The Exorcism Began in America.

After a long while, Sirio finally stopped waving the Cross Dagger in his hand.

The Stigma girl's back had completely lost its once smooth appearance; now, only a bloody, blurred mess remained.

SPLASH! The sound of water being thrown was heard.

"Ugh..." Rachel, the Stigma girl who had fainted at some point, was instantly awakened by the cold water. Her back throbbed with severe pain, yet she forced herself not to cry out.

The sinister, bizarre Array on her back had been covered by blood. As the water washed the blood away, the Array was revealed in an instant.

A bizarre aura and faint murmurs began to fill the air, and the light in the room suddenly dimmed.

Feeling this series of changes, an intense fervor slowly appeared on Sirio's face.

"Success! HA HA HA..."

A corner of the Array had begun to slowly scab over. Seeing this, Sirio put away the Cross Dagger, gently caressed the girl's smooth hair, and said with a smile, "Miss Rachel, it seems we will have to wait a while before you can proceed with the next ritual!"

...

In southern Brooklyn, New York, inside a house in an ordinary residential area.

Gordon, having just returned home from work, set down his backpack. He hugged his wife and whispered mysteriously into her ear, "Mia, my dear, guess what I brought back for you?"

"Flowers?" Mia guessed with a smile.

"No." Gordon shook his head.

"Is it... a cake?"

"It's not that either!"

"What is it then? I can't guess! You tell me, dear!" Mia said after kissing the corner of Gordon's mouth.

"Wait, let me go get it."

Pleased, Gordon smiled and released his wife. He reopened the door and brought in a square box, over a meter long, from outside.

"Is it a doll? Dear!"

Mia, her face lit with surprise upon seeing the box, roughly guessed what was inside.

"That's right, you guessed correctly!"

Gordon smiled, placed the box on a nearby table, untied the ribbon, and slowly lifted off the lid.

"I spent a long time looking before I found this doll at Mrs. Higgins's gift shop. Take it out and see if you like it!"

Gordon took a half step back, watching with a smile as his wife stepped forward and took out a female doll, just under a meter tall, from the box.

"Thank you for the gift, Gordon! What's her name?" Mia asked as she held the doll and looked it over.

"Mrs. Higgins said her name is Annabelle."

"Okay, Annabelle, you're part of our family now!"

After saying this to the doll in her arms, Mia carried it into the nursery and carefully placed it on a wall shelf.

The shelf, which took up an entire wall, was already filled with over a dozen dolls of various types. Annabelle, nearly a meter tall, did not seem out of place sitting among them.

WAAH! WAAH! WAAH...

The moment Mia set Annabelle down, a loud baby's cry suddenly erupted from the crib.

"Lia, my daughter, are you hungry?" Hearing the cry, Mia quickly turned around, rushed to the crib, and picked up the little cherub-faced cutie.

She checked her daughter's diaper but found no sign of wetness.

"Honey, Lia seems hungry. Quick, prepare some formula and bring it over," Mia called out to her husband, who was tidying up the gift box in the other room. She then held her daughter and paced back and forth, trying to soothe her.

"The formula's coming right up, dear!"

A short while later, Gordon hurried in, shaking a milk bottle.

"The temperature seems about right. Quick, give it to Lia!"

Mia took the milk bottle and tested the temperature. It felt just right, so she offered it to her daughter's lips.

WAAH! WAAH...

To their surprise, Lia had no intention of drinking. She flailed her little hands, pushed the bottle away, and just kept wailing.

"Could she have a fever?"

Seeing this, Gordon couldn't help but place his hand on his daughter's forehead to check her temperature.

"Strange, she's not feverish at all!"

Anxious for his daughter, Gordon didn't consider any other possibilities. He took Lia from Mia's arms and dashed out of the room, intending to rush her to the hospital.

Something miraculous happened. The moment Lia left the nursery, her heart-wrenching cries abruptly stopped.

This made Gordon, who had just reached the door, and Mia, who was following closely behind, exchange puzzled glances.

"What's going on?"

Wiping the tears from his daughter's face, Gordon and Mia carefully checked Lia again but found nothing amiss.

Wait a minute! Could it be? Mia stood still, pondering for a moment. Her eyes suddenly widened in disbelief as she looked back at the nursery.

She took Lia from her husband's arms and slowly approached the nursery they had just left.

Sure enough, the familiar crying started up again.

WAAH! WAAH! WAAH...

"Gordon, is there something wrong with that doll you brought back?" Mia asked, turning to her husband as her suspicion was confirmed.

It shouldn't be, Gordon thought, scratching his head. He replayed the details of the doll purchase in his mind but couldn't recall anything bizarre.

Then Gordon said aloud, "Forget it. If Lia doesn't like it, I'll just throw it away!"

Still unable to figure things out, Gordon shook his head and decided to discard the doll—the culprit that had caused his daughter to cry so terribly.

"Be careful, honey!" Mia said, her voice tinged with worry as she watched her husband stride towards the nursery, still holding their daughter.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine! You take Lia to our bedroom first," Gordon said, waving his hand dismissively without looking back, reassuring his wife.

Seeing Gordon enter the nursery, Mia hurriedly carried Lia back to their bedroom.

Meanwhile, Gordon was standing inside the nursery, in front of the wall lined with dolls. His eyes immediately fell on Annabelle, the doll Mia had just placed there.

"I'm sorry, Annabelle!"

Gordon picked up the doll and walked swiftly out of the house, heading towards the trash can at the street corner.

On the way, Gordon couldn't help but worry if there really was something bizarre about the Annabelle doll.

Fortunately, the walk was uneventful, and nothing happened.

Standing before the trash can, he chuckled, chiding himself for being paranoid. How could I encounter something bizarre so easily? he thought.

Still, since Lia didn't like the doll, throwing it away was the only option!

Shaking his head, Gordon took one last look at the doll inside the trash can and then turned to go home.

In the wee hours of the morning, the street where Gordon's family lived had fallen into a deep quiet.

Suddenly, a piercing baby's wail instantly shattered the silence in their home.

WAAH! WAAH! WAAH...