The two peeked their heads out of the church's exit and spotted a werewolf-type evil spirit wandering around. It had thick brown fur, but around the neck, it was completely vulnerable.
They nodded at each other, and in the next instant, Julian fired off his crossbow. The bolt zipped through the air silently and tore through the evil spirit's neck.
Because it was slightly enhanced, it put up a bit of a struggle. It opened its mouth and tried to let out a yelp, but Julian stopped it with another bolt through the throat.
[You have slain a dormant evil spirit, Paravian Werewolf.]
As its eyes rolled to the back of its head and it began to fall, Aliyah cast a spell.
A translucent lasso appeared out of thin air and then grabbed the fallen evil spirit before bringing it back toward them. Silently, of course.
As they dragged the heavy body into the church and plopped it down into the corner, Aliyah gulped audibly.
Julian's brows twitched. "Don't tell me you're hungry..."
"No, I'm just a little disgusted by this thing. Doesn't its miasma make you nauseous?" Aliyah replied, nearly gagging.
'Does it? I don't smell anything,' Julian thought, not answering her.
Since he didn't have any weapons aside from the crossbows, Aliyah rubbed her hands together, pocketed her glasses, and then cast another spell. A thin knife materialized out of thin air, and she innocently handed it over to Julian.
Julian took it and stared at the werewolf in disgust. But after mustering up the courage, he did what had to be done.
***
(Several minutes later...)
The two exhaled a shallow breath and then stepped outside of the church, their clothes and bodies drenched in the evil spirit's blood and guts.
Aliyah had the werewolf's arms wrapped around her waist like a belt, and Julian had carved out its head and put it on. It was disgusting, but he held himself back from vomiting, as did Aliyah.
But from what little the blood didn't cover, he could tell she was as pale as a ghost.
Despite that, the two walked close together, limping like zombies as they stepped into the Land of Churches.
Evil spirits were all around them, but for once, they didn't attack. That was because of one simple factor — the evil spirits thought Aliyah and he were evil spirits as well.
'It's something I learned back when I first started. As long as the evil spirit isn't too smart, which it wouldn't be if it's dormant, then you can mask your scent and blend in with them.'
It was a temporary measure, and it couldn't be used back to back, but it was still very effective for what they were planning on doing.
Aliyah tugged at his sleeve and whispered:
"Hey. Are we really going with the 'hide in a room' plan?"
"Any better ideas?" Julian asked.
She shook her head and sighed.
"Nope. Though if we do get inside and there's someone there, it was fun knowing you."
"..."
Howls, screeches, and all sorts of strange sounds resounded from all around them. The dormant evil spirits were relentless when it came down to being vile, even going as far as consuming their own.
Though neither Julian nor Aliyah flinched at the sights, they made sure to keep their appearances up as they blended among them.
By now, they had already made it 80% of the way to the starting location. But for some strange reason, the evil spirits were starting to grow more active.
They ran, attacked each other, and last but not least, avoided Julian and Aliyah a bit too meticulously. It was almost like all their actions were planned and coordinated, making sure to allow them to pass.
'Is it just my imagination?'
Yet right as he had those thoughts, a fist came flying directly for his head. The evil spirit responsible was a two-meter blob that could change its shape and size at will. Its weakness was a circular core in the center of its head.
But for the sake of not drawing too much attention, Julian decided to play by the evil spirits' rules.
The fist smacked him right in the face, causing him to take a few steps back. His nose was broken, and his jaw was slightly dislocated. Aliyah was surprised that he didn't dodge, but what he did next was even more shocking.
Julian snapped his nose back into place and then raised his hand. Closing one eye, he channeled the Spiritual Essence in the ring.
He imagined telekinesis. It was the simplest form of the Telekinetic Exorcist path, and it was something every single person who had access to Spiritual Essence could use.
So because of that, Julian sent out his Spiritual Essence and enveloped the head of the slime blob. Digging deeper, his Spiritual Essence found the circular core in the center of its head.
With a smile, Julian took a step forward and punched the evil spirit. Right as his fist made contact with its face, Julian used telekinesis to crush the core in its head.
And in that very same instant, the blob's head exploded, and just a moment later, it dissolved into toxic goo, melting the feathers on the ground.
[You have slain a dormant evil spirit, Low Grade Mimic Slime.]
"Are you alright?" Aliyah asked, her face conflicted. She couldn't see the state his face was in because of the werewolf mask, but by now, his jaw had healed, and his nose was back in place.
So he simply gave her a thumbs up.
"I'm fine. We're almost there, so let's not stop now."
"Mhm."
Although skeptical, Aliyah held back her questions.
And so, they continued ahead.
After nearly half an hour of wobbling, they saw the church in the distance. Evil spirits hounded around it. There were a lot more than what he had seen earlier while using his projection.
But there was one more thing that changed.
"You said there were three...?" Aliyah asked, pointing ahead. "I see four of them."
She was right. Instead of three awakened evil spirits, there were now four roaming outside the church. But instead of this being a curse, it was actually a blessing.
After all, if there was only one awakened evil spirit inside that room, that raised their chances of survival significantly.
And so, after recounting their earlier plan, they headed straight for the church, prepared to fool the awakened evil spirits.