"Sirio... Lord Sirio!"
The anxious shouting furrowed Sirio's brow as he was engrossed in something within the secret chamber.
These imbeciles!
With a casual wave, he packed away the items on the stone table and then opened the door to the chamber.
"Lord Sirio, it's terrible! The Exorcist, Chu Feng, is still alive!"
"What!"
The once content Sirio's complexion instantly turned grim.
"He wiped out Sass's squad in New York!"
Taking the mobile phone handed over by his subordinate, he looked at the image on the screen.
The dazzling flash of the blade made him squint involuntarily. Even through the phone's screen, he could sense the blade's piercing intensity.
"Sass and his men are dead! What about Jones and the others? Can you contact them?"
The Cultist's face turned ugly as he shook his head in response to Sirio's question.
"We've lost contact! Moreover, there's news that the New York Police Department has just collectively cremated the bodies of a group of Cultists!"
The words of the subordinate made Sirio suddenly freeze in place.
The messenger of the Cult who brought the news had never seen the Priest like this and was taken aback, unsure of what to do.
Wanting to retreat, his legs inexplicably turned weak.
He could only stand still and listen to his own pounding heart.
"Claudia... Chu Feng!"
The voice that seemed to be squeezed from between clenched teeth bore the sound of Hell, the murderous intent within making the messenger feel as though someone was tightly gripping his throat.
The suffocating pressure compelled him to open his mouth widely, trying to breathe deeply.
His movements finally caught the attention of Sirio beside him, whose eyes briefly flashed scarlet. He flung his hand out with a vicious snarl.
"You're all useless!"
Ignoring the pleading in his underling's eyes, as the bloodlight converged in Sirio's hand, the Cultist's skin abruptly cracked open.
In an instant, his body was covered with innumerable fissures.
The blood within his body burst forth from these cracks, streaming relentlessly towards the palm of Sirio's hand.
"No! Lord Priest... Spare me!" the Cultist struggled, crying out in agony.
But the cold gaze of Sirio remained unmoved, the bloodlight in his hand growing even brighter.
Until the Cultist turned into a mummified corpse, collapsing on the ground to shatter into debris.
In Sirio's palm, there now appeared a small glob of glistening, crimson, viscous liquid.
"Waste, that is your only fate!"
After a cold snort, Sirio's hand moved, tossing the glob of viscous crimson liquid directly into his mouth.
After a series of swallowing sounds, Sirio's face showed a hint of rosiness, and there was even a lingering look in his pupils.
Giving the phone's screen another glance, Sirio's eyes once again filled with intense intent to kill.
"Damn you, Exorcist! Once my plan succeeds, I'll make you the feast to celebrate my rebirth."
Having uttered these words through gritted teeth, Sirio could not evade the sobering reality before him.
The blood demon needed for the ritual had disappeared with Claudia's abduction.
Now he could only seek to create another blood demon as quickly as possible to take over the foolish Claudia's role.
The candidate for the blood demon could be chosen from among his group of imbeciles. As for the sacrificial materials needed for the transformation...
Sirio's eyes narrowed, and a streak of bloodlight flickered once more within his deep blue pupils.
"It looks like the citizens of Portland will have to make a contribution again!"
Upon hearing this news, Chu Feng's expression hardened, and he instinctively reached for his phone.
But seeing Lin Qiu in front of him, he adjusted and sat up straight on the sofa.
"Continue!"
Seeing Chu Feng looking serious, Lin Qiu slowed down her speech.
"The timing of their disappearance is curious. It's the same day you wiped out that monster from the Holy Advent Society."
"So... you suspect that the council members of Pennsylvania..." Chu Feng ventured.
Lin Qiu nodded, "And more curiously, all the missing council members had been among those who strongly opposed and criticized the agency's expansion in Pennsylvania."
"Heh, I have to admit, not all in the Holy Advent Society are fools!"
Chu Feng chuckled and shook his head. He hadn't expected that among the cultists, there would be those who shared his thoughts!
As long as the ones disappearing were not our own people, it was better for more from the Holy Advent Society to die!
"So, other than our expansion going more smoothly, is there anything else?"
Chu Feng thought carefully. The situation seemed to have little impact on the agency. After all, given a bit more time, those opposing council members would lose their influence, even if they didn't disappear this time.
"So, the assignments that had been put on hold due to those people's obstruction have finally come through!"
As she spoke, Lin Qiu passed a folder over.
Looking at the thick folder, Chu Feng was surprised. "So many? How could they backlog so many bizarre cases?"
Lin Qiu explained, "The Exorcist Strength in Pennsylvania has always been weak.
"There are rumors in their state of someone hunting Exorcists.
"But after several investigations by the police and local Exorcist organizations, they have found nothing.
"So, one of the first things some people do after awakening is to move away from there, to avoid becoming a target for hunting."
After listening to Lin Qiu's words, the image of the 'butterball' he had decapitated a few days earlier flashed through Chu Feng's mind.
He slowly nodded, "It seems our agency's Exorcists will be busy for a while!"
Lin Qiu smiled non-committally at his side, looked at Chu Feng's face with slightly narrowed eyes, and asked in a meaningful tone, "Boss, may I ask what you were doing in Texas a few days ago?"
"A few days ago?" Chu Feng's thoughts raced. "Nothing much. Marina hoped I could persuade Jessica to resign from the police department so she could work here."