Adrian lunged at her suddenly, eyes filled with cold bloodlust.
She sidestepped just in time.
He stumbled, barely keeping his balance.
He was exhausted, weak, and missing one hand.
She could finish him easily now.
But she didn't move.
Her blade trembled in her hand.
Because she knew what killing him meant.
Adrian had been mentally corrupted. It was impossible to bring his sanity back.
If she killed him here, he would return to his real body in the real world.
And once the Exorcist Union saw his state, they would execute him without hesitation.
'This was planned,' Nisha thought, clenching her fists. 'Even if this was an emergency mission, it doesn't make sense that the Exorcist Union didn't send someone to pull him out before he lost his mind.'
'They wanted him to lose his sanity, so they could justify killing him.'
She ground her teeth.
But she didn't have time to think further.
Adrian's sword came swinging toward her.
She bit her lip as she watched him move.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
The only thing she could do now was end it.
Even if he woke up insane in the real world and got executed later, it was still better than letting him fight like a mindless puppet inside this Cursed Spirit's domain.
She placed her hand on her sword's hilt and took a slow breath.
Just as she was about to draw it, a voice shouted, "Stop!"
A Magic Bullet shot toward her head.
She dodged it instantly, twisting her body to the side.
A portal appeared in front of Adrian, who was rushing at her. He could not change his direction at the last second.
He disappeared into the portal, teleported somewhere else.
Then a man stepped through another portal and stood in front of her. He wore a white mask that completely hid his face.
Nisha immediately raised her sword.
"Who are you?" she demanded.
"Alan Veritus. And you don't need to kill Adrian. I'm going to save him."
She narrowed her eyes. "Save him? Don't talk nonsense. He's already corrupted. Wait—are you with the people who did this to him?"
"I'm not—"
She didn't let him finish.
She lunged forward and swung her sword.
Alan remained calm.
"If you kill me, Adrian dies."
Her blade stopped just a hair's breadth from his neck.
"Speak," she said coldly, pressing the edge lightly against his skin.
"I'm the disciple of Monkey King," he said.
"Now stop that bullshit—"
"And I'm the one who killed Frank and saved Adrian's son."
Her body froze.
The news of Frank's death was being hidden by House Daelthorn, and only a few knew it.
Alan reached into the rune glowing on his palm and pulled out a sword.
He showed it to her.
Her eyes widened slightly when she saw it.
"This is Daritas. One of the 108 legion swords. It's very valuable. And…"
"It belonged to Frank," Nisha interrupted. Her voice dropped. "Damn it. You really are the one who killed him."
She lowered her weapon and took Daritas from his hand.
After checking it closely, she sighed and gave it back to him.
"Thank you for saving Adrian's son," she said quietly.
"Don't mention it. Now, do you believe I'm the disciple of Monkey King?"
"No."
Alan was speechless for a second.
He rubbed his forehead, and said,
"I killed Frank because he broke the master's rule: Exorcists can't interfere with normal people's lives. Do you really think anyone else would risk killing a direct descendant of House Daelthorn? I had the guts because I'm Monkey King's disciple."
"Or maybe you're just a psychopath. Plenty of those go after Hidden Clans for fun," she said flatly.
Alan sighed. "Fine. Believe whatever you want. But leave this place. I'm going to save Adrian."
"Why? And how?"
She was sharper than Carlotta, and more cautious.
That was expected from someone like her.
"I'm saving him because I want to," Alan said simply. "And as for how, I'm going to exorcise this Cursed Spirit. Once it dies, the corruption on Adrian will vanish."
Nisha's eyes widened.
"Are you insane? Exorcising this kind of Cursed Spirit? No one knows how to do that."
"I do."
Less than ten percent of all Cursed Spirits could be exorcised.
The rest were left alone because no one knew their specific exorcism methods.
Every Spirit's exorcism method was unique. Finding it could take years, or never happen at all.
It was the reason why most Cursed Spirits still roamed freely.
All the Exorcist Union could do was limit their damage.
"What proof do you have?" she asked bluntly.
"I told you, I'm the disciple of Monkey King, the only person who can exorcise any Cursed Spirit."
"You have no proof."
"I can use space magic," he said.
Alan opened a small portal beside them, then another above his palm.
Nisha frowned.
"Since you're from the Hall family, you know about magic. No one on Earth can use space magic. I'm the first and only person who can. That should be enough proof," he said.
"But—"
"If I wasn't the Monkey King's disciple, House Daelthorn would already be hunting me down for killing Frank. Instead, they hid the news.
"They were afraid the world would find out the Monkey King punished them," he said.
Nisha stayed quiet.
After a moment, she asked, "How exactly are you planning to exorcise this Cursed Spirit?"
"You don't need to worry about that. Just return to the real world. I'll kill Adrian here, and send him back. You must protect him from the Exorcist Union until I finish exorcising the Spirit."
She didn't speak for a while.
A lot of things about him were suspicious.
But he was the only hope she had right now.
If not for him, she'd have to kill Adrian herself.
"Alright," she said finally.
"I'm going to kill you now. Keep Adrian safe until the Cursed Spirit is exorcised," Alan said.
She gave a small nod.
Alan lifted his hand, and a Magic Bullet formed at his fingertip.
It spun rapidly, transforming into piercing Magic Bullet, before shooting straight into her eye.
Even with that, it took a moment for the bullet to pierce her brain.
'Rank 3 Exorcists really are tough.'
'If I'd aimed anywhere else instead of her eyes, I wouldn't have even scratched her.'