Chapter 431: Encounter

Tianyang Apartment Community.

On the right side of an apartment building, the facade had collapsed, presenting a scene of destruction, while the left side remained intact.

The two sides appeared as different worlds, each distinctly unique in detail.

The collapsed side was engulfed in bright red flames, as if they had appeared out of nowhere to consume the entire world.

The shapes of the fiery red flames danced in the air, dyeing everything a bloody red.

At the center of this crimson inferno, the hottest area, was a twisted figure.

It was a vile demon.

It constantly emitted screams, its resentment being consumed by the flames.

Ah!!!

It roared in fury, its dark resentment growing stronger, continuously entangling with the surrounding flames, creating a terrifying and spectacular scene. The fireworks churned around it in the air, with resentment weaving through them.

However, the situation slowly seemed to turn against it, with the overwhelmed side being the constantly screaming shadow.

Under the scorching of the flames, the demon's resistance seemed pale and weak, leaving only the relentless flames and its resentful roars.

On the side of the building that was still intact, a giant tree stood tall.

The thick trunk towered majestically, its branches lush and dense, like a natural green fortress that sheltered the surrounding buildings with its dense shade.

Beneath it, in a space like a tree hollow, five floating talismans appeared in the air, their released power causing the void to tremble.

In front of the talismans stood three figures.

"Sister, I am preparing to seal it," Makoto Higa's voice rang out. She was further forward than Eileen and Janet behind her, her hands in a gesture of maintenance, her forehead covered in sweat.

Makoto Higa was clearly not having an easy time throughout the process, but she appeared very excited.

For she was facing the vile demon all by herself, though much of the credit was due to the talismans before her. Without her casting, these talismans would have no effect.

Janet did not respond, simply watching as the vile demon was continuously consumed by flames, her tense body slowly relaxing.

Makoto Higa heard no reply, but conscientiously took out a talisman from her small bag filled with them, based on her familiarity with them.

The complex patterns flowed like a river, containing various mysteries. The Chinese character "封" in the center emitted a faint glow, solemn and mysterious, with surrounding patterns and characters slightly glowing, exuding an aura of purification and peace.

[Purification and Demon Sealing Talisman: Originating from ancient Japan's Onmyodo, true to its name, its primary function is to seal. Once activated, it forms a powerful sealing barrier that binds spirits within and seals them inside the talisman. Besides sealing, it also has a purifying function.

During the sealing period, it continuously releases purifying energy, cleansing the spirits trapped within until they are completely purified.]

This talisman was indeed a true sealing artifact for spirits in a weakened state.

The talisman, held between Makoto Higa's fingers, flared as the vile demon within the flames thrashed, trying to escape the fiery torment but continuously being consumed.

Seeing the demon struggle, Makoto Higa's face flushed from the exertion and maintaining of the talisman.

She hadn't expected to handle the legendary vile demon all by herself.

Though it consumed a lot of her spiritual power, achieving this feat still exhilarated her.

Excited as she was, Makoto Higa did not delay.

"I summon the power of sealing in the name of Higa."

Makoto Higa took a deep breath, channeling the remaining spiritual power in her body into the talisman, connecting it with the residual spiritual circuits. Instantly, the 'Purification and Demon Sealing Talisman' glowed brighter, eventually turning into a dazzling golden light that illuminated her space.

Once the spiritual circuits were fully connected, Makoto Higa threw it forward.

The glowing Purification and Demon Sealing Talisman traced a beautiful arc in the air, suddenly stopping in front of her, releasing a blinding light and powerful energy.

"Purification and Demon Sealing Talisman, activate!"

With Makoto Higa's strong voice, the talisman, like the other five floating talismans, shot out golden chains towards the roaring demon.

"Roar!"

The demon sensed the danger, its surroundings becoming more agitated, but to no avail.

One by one, the golden chains streaked through the air, agile and forceful, precisely navigating through the flames to strike the roaring and resisting demon.

One after another, each chain strike accompanied by a sharp screech.

Under the barrage of chains, the demon's roars continued as its form gradually showed signs of helpless struggle. The countless chains shooting from the Purification and Demon Sealing Talisman acted like chains taming a wild beast, wrapping

 around the demon tightly, soon forming a sphere flickering with golden light.

The demon's roars gradually weakened until they ceased, replaced by the subtle sounds of chains rubbing against each other.

Click, click, click!

Under the watchful eyes of Makoto Higa and the others, the large sphere surrounding the demon vibrated as it slowly shrank to the size of a fingertip.

Makoto Higa, without thinking, licked her dry lips and with a gesture, flicked her hand upward.

"Capture!"

The fingertip-sized golden sphere trembled and then swiftly flew toward the open palm of Makoto Higa.

"Sister, Sister Eileen! It's a success!"

Makoto Higa looked at the warm golden sphere in her palm, turned to face Janet and Eileen, and excitedly spoke.

"Mhm."

Janet took a deep breath and reached out to Makoto Higa.

"Give me the sealing sphere."

Makoto Higa grinned and handed it to her sister. Through their psychic connection, she could feel that her sister was not as calm as she appeared on the surface.

"Sister, how did I do?"

Janet, holding the golden sealing sphere, finally relaxed, glanced at Makoto Higa who seemed really eager for praise, and remained silent but nodded to Eileen in a gesture of respect.

"Sister Eileen, sorry, I need to go and secure the sealing sphere. I'll leave first."

"Go ahead," Eileen smiled.

Hearing this, Janet ignored her sister's expression and turned to leave.

But as Makoto Higa was about to roll her eyes at that figure, Janet's emotionless voice followed.

"Not bad, release the talisman."

Hearing the praise, Makoto Higa became even more excited; it had been many years since she had heard such words from her sister. She couldn't help but glance at Sister Eileen.

Eileen's smile remained unchanged, simply nodding at Makoto Higa with an approving look.

"Hehe!"

Makoto Higa chuckled, turned back to the still-floating six talismans, and began making the necessary gestures to disengage the spiritual circuits maintaining them.

"Disengage!"

As the spiritual circuits broke and the support of spiritual power ceased, the six floating talismans instantly lost their luster, one by one automatically flying into the palm of Makoto Higa, neatly stacked.

Makoto Higa exhaled lightly, carefully placing these still usable talismans back into her small bag.

These talismans, as long as their circuits remained intact, could be reused, much like real-world electrical circuits that, as long as they do not break, continue to conduct electricity.

With the retrieval of the talismans, the still-burning flames and the towering tree blocking all attacks disappeared at that moment, revealing their original forms.

Most importantly, with the sealing of the vile demon, the world around them began to distort.

The space flickered momentarily, and the previously collapsed side miraculously restored itself.

Everything returned to normal.

At the same time, the chilly air also vanished, returning to its usual temperature.

Makoto Higa and Eileen were not surprised by this; they knew they had been fighting in a realm created by the vile demon, and now that the demon was gone, they had simply returned to reality.

Eileen turned and looked towards the square outside the walkway railing.

On the square, the priests and priestesses were already cleaning up the debris, and John Wick was sitting on the roof of a car, waving at her.

This indicated that the battle on the square had long concluded, and they were just waiting for the results from their side.

"Makoto, it looks like our operation was a success."

Eileen also waved back at John Wick, smiling as she spoke.

"Mhm!"

Makoto Higa, patting her small bag like it was a treasure, nodded vigorously and said with a smile, "All thanks to the talismans prepared by my sister."

Speaking of this, Makoto Higa also felt a tinge of sadness, her joy at their success somewhat diminished.

"But when is my sister coming back?"

However, she received no reply from Sister Eileen and instinctively looked at her.

But she found Sister Eileen's smile blooming like an early spring flower, radiant and spreading a dazzling halo, while her eyes twinkled with joy, lighting up everything around her like bright stars.

"What's with Sister Eileen?"

Sensing something, Makoto Higa followed the direction of Sister Eileen's gaze, and the scene before her made her eyes widen.

Her expression changed just like Eileen's, with no significant difference.

Because in their view, at the farthest part of the square, outside the altar, sitting on a bench were two figures, one big and one small, each holding a bag of snacks.

And the larger figure was smiling, waving at them.

"Sister!"

Makoto Higa shouted excitedly,

 instinctively starting to climb the walkway railing to jump down, but felt a tug at the back of her collar, stopping her motion.

"Child, this is the fourth floor."

Turning her head, she saw that it was Sister Eileen who had pulled her back, her radiant smile tinged with a bit of helplessness.

"Cough!"

Makoto Higa suddenly woke up, seeing the height below and feeling a bit embarrassed, but she thanked Sister Eileen and quickly ran towards the exit.

She didn't even take the elevator, heading straight for the stairs.

Bang!

Listening to the thudding footsteps behind her, one could imagine Makoto Higa probably jumping down several flights of stairs at once, Eileen's smile unchanged, waving at their own bishop sitting there.

"You're back, that's great," she said in her heart.

Meanwhile.

Inside, Janet, who was placing the golden sealing sphere into a small box, paused, her usually cold face showing a trace of emotion as she looked towards the door.

Outside.

Makoto Higa had already rushed downstairs, under the watchful eyes of the priests and priestesses cleaning up the debris on the square, running straight towards York.

Her face was covered in sweat, but it could not hide her excitement.

"Sister!" she shouted as she ran.

John Wick, sitting on the car roof, was momentarily stunned, his gaze following the running Makoto Higa and looking in the direction she was running, finally noticing the returned York and Arlesa.

Seeing the two figures sitting on the bench, one large and one small, his typically expressionless face began to smile slightly.

"You're finally back, Bishop," he thought to himself.

"Ah!"

As the distance closed, Makoto Higa, seeing the face she had missed day and night, stretched out her hands while running.

What she was about to do was clear in York's eyes.

"This girl is too excited," York thought, seeing Makoto Higa's face sweaty yet flushed, feeling helpless.

But seeing Makoto Higa, York's eyes still held a hint of a smile.

In fact, he had seen the entire battle where Makoto Higa used the talisman.

After all, the power remaining on the talisman was all his magic.

Through the magic's sensation, he could feel everything around him.

"Talismans really suit Makoto well," York smiled. He certainly didn't intend to use this to protect the Higa sisters; he really wanted to train Makoto.

But then, York also felt his words were somewhat insincere.

"Sister!!!"

In that moment of thought, York suddenly saw a large figure appear in the air.

It turned out Makoto Higa had already jumped over, completely ignoring the distance and not fearing that she might fall due to the gap.

"Silly girl, you should look at the distance," York said helplessly, standing up, his fingers moving slightly as psychokinesis surged, pulling the somewhat panicked Makoto Higa, who realized the distance was insufficient, closer.

"Hehe! Because I knew my sister would definitely protect me!"

Makoto Higa stood firm, unapologetically, and took the opportunity to hug York tightly, her head buried deep in his broad chest.

"Sister, you're finally back..." her voice was low and trembling.

Caught off guard by Makoto Higa's sudden embrace, York was momentarily stunned, but hearing her trembling voice, he also extended his hand to pat her head, smiling and softly replying.

"Mhm."

Sitting on the bench behind the two, Arlesa, while pulling out a skewer of octopus balls from the snack bag and popping it into her mouth, stared at Makoto Higa buried in York's arms and rolled her eyes...

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