[Chapter 304: Golden Light, Invoking Deities, Thunder Prison]
Despair spread through the darkness.
Peggy held her child, her voice already lost to sobbing.
Just then--
Throughout the Three Realms, above and below,
Let divine authority stand unrivaled.
My body is clothed in golden light,
Its radiance shields me from all evil.
Daniel's voice suddenly rang out, clear and resonant like the tolling of a great bell, shattering the eerie laughter with its force.
By golden light, arise at once--
Defend the living!
Buzz--!
A pure, ringing vibration echoed.
Daniel instantly transformed into a source of light. Piercing golden rays erupted from within his body -- not a soft candlelight, but a dominant, scorching glare like the blazing sun.
The darkness receded like a tide pulling back.
The entire second-floor corridor was illuminated in vivid detail.
Under the reflection of the golden light, everyone could see the figure at the end of the hall.
There stood a nun.
She wore a black-and-white habit, her face deathly pale, as if coated in thick white powder. Her eyes glowed with an eerie yellow light, framed by deep black circles. That mouth, painted with black lipstick, was stretched wide in a grotesque, exaggerated grin.
She held no weapon, merely standing still. Yet she radiated a suffocating malice like an insurmountable mountain.
Valak.
She had finally appeared.
"Hmph."
The golden light lasted less than two seconds.
Then the darkness surged back, heavier and more viscous than before. It wasn't just the absence of light; it felt as if thick, black ink had flooded the entire corridor.
Ed and Lorraine were instantly swallowed whole.
The screams of Peggy and the children were muffled and distant, cut off by the thick black veil.
But as this sky-darkening tide crashed within six feet of Daniel, it met an invisible barrier.
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle...
The darkness and golden light rubbed violently against each other, producing a sharp, corrosive hiss.
That six-feet radius became an unbreakable chasm.
"Eh?"
Valak's voice echoed from deep within the darkness. It was no longer a simple roar; it carried surprise and icy disdain.
"Indeed, you have some skill." Those yellow-glowing eyes flickered in the black, staring fixedly at Daniel. "No wonder you've ruined their grand designs several times; even that red-faced fool died at your hands."
Daniel remained expressionless, not even glancing her way.
He raised his right hand.
Thud!
A vermilion altar materialized and settled steadily in front of him; incense burner, candles, paper, cinnabar -- all present.
Daniel rubbed two fingers together, and three sticks of fine incense instantly ignited; the blue smoke rose straight up, completely unaffected by the surrounding dark winds.
He held the thunder-struck ashwood sword.
His gaze sharpened immediately.
By the authority of Heaven, I summon the Thunder Host.
By the decree of the celestial courts, let the Thunder Generals descend.
Surround me with your radiant power,
And let your sacred light descend upon this place!
Daniel's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a strange, penetrating authority, echoing clearly within the enclosed space.
Below, wicked forces disturb the balance of Heaven and Earth.
Malignant winds rise, and fierce spirits seek to run rampant.
Let all corruption be restrained,
Let all evil be scattered,
And let the living stand beneath divine protection!
As the incantation flowed, the golden light enveloping Daniel was no longer just a shield; it began to surge outward.
A grand, pure, and destructive pressure pierced the roof, breaking through this isolated space and thundering down from the sky.
The entire house vibrated violently.
This wasn't an earthquake, but a clash of two fundamentally different forces.
In the darkness, a flicker of unease finally crossed Valak's pale face.
She felt a threat -- a real threat that could harm her very essence.
"You want to invoke a deity?"
Her voice sharpened into a shrill, piercing challenge: "Here, I am God!"
Boom--!
The ink-like darkness around them suddenly roared to life.
No longer a chaotic diffusion, it transformed into thick black tentacles, some even condensing into twisted human faces.
Radiating frantic malice, they squeezed toward Daniel from every direction.
The six-feet domain shrank instantly to about four feet.
The golden light shield creaked as if on the verge of shattering under the crushing weight.
The thick darkness pressed forward relentlessly.
"Look at the wall!"
Ed suddenly shouted in terror, the beam of his flashlight trembling wildly at the edge of the darkness.
"The cabinet... and that chair! They're all gone!"
Everyone followed his gaze.
The ink-thick darkness advanced like a sentient tide.
An old wooden chair at the corridor's edge touched by the black wave vanished instantly.
No sound, no cracking -- just a clean erasure, like rubbing away a pencil sketch.
Not only objects but space itself seemed swallowed, erased.
"It's devouring space..." Lorraine pressed herself tightly against the wall, her face pale as paper. "Anything it touches is drawn into another realm... or ceases to exist entirely."
Peggy covered the children's eyes, though her own body went limp with terror.
This silent disappearance was more desperate than a bloody slaughter.
The darkness kept pressing forward.
The golden light shield shrank to a mere meter.
The altar's candle flame had been suppressed to a tiny flicker, threatening to die out at any moment.
Those distorted, human-faced tentacles nearly brushed Daniel's nose.
Valak's cruel laughter echoed through the darkness, filled with the pleasure of a cat toying with a mouse.
Daniel gazed steadily at the encroaching darkness, his expression unreadable.
His long sword hovered at his side.
His hand seals held firm, his incantations unbroken.
Then, calmly, he took a step forward.
Boom--!
Within the dim second-floor corridor, the floor, ceiling, and walls suddenly erupted with fierce blue-violet light.
This was the thunder energy Daniel had secretly placed while scouting the area.
Now, it was detonated.
Five thick pillars of lightning shot up instantly, piercing the darkness and connecting to form a shimmering lightning cage.
The cage was not large, but it locked the sky in front of Daniel firmly and precisely.
Sizzle--!
Inside, thunderous power raged wildly.
The darkness that seemed capable of devouring all things dissolved instantly under the lightning's assault, dispersing like snow melting on lava.
The pitch-black space was now illuminated as brightly as day.
"Ah--!"
A shrill scream pierced the air.
The darkness lifted, revealing Valak's true form.
The demon in the nun's habit was now trapped at the center of the Thunder Prison.
Countless electric arcs lashed her body like whips.
Her pale face twisted with pain and shock, thick black smoke rising constantly from her form.
The Five Elements Thunder Prison.
Daniel's first time using it had already demonstrated its extraordinary power.
Even Valak was injured.
"When... when did you tamper with this place? Why didn't I sense it?"
Valak tried to retreat, but the Five Elements Thunder Prison created its own domain.
No matter how she struck, she was violently rebounded by the lightning bars.
Daniel ignored her protests and continued his invocation.
Suddenly, the pain vanished from Valak's face.
She stopped struggling, letting the lightning lash her freely. Instead, her mouth twisted into that trademark mocking smile again.
"Is this your trump card?"
*****
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