The old woman in black had her throat tightly gripped by Lucien.
For a moment—
she even forgot to struggle.
She knew very well what the young man before her truly was.
Not a ghost from this dark dimension.
But a living person whose soul had left his body.
Normally—
when living souls entered this world, they became cautious and fearful.
Even though the souls of the living were naturally stronger than ordinary spirits, fear prevented them from using their full strength.
But Lucien...
He was completely insane.
Why was he this aggressive?!
"I'm asking you something."
Lucien lifted her higher by the neck.
"Weren't you acting arrogant earlier?"
"Weren't you threatening me?"
As he spoke, he casually shook her back and forth.
The old woman dangled helplessly like a broken puppet.
Her limbs swayed weakly in the air.
Only now did she finally react.
Her pitch-black eyes instantly filled with vicious hatred.
She opened her mouth—
about to scream—
But suddenly—
Lucien swung the crowbar.
BANG!
Elise and the female ghost stood frozen nearby.
They could only helplessly watch as Lucien smashed the old woman's head apart.
The female ghost trembled violently.
Then she slowly moved closer to Elise and whispered shakily:
"Madam..."
"...the person you brought this time..."
"...he isn't secretly a murderer, right?"
Elise fell silent.
No.
Murderers weren't this terrifying.
She had seen countless evil spirits before.
Many had several lives on their hands.
But very few felt as ferocious as Lucien.
After smashing the ghost's head apart, Lucien suddenly frowned.
Something felt off.
He looked down at the body in his hand carefully.
Then he laughed.
"So that's how it is."
"You're actually a man."
He casually tossed the headless body aside.
"A cross-dressing pervert ghost."
Elise blinked.
"...What?"
Lucien pointed at the corpse.
"This thing's male."
"I don't know why he dressed like that."
The female ghost:
"..."
Elise:
"..."
Then Lucien suddenly narrowed his eyes.
After the ghost was injured—
some kind of strange energy had leaked out.
Not only from the old man.
Even the female ghost earlier released similar energy after being damaged.
Lucien quietly thought:
So this place absorbs power from damaged souls and ghosts?
Interesting.
Meanwhile, the female ghost nervously pointed toward the corpse on the ground.
"Is... is he dead now?"
"Not yet."
Lucien answered casually.
The female ghost froze.
"W-What?!"
Instantly terrified, she stumbled backward.
Normally, destroyed spirits should have disappeared completely.
But the old man in black still remained there.
Motionless.
Lucien looked down at him calmly.
"Still pretending to be dead?"
"I know you can hear me."
"What?"
"Trying to ambush me later?"
"Do evil spirits not have any dignity?"
Those words immediately provoked the spirit.
The corpse on the ground suddenly floated upright.
Black mist gathered rapidly—
forming a new head.
The old man's resentful eyes glared viciously at Lucien.
Yet despite the hatred—
he still didn't dare approach.
Lucien lightly tapped the crowbar against his palm.
"How many times can you revive?"
"Two?"
"Three?"
"It doesn't matter."
"I can keep killing you until you stop getting back up."
"Until your soul completely scatters."
His tone remained calm.
Completely calm.
Yet every word sounded terrifying.
The old man in black stared at Lucien hatefully.
But before Lucien could attack again—
the evil spirit suddenly exploded into gray mist and disappeared.
At the same moment—
the surrounding world changed instantly.
The luxurious villa vanished.
In its place—
stood a decaying abandoned house.
Lucien glanced toward Elise.
She immediately understood he wanted an explanation.
"The spaces in this world aren't fully connected."
"It's more like..."
"...jumping between locations."
"That's why I warned you earlier."
"It's easy to get lost here."
Lucien nodded calmly.
"I see."
The room itself wasn't special.
Only one thing stood out.
A huge oil painting hanging on the wall.
It showed a woman and child.
Probably the former owner and her son.
"Where are we?"
Elise frowned.
She had never seen this place before.
Lucien answered calmly:
"The environment changed because of that old man."
"This should be where he lived before dying."
Then his eyes narrowed slightly.
"And I can still sense him nearby."
The old man escaped briefly by turning into mist.
A clever trick.
But Lucien wasn't planning to give him a second chance.
"You ghosts really love hiding."
"Always ambushing people."
Mary Shaw did it.
Freddy did it.
Now this cross-dressing old man too.
Against ordinary people—
sneak attacks in darkness worked well.
Unfortunately—
Lucien wasn't ordinary.
With his spiritual perception active—
everything around him became extremely clear.
Without hesitation, he walked deeper into the mansion.
Elise followed behind carefully with the lantern.
Her face remained vigilant.
This dark world was filled with wandering spirits everywhere.
Yet not a single ghost appeared inside this mansion.
Which meant only one thing.
This place belonged to an extremely dangerous evil spirit.
She didn't ask how Lucien navigated through total darkness.
Every exorcist had their own methods.
Right now—
following him was enough.
Suddenly Lucien stopped in front of a bookshelf.
Under his enhanced perception—
resentment continuously leaked from behind it.
Without hesitation—
Lucien swung the crowbar.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
The bookshelf shattered apart.
Revealing a hidden room behind it.
Inside—
corpses covered with white cloth stood silently.
Some leaned against chairs.
Some stood upright.
Blood slowly seeped through the sheets.
Just imagining what lay underneath was horrifying enough.
Elise carefully touched one of the sheets.
Instantly—
her eyes widened.
She saw fragments of the victim's memories.
The old man slowly applying pale makeup.
Black lipstick.
The black wedding dress.
A terrified girl tied to a chair.
A gag stuffed into her mouth.
Then—
a saw.
Pliers.
Screaming.
The corpses here—
were all victims murdered by that old man before his death.
Elise's face instantly turned pale.
Even so, she still hurriedly warned Lucien:
"Lucien..."
"He may be hiding among the bodies..."
"If you're checking them with the crowbar—"
Before she could finish—
another loud sound interrupted her.
BANG!
One corpse—
along with the chair beneath it—
was smashed completely apart.
Lucien calmly lowered the crowbar.
"Why bother checking one by one?"
"If he likes hiding inside them..."
"...then he can stay hidden."
Without stopping—
he walked toward the next group of corpses.
Then suddenly—
A white sheet flew upward from the darkness!
The evil spirit burst forward instantly!
Its sharp claws tore through the cloth as it lunged directly toward Lucien's completely exposed back!
Too fast!
Elise didn't even have time to scream!
But at that exact moment—
Lucien suddenly turned around.
The crowbar swung upward violently.
BANG!
The old man was smashed directly out of midair and slammed brutally into the ground.
Lucien looked down at him calmly.
Then smiled faintly.
"Baiting the enemy."
"It really works every time."