Once again, Jennifer found herself in that pitch-black world. This time, though, she wasn't feeling that same fear and confusion. She walked forward with a determined stride, waiting for the voice to appear.
"Lilith... Lilith... Lilith..."
This time, Jennifer heard it crystal clear. The name the voice had been calling all along was Lilith.
The sound came from all around her, echoing and distant, like some kind of 4D surround sound.
"My name isn't Lilith, it's Jennifer, and I'm right here!"
Jennifer took a deep breath and shouted into the darkness. The voice vanished instantly.
Just as Jennifer was starting to feel a little lost, the voice suddenly whispered in her ear, "Are you ready?"
Jennifer looked deep within herself and answered firmly, "I'm ready!"
"Welcome back, Lilith."
Roy, who had been observing Jennifer closely, suddenly noticed a dramatic shift in her demeanor. Then, Jennifer's eyes snapped open.
"Roy, I've found Needy's location."
A mysterious smile played on Jennifer's lips, and her eyes took on an unusually alluring quality. It was like she had become a completely different person.
But right now, the most important thing was rescuing Needy, so Roy had to push Jennifer's transformation to the back of his mind for the time being.
"Lead the way!"
Ten minutes later, Roy pulled the car over to the side of the road. Jennifer pointed to a manhole cover a short distance away.
"It's not far down, beneath that manhole cover."
By now, the rain was coming down hard. Texas doesn't usually get this much rain, especially with winter barely over.
Roy suspected that Pennywise was behind this downpour.
He pried open the manhole cover and peered into the dark, gaping sewer.
"Jennifer, I'm going down now. You head back to the car and wait for me. If I'm not back in half an hour, call the police!"
"No, I'm going with you!"
Hearing this, Roy frowned slightly. He noticed that Jennifer's personality seemed to have changed along with her demeanor.
"Jennifer, it could be really dangerous down there. You'd be better off..."
Roy didn't even get to finish his sentence before Jennifer cut him off.
"Roy, if both you and Needy are gone, what's the point of me staying here? Besides, how are you going to find Needy quickly without me to guide you?"
Looking at Jennifer, who was shivering slightly from the rain but stood with an unusual firmness, Roy fell silent for a moment.
"Alright," he conceded, "if you insist, let's go down together."
Roy jumped down into the sewer first, then reached up to help Jennifer as she followed.
Sewers in Western countries are usually built quite wide. The sewers in New York City can even fit four turtles and a rat running side by side.
Waterfall Town's sewers weren't quite that extravagant, but considering the need for floodwater drainage during the rainy season, there was definitely enough room for Roy and Jennifer to walk side by side.
Because of the heavy rain, the water level in the usually somewhat dry sewer had risen.
"Jennifer, lead the way!"
Jennifer nodded and started walking along the flow of the water.
Roy noticed that all the water in the sewer was converging in one direction, and Jennifer was heading straight towards the center where it all came together.
Five minutes later, the passage suddenly opened up, and Roy and Jennifer found themselves in a huge circular chamber.
"That's strange, why would Waterfall Town's sewer have such a massive space?"
Water from all directions poured into the center of the circular chamber, forming a pitch-black pool.
Needy was floating motionless on the surface of the pool, her eyes closed.
"Needy!" they both exclaimed at the same time.
Just as Roy and Jennifer were about to approach Needy, a huge mouth full of sharp teeth suddenly erupted from the black pool and swallowed her whole.
The massive mouth crawled out of the water and quickly morphed into a pale clown with bright red hair, its eyes fixed on Roy and Jennifer with pure malice.
"You bastard!"
Roy's eyes narrowed with fury. He instantly drew his chainsaw sword and charged forward, slicing the clown in half with a single swing.
The clown split apart, its grin widening grotesquely, but Needy wasn't inside its body.
The bisected clown quickly dissolved back into the pool, and then a burly man wearing a white rubber mask emerged from the water.
"Michael Myers!"
Roy stared coldly at his unwelcome brother-in-law. Jennifer behind him started to tremble, clearly haunted by some terrible memories.
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"Jennifer, get a grip on your fear! This thing feeds on people's terror. The more scared you are, the stronger it gets!"
Even as he said the words, Roy knew that fear wasn't something you could just switch off.
"I... I'm trying!"
Jennifer bit her lip, desperately trying to suppress her fear of Michael Myers, but just seeing that iconic mask brought a flood of childhood memories crashing back.
A fruit knife, blood, screams – it was like a recurring nightmare, wrapping around Jennifer and making her feel the strength draining from her body.
With no other choice, Roy stepped in front of Jennifer, facing Michael Myers head-on.
"Big brother-in-law," Roy sneered, "I've killed you once, and I can do it again!"
Michael tilted his head slightly, as if trying to understand Roy's words.
Pressing the accelerator button on his chainsaw sword, Roy charged towards Michael. His physical abilities were far beyond Michael's now, and his weapon was much more advanced. There was no need to be passive.
Michael raised his fruit knife, trying to block Roy's chainsaw sword, but the blade sliced through it effortlessly.
The chainsaw sword continued its downward arc, cutting diagonally through Michael's shoulder with almost no resistance, like slicing through butter.
The Michael Myers who had been cut in half also melted back into the pool. Roy began to suspect that Pennywise might be some kind of liquid entity, allowing it to shapeshift so easily.
What would this thing turn into next? Would it become something he was afraid of?
Speaking of which, what was he even afraid of? He couldn't think of anything in particular.
Then, a tall woman in a red dress slowly rose from the pool.
"Teacher Elizabeth?"
As soon as Michael Myers disappeared, Jennifer seemed to snap back to her normal self. She looked at the tall woman in the red dress with some confusion, then back at Roy.
That's right, this woman in the red dress was Elizabeth, the same Elizabeth who had given Roy that private physiology lesson just last night. Seeing her in this kind of situation made Roy chuckle.
Roy pointed his chainsaw sword at the fake Elizabeth, a mocking smile spreading across his face.
"You didn't really think I'd be scared of *this* woman, did you, Pennywise!"
To be honest, Roy did have a lingering sense of unease about the King of Sloth because his power was immense, and Roy knew he was no match for Elizabeth in her true form.
But Roy could tell the difference between the real and the fake. He wasn't about to fall for this illusion.
"Alright then, let's just call this a little preview!"
With that, Roy quickly charged towards the fake Elizabeth, ready to deal with her just like he had with Michael Myers.
But at that moment, the fake Elizabeth suddenly began to transform, radiating a terrifyingly evil aura.
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