Exorcist of the American Nightmares

 A ghoul preying, followed by a Lixilati monk blocking its path and drawing his sword as he spoke—all these events occurred in just a fleeting moment.

A flash of cold light.

The ghoul, caught mid-air, was utterly unable to react, only able to scream as it used its sharp-nailed hands to shield itself.

For a normal person's slash, it might only scratch the surface.

But under the Lixilati monk's slash, the knight's sword itself emitted a sound capable of slicing through the air.

This was a combination of tremendous force and incredible speed.

The whistling blade touched the ghoul's arms, chopping them off as easily as slicing through vegetables, despite their appearance of peeling skin which was actually as hard as steel.

The ghoul roared in pain, the red glow in its black pupils intensifying as it shifted its target, baring its sharp teeth at the Lixilati monk's neck.

Such ferocity, unlike that of ordinary people, was not something they could withstand. However, the Lixilati monk simply snorted and reversed his grip on the knight's sword, thrusting it upwards.

The thrust pierced the ghoul's jaw, reaching the top of its head and effectively stopping its attack right in front of him.

Watching the ghoul's red light slowly fading, the Lixilati monk flicked his right hand, throwing the ghoul's body aside while also flinging the blood off his sword blade.

Then, he looked around.

The other two ghouls were also killed at that moment by his comrades.

Only the last ghoul, supporting itself on one side of its body, managed to escape through a deliberately exposed gap.

Seeing this, the Lixilati monk relaxed slightly, withdrew his gaze, and then turned to the four security guards, frozen in shock, displaying a vacant expression.

These four were merely bait used to lure the ghouls.

As long as there were living humans, the ghouls would not be able to resist.

For these monsters, living humans were more delectable than lifeless corpses.

"I apologize, gentlemen."

Looking at them, the Lixilati monk said emotionlessly, then signaled to a monk standing nearby.

Woken by his words, the four regained their senses, only to feel a sudden intense pain from behind their heads, their vision blacking out instantly.

"Take them away."

Seeing this, the Lixilati monk spoke calmly.

The clergyman who knocked them out nodded slightly, and with another clergyman, each grabbed two humans and quickly left the scene.

The Lixilati monk naturally took out a mobile phone and dialed a number. Once connected, he calmly spoke.

"Father Augustus, this is Chamilo Hospital. We deliberately let one target escape."

"Hmm, start encircling them and harvest."

Listening to the voice on the phone, the Lixilati monk nodded slightly.

"Yes!"

............…

At another location storing bodies, a middle-aged man dressed in a priest's robe, expressionless, put away his phone.

The moonlight shone down, and beside him stood several clergy members, including Father Archibald, who was newly in charge. The young priest understood more as he watched Father Augustus take charge from the start.

After identifying which locations had lost bodies, Father Augustus's actions were swift.

Using official resources to locate suspicious locations, and then basing on these places, including crime scenes, he mapped out the probable range of the ghouls' activities and finally set a trap.

Besides this step, monks deliberately let some ghouls escape as bait, trailing them to find groups of ghouls.

And by following these ghouls' hiding spots, they confirmed the ultimate source.

Father Archibald thought, in fact, events were proceeding just as he had imagined.

If someone had a God's-eye view, they would see an entire area become alive.

The clergy set up in various suspicious locations acted like a net, slowly closing in.

And the ghouls within the net were like fish waiting to be slaughtered.

Following the escaping ghoul's trail, the trailing clergy soon found the ghouls' lair.

But obviously, there was more than one lair.

The Lixilati monk looked at the neighborhood in front of him, leading the monks behind him, stepping inside.

In the deep night, the neighborhood where the ghouls hid was utterly dark, silent as a dead zone, as if no one existed.

The Lixilati monk, smelling the faint stench of decay, although his face was stern, couldn't help but sigh.

All these signs indicated one thing: the residents of this neighborhood might have all died or been transformed into ghouls.

The Lixilati monk looked towards the house with the strongest smell and waved his hand.

At his gesture, the monks behind him dispersed, sneaking into each dark house

.

Eventually, only the Lixilati monk was left facing the house in front of him, walking alone to the door.

"For faith, we fight!"

The Lixilati monk stopped in front of the door, his face calm, leisurely taking out a bottle of holy water hanging in front of his chest.

"Loyal to the Pope, loyal to the church."

As he spoke, the door in front of him burst open, revealing a fast-moving shadow.

The Lixilati monk seemed to have been waiting for this moment, flinging the bottle of holy water.

The seemingly transparent liquid turned into a wave, splashing over the several shadows rushing towards him.

The next second, agonized screams sounded.

These shadows that burst through the door were suddenly smoking all over their bodies, collapsing right in front of the Lixilati monk, turning to dust.

It didn't take long, just a matter of seconds.

And at that moment, sounds of battle reached his ears.

The monks who had spread out were already fighting the ghouls.

The Lixilati monk leisurely drew his knight's sword, with noises from inside the house easily conjuring corresponding images in his mind.

"One, two, three, four, five…"

The Lixilati monk mentally counted, with precisely sixteen ghouls hiding in various parts of the house, waiting for him to enter and then ambush.

"In the name of the Lord, I shall expel thee!"

Once confirmed, the Lixilati monk, gripping the handle that could be held with one or both hands, walked into the dark house, his body naturally covered in layers of glowing knight's armor made of holy power…

Roars of pain, screams of agony, and sounds of battle erupted within the house.

Seconds passed by.

When the clergy who had finished fighting began to gather outside the house, the Lixilati monk's sturdy figure appeared at the shattered doorway, leisurely sheathing his knight's sword.

Behind him, the ground was covered with broken, smoking stones, a thick layer.

After emerging, he looked at the expressionless monks and had only one thing to say,

"Keep moving forward!"

This phrase pierced through the entire night until the moment the sun rose, and the battle finally ceased.

All matters began to be summed up.

Inside a church.

Father Augustus, who hadn't slept all night, held a document and sighed with relief. He glanced to the side.

Apart from him, everyone present was a priest from the New York diocese.

Excluding Father Archibald, who had just taken over Pluto Church, every one of them was an experienced priest.

It wasn't just ghouls; even in cases of demonic possession or other monstrous events, some tricky supernatural incidents, they all had some means of resistance.

In other words, these priests were essentially a backup plan. If knights encountered an unstoppable presence, it was time for them to step in.

Knights were very strong in combat, even stronger than some priests, but the rich knowledge and various exorcism techniques that priests possessed were not something knights could have. After all, one uses the brain, and the other uses strength, each with its own role.

Human energy is ultimately limited; it's impossible to study knowledge and practice martial arts at the same time. Otherwise, everyone would be half-baked, barely graduating, not everyone can be as abnormal as Bishop York.

"It seems that apart from ghouls, no other monsters appeared, Father Augustus."

Among the priests who also hadn't slept all night, one spoke calmly.

Upon finishing his statement, another priest chimed in.

"Fortunately, we discovered them early. Otherwise, who knows how many people would die if this group of deliberately hidden ghouls erupted."

Father Augustus nodded, "There's still room for recovery."

As previously mentioned, the number of these deliberately hidden ghouls was not small. Fortunately, they were discovered and successfully encircled in time. If left to spread and wreak havoc over time, the situation would become much more complicated.

"So, what exactly are these ghouls waiting for?"

As he spoke, all the priests looked towards Father Augustus.

Father Augustus shook his head, "Since these ghouls can hide so obediently, there must be someone higher in rank hiding as well, whether it's a demon or some other creature,

Their purpose, we do not know."

Father Augustus paused for a moment, recalling the information and photos he had obtained earlier.

"However, we did find an altar and a circle filled with dark power in one house. Presumably, those ghouls were summoned by someone using this method,"

Saying this, Father Augustus's eyes slightly narrowed.

"We can use official power to find out who used to live in that house…"

...............

Meanwhile.

Inside a house, a bearded man sat on the sofa, squinting his eyes.

He stared at the ghoul kneeling on the floor, trembling, a flick

er of red light in his eyes.

The atmosphere became even heavier, so much so that the ghoul trembling on the floor became even more unbearable.

"So, you're the only one who escaped?"

As the man spoke, he covered his smiling face with his hand, somewhat neurotically.

"Or was it because you were greedy and went out to feed that you survived this ordeal?"

The ghoul shrank even smaller, trembling even more, appearing somewhat pitiful.

Seeing this, the man's breathing grew heavier, his smiling face suddenly turning cold as he stared at the ghoul and said coldly.

"So why didn't you just go and die with the others?"

As he spoke, the already trembling ghoul was so frightened that it jumped up and climbed onto the ceiling, moving at a very fast speed towards the outside.

It was so scared by his words that it ran away.

But a hint of mockery appeared in the man's eyes.

"Stupid."

With that word, he stretched out his hand, and a black light ball suddenly appeared in his palm, shooting towards the ghoul that had just climbed out a few meters away.

The speed was incredibly fast, blasting the ghoul into a cloud of shattered stone rain, disappearing in the air.

Seeing this, the man withdrew his hand, starting to get annoyed as he thought about something.

He had never expected these ghouls to expose their tracks because of their greed, only to be discovered and then annihilated.

"Utterly foolish!"

He had initially planned to use these ghouls to spread poison, converting some humans into ghouls, and then…

Just as he thought this, footsteps upstairs interrupted his train of thought, causing the man to frown and look towards the stairs.

As the footsteps approached, a man appeared with a scholarly face and a bit of beard.

"What happened? I just heard an explosion."

The man replied calmly, shrugging, "Maybe there was a car accident outside, why don't you go take a look?"

The man downstairs looked puzzled, glanced at the window, and then shook his head.

"Never mind."

With that, he walked into the kitchen connected to the living room, went to the fridge, took out a drink, and returned.

"Max, I think we need to talk."

Max, who had just crushed a ghoul, frowned and looked at the man sitting on the couch next to him, not quite understanding.

"Hmm?"

Drew sighed, "That live broadcast just came out with some new rules, and then suspended our new room."

Max's expression tightened, "Isn't that platform always unrestricted? Why start restricting now, just at this critical moment? As far as I know, the owner of that platform has always used paranormal live broadcasts to attract traffic."

"So she's the owner," Drew drank a sip of his drink, somewhat self-deprecating.

"You want to give up?" Max looked at Drew.

"Who said I want to give up? We've come this far and accumulated so many fans," Drew gave his partner a look.

"That's all clean, crisp US dollars."

Hearing this, Max sprawled back on the couch, "Another platform has banned us, what's your plan next?"

Drew took a deep breath, shaking the drink bottle back and forth, "How about we spend some money to build a live broadcast site? That way, we won't have to look at others."

Saying that, he looked at Max sprawled on the couch, who was also posing as a priest on the platform.

"How about it, being our own boss? That way, there are no restrictions!"

"Our own live broadcast room?"

Max's eyes lit up slightly, "I'm in."

Drew grinned, "Knew you'd agree, so I already had someone set it up, just waiting for you to tweet about it."

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