The dark and thick blood splattered across the porcelain.
His hand trembled as he gripped the counter.
Pain surged through his body like fire running through his veins.
His breathing grew shallow.
"What... what’s happening?" he muttered.
His reflection started to distort.
The veins beneath his skin softened, and his facial features began to shift.
His body reshaped itself.
Within seconds, the man was gone.
In his place stood a woman.
Her hair flowed down in dark violet strands, her eyes glowed gold like polished amber, and her hourglass figure was graceful, yet trembling from weakness.
She coughed again, spitting more blood into the sink.
Her breaths were heavy and uneven.
Then the ring on her finger began to tremble.
It was no ordinary ring.
It was a carefully hidden spatial ring. Only the elders or clan leaders of major hidden clans possessed sothing like this.
Her pale hand shook as she activated it.
A dark object flashed out from the ring and landed on the counter.
It was a book.
Pitch black, bound in sothing that didn’t look like leather or paper.
On its cover, carved in faint glowing letters, were the words:
[Book of Disasters]
Her golden eyes narrowed.
She pressed a trembling hand against its surface, and the book opened on its own.
The pages began to float.
Without warning, the first few pages caught fire.
"...what?"
The flas spread fast.
The burning light reflected in her eyes as pain surged through her body again, even worse than before.
Her knees hit the floor, and she pressed a hand against her chest, gasping.
The flas weren’t just consuming the paper. They were consuming a part of her.
When the last of the burning pages turned to ash, the book fell to the ground with a soft thud.
The air felt heavier.
She swallowed back blood and forced herself to pick it up.
Her fingers brushed away the ashes, and she opened it again.
Her eyes widened as she scanned the remaining text.
The first few pages were gone. Completely burned away.
The rest of the book began from a section that read:
...
Exploration Log of Cursed Spirit [Leviathan]
Date of Appearance: Unknown
Location: Tasman Sea, between Australia and New Zealand
Classification: Rank 4 Parasitic Type (Current classification)
Notes: The first civilian logs could not be docunted due to lack of date and evidence.
.
First Official Exploration
Exorcists involved: ...
...
Her hands trembled as she turned the next few pages, but couldn’t.
"The pages about the First Disaster, Area 51, disappeared. This one... Leviathan. It should be the Second Disaster."
Her breathing grew heavier.
The pain from earlier still burned inside her, but she ignored it.
"The disappearance of the Area 51 pages ans..." she paused, thinking aloud despite the agony, "the future changed."
She leaned on the counter, eyes widening in realization.
"Soone escaped its domain? No, that doesn’t make sense. If it was just an escape, the information should have updated automatically. But the pages burned..."
Her voice grew faint.
"This..."
Her hand covered her mouth.
Her shoulders trembled.
The disappearance of a page from the Book of Disasters could an only one thing.
The Cursed Spirit Area 51 had been exorcised.
Then she started to laugh.
At first, it was a soft chuckle, then louder, and louder, until it turned into wild, uncontrollable laughter.
"Hahahaha!"
The sound echoed through the room.
She leaned against the sink, her face pale but full of exhilaration.
"It’s him," she said, her voice breathless with excitent. "It’s definitely him! Alan Veritus! You’re the one who exorcised the Cursed Spirit, aren’t you!?"
Her entire body trembled, not from pain this ti, but from thrill.
When she had t Alan Veritus before, she hadn’t been sure if he really was the disciple of the Monkey King.
Still, she had allowed him to enter the domain of the Cursed Spirit Area 51.
It could have killed him.
If he died there, and he truly was that disciple, she would’ve regretted it forever.
But she had let him go anyway.
"I knew it..." she whispered, laughing softly now. "If you were really that bastard’s disciple, you’d survive, and exorcise the Cursed Spirit."
Her lips curved into a smile.
"Finally. I have a link to find that bastard," she said quietly, her voice steadying,
She let out a long breath and steadied herself.
The rush of excitent faded, leaving behind exhaustion and pain.
Her knees felt weak, but she forced herself to stand straight again.
Her body was still trembling from the backlash.
The burning of pages of Book of Disasters, a Cursed Item bound to her, had caused her backlash and injuries.
The more it burned, the more it hurt her.
She turned toward the mirror.
Her reflection stared back, calm now.
She raised her hand slightly.
"Co here," she said softly.
The glass surface began to crack soundlessly.
Lines spread like spiderwebs until a faint shape appeared within.
A man appeared in the mirror’s reflection, wearing a black suit.
He stood with his hands at his sides, waiting.
She looked at him through the mirror, and spoke, "Area 51 was exorcised. Get all information about how it happened, who did it, and every other small detail."
The man froze for a brief second.
His eyes widened slightly, shock flashing through them.
"Exorcised...?" he repeated under his breath.
But he quickly caught himself.
His face returned to calm, and he bowed his head slightly.
"Yes, my lady," he said quietly.
Without another word, he turned and vanished through the sa cracks he ca from.
The mirror repaired itself instantly, leaving only her reflection once again.
She stared at her own face for a mont, her golden eyes dim with fatigue.
A faint smile appeared on her lips.
"Alan Veritus," she murmured, "you really survived, didn’t you?"
She brushed a finger along the cold mirror surface, her reflection following the motion.
Her wounds still ached, and her breath ca shallow, but there was satisfaction in her expression.
"Only a little more."
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