Chapter 1170: Chapter 1157: What Are You Prepared to Offer in Return, Mortal? Chapter 1170: Chapter 1157: What Are You Prepared to Offer in Return, Mortal? A slightly cold wind blew through the alleyway, lifting layers of withered yellow leaves. Under the dark clouds, a young girl in a leather trench coat looked up at the sinister-looking apartment in front of her, her face full of indifference.

“The aura of an evil spirit— it seems the intelligence was correct, even if there are no monsters here, there would be traces they left behind.”

The girl raised her hand, looking at the ornament glowing faintly around her wrist, and an expression finally appeared on her indifferent face. However, it was a visage filled with murderous intent, devoid of any of the innocence or romance typical of girls her age.

The girl clearly didn’t care about her uncharacteristic demeanor. She adjusted the gear she was carrying and then strode into the desolate apartment building.

As soon as she entered the front door of the apartment, she stopped because she smelled a nauseating stench of decay— a scent all too familiar, even commonplace, in her relatively short career as a exorcist.

Thus, the murderous look on her face intensified. She drew the twin guns holstered at her waist and climbed the stairs in large strides. Within moments, inhuman roars echoed in the apartment, followed by the deafening thunder of gunfire.

The bullet, inscribed with an Exorcism Talisman, flashed a brilliant spirit light the moment it left the barrel, lighting up the dark apartment. Then a pained yet weak shriek sounded again.

But with two gunshots, the decrepit apartment fell completely silent, and the oppressive aura lingering over the building had disappeared without a trace.

The girl in the black trench coat then walked out of the apartment expressionlessly, looking no different from before, as if she had just done something utterly trivial.

“Seventy-six!”

The girl softly uttered a not-so-large number which might seem minuscule to most people, but to demon slayers engaged in the exorcism profession, the significance of this number was truly horrific.

In fact, when the girl returned to the secretive building exclusive to exorcists, she certainly received several awed glances.

Every exorcist returning unscathed essentially confirmed they had completed their mission. The girl was a regular here, and any demon slayer with a bit of seniority would recognize her.

Not just because of her overly youthful appearance but also due to her frequent acceptance of exorcism tasks and the extremely high completion rate.

“Has the evil spirit at West Street Apartment been exorcised?” the bartender-looking coordinator asked the girl, a common disguise for exorcists as most exorcism hubs were disguised as rundown bars.

“Yes,” the girl ordered a glass of plain water and sat at the bar with a taciturn and indifferent demeanor.

“I’ve already transferred the money to your account. How long do you plan to rest this time?” The coordinator wasn’t surprised by the girl’s response; he was well aware of her capabilities, as well as the frenzied heart of hatred hidden beneath her cold exterior.

“I’m not resting. This mission didn’t deplete much of my energy, and I’m ready to take on another one.”

“No, I don’t have any suitable tasks for you right now.” Hearing the girl’s words, the coordinator decisively shook his head in refusal.

“If that’s the case, I don’t mind spending some time traveling to other cities.” the girl responded indifferently, lifting her head with a pair of emotionless eyes staring at the bartender-looking coordinator.

“Wouldn’t it be better for you to rest a while? Your frequent hunting of evil spirits will eventually lead to trouble.”

The coordinator repeated his oft-given advice, which the girl reacted to as usual—as if she hadn’t heard a word.

“Sigh, I know you seek revenge, but the foundation of your success lies in possessing strong powers; otherwise, even if you find that evil spirit, what can you do?”

“…” The girl remained silent, giving no response, but her eyes seemed to be ablaze with flames.

“I used to consider your pride, so I didn’t say some things, but seeing you like this now, no matter how harsh, I have to speak the truth.”

Seeing the girl’s lack of response, the coordinator was unbothered, “Although your talent is exceptional among exorcists, compared to your parents, you are as if picked up from the street. With such talent, your dream of revenge is nothing but a fool’s talk.”

“I will get my revenge, absolutely,” the girl declared with a firm voice filled with an unquestionable will.

“What will you use to exact revenge? Do you know how big a gap there is between you now and your parents back then? Based on the site survey of your parents’ demise, that evil spirit is terrifyingly powerful, to the extent that it murdered your parents in a brutal massacre. It’s a monster you can’t contend with at your current stage.”

“I will become stronger.” The girl placed her hand on the Exorcist Gun holstered at her waist. Her slender fingers tightly gripped the handle, whitening at the knuckles.

“You strive to become stronger, but those evil spirits won’t stand still, waiting for you to catch up. They also devour human souls to continue growing stronger, and the gap will always exist.”

“So, you want me to give up on revenge?”

“Giving up can sometimes be a choice. You’re not the only one who hates that evil spirit, there are other demon slayers with greater talents who want to annihilate it, so you just need to wait,” he said.

“I can’t,” the girl replied resolutely, “I must bury it with my own hands.”

After that, the girl no longer showed any interest in conversing with the person in charge; she ignored his attempts to stop her and turned to leave.

However, in the following days, the girl wasn’t as active as before and began to seriously practice her skills. After all, to seek revenge, she needed to have a substantial foundation of power, otherwise, even if she found the monster that killed her family, she could only watch helplessly.

Yet, the unexpected happens when you’re least prepared, just as the girl took the advice and started to focus on her training, her city turned into hell…

Boom—
A loud explosion sounded outside the window, followed by women’s screams, children’s cries, and men’s roars, but these sounds soon ceased, replaced by frantic cries for help,
“What monster is this? Help!”

“Mommy! Waaah!”

“Run!”

The girl, who had been meditating, opened her eyes the moment the explosion erupted, and then she saw her room as bright as day, even though it was the middle of the night.

The girl looked down at the ornament tied around her wrist, an exorcism ornament that reacted when evil entities lingered nearby; at that moment, the exorcism ornament was emitting a brightness like never before.

Such radiant light, even the stoic girl could not help but pale, as she felt a deadly threat she simply could not resist.

The evil entity that caused such a strong reaction from the ornament, whether one or many, was not something she could confront at this stage; it would be a certain death.

So, fight or flee? Preserving herself would give her a future, a chance to avenge her parents’ murder, but if she fought now, her future would vanish.

Without much thought, the girl strapped the firearm by her waist, picked up a long double-handed sword, slung it on her back, opened the door to the balcony, and with a deep leap, jumped toward the explosion site, where the cries for help were loudest.

She was a demon slayer, meant to protect humans from monsters’ harm. When humans faced harm from monsters, a qualified demon slayer should stand in front of ordinary humans, her father had told her.

…

“Cough!”

The girl, having smashed a shop’s glass window and knocked over a stack of shelves, was buried under a pile of dolls, coughing up sticky blood and gasping for air heavily.

She felt her life ebbing away and realized she was nearing her end, just as she had anticipated, just like the fate of most demon slayers, dying in a battle with monsters.

But at that moment, the girl felt extreme indignation. She was resentful that she hadn’t avenged her great enemy and was also resentful of the humiliating way she was dying.

Because her fatal wound was not caused by a head-on battle with the monster; it was merely caused by a casual hit from the evil spirit that led a group of evil spirits rampaging through the city.

She was casually struck by the evil spirit into a state of near-death, and the attack wasn’t even aimed at her but at another powerful demon slayer; she was just caught in the aftermath.

“Who can save me?” In her extreme resentment and hatred, the girl cried out for help, appealing to the void, for she didn’t know who else could save her at that moment.

“I cannot die! I still have revenge to exact!”

“The will to live is a basic instinct, I can let you live on and even grant you power, but what will you give in return, Mortal?”

An almost dreamlike voice echoed next to the girl who was already seeing double, like a murmur in her dream.

“Everything I have, whatever you want, as long as you can take it, just take it all!” Even in her state of severe blood loss and delirium, hearing this nearly hallucinatory voice, the girl still responded.

“Really? Should I say you’re quite the naive young girl? To think you would say such words, you should be glad I’m not a demon!”

The gentle voice with a hint of laughter sounded, and then the dying girl saw the Golden Suns, but only for a moment; everything in front of her vanished, and a hot surge spread throughout her body from the heart…

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read