novelraw Chapter 1251 686: The Woman in the Lake
Chapter 1251 686: The Woman in the Lake
Jimmy had dealt with the skeletons in the back, but on Rodney's side, a few decayed corpses still hadn't been taken care of.
The main issue was the weapons. Father Rodney's usual weapon was a short sword, which was indeed somewhat insufficient against these corpses. Saying it's like a massage would be an exaggeration, but the cuts from continuous slashing were not enough to render them incapable of movement. Even a machete would be slightly better than his short sword, let alone a nail hammer.
The corpses that emerged from the lake initially moved slowly, but once they left the water and charged at Rodney and Jimmy, their speed suddenly increased, almost indistinguishable from that of ordinary people. This kind of agility wasn't a significant problem for Father Rodney, only that when surrounded by several corpses, he couldn't concentrate his attacks on just one or two of them.
Jimmy wasn't idle either. He first reloaded his 1875 manually, then holstered his revolver in his right hand and pulled out the dagger Rodney had given him before charging in.
The 1875 was extremely sturdy and durable. So far, Jimmy hadn't seen anything that could damage these two guns, even during his previous battle with the possessed Bennett where continuous blocking posed no issue. So now, he used the gun like a short stick and hammer, smashing heads and stabbing necks with the dagger, slicing as he went, easily finishing off two of them. The rest were also swiftly knocked down by Father Rodney and soon lost their ability to move.
It turned out that exorcism weapons were indeed powerful. These corpses, merely being controlled, couldn't withstand their destructive power. When it came to dealing with corpses temporarily granted mobility, neither Jimmy nor Rodney felt any psychological pressure since they weren't living beings, and didn't mind things like decapitation or dismemberment being too brutal.
While Jimmy and Rodney were dealing with these corpses, other priests had already begun reciting the Bible, remotely suppressing that body of water on the lake, but with little effect since they couldn't get close.
This situation was the worst. Rodney had brought a lot of people, but the enemy was on the lake, not on land. Although the distance was only about ten meters, none of them could get close enough to attack, except Jimmy.
Jimmy raised his left hand and fired a shot at the heart of the water creature, mainly to test the effect. But he found that his shooting was quite ineffective. Although the water was hit and pierced through, the weak white spot at the heart position did not disappear, only slightly diminished; it wouldn't have been noticed if he hadn't been staring at it.
The 1875 indeed had a demon-breaking attribute, which had been confirmed before and now proven again. However, the water creature was nearly three meters tall with many white spots on its body. If he relied solely on shooting, the creature would surely retreat into the lake after being hit a few times, making it impossible to eliminate it completely.
This water creature was too large, and the number of white spots on its body seemed to make it easier to target, but in reality, it was more challenging to eliminate. The entity was alive, not a fixed target, and would surely flee after a few shots, potentially merging back into the lake and reforming, thus rendering Jimmy's efforts futile.
After firing one shot, Jimmy paused, opened the cylinder, and replaced the spent shell. Father Rodney also took a moment to regroup, putting away his short sword and picking up the exorcism badge again.
The water creature on the lake raised both hands, made a few silent gestures, and then submerged into the lake, the water surface returning to a calm state.
Jimmy looked around with his revolver. These calm moments were the most unsettling because he didn't know where the next attack might come from.
Father Rodney waited for a while, and seeing that nothing seemed to be emerging from the lake for now, he gathered everyone else. They collected the corpses and skeletons on the ground, performed a simple ritual around them, and then took out holy water from the boxes they had brought, mixed it with their drinking water, and sprinkled it on the bodies to purify them.
The corpses and skeletons amounted to more than a dozen people, meaning that at least that many had died in the lake, and these were only the ones with intact bodies and skeletons. Who knows how many more were beneath the surface?
Jimmy looked at these corpses, scratching his head. The people Nia and her team were looking for were most likely among these few bodies not yet fully decayed. But because of the recent battle, they had suffered injuries like dismemberment and decapitation. If they took the bodies for identification, they would have changed from missing persons to murder victims, with the perpetrators being Father Rodney and Jimmy, the FBI Senior Agent... Life would become unbearable.
Father Rodney saw Jimmy frowning at the corpses and probably guessed his thoughts. "We need to burn these bodies next to ensure the resentful spirit's power doesn't remain with them."
Jimmy: "Is that necessary?"
Father Rodney nodded: "Yes, if any power is left, there's no predicting what might happen in the future."
Jimmy thought for a moment and nodded: "You're the experts, you handle it."
Father Rodney waved his hand for Jimmy to step back a bit and whispered something to the others. They opened the boxes again, took out some small bottles, scattered the liquid and some powder onto the corpses, and then ignited them. It was unclear what they used, but the combustion was very intense, with the flames shining so brightly they turned white, a degree of burning that ordinary fuels like gasoline couldn't achieve.