Lord of Prayer

By the time he snapped out of it, Zhou Chen had already kept the Tinfoil Hat on Renie’s head for two minutes. But she showed no reaction, as if nothing mattered as long as her game wasn’t disturbed—not even if the sky itself were to fall.

’She’s already been influenced. Even if I stop the source, the effect will linger. My only option is to burn it out…’ Zhou Chen apologized silently, then placed a hand on Renie’s shoulder and poured Cyan Flame into her body.

This was actually a feint. Zhou Chen wasn’t sure if Cyan Flame could purge the corruption affecting Renie, so he chose a more direct and decisive method. ’I wish for Renie to return to normal.’

A hundred motes of starlight burned away to nothing, their light merging with the pale flames raging through Renie’s Spiritual World. In the next instant, clarity returned to her eyes. It was immediately followed by a splitting headache, and she let out a pained groan, effortlessly crushing the mouse in her hand and smashing the keyboard.

She felt as if her very mind was being incinerated. The agony struck her Soul directly, a pain several times worse than her physical body being set alight.

Zhou Chen pulled back in time, but the residual pain did not vanish at once. However, Renie was a powerful individual in her own right. Within her Spiritual World, the Sea of Silver surged, swiftly mending all the damage and causing the agony to recede.

“What… That’s so strange, Zhou Chen. I was influenced without even realizing it. I didn’t feel anything abnormal at all.” A clear-headed Renie shook her head, slapping her forehead a few times.

“That just means the creature we’re up against is incredibly tough. It possesses unimaginable power on a psychic level.” Zhou Chen adjusted the Tinfoil Hat on Renie’s head. “So, you need to keep this on properly. It should be able to block psychic influence.”

“Uh, that sounds a little… weird. But does this thing really work?” Renie fiddled with the Tinfoil Hat.

Zhou Chen shrugged. “I’m not sure, but it’s better than having no protection at all.

Come on, we need to find the others. We can’t delay any longer.”

“Right.”

The two of them left the internet cafe, planning to find Liu Ling and free him from the demon’s influence.

On their way, Renie asked, “What happened to you two days ago? Yao Hu made it to the police station. He said you saved some kids from a Demon and then vanished.”

Zhou Chen recounted everything that had happened to him, including his theory about the Seven Deadly Sins.

Renie nodded thoughtfully. “The Seven Deadly Sins… That makes sense. Beyond what happened to us three and the other incidents in Akita Town, the organs appearing on that Demon also match the characteristics of their corresponding archdemons. The dragon wings for Samael, the Demon of Wrath; the fly eyes for Beelzebub, the Demon of Gluttony; the snake scales for Leviathan, the Demon of Envy; the goat horns for Asmodeus, the Demon of Lust…

“Hmm, don’t tell me its final form is a combination of the traits of all seven archdemons. If it reaches Tier Three and gains the ability to manipulate sin and desire, we’ll be in serious trouble. We’d be totally screwed.”

“That’s why we have to restore the others to their senses. Every person we get back increases our chances of victory.”

As they talked, they returned to the area filled with ecstatic screams and stopped in front of Lady Daisy’s villa. Renie’s cheeks flushed slightly. “You go up by yourself.”

’She was still a virgin, after all. She might have watched her fair share of adult films, but she couldn’t bear to see that kind of thing in person. Besides, this was all being broadcast globally. It could leave a black mark on her reputation…’

’Speaking of black marks, Renie couldn’t help but offer a three-second moment of silence for Liu Ling. The entire world would now know about his Cao Thief proclivity. And with tens of hours of video footage, it had probably already gone viral online, right?’

“Wait, the sounds have stopped! And Liu Ling’s aura has vanished!”

Zhou Chen’s expression suddenly changed. He slammed the door open and rushed upstairs, only to find that Liu Ling, who had been in the bedroom with Lady Daisy, was gone. All that remained was Lady Daisy, who had passed out from overstimulation.

He came downstairs, his face grim. “Liu Ling’s gone. We need to get back to the safe house, now.”

As he spoke, he placed a hand on Renie’s shoulder. Ignoring the cost in Essence, he used Flame Jump to rush them back to the safe house.

When they arrived back at the warehouse and saw its main doors wide open, both of their hearts sank. They stepped inside to find that Han Danqing, who had been sleeping soundly within, was also gone.

“Either they woke up on their own, or…”

Renie paused. “…or they knew we were coming, so they left beforehand.

“The latter is more likely. The Demon must be pulling the strings… It can probably sense every person it has influenced and can continue using suggestion to control them. It won’t let us wake the others up smoothly. It might even manipulate them into becoming our enemies.”

Zhou Chen grunted his agreement and added, “And it will act quickly to prevent any complications from arising.”

Their spirits sank.

Their enemies were six powerful Ascenders, plus a Sinful Desire Demon that could be evolving into its final form…

And there were only two of them.

“So what do we do now?” Renie asked, clearly troubled.

Zhou Chen let out a breath. “We find something it’s afraid of.”

“Something it’s afraid of?” Renie was stunned.

·

「Joey’s House.」

The atmosphere in the room was tense and somber.

Newspapers were piled on the table, spread over a map of Akita Town. Numerous locations on the map had been marked with a red pen.

Books on religion and Mysticism were spread across the floor. The four children were studying information about Demons and ways to fight them.

Knives, baseball bats, stun guns, and even a real handgun were all placed within easy reach, ready for a potential Demon attack. The handgun, of course, was one the children had secretly taken from home.

Lately, their parents’ personalities had become bizarre. Some grew irritable, others lazy, and still others greedy. Jenny’s parents had even started doing what grown-ups do right in front of her, which had been such a shock that she’d fled the house.

Under the circumstances, it was no surprise that they hadn’t noticed a gun was missing from the house.

The children all knew the Demon was behind everything. But seeing the state their parents were in, they didn’t dare speak the truth. They were afraid of being beaten or locked up, but they were even more terrified of the Demon overhearing them.

The only one they could count on, the Superpower User Mr. Smith, had vanished two days ago after saving them. Now, the situation in Akita Town was deteriorating, creating a suffocating sense of being on a cliff’s edge. Unwilling to just wait for their doom, the children had begun to figure out how to fight the Demon themselves.

Just then, a ball of pale flame ignited in the middle of the room. It expanded abruptly, and three figures emerged from within.

Zhou Chen, Renie, and Old Jack.

Old Jack was a key person. In a situation like this, he couldn’t be left on his own. They had to unite all the strength they could muster, so Zhou Chen had brought him along.

“Mr. Smith! And Renie!” The children’s faces lit up. “Mr. Smith, did you… did you take care of the Demon?”

“Unfortunately, no.”

Zhou Chen shook his head. “What I killed in that villa was just one of the Demon’s Clones. I managed to injure its main body later, but it escaped.

What are you all doing here?”

He pointed at the Akita Town map on the table.

“We’re looking for the Demon’s lair,” a bookish boy named Martin explained. “We’ve been marking the locations of the missing people on the map, trying to find a pattern.”

“Did you find anything?” Renie asked. On the day Zhou Chen had disappeared, everyone had gotten the intel thanks to Yao Hu making it to the police station. She had met these children after the Demon attack and even given them some Alchemy Tools for protection.

“The first few cases were all near the church.”

Martin said, “We asked some of the homeless men. They said that even before the disappearances were reported in the papers, a lot of other homeless people had already vanished from that area.”

“The church…” Zhou Chen’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Due to a lack of time, he had never managed to visit the church and speak with the Priest. The others had gone, but they hadn’t found any useful clues.

“Hmm… that’s not exactly a groundbreaking discovery. If you kids found it, the police must have too. I’m sure they’ve already checked it out,” Renie said.

“The church… the church… The holy ground has been defiled! It’s an evil place! Oh God, my Lord, Your Heaven is being corrupted by wicked men…”

Beside them, Old Jack suddenly began to scream as if he’d lost his mind.

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