about to start drawing talismans, a mocking voice came from the dead announcer’s mouth.
Su Fan looked at him and narrowed his eyes.
The corpse sat up, leaning against the base of the broadcast console, its eyes vacant.
The demon hadn’t possessed the body—it had left behind some kind of “program” that would activate automatically when someone arrived.
The announcer’s voice was low and hoarse, each syllable carrying powerful psychic vibrations.
“Marthas.”
Su Fan’s expression remained calm as he called out the demon’s name.
“Figured out my true name so quickly—you must have learned it from other exorcists you know.”
“Too bad, though. Even knowing my name, you can’t use God’s power to banish me back to Hell.”
“Running rampant and then just waltzing back to Hell? You’re dreaming.”
“Get ready to die here on Earth, Marthas.”
Su Fan’s tone was unhurried, not sounding like a threat at all, but the killing intent in his voice briefly overwhelmed the evil energy flowing through the room.
“Hahaha, how terrifying, exorcist.”
Marthas laughed, his voice dripping with mockery.
“What are you going to do about the humans down there? Everyone here is my hostage.”
Su Fan frowned and said nothing, but his spiritual sense had already spread out, searching for Marthas’s whereabouts.
“Don’t waste your energy. You won’t find me.”
The low demonic voice echoed through the room.
“Hasn’t the Bathsheba incident taught you anything?
The power to block perception was a gift I bestowed upon her.
But you don’t seem surprised at all.”
Su Fan remained composed, as calm as ever.
“I already figured it out. Using ordinary people as leverage—that ridiculous tactic—it was done on your orders too, wasn’t it?”
“Do you even qualify as a demon lord?”
“The Seventy-Two Pillars were just a coincidence.”
“In your full form, just how terrifying are you?”
Marthas spoke, and somewhere in his voice crept a hint of admiration.
“Just look at you—in human form, you severely wounded a high-ranking demon lord of Hell and even put its true body into slumber.”
“What an astonishing feat.”
“When the king’s agonizing roars echoed through every corner of Hell, all the souls began chanting your name.”
“That’s precisely why shattering your will gives me so much satisfaction.”
Su Fan suddenly laughed upon hearing this.
“You think you can threaten me with such cheap tricks?”
“No, no, no—I know very well that other people’s lives don’t matter that much to you.”
“You never accept threats, do you?”
“The dream-killing spirit tried to negotiate with you using other people’s lives.”
“The leper spirit used a girl’s soul as its shield—but you destroyed them all.”
“I once thought you truly didn’t care about anyone else’s life. But that’s not the case, is it?”
As Marthas spoke, images of all the evil spirits Su Fan had killed in the past appeared before him, then faded away.
“If you really didn’t care, why did you rush to this place to save that woman?”
The demon’s whisper came from all directions, as if circling him slowly.
“And why do you stay guarding that antique shop, refusing to leave?”
As Marthas’s voice trailed off, a familiar figure appeared before Su Fan.
An elderly man with white hair and beard, glasses perched on his nose, a kind smile at the corner of his lips—just as he was in memory.
Old Man Su.
Su Fan’s usually calm eyes rippled with emotion.
And in that instant, the demon’s claws tore through Old Man Su’s chest, ripping the elderly man in half.
And it wasn’t just Old Man Su.
Detective Dyson, Jamie, Ron, Teresa, Anne…
Their dying illusions flickered before Su Fan’s eyes again and again.
The corners of Su Fan’s eyes twitched. His steady breathing hitched for just a moment.
He knew it was all just illusions created by the demon. But seeing familiar faces die in agony—he couldn’t help reacting.
“You hide it well, but you’ve let your weakness slip inadvertently.”
Marthas’s laughter grew more brazen.
“If all those strangers outside died, it wouldn’t matter to you. You’d just kill me and avenge them.”
“But what if it’s them in danger?”
“Their deaths—they hurt you, don’t they?”
“Oh~ look at that furrowed brow. How painful. Hahaha…”
“I know you have the means to destroy demons permanently. So after I kill them, I’ll immediately find an exorcist to send me back to Hell.”
“Demons live long. A hundred years is just a nap.”
“Just thinking about how the great hero who wounded a demon lord will spend the rest of his life in torment—even the sulfur stench of Hell smells sweet to me.”
“Offer up your soul, and maybe I’ll consider sparing them.”
“Is that so?”
Su Fan’s voice sounded out of nowhere. He raised his head, his gaze as if piercing through space and walls.
His murderous eyes fixed on the demon in the darkness, baring his teeth.
“I’m so scared!”
…
Inside the locked-down dark studio, the people’s curses at the demon gradually died down.
They started trying to break through the studio doors.
The strongest men charged at the metal doors again and again, while others searched for props to pry open a gap.
But all their efforts were in vain.
Inside this sealed environment, phone signals had somehow vanished completely.
As time passed, everyone finally came to realize that they were trapped in a true dead end.
Just as Teresa had said earlier.
Once the anger faded and the reality of their situation sank in, all that remained was unease—and a creeping despair that began consuming their hearts.
Everyone was looking for people they knew, huddling together.
Only by banding together could they gain even a sliver of security in this eerie, terrifying environment.
Still, at least they gradually calmed down. The atmosphere was oppressive, but no one was doing anything reckless.
Listening to the sounds around her, Teresa knew this fragile calm wouldn’t last long. She led Anne, moving away from the crowd.
For what it was worth, she had already given Anne all the talismans Su Fan had entrusted to her.
“Teresa, have you been following Su all this time?”
Perhaps the silence was too stifling. As Anne moved with Teresa, she quietly asked about what Su Fan had been through recently.
“Yes.”
Sensing Anne’s emotions, Teresa answered cooperatively.
She told the woman beside her everything she knew and had witnessed about Su Fan.
Anne listened with rapt attention throughout, occasionally gasping at the terrifying entities mentioned in the stories.
“I never imagined that after we parted ways, Su went through so much…”
Anne had once dreamed of becoming a nun, and after the Freddy incident, her curiosity about the occult and supernatural beings had only grown.
In her free time, she always sought out related books.
Naturally, she understood what the Seventy-Two Demon Lords really meant.
“So, the one we’re dealing with this time is also…”
“He is the thirty-eighth of the Seventy-Two Pillars, named Marthas.”
Teresa hesitated for a moment but ultimately told Anne the enemy’s true identity.
“Compared to Paimon, who is stronger?”
“Paimon, of course.”
Hearing this, Anne let out a huge sigh of relief, a note of optimism creeping into her voice.
“Good. Su will definitely win.”
“Yeah. He will.”
Teresa said this, but in the darkness where no one could see her face, a trace of worry appeared.
What truly made Marthas terrifying was its vile, cunning mind.
Through John and Mia’s ordeal, the demon’s despicable nature had been put on full display.
Just as Teresa was feeling this concern, a scream suddenly erupted from the nearby crowd.
At the same time, a strong scent of blood began to waft through the air.
The already uneasy people could no longer suppress their fear and panic.
Restless murmurs erupted once again.
“What happened?”
“Looks like someone died.”
“How?”
“She picked up a shattered piece of light bulb from the floor and slit her own throat.”
“My God…”
“Stop saying ‘my God’… God can’t hear our prayers in here…”
“Damn it… what the hell is this situation…”
“I wish this was just a nightmare and I’d wake up in my bedroom.”
The chatter didn’t last long. Soon, someone else, unable to bear the suffocating despair, tried to kill themselves—but was stopped by the director and actors around them.
“Their mental state…”
Anne sensed something wrong.
They’d only been trapped for a short while. Uncomfortable, sure, but why would anyone suddenly want to commit suicide?
“It’s the demon’s influence…”
Teresa suddenly understood as well.
“Its evil power is clouding their minds, making them lose their sanity.”
“I have to do something. Stay careful.”
Teresa took out the holy water and cross she carried with her.
If she could get everyone to pray sincerely, they might be able to resist the demon’s power—but that was clearly impossible.
A large-scale exorcism all at once was out of the question. She’d have to take it step by step.
Starting with that girl whose mind had collapsed first…
Just as Teresa was about to get up, a terrifying roar suddenly came from above!
Along with it came a violent tremor that shook the entire large studio, raining dust and debris down on them!
…
Before the echo had even faded, a deafening boom exploded across the studio!
That figure—in the blink of an eye—had shattered dozens of reinforced concrete walls and was now right in front of Marthas!
His blazing, scorching vital energy and blood radiated like a blazing sun, engulfing the entire area!
Marthas even felt that it was more terrifying and scorching than the eternal flames of Hell!
Instinctively, the demon tried to flee, vanishing into the darkness—but Su Fan grabbed hold of its curled demonic horn and yanked it back into the open!
Su Fan locked eyes with the demon, his gaze filled with savage killing intent. His fist, channeling spiritual power and vital energy, was about to come down!
Marthas snapped off its own head, its body slipping away from Su Fan’s grip and reappearing in another direction in an instant. A new head rapidly regenerated from its neck!
“How did you do that?! That’s impossible!”
Marthas, ignoring its old head still in Su Fan’s hand, stared at Su Fan’s eyes in utter disbelief.
