At Athena's reminder, Roy drove to the woods closest to Santa Monica Beach, which is Hollywood Hills.
Because this is a wealthy neighborhood, a patch of woods has been preserved on the hill.
Yeah, this is also a major spot for wildfires in Los Angeles.
Supposedly, it's because those clueless politicians always think firefighters don't do much and want to cut their pay.
Then, the hills around Los Angeles just randomly catch fire every now and then.
And wouldn't you know it, nobody brings up cutting the firefighters' salaries anymore.
From then on, Los Angeles wildfires became a regular thing. If a year goes by without one, the people in LA actually find it weird.
Of course, this wildfire definitely isn't like the ones in 2025.
After entering the woods in Hollywood Hills, Roy opened the wooden box Athena had given him.
Instantly, Roy felt some changes in the surrounding environment. First off, the light all around seemed to dim suddenly, and Roy could also hear some faint, strange whispers.
Roy knew this was a sign that Slender Man was appearing.
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Slender Man rarely attacks right away. He usually observes his target from a distance for a while, trying to lower their Sanity score in various ways to gain better control.
"Come on, let's see what you've got!"
Roy resolutely stepped into the woods.
After entering the woods, the light dimmed even further! The night had actually been pretty nice, and you could see the surroundings even without artificial light, but now it was pitch black.
Luckily, Roy had brought a flashlight, which is a must-have in horror movies and games.
When he pressed the flashlight switch, the light flickered for several seconds before stabilizing, which seemed to foreshadow something.
The flashlight Roy brought was a high-powered one, very bright, but at the moment, its brightness seemed to be about the same as a regular flashlight.
It was as if the light was being sucked away by something.
Looks like this Slender Man really knows his stuff. He's way stronger than those small fry in the subway tunnels.
After walking in the mountains for a while, Roy could clearly feel like he was being watched, but he couldn't see Slender Man. Moreover, Roy realized he was starting to go in circles in the same area. He had made marks on some trees and had already passed them several times in just a few minutes.
Roy's sense of direction wasn't this bad. The only explanation was that Slender Man was messing with his sense of direction, which is like getting "lost in the woods" as the saying goes.
This guy, not even showing himself, just messing around with all this nonsense. It was really pissing Roy off.
Suddenly, Roy had an idea. This Slender Man doesn't like his image being recorded. Does that mean he doesn't like people looking directly at him?
If Roy could somehow see Slender Man's face, would that provoke the guy into attacking?
Roy just happened to have a digital camera that could capture things invisible to the naked eye!
Taking out the digital camera from his inventory – the one that had recorded a ton of combat footage, Roy's prized possession that he always kept close – through the digital camera's viewfinder, Roy quickly saw a blurry, ten-foot-tall figure in the distance.
Digital cameras in this era had limited resolution, and if you zoomed in, it got even blurrier, like a mosaic.
However, the blurry figure seemed to notice it was being secretly photographed and vanished in the blink of an eye, causing a ton of static to appear on the digital camera's viewfinder.
It worked!
Roy remembered the Slender Man game he had played in his previous life. Static or electromagnetic interference on electronic devices meant Slender Man was getting closer. This guy was definitely provoked!
So, where is this guy now?
Suddenly, Roy felt an intense sense of danger, the kind he had only felt when he was much weaker, facing the invincible Terror Wax Demon in Ambroras Town. Thinking about it, it felt like a long time ago, but it had actually been less than half a year.
Almost instantly, Roy instinctively entered his Son of the Devil state, temporarily increasing all his physical attributes by 10 points.
However, Roy's transformation didn't work. Slender Man appeared directly in front of him, and then he felt himself getting drowsy.
His 40 points of Willpower allowed Roy to quickly break free from Slender Man's hypnotic ability, but that time was enough for Slender Man to launch an attack. Slender Man's back sprouted a bunch of pitch-black tentacles, and one of them pierced directly through Roy's abdomen.
[Discovered special character Slender Man. You can absorb the power of fate to receive rewards!]
Since gaining the special ability Son of the Devil, and with his constitution becoming increasingly monstrous, Roy rarely suffered serious injuries anymore. At most, it would be bullets embedded in his flesh. This kind of piercing damage had almost never happened. What surprised Roy even more was that the wound in his abdomen didn't seem to be bleeding. The sight of the tentacle passing through his body was like an illusion, but he could definitely feel the intense pain in his abdomen.
"Get off me!"
Roy immediately took out his chainsaw sword. Under the influence of his Son of the Devil state, the chainsaw sword transformed into the Hellfire Chainsaw Sword, and the terrifying heatwave forced Slender Man back. The tentacle that had pierced his abdomen disappeared, and Roy then noticed that there was no tear in his clothes and no wound on his stomach, only that the skin had turned black.
It was somewhat similar to the damage caused by the Cursed Dual Daggers, so this wasn't physical damage but some kind of energy damage.
No wonder it could ignore his powerful defense!
Having been caught off guard, Roy immediately wanted to chase after Slender Man and get revenge, but as soon as he took a step, he felt a sharp pain in his stomach that almost made him fall to the ground. He pressed the injured area on his stomach, and it felt somewhat sunken in. It seemed like a part of Roy's intestines was missing.
Slender Man had actually reached through his stomach and taken out Roy's intestines!
Missing a part of his intestines wouldn't necessarily kill Roy, but it would definitely affect his combat ability.
Slender Man in the distance made some strange noises, as if mocking Roy's overestimation of his own abilities, which made him furious.
"Damn it, you think I can't handle you?"
Saying this, Roy retracted his chainsaw sword and took out his Remington M870 from his inventory. Since getting the Smith & Wesson M629 Ivory Edition revolver, this shotgun had become slightly less favored. It couldn't be helped; the skin on the M629 Ivory Edition was just too good-looking, and the .44 Magnum bullets weren't much weaker than shotgun shells anyway. It was usually a one-shot deal either way.
However, Roy was extremely angry now and needed the Remington M870, this large-caliber weapon, to vent his frustration.
Chambering a round with one hand, the Hellfire Shotgun spat out a skull engulfed in hellfire. Slender Man couldn't laugh now and instantly vanished from the spot.
The hellfire skull hit a tree and exploded, leaving behind some flames.
Enemies who can teleport are really annoying. If they can't win, they just run away and then look for an opportunity to ambush you.
I have to think of a way to limit this guy's ability to teleport!
Roy started thinking about how to deal with Slender Man.
Judging by the current situation, physical attacks probably wouldn't be very effective against Slender Man. He probably wouldn't even be able to hit him. So, could he use magic?
Roy thought of a magic circle from the Key of Solomon called the Binding of Veltra.
This magic circle was a hexagram woven with ancient astrological runes, with the remains of a shattered clock floating at its center.
Once activated, all spatial rifts within a few hundred meters would be forcibly closed, and anyone using spatial movement abilities would suffer a backlash.
The requirements for using the Binding of Veltra were much higher than those for directly capturing Sadako and Kayako.
However, Roy's Spirit had already reached 37, his third-highest attribute, and his Memory was also 29, meeting the basic requirements for using this magic circle.
It's just the materials needed to set it up...
No other choice. I'll have to use my own blood to draw the magic circle again!
After one sneak attack, Slender Man started playing hide-and-seek with Roy again, disappearing to who knows where.
So, Roy immediately looked for an open space and cut his finger to draw a magic circle.
This process was quite troublesome because Roy's self-healing ability was so strong that his wounds would often heal in no time.
This forced Roy to cut his wrist to get more blood.
He also had to deal with Slender Man's occasional sneak attacks. The guy was incredibly patient. Each time he attacked, whether successful or not, he would only attack once, and then immediately teleport away, not giving Roy any chance to retaliate.
It was really frustrating.
By the time he finished drawing the magic circle, Roy was missing a good chunk of his lung, most of his intestines, and almost all of his liver.
These injuries were undeniably severe. Even with a Constitution as high as 49, it would probably take a long time to recover.
The Binding of Veltra was ready. All that was left was to inject his Spirit power to activate it, but before that, he needed to lure Slender Man into the magic circle.
Roy placed a picture of Slender Man in the middle of the magic circle and then stepped on the picture.
From Slender Man's behavior, it was clear that this guy had some intelligence.
Roy's current actions clearly indicated a trap. The only way was to provoke him into attacking.
To do this, Roy even deliberately exited his Son of the Devil state, which would drastically reduce his defense and recovery abilities but would also increase the probability of Slender Man attacking him.
He didn't know why Slender Man didn't want his image recorded and leaked, maybe it was some kind of OCD.
Just as Roy stepped on Slender Man's picture, he instantly felt a deadly threat.
Then, a large mass of shadow suddenly appeared behind Roy. Before he could react, a tentacle fiercely pierced through his back, aiming for his heart.
At the critical moment, Roy slightly shifted his body, managing to protect half of his heart. This move saved his life.
Then, Roy immediately activated the Binding of Veltra. The magic circle emitted a dark blue light, and the surrounding air seemed to freeze at that moment.
"Damn it! I finally caught you, you bastard!"
Slender Man tilted his head slightly, seemingly puzzled by the change in the surrounding environment, but his movements didn't stop. He was still trying to use his tentacles to rip out Roy's heart.
Roy wasn't about to just sit there and die. If his heart was ripped out, he really might die.
Angel's Blood, activate!
Roy's body erupted in a dazzling white light, forcing Slender Man back several steps. He seemed somewhat afraid of this power.
A pair of wings of light sprouted from Roy's back, and he floated into the air, coldly looking down at Slender Man.
Roy had taken down quite a few bad guys these past days, and the Justice Points he had collected should be enough to sustain him through this fight.
Slender Man's first reaction was still to teleport away to find an opportunity to attack again. However, this time, the moment Slender Man tore through space, he suffered a backlash.
You could see obvious tears appearing on this guy's body, like a glitched image in a video, it looked really out of place.
Although there was no sound, Roy could still feel Slender Man's extreme pain.
Looks like the Binding of Veltra really dealt a heavy blow to Slender Man. Roy could even sense some fear from him.
Let's finish him off while he's down!
Floating in mid-air, Roy began to gather the power of holy light in his hands, slowly shaping it into a spear made of pure holy light, and then threw it at Slender Man.
Slender Man, who had already suffered a backlash from his spatial abilities, was hit hard again. The holy light power from heaven naturally countered the dark power within him, and this attack was incredibly effective, a direct hit.
Seemingly sensing the threat of death, Slender Man began to fight back frantically.
Even though his body was twisted and glitched, the tentacles on Slender Man's back could still be used. A dozen tentacles lashed out at Roy, trying to take him down directly.
Too bad for him, Roy wasn't a magical girl and really didn't like tentacles.
Taking out his chainsaw sword from his inventory, Roy began to grapple with Slender Man's tentacles.
The Angel's Blood state couldn't enchant weapons, but it could directly release energy.
Holding the chainsaw sword, Roy continuously released various blades and shadows made of holy light energy. These easily sliced through Slender Man's tentacles, which were made of dark power.
Even though Slender Man's tentacles could grow back, they couldn't withstand Roy cutting them down like harvesting (chives).
Plus, with the light wings allowing him to fly, Roy was incredibly agile and actually completely suppressed Slender Man in a short amount of time.
Realizing that his defeat was imminent, Slender Man, disregarding his torn body, unleashed all his power to make a last-ditch effort to defend himself.
The dense dark power actually broke free from the effects of the Binding of Veltra's magic circle for a brief moment, allowing Slender Man's body to return to normal!
This meant Slender Man could teleport away again.
It was also because this Binding of Veltra magic circle didn't have good casting materials. It relied entirely on the mixed demon and angel blood in Roy's body to cast, so it was just a poor man's version of the Binding of Veltra. Being able to restrain Slender Man for this long was already pushing its limits.
Seeing that he was about to finish off Slender Man, but the guy was preparing to teleport away, how could Roy stand for that?
Gritting his teeth, Roy directly activated the Desire Domain, which he had just recently obtained and hadn't even tested yet, while still in his Angel's Blood state.
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