"Since Madeline doesn't want the talisman, then forget it..."
Hayley sighed.
"But you must come with us to deliver the talisman; you can't leave the group."
This time, Hayley's tone was unquestionable.
Even if they disagreed, they were still friends and couldn't abandon Madeline in this state.
The group immediately drove away from the campus.
Due to the previous argument, a rift had formed between Madeline and the others.
No one spoke along the way.
As time passed, the group got closer and closer to their destination.
"Think about it carefully, Madeline. If he really wanted to kill us, would he need to go through such a roundabout way?"
The chubby Paxton tried to persuade her earnestly, but the woman beside him wouldn't listen.
"Wait a minute... isn't something wrong outside?"
The chubby boy inadvertently noticed that the sky outside was covered with dark clouds.
"Is it going to rain? That's rare."
Grant commented.
"Hey guys, don't you think it's getting dark way too fast?"
Paxton's words finally drew everyone's attention.
The sky, which had been relatively bright just moments before, was gradually darkening, almost giving the feeling of nightfall.
Soon, a light drizzle began to fall from the dark sky.
The passengers began to sense the unusual atmosphere.
The number of vehicles coming and going gradually decreased until only their car remained on the entire road.
The sky was completely dark, but the streetlights were not on.
To ensure safe driving, Grant even had to turn on the headlights.
The faint light could not pierce the thick darkness, and everyone's heart began to race.
Then they noticed the car was gradually slowing down.
"Grant? What are you doing?"
"I, I don't know, it's not my fault, I didn't do anything..."
The slowed-down car stopped in the middle of the bridge, like a lonely island in a dark sea.
Inside, Madeline began to feel anxious.
She remembered Hayley's interpretation.
[Due to Mercury retrograde, you may feel that everything is going wrong, and even technology may malfunction.]
Grant, who was frantically trying to restart the engine, seemed to confirm this.
The group talked among themselves, even the usually taciturn Grant.
It was as if their constant conversation could dispel the fear lingering in their hearts.
Madeline, sitting on the far right of the car, suddenly heard a sound.
It was the sharp sound of flesh rubbing against the glass.
She looked back and saw that the outer glass was rapidly fogging up, as if some unseen entity had breathed on the car window.
"Madeline~ Madeline..."
The voice in Madeline's ear was dark and deep.
On the fogged outer glass, stroke by stroke, a hanged person was drawn...
"Ah... Ahhhh!!!!"
[A thread leading to something...]
Madeline screamed in a mental breakdown, immediately opened the car door, and ran outside at top speed!
"No! Stop her!!"
Hayley inside the car suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.
During the divination, she had told the other person not to run away from difficulties and fears.
Now, Madeline, separated from the group and venturing into the darkness, was running headlong towards death!
Hayley immediately got out of the car, trying to catch up with Madeline!
Grant, seeing this, also wanted to chase after her, but suddenly noticed a gaunt, hairless, pale figure hanging upside down in front of the car!
At that moment, the three people in the car seemed to freeze.
Extreme fear caused their bodies to stiffen.
But the eerie figure merely glanced at them before quickly climbing onto the steel frame of the bridge.
They weren't the target!
"No... Haley!!"
Grant immediately jumped out of the car, the others following closely behind.
The twisted figure above moved with incredible speed, overtaking them in the blink of an eye and catching up with Madeline, who was at the front.
A rope fell from above, looped around her neck, and then suddenly hoisted her up!
The group witnessed an evil spirit killing someone for the first time, letting out desperate and terrified screams!
But the monster's actions didn't stop there.
In front of everyone, it dragged Madeline up, bit off her head, and left her lifeless body behind!
Hayley was already devastated; she was closest to Madeline but couldn't save her.
Overwhelmed by grief, she didn't notice the eerie, twisted figure lunging at her!
Grant, further away, already showed signs of sorrow, but the next second, a beam of light burst from Hayley's arms.
The light scorched the eyes of the evil spirit that tried to approach.
The spirit clutched its eyes, letting out a piercing howl, and leaped away, disappearing into the darkness…
The sky, which had seemed to darken, brightened again, radiating its original light.
The evil spirit had escaped, but the group's spirits weren't exactly lightened…
Two hours later.
"Please come in."
The young shopkeeper's voice came from inside the antique shop, and Hailey and her group stepped inside.
This time, they were soaking wet and disheveled.
Two men and two women, their expressions sorrowful.
It seemed another one had died.
Lucien understood, and was also somewhat speechless.
They'd given them a talisman, and they'd still acted like this, like they were escorting the One Ring.
Luckily, the ground in the modern city was flat; otherwise, at this rate, two of them would have fallen to their deaths.
Hailey didn't say a word, placing the box she was carrying in front of Lucien.
"...This tarot deck comes from Hungary in 1780..."
"A count, fond of the occult, was enraged when his female astrologer accurately predicted his wife's death in childbirth."
"He not only banished them, mother and daughter, but also caused the death of the astrologer's daughter. The witch used her own life as a price to cast a curse on the tarot deck."
"Anyone who uses the tarot deck for divination will be cursed with death..."
"Her power is extremely strong. Be careful when you perform the exorcism."
Lucien accepted the box and looked at Hayley, who clearly had something else to say.
"This is a clue left by Madeline."
"We found the information the medium sent her in her notebook. But by then, she was already..."
"The tarot deck took away three of our friends. We want to see it destroyed."
"Is that alright?"
"Yes."
He didn't refuse Hayley's request.
The four of them tacitly stepped back, their gazes focusing on the young man in the middle.
This shopkeeper, capable of creating talismans that severely injured the Hanged Man, was unfathomable.
Besides wanting to witness the tarot deck's demise, they also wanted to see what methods the other party possessed.
Lucien felt no pressure about this.
It was just a public display of power; he was used to it.
Without hesitation, he opened the box, and a wave of malevolent energy rushed out.
"Oh?"
It was more powerful than he had imagined.
It seemed the spirit attached to it had made a deal with some being in its lifetime, gaining undeserved power.
Just then, a notification sounded in Lucien's mind.
[Tarot cards created by a highly accomplished astrologer, filled with the power of resentment and curses, can materialize the strange beings depicted in the illustrations.]
[This might also offer you some inspiration.]
Under the expectant gazes of the crowd, Lucien stopped what he was doing and turned to Hailey.
"How about you do a divination for me too?"