The Exorcism Began in America.

"Oh, Catherine? What happened to you?"

The nurse following behind was badly startled by the sudden event. Just as she was about to step forward and check on her colleague, the hallway plunged into darkness.

All the lights went out, then the emergency lights flickered on. Only then did the plump nurse on the ground relax her tense body.

The moment she recovered, the plump nurse pushed away the colleague who had rushed to her aid and scrambled away from the puddle on the floor.

"Damn it, it's an electrical leak! Go call someone, quickly!" she ordered, patting her wildly beating chest and gasping for breath.

「...」

"There's been an accident on the sixth floor!"

"What? An accident?"

"I heard a water pipe in the ceiling burst, and the sixth floor's circuit breaker also failed. The water that flowed down was electrified..."

"GASP... Is anyone hurt?"

"They say a patient was nearly burned to a crisp!"

「...」

Monte, who happened to overhear the nearby conversation, froze on the spot.

The sixth floor... Isn't Staven on the sixth floor? That person couldn't be...

An unnameable fear slowly crept into his mind, suddenly making his limbs feel heavy and weak.

No, I have to go and check!

Monte, filled with panic, glanced back at the room where his goddess was. He had, after all, only just managed to reconnect with Li Mi.

But after a moment's hesitation, he still chose to run towards the staircase.

Eager to find out what was happening on the sixth floor, Monte bounded up the stairs, taking them two or three at a time, and reached the sixth floor landing in moments.

Panting heavily at the entrance to the stairwell for a moment, he then moved forward again.

The dimly lit corridor buzzed with hurried footsteps and noisy voices as personnel in various uniforms bustled about.

"Sir, please stop right there!"

As soon as Monte stepped into the corridor, a uniformed security guard, clearly hospital staff, stopped him.

"Um... I'm here to visit a patient. Can you tell me what happened here?" he asked, trying to glean some information from the guard, his gaze repeatedly flicking towards the hospital room where a crowd had clearly gathered.

"Visiting a patient?" The security guard eyed Monte with a hint of suspicion.

"Yes, that's right. Staven... The person I want to visit is named Staven."

"Staven?" An astonished gasp escaped the security guard. "My God! Is he your friend?"

Seeing the sympathy in the security guard's eyes, Monte's heart lurched, and a terrible premonition washed over him.

"Yes, that's right! Can you tell me what happened to him?"

The security guard instinctively glanced around. Seeing no one was paying attention to them, he turned back, sighed, and lowered his voice. "Alright... Normally, I should keep this confidential for now. But the new hospital director is a damn bastard, so to hell with it. All I can say is, it was a very unfortunate accident..."

Monte didn't know how he managed to leave the security guard. His mind was a tangled mess, and his heart hammered against his ribs.

If that's true, am I the only one left? Could what they said really be true? Xie Te, what am I going to do now?

「...」

He subconsciously dodged a group of police officers rushing towards the stairs and, without realizing it, found himself back on the hospital's first floor.

"Monte, where did you just go? How did you suddenly disappear?"

Hearing his goddess's voice, Monte quickly snapped back to reality.

He looked up to see his goddess, Li Mi, in front of him, along with Mr. James, the Exorcist, whose wounds had been bandaged.

Looking at the two of them, Monte forced a weak smile.

"It's nothing, I just went to see an acquaintance."

Although Li Mi noticed Monte's expression was off, she didn't press him further since he clearly didn't want to elaborate.

"Alright... Well, I wanted to take this chance to say goodbye," Li Mi said. "Mr. James is in a hurry to get back to New York, so I'm going to take him there now."

"Oh... okay, goodbye."

Monte nodded subconsciously. As he watched the two of them walk away, something suddenly seemed to click, and he hurried after them.

"Sir... Mr. James! Please wait a moment..."

「...」

"My God! How could this happen?"

As Li Mi's incredulous voice rose, James was abruptly jolted from that familiar sensation.

His tightly clenched fists were a clear testament to the inner turmoil he was struggling to suppress.

"I need to contact someone." After a deep breath, James said only this before immediately getting up and walking out of the ward.

This... Watching James's retreating back, Monte opened his mouth. He desperately wanted to know if there was still any hope for him, but he ultimately closed it at a signal from his goddess.

"Don't be too anxious," Li Mi said gently. "Since Mr. James hasn't left immediately, it proves there's still a way!"

"Li Mi, do you... do you know him well?"

Faced with this question, Monte's goddess hesitated, a hint of uncertainty in her voice. "Um... I suppose I know him to some extent. After all, he was the one who rescued my father from the clutches of the Evil Spirit last night. Moreover, he didn't choose to run away despite his serious injuries. He's far more reliable than the ordinary exorcists I've hired in the past! Besides, he's from the Exorcism Agency. Even if he can't handle it, surely there are others in the agency who can?"

This... okay... Monte reluctantly nodded at his goddess's words, tentatively accepting her explanation.

But then, a new thought struck him, and he grew even more panicked, even regretting having called out to James just moments before.

Someone from the Exorcism Agency? Damn it, I don't think I can afford the Exorcism fee...

Mentally tallying his entire net worth, Monte instantly regretted not having purchased Bizarre Insurance.

But he was just an ordinary person; how could he have known about the world's current state? After all, Bizarre Insurance wasn't a trivial expense. With his financial means, purchasing the insurance would have likely meant enduring a period of hardship. Added to that was the wishful thinking that Bizarre events wouldn't target an inconspicuous worker like himself. Ultimately, all this had led to his current predicament.

Li Mi, beside him, noticed at once that something was off with her former suitor. "What's wrong?" she asked. "You seem to have something on your mind."

"No... it's nothing!" Monte subconsciously shook his head, unwilling to let the goddess of his heart know about his current dire straits.

"Uh... Actually, if you need help, you can tell me," Li Mi offered. "Of course, that excludes matters of the heart!"

"It's really nothing!" Monte insisted, clenching his teeth as a pang shot through his heart. He still shook his head.

"Well... alright then."