The moment Axel Vance began reading the harsher passage, a faint white glow appeared across Michael Myers’s body. Thin wisps of light crawled over his ruined limbs while a soft sizzling sound rose from beneath his bloodstained coveralls. Then Michael, who had remained almost completely silent through gunshots and shattered bones, suddenly opened his mouth and released a horrible scream.
"AAAAAGH!"
The inhuman sound echoed between the buildings and made everyone nearby instinctively cover their ears. Axel’s eyes lit up when he saw Michael’s violent reaction, because there was no longer any doubt that Holy Reading was affecting whatever had corrupted him. "It’s working," Axel muttered before raising his voice and continuing the passage with even greater concentration.
Unfortunately, the process was nowhere near as fast as Axel hoped. Minute after minute passed while Michael’s body twisted harder against the pavement and the pale glow continued burning over him, but nothing decisive happened. Instead of being purified immediately, he seemed locked in a prolonged struggle against whatever force existed inside him.
The bounty hunters gradually recovered from their fear once they realized Michael could no longer attack them. One man watched Axel read and whispered, "I didn’t know cops learned this kind of thing. My aunt is into all kinds of folk spiritual practices, but I’ve never seen anything like this."
The lanky bounty hunter beside him nodded solemnly. "This looks more like one of those Catholic exorcisms you read about in the papers." He scratched his chin and added, "Wasn’t there that case in West Germany a few years ago? That young woman who went through dozens of exorcism sessions?"
Clarice, who was standing nearby with her pistol lowered, glanced toward them. "You mean Anneliese Michel. The rites went on for months in 1975 and 1976." She frowned slightly before adding, "There were sixty-seven sessions before she died, and the priests and her parents later faced criminal charges."
Axel abruptly stopped reading.
His throat already felt as dry as sandpaper.
"Months?"
The lanky man nodded. "That’s what the papers said."
Axel stared down at Michael.
Then he looked at the Bible.
Then back at Michael.
The thought of standing in this garbage-filled alley reading scripture for months almost made him reconsider the entire strategy. At that rate, he would not uncover the cult mastermind because the sanitation department would probably discover his skeleton first.
Axel began seriously considering whether Michael might respond better to another concrete block.
Then his system panel changed.
[Holy Reading Lv.1 — 10/1000]
Axel blinked.
The exhaustion in his expression instantly disappeared.
"So that’s how it works."
Every period of effective recitation was generating specialization experience. The purification might be painfully slow, but as long as Holy Reading continued improving, Axel was effectively training a supernatural combat skill while simultaneously dealing with Michael. His motivation returned immediately.
Axel cleared his throat and opened the Bible wider. "All right, Michael. Looks like we’re both going to be here for a while."
The remaining bounty hunters stared at him.
One eventually sighed. "Well, if the cop has to keep reading to stop that thing, I don’t think we’re getting the hundred grand."
Another man glanced nervously at Michael’s mutilated body. "I’m not touching him again. You can have the money."
The men gathered their wounded companions and gradually left the alley. Whatever courage greed had given them had finally disappeared after witnessing Michael survive enough gunfire to cripple an ordinary human several times over. Soon only Axel, Clarice, and the immobilized Shape remained.
Clarice leaned against a relatively clean section of brick wall. "You really plan to keep going?"
Axel glanced at the experience bar.
[Holy Reading: EXP +1]
"Absolutely."
Clarice followed his gaze even though she obviously could not see the system. "You suddenly look way too enthusiastic about this."
"Religious awakening."
"I don’t believe you."
Axel ignored her and continued reading.
Time passed slowly.
The afternoon sun descended between the buildings while Axel’s voice echoed through the alley again and again. Clarice eventually found an overturned wooden crate, checked it for anything disgusting, then sat with her chin resting against one hand as she watched the strangest police procedure of her young career.
Axel kept going.
His voice gradually became hoarse.
His lips dried out.
At some point, even Clarice’s eyes began closing.
Only the system notifications kept Axel motivated.
[Holy Reading: EXP +1]
[Holy Reading: EXP +1]
[Holy Reading: EXP +1]
The numbers climbed steadily.
One hundred.
Two hundred.
Two hundred fifty.
Michael’s struggling became weaker as the white glow around him grew brighter. Every passage dealing with judgment caused another violent tremor to pass through his body, while the air around him carried the faint smell of something burning.
Finally, the experience counter reached three hundred.
Michael suddenly stopped moving.
Axel lowered the Bible slightly.
A thin strand of black vapor began leaking from beneath Michael’s clothes.
The dark mist twisted above his chest like smoke being pulled by an invisible current. For several seconds it resisted the pale light surrounding his body, then broke apart and dissolved into nothing.
Michael’s body dropped heavily against the pavement.
This time, he did not move again.
A series of system notifications immediately appeared before Axel.
[Host has purified a corrupted soul.]
[Purified soul power detected.]
[Beginning absorption.]
[Physique +0.3]
Warmth exploded through Axel’s body.
The soreness in his arms disappeared first, followed by the exhaustion accumulated from hours of reading. His dry throat remained uncomfortable, but his muscles suddenly felt stronger and more energetic than they had that morning.
Axel clenched one fist.
The difference was unmistakable.
"It’s finally over!"
His hoarse shout startled Clarice awake.
She jerked upright and instinctively reached for her pistol. "What happened?"
Axel pointed toward Michael. "He stopped moving."
Clarice immediately became alert.
They approached together, neither willing to assume Michael Myers was dead simply because he looked dead. After everything they had witnessed, Axel considered that kind of assumption a good way to get stabbed.
Michael remained completely still.
Axel crouched beside him.
Clarice took the opposite side.
Their eyes met briefly before Axel reached toward the white mask. Clarice helped him carefully lift it away from Michael’s face.
The sight underneath surprised both of them.
There was no demonic face.
No monstrous transformation.
Beneath the mask was simply the face of a relatively young man, strangely peaceful despite the horrific damage covering the rest of his body. His eyes were closed, his expression relaxed, and the terrible emptiness Axel associated with Michael Myers seemed to have vanished completely.
Clarice stared at him for several seconds.
"He looks... normal."
Axel remained silent.
Clarice’s expression gradually became complicated. "If whatever you just removed had never gotten into him, maybe he could have had an ordinary life."
There was genuine anger beneath her regret.
A six-year-old child had murdered Judith Myers, spent years institutionalized, escaped, killed again, and eventually become something capable of walking through gunfire. Now Laurie’s memories suggested Michael had not always been emotionless and that a mysterious nanny connected to the chanting had appeared before his behavior changed.
Axel rose and placed the mask beside the body. "We can’t change what happened to him."
Clarice looked up.
"But we might be able to stop whoever caused it."
That pulled her attention back to the investigation.
Axel looked down at Michael again.
Before today, finding the cult had been police work and a matter of survival. Now the system had revealed another reason to hunt whatever supernatural forces were corrupting people in this world.
Purifying a corrupted soul could directly increase his attributes.
That changed everything.
Axel contacted the Miami Police Department, and officers arrived soon afterward with a transport vehicle and medical personnel. Michael’s remains were carefully secured, though Axel repeatedly warned everyone not to treat the body casually until a full examination confirmed there was truly nothing left capable of moving.
By the time they returned to the station, Chief Woody was waiting.
The chief walked toward the covered body as officers unloaded it, then pulled back enough of the sheet to see Michael’s shattered limbs. His eyes widened.
"Holy shit."
Axel prepared to explain.
Woody looked at him.
Then back at Michael.
Then at Axel again.
"You did this?"
"It’s complicated."
Woody slapped Axel hard on the shoulder. "Kid, you beat him so badly his own mother wouldn’t recognize him!"
Axel opened his mouth. "Chief, technically—"
"Outstanding!"
Axel closed his mouth again.
Woody turned toward the officers nearby and shouted, "Get over here! All of you!"
Several cops reluctantly approached.
Woody pointed dramatically at Michael’s mangled body. "Look at this. Vance has barely started working here and he already knows how to deal with a dangerous fugitive."
Axel rubbed his forehead.
The officers looked from him to Michael.
Some expressions showed admiration.
Others showed disbelief.
A few contained something suspiciously close to fear.
Axel decided correcting the story was not worth the effort.
Besides, having Chief Woody enthusiastically supporting him might actually become useful. If future supernatural investigations required unusual methods, Woody was clearly not the kind of superior who would lose sleep over whether Axel had followed every conventional procedure.
The station doors opened while Woody was still praising him.
A stern-looking detective entered with several officers behind him. Two handcuffed fugitives were being escorted with the group, both looking considerably healthier than Michael Myers.
The detective stopped before Woody. "Chief, we picked up two of the prison escapees. Both are secured and being processed now."
Woody immediately grinned.
"Good work, Hoffman."
Axel looked toward the newcomer.
Woody grabbed the detective by one shoulder and pulled him closer. "Vance, meet Detective Mark Hoffman. He runs my detective squad and happens to be one of the few people in this building who doesn’t give me headaches."
Hoffman gave Woody a flat look.
The chief ignored it.
Then Woody pointed toward Axel. "Hoffman, this is the rookie who survived Holden’s prison disaster. Once he finishes helping the FBI with this cult mess, I’m planning to put him under you."
Hoffman extended his hand.
Axel shook it.
"I’ve heard about you," Hoffman said with a restrained smile. "Surviving that collapse and everything afterward is impressive."
"Mostly luck."
Hoffman’s smile barely changed.
Axel added, "Either way, we’re all here to serve the public."
"Good attitude."
The exchange was brief, but Axel’s first impression of Hoffman was surprisingly positive. After meeting people like Holden and Woody, encountering a serious detective who spoke calmly and behaved professionally felt almost refreshing.
Maybe the Miami Police Department contained normal people after all.
Axel excused himself after several more minutes and headed toward the underground firing range. His new Physique increase made him eager to test whether greater physical control would improve his shooting, and he still wanted Police Marksmanship to become stronger as quickly as possible.
Behind him, Hoffman watched until Axel disappeared down the hallway.
The detective’s polite expression slowly changed.
A faint smile appeared.
"So that’s Axel Vance."
Hoffman glanced toward the corridor.
"The one Hannibal mentioned."
His smile deepened slightly.
"Interesting."
The underground firing range echoed with repeated gunshots.
Axel emptied magazine after magazine while concentrating on recoil control and rapid target acquisition. The new Physique increase made the pistol feel noticeably easier to handle, but the amount of ammunition disappearing with every practice session was becoming a serious problem.
Miami’s gun stores were being overwhelmed by Chief Woody’s bounty frenzy.
People were buying ammunition faster than shops could replace it, and several stores had already begun limiting how many boxes a customer could purchase at once. Axel had managed to obtain another five hundred rounds by using his police credentials and professional contacts, but that supply was nowhere near enough for the amount of training he wanted.
He fired another magazine empty.
Then lowered the Glock.
Michael Myers had absorbed an absurd amount of handgun fire.
The bounty hunters had shot him.
Clarice had shot him.
Axel had blasted him with a shotgun.
Even after his limbs were destroyed, Holy Reading had still been necessary to deal with the corruption inside him.
And Michael was only one man.
Axel still had an entire mysterious cult somewhere in Miami to investigate.
He looked down at his remaining ammunition and frowned.
"I need better weapons."
Buying a few more boxes from civilian stores was not going to solve the problem. If the cult had armed members, supernatural creatures, or more corrupted killers like Michael, Axel needed access to equipment beyond whatever he could casually purchase during a citywide ammunition shortage.
Then a thought struck him.
Axel slapped his forehead.
"How did I forget about Clarice?"
She was attached to the FBI.
Axel was officially cooperating with a federal investigation.
Requesting equipment support for an active case involving escaped serial killers, a mysterious underground cult, and an apparently supernatural threat did not sound unreasonable at all.
A grin slowly appeared on his face.
He packed away his Glock, gathered his remaining ammunition, and left the firing range.
Clarice was staying at a hotel nearby.
And Axel suddenly had a very important request to make.
[Reader Event Active]
500 Power Stones = +1 Extra Chapter
10 Reviews = +1 Extra Chapter
Thanks for reading!
20+advance Chapters on P1treon Soulforger