Chapter 31 – Percy Elijah
"You… okay?"
Percy waved a hand in front of the priest's blankly staring face, worried that she might've broken him when she dropped in out of nowhere.
"I'm fine," Gideon Black finally snapped out of it.
Long case, leg bindings…
That outfit immediately reminded him of the exhibit from earlier. If he wasn't mistaken, this girl was probably a Knight.
"I'm so sorry!"
Percy suddenly leaned in, her expression full of guilt.
"I'm Percy—I came here for, um, an exorcism. But when I got inside, I couldn't find the entrance… so I climbed a tree, and then I saw you guys..."
Gideon instinctively took a step back, keeping a safe distance in case he needed to bolt.
At the same time, he checked and confirmed that Emma was still far from him. Only then did he relax a little.
As Percy rambled on, Gideon quickly pieced together what happened.
In short: the girl's name was Percy, she had no sense of direction, and she was a bit of a chatterbox.
He raised a hand to stop her mid-sentence. "So you were also invited to the Jim Nicken estate—to investigate the murder case?"
"Mhm! Yup!" Percy nodded enthusiastically.
"And you're a Knight?" he asked, testing the waters.
"How'd you know?!"
Percy looked genuinely surprised.
"My father was descended from knights! But he passed away... I inherited his longsword and started training when I was really little—"
Now it was Gideon's turn to be taken aback.
He'd just tossed out a probing question, but she'd ended up spilling her entire life story.
As Percy continued, Gideon learned that she was here for the $50,000 bounty.
After her father died, she was raised by her mother—who, from overwork and illness, now had to rely on expensive medication to get by.
"Mm... that's pretty much everything," Percy tilted her head, trying to summarize.
But then, just as quickly, her expression shifted—and she suddenly lunged in front of Gideon.
Gideon's brow twitched slightly.
The girl had moved unexpectedly fast. If it weren't for the days he'd spent diligently applying the sacred oil, he might not have reacted in time.
In the next moment, he felt two hands grab his head—and then start shaking him vigorously.
"Oh no! Mom told me not to talk too much or reveal my identity—quick, forget everything I just said!"
While still shaking him, the girl, Percy, turned to glare at the other two: "You guys too!"
Gordon and Emma instinctively took a step back, giving Gideon and the girl plenty of space.
Gideon felt like his body was about to fall apart.
He now had another impression of this girl: dense.
It took quite a bit of effort to calm her down. Only after swearing, under her watchful eye, that he wouldn't repeat a word, did he finally get a moment of peace—and immediately took a few steps back to increase the distance between them.
—
Once he confirmed that Percy was also an invited exorcist, Gordon slowly removed his hand from his waist.
After much pleading from her, Gideon had no choice but to bring her along.
It just so happened they were planning to return anyway.
The group of four soon arrived back at House No. 24.
At the entrance, they ran into Derek, who mentioned that a priest had just arrived from the church and was now speaking with Mr.Nicken in the parlor.
Derek also took the opportunity to confirm Percy's identity with Gordon.
"I can take you to the crime scene," Derek offered.
But Gideon waved his hand. "No rush."
Now that they had confirmed the evil spirit was hiding somewhere in the house, things would be much easier from here.
From his bag, Gideon took out holy water, crucifixes, and other tools of the trade. These were his bread and butter.
Then he began setting up around the house.
At first, Percy was excited at the idea of confronting a demon, bouncing in place and shadow-boxing a few punches. But when Gideon walked around to the side of the house, she curiously followed.
Emma glanced around cautiously until her eyes lit up with some idea. She was just about to sneak over, but then noticed Gideon watching her. Pouting, she begrudgingly walked over instead.
—
About ten minutes later, Gideon wiped sweat from his forehead.
Seeing him pause, Percy thought the setup was done and stood up to head inside—only for Gideon to pull out another pile of equipment.
Half an hour passed.
Percy was now crouched on the ground, her face full of frustration and her legs aching.
"What is this priest even doing?" she muttered under her breath. She wanted to ask but was afraid that saying too much would accidentally reveal more personal secrets. So she kept quiet.
Emma, drenched in sweat, her hair clinging to her forehead, stood stiffly and tapped her foot with a deep scowl.
Only Gordon seemed at ease, casually sipping the iced water Derek had handed him while watching the scene.
Finally, Gideon finished.
Like before, he had set up three layers of protective barriers.
Since he'd learned how to craft holy water of various "ages," he'd improved his exorcism protocols.
In the past, Gideon simply arranged three layers of the same holy tools.
But now, he used a progressive system.
The first and innermost layer, closest to the house, used 3-year-old holy relics.
The second layer used 10-year relics.
The outermost layer was fortified with 20-year-old relics.
This approach was deliberate.
From his experience, most evil spirits show signs before harming someone.
With the multi-layered setup, he could lure them into the first circle. If the entity couldn't breach even that, it wasn't very strong, and he could safely destroy it.
If it managed to break through the ten-year barrier, Gideon would rely on the twenty-year relics to buy enough time to retreat.
Furthermore, demons were usually cunning—many liked to pretend to be weak, only to escape at the last moment.
So if one tried to flee, it would inevitably hit the first barrier on its way out, revealing its true strength.
Even if it did manage to burst through the first layer, the second would still kick in, stalling its escape and draining its willpower—if it even had such a thing.
In short, this setup was both offensive and defensive. Gideon was very satisfied with it.
"All right, let's go."
He clapped the dirt off his hands and turned to call the others.
Percy, still crouched and miserable, sprang up with renewed energy when she realized the ordeal was finally over.
The four of them regrouped with Derek, who led them into the house.
They passed through the living room, heading toward the garden.
Suddenly, a heavy thud came from the direction of the staircase.
They all turned.
A woman dressed like a housemaid came tumbling down the stairs.
Her face was pale, struggling for breath. She reached out a trembling hand toward them—then collapsed, lifeless.
Derek's expression darkened. He immediately pulled out his sidearm and crept up the stairs, sticking close to the wall.
Gordon followed close behind.
"Don't move," Gideon barked at Percy, who was about to check the body. His brows furrowed.
In his vision, he could clearly see traces of an evil aura still clinging to the maid's abdomen—trailing up toward the second floor.
Clatter!
Behind him, something shattered.
Gideon turned to see a woman—Mrs. Dale—staring in horror, a broken glass cup at her feet.
"Carol!" she shouted in panic, rushing past the maid's body and up the stairs.