Chapter 148 — The Ambush
"I normally take great care of my hygiene," Gideon said as he dusted off his hands. "I've just been busy lately… didn't get around to changing."
"Mm—!"
The two black-robed men gagged, eyes wide with terror.
At the moment, they were bound hand and foot, stripped to nothing but a single pair of white briefs each.
Anyone who happened to pass the alley took one glance and immediately hurried away.
Gideon had never seen these two before—just forgettable, ordinary faces.
He crouched down.
"I've got a few questions. Answer honestly, and I might consider letting you walk out of here."
He then looked at Judy.
"Cover your ears."
Once she did, Gideon's tone shifted—calm, polite, and chilling.
"But if you refuse…"
He traced an outline in the air with his fingers.
"I'll turn you into life-sized cutouts and donate you to the bar down the street. The men there have… exotic tastes."
He drew a rectangle, mimicking the silhouette of a display board.
"You've seen them, right? Torso printed on the backside, and only the bottom half facing the public…"
The assassins swallowed hard.
They had never imagined such things could come from a priest.
Even Judy's eyes widened.
So… that's how you threaten people effectively.
Seeing them finally ready to cooperate, Gideon pulled the underwear out of their mouths.
"Let's begin with something simple."
The interrogation that followed was—despite Gideon calling it "friendly"—very persuasive.
Before long, he had the full story.
Both men were members of a cult that worshipped the demon Valak.
Their mission: capture Judy alive.
Their superiors had stressed this point repeatedly—no matter what, the girl must remain unharmed.
Their target destination?
The hospital.
The very one where Ed Warren was being treated.
One of the cultists claimed that a "high-ranking figure" recently joined the sect—someone whose power could force mutations.
Every cultist involved in the operation had been given a vial of some mysterious potion.
Gideon searched their robes and found the small bottle.
"I advise you to surrender now," one assassin sneered.
"This potion grants us the True Lord's blessing! Steel, scripture—nothing can hurt us! Only slaughter satisfies it! And with all the crowds at today's Remembrance—"
Gideon calmly shoved the man's head into his partner's bare backside.
"This thing must have a weakness," he said, looking at the other man.
"Y-Yeah—unless you've got top-grade holy relics! Dammit, Arthur! Stop twitching your nose!"
Teddy immediately clenched his backside tight in panic.
"This stuff is rare! Wasting it on us is absurd! I told you everything! Now get his face OFF me!"
He rattled everything out at lightning speed, staring at Gideon with eyes full of desperate pleading.
Gideon shrugged and lifted Arthur upright.
"Teddy, since you washed your uniform last night… why didn't you wash your backside while you were at it?"
Before the two could start arguing, Gideon grabbed both their heads and knocked them together.
They passed out instantly.
He had no intention of killing them—dead cultists might attract vengeful spirits, which would only complicate things.
He'd originally considered testing the potion on them,
but now that he knew the cult was targeting the hospital, Ed and Lorraine could already be in danger.
Time was running out.
Gideon poured a bottle of holy water into each man's mouth, dragged them out to the street, and left a note reading "BAD MEN" on their chests.
Then he and Judy hurried away.
Jefferson University Hospital — Main Entrance
"Kelly! Psst—over here!"
A young woman called from the shadows near the corner.
Kelly, a young security guard, brightened the moment he saw her.
He quickly scanned his surroundings, then hurried over.
"Maggie? What are you doing here? I'm on duty—"
He didn't finish.
She pressed into him, warm arms around his waist, lips brushing his own.
"I missed you…"
With Remembrance Day going on, the hospital had far fewer patients.
Kelly allowed himself a rare moment of boldness.
"Love," a rasping voice croaked,
"is such a disgusting thing."
Both froze.
Black-robed figures surrounded them.
"W-Who are yo—"
Kelly didn't finish.
A cultist flickered directly beside him—
and something ice-cold tightened around his throat.
"—!"
Kelly glanced down.
A pale, corpse-like arm was wrapped around his neck.
"No! Please, don't!"
Maggie knelt, grabbing the cultist's sleeve.
SLAP!
A burning red handprint blossomed across her cheek.
Seeing his girlfriend struck, Kelly thrashed wildly—
but the dead-white arm held tight.
"Let's start with you."
The cultist's voice scratched like metal on bone.
Kelly was slammed to the ground.
A pair of powerful hands forced his jaw open.
His pupils shrank.
Terror swallowed him whole.
The cultist leaned in.
In the next instant—
"GHH—!"
A spray of thick, black, foul-smelling blood erupted from the cultist's mouth, drenching Kelly's face.
Something slithered into his throat.
Kelly's body twisted violently.
"M—mrrr… meow…?"
His consciousness and body seemed to split—
as if he were watching himself from outside his own flesh.
The cultist stood and stepped back.
Maggie immediately crawled to Kelly.
"Kelly! What did you do to him?!"
She cradled his face—
a face contorted with unbearable agony.
"I granted you freedom," the cultist rasped.
Then—
CRACK.
Pain burst up Maggie's neck.
She twisted her head—
Kelly was biting her throat.
His eyes were filled with horror—
but his body no longer belonged to him.
Blood sprayed across his cheeks.
He didn't know whether the warm streaks running down his face were tears… or something else.
And then, like a puppet pulled by unseen strings—
Kelly lowered his head again
and bit down once more.
"Ah… ah—!"
Screams tore through the hospital lobby as the bloody scene erupted into chaos.
People scattered in every direction, trampling over chairs and slipping on spilled blood as they fled.
"Offer their souls for the sacrifice,"
Samail Stein commanded coldly.
"Leave no one alive."
He stood shrouded in a heavy black robe, a suffocating miasma of demonic energy swirling around him.
"From this moment onward," he declared,
"this hospital no longer belongs to the human world."
At his signal, every nearby cultist vanished into the corridors.
Within seconds, the first floor echoed with agonized screams.
---
Reception Desk
"Which room are the Warrens in?"
Samail's gaze locked onto a trembling nurse.
"Sir… we—we can't disclose patient information—"
"How admirable. Your professional ethics… truly move me."
Samail reached out and grabbed a child standing beside her.
The nurse froze.
Then—CRACK.
A woman dropped to her knees, wailing in despair.
Samail clicked his tongue.
"It seems these lives mean nothing to you."
His hand clamped onto the nurse's shoulder.
She cried out—sharp, tearing pain shooting through every nerve.
"Before I dismantle you piece by piece," he murmured,
"I suggest you think very carefully."
---
Inpatient Ward
Lorraine had just finished wiping Ed's face when the sounds of shouting and panic reached her from the hallway.
Her heart tightened.
She rushed to the door and pulled it open.
Patients, visitors, and nurses were gathered outside, whispering fearfully.
Moments later, several security guards sprinted down the corridor.
"What's happening?" Lorraine stopped a nurse.
"A group of people broke into the hospital!"
The nurse's voice trembled uncontrollably.
"They're killing staff—patients—and monsters… monsters are everywhere!"
She frantically dialed emergency services.
Again, the same message:
"We're sorry. The number you have dialed is currently out of service…"
Lorraine's face turned pale.
Something had severed all communication.
Something unnatural.