North America Gunman Detective

Chapter 1256 - 688: Maximum Output (2)

He picked up another stone once more, first carving a groove on it in the shape of a cross, embedding the cross at the top of the stone, and then began to carve designs and inscriptions around the cross. The characters were unfamiliar to Jimmy; they resembled the ones Horton the Priest used when he set things up by the river in Dallas.

He still used Holy Oil and Holy Salt to fill the carved formations; this altar took the longest time to create.

Other priests then brought over several stone slabs from the surroundings, lightly carved patterns on them, and placed white candles on top before positioning these slabs around the altar crafted by Antonio the Priest.

The altar was ready, and everyone began waiting by the lake. As noon approached, Antonio the Priest took a piece of tattered cloth from a box, wrapped it around his left wrist, held a silver bowl in his left hand filled with Holy Water, and held a silver necklace with a silver cross in his right. These items didn't look new; they were either ancient artifacts or things he used for a long time.

Standing beside the previously made altar, Antonio glanced at the other priests positioned around the altar, then began to chant Purification Holy Words, "O Holy Light, please descend upon this land. Burn away evil with sacred fire, purify this cursed land with holy light, and dispel all wicked forces."

As Antonio chanted the Holy Words aloud, the surrounding priests also lit the white candles placed around. Even in the blazing noon sun, Jimmy could still see the altar they made illuminating with white light, with sparkling dots of energy gathering in the air, merging into the silver bowl held in Antonio's hands, causing the previously poured Holy Water inside to glow.

Soon, the prayer ended; Antonio walked to the lake and poured the Holy Water from the bowl into the lake. A light invisible to the naked eye spread across the lake surface, and soon, the lake water began to ripple again.

This time, the frequency of the lake's ripples was even more intense than when the female Ghost appeared the previous night, as if something inside was trying to burst out. Antonio did not retreat; instead, he stepped forward into the lake water, knelt on one knee in the water, and immersed his left hand and wrist with the tattered cloth into the water.

A Ghost indeed emerged from the water, enormous in size, far stronger than the female Ghost from last night, and more solid. Only Antonio was in the water, while others stayed on the shore. The Ghost flew toward Antonio, but Jimmy didn't wait, "Bang! Bang!" He fired two shots at the largest white spot within the Ghost, and after being hit, the Ghost exploded suddenly after moving a bit.

Jimmy was still surprised; was such a large Ghost so weak? Before his expression of surprise ended, the Ghost Fragment from the explosion suddenly transformed into smaller Ghosts, once again charging at Antonio.

"Bang! Bang!..." Seeing clearly, this thing could split. Jimmy aimed at the split-off small Ghosts and fired, with both revolvers finally eliminating this round of mini Ghosts.

He pulled at his crossbody bag, specially bought to hold bullets, which contained not only four pre-loaded Moon Clips but also dozens of loose bullets.

Using loose bullets to refill the cylinder, Ghost Fragments in the air aggregated again into several small Ghosts, shifting their target toward Jimmy and flying over.

These Ghosts in the air slightly deviated from their path, essentially making them living targets. Jimmy fired both revolvers again, scattering them before they could get close to Jimmy. This time, he had to use Moon Clips to reload, as they were too close, and the Ghosts recovered quickly. However, as fragments increased, Ghost size decreased, and numbers grew; things could get problematic if this continued.

Jimmy couldn't worry about potential problems later; the number of Ghosts was too overwhelming, so he decided to go all out.

"Bang bang..." Gunshots continued uninterruptedly. Jimmy fired his revolver with an automatic rate, immediately reloading with the last two Moon Clips and continued shooting at the airborne Ghosts, with gunfire hardly ceasing. Since the Ghosts were flying in the air, Jimmy didn't need to worry about accidentally injuring surrounding priests. He had rarely had such thrilling moments.

Ejecting shells, retrieving the revolver with his left hand, he took a handful of bullets from the bullet pouch to reload the right-hand revolver, now ready for single-hand continuous shooting. Because Ghosts fragmented at different times, newly formed mini Ghosts emerged successively, allowing Jimmy to shoot with a target-practice frequency, reload, and continue firing. His actions scared the nearby priests who couldn't join the battle.

Who had ever seen anyone fire a revolver with semi-automatic speed? Jimmy's reloading technique and frequency exceeded their imagination. They never expected someone could empty a revolver in slightly over a second and reload in another second to continue shooting.

Luckily, the 1875 revolvers were sturdy enough. Jimmy's bullet pouch only had dozens of loose bullets, and after a mere two to three minutes of continuous firing, he nearly exhausted his ammunition. Fortunately, the successive divisions of the Ghost seemed to have reached their limit, with basketball-sized Ghosts no longer splitting into smaller and more numerous fragments. Their recovery speed also decreased, with some disintegrating Ghosts vanishing right away.

This allowed Jimmy to slow down his shooting frequency. Continuous firing recoil exerted enormous pressure on his right hand and arm, even causing precision to drop later on.

Finally, his left hand reached into the bullet pouch only to find it empty. Jimmy rolled on the ground to dodge a Ghost charging at him, "I'm out of bullets."

Fewer Ghosts flew in the air now; just five small Ghosts kept charging at Jimmy without landing, as he dodged left and right. When he couldn't evade, he would use the right-handed 1875 to smash against the Ghosts, dispersing them.

Rodney the Priest and others were stunned by Jimmy's actions. Seeing him dodging left and right now, they finally reacted, rushing over with their weapons and Exorcism Badges, scattering the remaining small Ghosts in a few swift moves, freeing Jimmy completely. He looked up, down, left, and right, confirming no other Ghosts before holstering the 1875.

Who would have thought that three boxes of .44 Magnum Bullets would get used up in one battle? Jimmy never fired so many bullets before.

He gripped his right arm with his left hand, vigorously rubbing his arm muscles; the pressure from the recoil did cause some injury. His right arm felt extremely sore, with the wrist aching from the recoil.

Antonio still remained in the lake. After the priests dispersed the last few Ghosts, they gathered beside the altar behind Antonio, chanting Holy Words and Holy Songs. The faint Holy Light on the lake surface flickered, and after a long while, Antonio finally stood up, unwrapped the tattered cloth from his wrist. The cloth seemed stained by something, originally burlap yellow, now a faint black, indicating something bad.

Antonio placed the tattered cloth on the altar, fetched a bottle of Holy Water from the side, and poured it over the cloth. A white flame erupted, quickly consuming the cloth, looking oddly abnormal, as if it were gasoline instead of Holy Water.

Antonio began retrieving the cross from the altar stones, while telling others, "It's over."

Jimmy rubbed his right arm as he walked over, "Antonio the Priest, is there anything else to do here?"

Antonio: "Not at the moment; this lake water has been purified. Next, when the opportunity arises, clean the lake bottom and find any Ghost residue that might exist there. There's no need to worry; even if it's at the lake bottom, it won't generate Resentful Spirit anymore."

Jimmy: "I understand. Thank you, you've worked hard."

Antonio: "I should thank you for eliminating that Resentful Spirit. I couldn't destroy it at the time, relying only on Holy Power for defense. Well done, Jimmy."