Heather had finally been contained, and the Golden Arm curse disappeared with her.
The moment the danger passed, Madison did not reflect on how close she had come to dying or being possessed forever.
Instead, she immediately pulled a small mirror from her purse and carefully examined her face from several angles, only relaxing once she confirmed that she was still as beautiful as ever.
“That disgusting woman finally went back to hell,” Madison said as she put the mirror away.
She looked down at the expensive black outfit now covered in dust and dirt from the fight, and her expression became even more offended than when Heather had attacked her.
“Charlie, we need somewhere to clean up.
I feel filthy.”
Charlie had no reason to disagree because he looked even worse than she did.
Heather’s abandoned house had not been occupied for decades, and the electricity and running water had long since been disconnected, so staying there would accomplish nothing.
After one final check to make sure the spirit was truly gone, they collected their belongings and left.
Green Township remained almost deserted.
Most residents with enough money to leave had already fled because of Heather’s nightly attacks, leaving countless empty homes behind.
Charlie and Madison eventually found a well-kept house whose owners had apparently departed in a hurry, and after confirming that no one was inside, they entered and temporarily made themselves comfortable.
Unlike Heather’s property, this house still had electricity, running water, and functioning air conditioning.
The refrigerator even contained bottled drinks and enough food to suggest the owners had abandoned the place only recently.
Neither Charlie nor Madison felt particularly guilty about borrowing the empty house for an hour after risking their lives to end the curse terrorizing the township.
Ten minutes later, hot water poured over Charlie’s head in the upstairs bathroom.
Dust, sweat, and the lingering exhaustion of the trip gradually washed away, leaving him feeling considerably more human after the battle.
Once he had recovered enough to think clearly, he closed his eyes and summoned the Book of Containment.
The previously blank page marked Number 001 was no longer empty.
Dark lettering had appeared across the paper while a detailed image occupied the side of the page.
[Number: 001]
[Name: Heather Nemack]
[Type: Evil Spirit]
[Status: Contained]
[Abilities: Evil Spirit Possession; Evil Spirit Curse]
[Introduction: A woman consumed by her obsession with beauty in both life and death.
After losing her right arm, the Golden Arm became Heather’s greatest treasure and eventually the anchor of her existence.
Anyone who steals it will face her endless curse until she retrieves what belongs to her.]
Beside the description was an incredibly lifelike portrait of Heather in her spiritual form.
Unlike the violent ghost Charlie had just fought, the woman inside the page wore the Golden Arm on her restored right limb and appeared almost peaceful.
When Charlie focused on the image, Heather even seemed to stroke the metal lovingly while murmuring, “My Golden Arm.”
“So that’s containment,” Charlie muttered as he studied the page.
An evil spirit that had terrified an entire township, survived repeated destruction, and nearly killed both him and Madison had ultimately been reduced to a numbered entry inside the Book.
He flipped through the hundreds of blank pages behind Heather’s record and suddenly felt far less optimistic about his future workload.
Fortunately, the Book was not demanding endless labor without compensation.
Successfully containing Heather had awarded Charlie 80 Containment Points, and when combined with the two separate ten-point rewards he had received from defeating her curse manifestations, the entire incident had earned him exactly one hundred points.
That was enough to increase his attributes by a full point if he devoted everything to one category.
Heather’s listed abilities were another matter.
Evil Spirit Possession and Evil Spirit Curse were powers belonging to a dead spiritual entity, and the Book made it clear that Charlie’s living human body could not directly acquire them.
Improving Physical Body would increase his strength, speed, durability, coordination, and endurance.
The usefulness of that had become obvious when Heather threw him across his bedroom and nearly overpowered him during their final confrontation.
Higher Spirituality was equally valuable because it improved his ability to sense nonphysical supernatural entities, resist spiritual interference, and perceive forces that ordinary people could never notice.
Charlie hesitated over the decision.
Most of his future opponents would probably be ghosts, demons, witches, cursed entities, or other creatures that could not be handled through physical strength alone, which made Spirituality increasingly important.
However, he had just learned firsthand that understanding a ghost was useless if his body was too weak to survive long enough to fight back.
There was no need to decide immediately.
Heather had completed his initial containment assignment, which meant the deadline that had been hanging over him since arriving in this world was finally gone for the moment.
Charlie dismissed the Book and reached toward the towel beside the shower, intending to finish washing before Madison complained that he was taking too long.
The bathroom door suddenly clicked open.
Charlie turned in surprise and immediately froze.
Madison stood in the doorway without the ruined clothes she had been wearing earlier, apparently having decided that privacy was an unnecessary concept after everything they had survived together.
Her confident expression made it equally obvious that entering the bathroom had not been an accident.
Charlie stared for several seconds before recovering enough to grab the towel and cover himself.
He deliberately shifted his gaze toward the wall and cleared his throat.
“Madison, did you need something?”
“You know exactly what I want.” Madison stepped into the bathroom without the slightest embarrassment, clearly enjoying how uncomfortable she had made him.
After surviving Heather’s possession and awakening Pyrokinesis in the process, she had apparently decided that celebrating was more appealing than quietly recovering.
“Do I really have to be the one who takes the initiative?”
Charlie’s composure nearly broke.
“Madison, I have a girlfriend.”
“So?” Madison continued approaching until there was almost nowhere left for him to retreat.
“Zoe being your girlfriend doesn’t magically erase every other woman in the world, and you already know your relationship with her has certain complications.”
Charlie knew exactly what she meant.
Zoe’s deadly ability still made normal intimacy nearly impossible, and his current Spirituality of 0.2 was nowhere near enough for him to risk testing whether he could withstand it.
Madison clearly considered that situation an opportunity rather than a problem.
“Charlie, after everything we’ve been through, I’m not joking.” Madison tilted his chin upward with one finger and held his gaze with the same determination she normally showed before using magic.
“Are you seriously planning to remain completely loyal to your dangerous little Black Widow forever?”
Charlie attempted to summon the same discipline that had saved him from her previous advances.
Unfortunately, Madison showed no interest in giving him enough distance to think clearly, and her next teasing remark attacked the last piece of pride keeping him cautious.
Charlie’s expression immediately changed.
There was one accusation he absolutely refused to leave unanswered.
Charlie silently summoned the Book of Containment.
[Physical Body: 1.2 → 1.3]
The familiar warm current spread throughout his body.
His muscles tightened, his stamina increased, and even the lingering soreness from Heather’s attacks disappeared almost instantly.
Charlie was not finished.
[Physical Body: 1.3 → 1.4]
The second enhancement strengthened the sensation further and left Charlie feeling considerably more energetic than he had only moments earlier.
Madison noticed the change in his expression and smiled.
“Charlie…”
Whatever argument he had planned to make disappeared.
The empty house remained quiet for a long time afterward.
Much later, Madison lay asleep beside Charlie, exhausted but looking thoroughly satisfied with how their celebration had ended.
Charlie stared at the ceiling and silently concluded that spending twenty Containment Points on Physical Body had produced unexpectedly immediate benefits.
It had gone completely against his earlier decision to carefully consider how the eighty remaining points should be distributed.
Still, some matters involved personal dignity, and Charlie had decided that overthinking the issue would have been far more damaging to his pride.
The results suggested that his impulsive decision had not been entirely wasteful.
Then something strange happened.
The Book of Containment suddenly stirred inside his consciousness.
Charlie’s relaxed expression disappeared as the pages began turning on their own.
The movement was almost identical to what had happened when Heather was finally captured, yet there was no hostile supernatural entity anywhere near the house.
“What’s happening?”
Charlie immediately summoned the Book.
A new page was filling itself.
The blank entry following Heather’s record darkened as words appeared one after another.
Charlie stared in growing disbelief when the name became visible.
[Number: 002]
[Name: Madison Montgomery]
[Type: Salem Witch]
[Status: Indirectly Contained]
[Abilities: Telekinesis; Pyrokinesis]
[Introduction: Despite certain physical limitations, Madison possesses exceptional magical potential even among the descendants of Salem.
Her arrogance, selfishness, cruelty, and impulsive nature make her difficult to control, though beneath that personality may exist an equally strong desire to meet someone capable of matching her.]
A lifelike portrait appeared beside the information.
Madison wore an elegant black evening gown and a matching hat with a half veil covering part of her face, looking every bit like the glamorous witch she believed herself destined to become.
Charlie stared at the new page.
Then he looked at the sleeping Madison beside him.
He looked back at the Book.
“Wait…”
His expression slowly became strange.
“What the hell is going on?”
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