The exorcism began in America.-Chapter 319: Another Death

Lilia listened to her best friend. Although she found some reason in the words, an uneasy feeling inexplicably lingered in her heart.

I think she should be up by now!

After hesitating for a moment, Lilia ultimately decided to check the authenticity of the call she had just received. She didn't believe that her best friend, Legley, would suddenly jump off a building. But Sam, the boyfriend she had just started dating, had been unreachable since last night!

Something was strange...

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP...

The dial tone droned on for a long time, but no one answered. It wasn't until the call automatically disconnected that Lilia began to suspect something had genuinely happened to her best friend.

"Michelle, has Legley ever not answered her phone?"

Hearing the question, Michelle, lounging on the couch, casually replied, "Of course. If she's... intimately engaged with someone in bed, she never answers. You knew that already, didn't you?"

That's right! I already knew... Lilia nodded lightly, muttering to herself.

Just then, Michelle finally noticed something was off about her friend. She peeled off her face mask and turned around, puzzled.

"Hey, what's wrong with you?"

"Nothing... It's just... I have a bad feeling!"

"A bad feeling?" Michelle frowned, sitting up and moving next to Lilia. "What exactly is wrong?"

Lilia didn't answer. Instead, she suddenly picked up her coat lying nearby and started putting it on.

"I think I need to go to the Exorcism Agency branch office."

"Hey, isn't that just a prank by those jerks?"

Lilia, already at the door, paused. She frowned, replied, "I don't know, but... my gut tells me I should check it out!" and then disappeared through the doorway.

Michelle was mildly stunned by the response. Ugh... A gut feeling!

Just as she was idly wondering whether to follow, she suddenly noticed words appearing on the floor before her. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"What is this?"

「...」

"How is this possible?" Lilia's incredulous voice echoed inside the Orlando branch of the Exorcism Agency.

"As hard as it may be to believe, this is what has happened and is happening," Pietro, having just survived the Bizarre Game, explained to Lilia, his girlfriend in his arms.

Legley is already dead...

Sam... Is he a corpse controlled by the Bizarre?

Recalling her time with Sam, Lilia suddenly felt a profound, visceral disgust churn deep inside her. If what they said was true, then the person by her side these past days was actually a corpse. They had done everything couples do; not a single thing was missed.

RETCH!

Seeing the beautiful woman retching over the trash can, a flash of sympathy crossed the eyes of Pietro, Camille, and Monte.

"Lilia, you need to pull yourself together quickly," Monte said. "After all, according to the sequence, you and Michelle are next for that twisted game!"

After taking the bottled water Monte handed her and rinsing her mouth, Lilia managed to calm down somewhat.

"It's already Michelle and me?"

"That's right. Pietro just finished the Bizarre Game!"

Hearing Monte's words, Lilia gasped. Oh no, Michelle!

Thinking of her best friend home alone, Lilia couldn't sit still any longer. She grabbed her handbag and dashed toward the door.

This... Monte thought, watching the swaying door, raising his hand and swallowing the words he was about to say.

"Why didn't you stop her? She'll definitely die if she just leaves like that!" Camille lifted her head from Pietro's embrace, looking puzzled at her boyfriend.

"We can't stop her. Trying would only waste her time," Monte answered for Pietro. "If she's lucky, she might still make it back here!"

There was more Monte didn't say. Even though they were now under the protection of the Agency's Exorcists, he still doubted his own chances of survival. The Agency's Exorcists could save them once or twice, maybe even three or four times! But as long as the Bizarre Game remained unresolved, it would happen countless times. Would the Agency's Exorcists protect them forever? Monte was very skeptical. After all, everyone knew the Exorcism Agency was no charity.

Thinking of his own savings, Monte's gaze shifted to the couple still embracing.

"Pietro, Camille, I hope you don't mind my asking—did either of you buy Bizarre Insurance?"

「...」

The white car sped along the road. Fortunately, Orlando's streets had few patrolling police at this hour; otherwise, fines would have been inevitable. Speeding, Lilia reached home in half the usual time.

"Michelle... Michelle?"

Shouting her name frantically, Lilia pushed the door open.

The moment she saw the scene inside, Lilia gasped, "Oh no!" and clapped a hand over her mouth. Glaring blood stained the floor. Her best friend, Michelle, lay motionless in front of the couch!

Harboring a sliver of hope, Lilia walked into the room and slowly approached the figure on the ground. The body was still slightly warm, but her gray, lifeless pupils confirmed she was dead.

Seeing the dinner knife plunged into her friend's neck, Lilia's strength instantly drained, and she collapsed.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck..."

In a single day, two best friends had died, and her boyfriend, she'd been told, was a corpse possessed by the Bizarre. It was a testament to Lilia's mental resilience that she hadn't completely broken down after these blows!

But according to the rules of the Bizarre Game, she was next. There was no time left to waste.

Collapsed on the floor, Lilia quickly recovered from the shock. Looking at her best friend's corpse, she bit her lower lip, a fierce glint in her eyes. Images of her time with Sam flashed through her mind. A few moments later, her mind settled on the image of the abandoned church.

There shouldn't be so few people in the Bizarre Game!

Muttering this, Lilia abruptly stood and stormed out. Excluding Sam, only four people remained in the game. With so few players, a round of the Bizarre Game would end too quickly!

「Half an hour later.」

It was still the same desolate mountain; the abandoned church atop it stood unchanged.

She parked the car and killed the engine. Lilia then rushed out, scrambled through the fence, and sprinted towards the distant abandoned church.

Entering the church for the second time, she opened the phone clutched tightly in her hand.