Clutch Tight
From the vibrating house, Andy carefully climbed the stairs.
Creak, creak. As he ascended the neglected wooden stairs, the sound of crying from above grew louder.
Aaaang—
And he reached the third floor.
This was where the source of the noise and the unpleasant aura lay. The structure was strangely odd.
The hallway stretched endlessly before him. When he had looked at the house from outside, it had seemed there was only an attic on the third floor. But this was bizarre.
Places affected by impurities often changed in size or suddenly shifted their background.
From his memories, Cream in the later part of the original novel had distorted space with her blood to trap people or used it when she moved invisibly.
That was why she evaded justice even after committing crimes.
Of course, even after her true nature was revealed, ordinary purification could not touch her, so the high-ranking priests who confronted her had all been absorbed like tomato juice.
The blood of these people carried the breath of life. Not metaphorically, but actually existing energy that could be converted into divine power or mana to perform miracles.
Cream had absorbed such blood and grown stronger, eventually destroying the world.
The saint who had awakened late had ended the first playthrough by slaying Cream.
Back in the old days, the saint who had slain the first Blood Witch had a similar dynamic.
That meant he could not simply erase Cream’s curse with ordinary methods.
Looking at the twisted hallway made him even more determined to train hard. He had to move diligently before the curse manifestation rate reached 100%.
With that resolve in mind, Andy sped up. The child’s crying grew closer.
Aaaang—
After sprinting down the seemingly endless hallway for a minute, he found the source of the cries quite easily.
—Ma… mom. Waaah…
In the long hallway, the only door. From inside came the babbling of a child.
Andy did not hesitate and opened the door wide.
Inside was a child’s playroom. Colorful wallpaper with family drawings crudely sketched in pen. Scattered wooden blocks everywhere.
Among them, a translucent boy who looked like the father was hugging the child and throwing the blocks.
—Not Mommy… no.
Looking at where the blocks were thrown, there was a woman bound like a statue in the corner. She was not the woman he had seen downstairs. Her features were completely mangled, as if stabbed in the eyes, nose, and mouth.
—Mom?
The boy threw the block and looked at Andy. He seemed about five years old.
Looking at the father holding him, the man was also mangled, with his eyes, nose, and mouth pierced, and his body fused with the boy’s.
So the family would never be separated.
This house was the one where the wife killed her husband, his mistress, and even her own child, then took her own life.
So the curse’s source should have been the wife, but it wasn’t. He had already purified the wife downstairs, yet these things still existed.
‘I have to purify everything regardless of the source.’
Just watching, the boy asked,
—Where did Mommy go?
—Heaven.
Andy answered kindly and gathered his strength.
The boy’s expression instantly changed to that of a demon. He shrieked kyaaaaak and threw the blocks.
He must have instinctively known this light was dangerous.
But it was just a block, so Andy lightly batted it away.
He had just fought with a woman holding a kitchen knife, so now facing these children’s pranks, his tension eased. Playing with kids was his specialty—
—Oh Holly.
When his hand brushed the block, he changed his mind upon seeing the skin that had turned pitch black.
His hand went numb from the tips, and his stomach churned as if he had swallowed something extremely heavy.
Impurity corrosion.
He quickly tried to purify it with the other hand and looked ahead. Dozens of blocks full of impurities were floating toward him.
Andy immediately turned back, closed the playroom door, and came out.
—I’ll just leave.
Kwaang—!!
The effort was in vain. The door flew open and the crying burst out.
—Aaaang!
Without looking back, he ran. Even so, glancing back, the blocks chased after him following the boy’s complaints.
Even if he released purifying light, it only deactivated them temporarily. The rear ones who were outside the range would follow, making it difficult.
This house master really. He shouldn’t have given so many toys to the child instead of being faithful to the family.
‘This won’t do.’
He was still flashing like a human traffic light, but this way it would never end.
Purify when getting close, purify when getting close. His breathing grew heavy. Above all, the headache that came every time he purified was the worst problem.
He had to aim for the main body.
Taking a little risk, Andy suddenly turned.
Right then—
Swoosh—!
Just as he was about to purify the blocks flying right in front of his face and run, something flew in fast, knocking away the blocks first.
An extremely dense impurity aura.
Had he ever sensed instinctively that ‘this is dangerous’ upon seeing any substance?
Even someone unfamiliar with poison or impurities would know. Standing in front of strong chemicals, breathing becomes hard and the mucous membranes feel itchy and painful.
In an urgent situation, squinting, he saw a block twitching on the floor and a needle.
It looked like a thick needle used for sewing blankets with a red stain on it. Next to it, blocks wrapped in pitch-black aura were twitching weakly, unable to exert any strength.
Even without using purification, it was deactivated.
It was literally, this is poison.
…
Andy turned around.
Even with his headache, his gaze clearly caught the girl. He thought it might be a hallucination, but the needle and the vividness proved it was not.
A white one-piece dress that reached far below the knee. A girl standing neatly, hugging a white puppy plush.
Even though her face was hidden in the hood, he recognized her at a glance.
… Young Miss.
…
When she lowered the hood, her face appeared.
At the same time, the status window that had appeared as if waiting filled his vision.
—
Stress: 40% → 80%
—
【Warning】
Cream Hollybell’s stress has entered the caution stage.
The probability of spontaneous action has increased.
…
After checking the content, Andy only rolled his eyes and shifted his gaze to Cream.
There, Cream was smiling brightly with eyes colder than usual as she looked this way.
The smart girl had seen everything clearly.
The tutor had instantly purified the impurity with no hesitation. He had coldly said that impurities had to be completely wiped out.
The tutor was a priest.
Looking at his purification ability, he was not a normal priest but a high-ranking figure.
‘As I thought…’
The face behind the mask was like that.
He came to remove me… remove me.
He had come to hunt the witch.
Without drinking blood, he would thirst and come to hunt the girl whose blood had an abnormal property.
Cream knew. Anyone could see that the secret she hid was unmistakably witch-like. Even if she was a reincarnated witch, her body was full of impurity.
That was why Cream had to avoid priests. She had to isolate herself around to successfully complete ‘the plan.’
Otherwise, death. Or death after torture.
She was not hiding in the mansion waiting for the right time. She had to avoid drawing attention as much as possible.
Of course, death was not scary. What was truly scary was failing to complete the plan and going to the afterlife.
To stop that, he had to act now.
—In this house, I am on your side.
Currently, the teacher was in the house of a curse. This was the perfect opportunity.
It was the best moment to pretend an accident.
There was no need to hesitate. He had given her many chances to leave, but the one who rejected them was the other side.
—I hope you live happily for the rest of your life.
She already knew that adults were like that.
So there was no need to be shocked now.
—You will be alone your whole life.
He already knew everything.
…
—Young Miss… why are you here…
…
—Ah… no. Come this way first. If you are alone, it is dangerous.
…
—Young Miss?
Why was the child who should have been in the mansion standing in front of him?
A sudden appearance of the girl, a large amount of stress, and the warning.
He could not tell what was happening, but since it was dangerous, Andy kept speaking, but she remained silent.
This was not the time. It was an extremely dangerous time.
So, taking the first step, Cream put her hand into the puppy plush.
When she took it out again, a long needle was in her hand, which she then stabbed into her own wrist.
Puck—
—What are you doing right now!
The smooth motion of filling the needle with a large drop of dark red blood from the wound.
The blood of the girl who had once destroyed the world, the 999 karma girl.
The most ominous thing he had faced in this house.
Even from a distance, Andy’s skin, breathing, and brain were ringing. His whole body was in pain from continuously releasing purification, making his senses sensitive.
—I have something to ask, Teacher.
It was finally the moment she opened her mouth.
Swoosh—
The toy waiting behind him rushed in without warning. Both moved at the same time.
Cream threw the bloody needle, and Andy turned back and used purification. Andy did so naturally, and Cream also had not yet taken an attacking stance toward him. Both were responding to the toy.
However, when the results of the two actions overlapped, an abnormal phenomenon occurred.
The needle flying into the range of purifying light. The moment the needle spraying poison like cutting through air entered the purifying range.
The instant the blood on the needle touched the light, it began to bubble and boil. Even though it was a small amount, large bubbles formed and swelled.
It would burst at any moment.
Seeing that, Andy immediately realized with his intuition.
‘This is…!’
He immediately lay on the floor.
Kwaang—!
Immediately after, an explosion occurred in the air, sweeping up the surrounding toys. It was a small explosion, but its power was sufficient.
Light scattered, objects disintegrated, and ears became muffled.
When the aftershock gradually settled, a low voice came from ahead.
—Hehe… so it’s like this…
—Ugh… Young Miss… are you okay?
—Teacher. How did you know?
—Eh?
—Why do you ask if you already know how I was discovered? I need to be careful next time. How did you know about me and come looking?
Andy, who had hurriedly stood up, asked her.
Cream was safe because she was far from the explosion range. But in her mind, the image of her own body exploding naturally came to mind, so she slowly approached.
The priest pretending to be a tutor.
He was not shocked by this fact. He had known from the beginning that the existence was unbelievable and had never believed it. He had always been suspicious. After repeated suspicion, he had learned the secret and only interrogated it.
That was all.
—What… are you saying?
—You came to kill me, didn’t you?
—What does that have to do with—
—You came to kill me, an impure me, a witch-like me. Now it doesn’t work, so don’t pretend to be innocent, Priest Teacher.
With a calm tone, she hugged the plush tightly. Her wrist had spread bloodstains. Her face had a widespread smile.
Cream was smiling. She had to smile.
—Smile… smile. You always say to become a good child…!
Cream was a bad child, the worst child gathered from distrust and evil, so she smiled to show off her smiling face.
By committing evil deeds with a smiling face to the end, she was the worst kind.
—Which sect did you come from? How did you know? Did I catch your eye in the back alleys? I was a bit foolish back then.
…
—But why didn’t you just kill me right away? I was pitiful, wasn’t I? Or did you think the time wasn’t right?
…
—Why did you lie the whole time? Why did you make hamburgers? Why did you say such fancy words? What kind of feeling was it to pretend to be ‘Teacher’ when you weren’t even the teacher? Especially when talking about ‘happiness’?
—Young Miss.
—Why, why—
You wanted me to say that?
He could not finish the sentence.
The moment his eye sockets felt itchy, the house twisted greatly.
Aaaang—!
From behind, the boy’s eerie scream was heard, and accordingly the hallway distorted and twisted.
While twisting so much that stepping was difficult, the stairs rose from the floor to the ceiling, changing the entire house into a maze. The chandeliers decorated in the middle made it even more disorienting.
Was the ghost boy who had been threatened by the explosion just now trying to change shape?
Andy glanced at the playroom location. It was still upstairs, continuing to go higher and higher. It seemed like he wanted to escape from the man with purifying aura and the girl with impurity aura. At this rate, it was not the third floor but the tenth.
If this continued, even escape would be difficult. The internal structure was messy and distorted, so he had to end it before the curse’s culprit got farther away.
Because of the recoil, he could not use purification endlessly. He had brought food and water just in case, but the amount was not much. If he got lost here, it would be over.
He would comfort the young miss later and punish her. Once both safety was secured.
Andy quickly decided and snatched Cream, hugging her to his chest.
—Eek! Let go of me…!
He had been releasing purification since earlier and his head hurt.
In the meantime, the house structure was changing by the second, and the impurity aura was overflowing.
—Let go, let go you jerk!
My head… hurts so much.
Even in his arms, the young miss was wriggling and showing her presence. A human-distrustful young miss with affection deprivation. Watching it, he opened his mouth without realizing.
—You can walk on your own, so let me go—
—Cream.
——y… eek…?
—Cream.
Upright, the girl stopped moving.
—Shh. Don’t cry.
—Eh…
A tone quite different from her usual polite one.
—Hold tight.
In the low, firm voice ringing in his ear.
In the arms firmly wrapping her body.
For some reason, Cream could not move.
She had to be on guard and use this gap to stab, but she just opened her eyes wide and stared blankly.
At this moment, wrapped in the teacher’s heartbeat, warmth, and the echo of the name he called, she was simply entranced.
It felt strangely warm.
…
—… Why! Why suddenly using informal speech! Answer the question! More importantly, when did I cry!
Taking advantage of the moment she became docile, Andy ran forward.
The girl who had immediately regained her senses shouted something, but despite assessing the situation, she only moved her mouth and kept her limbs gentle.
Andy gathered strength through the back of his body, the back, so as not to hurt the girl in his arms. Detailed control was difficult for the first time, but he had to do it.
Make sure Cream did not get hurt as much as possible.
Because immediate light would hurt her, a dark, distrust-filled girl, he had to slowly warm her up like that.
While doing so, he jumped up the stairs, grabbed the chandelier, used the recoil to throw his body forward, held Cream’s waist firmly, and landed.
In front of that Andy, various objects flew and blocked the way. Of course the toys he had seen earlier, plus kitchen knives, plates, chairs, and sofas. Impurity-laden objects from a long-cursed house.
Above, the entrance to the playroom was visible. The place where the culprit twisting this house was.
The stairs were collapsing to block the intruder, but it was fine.
—Young Miss. Please play alone for a moment.
—… Ne? —Eek!
Returning to his usual tone, Andy threw Cream toward the nearby chandelier. The young miss, unable to keep up with the teacher’s back-and-forth between sky and hell, hung on safely and shouted ‘Don’t let go!!’
—
Mental: -1
—
As expected, our young miss.
As soon as Andy confirmed that, he reached his hand forward. Flash— light, instantly purifying the impurity, the objects fell raining down to the floor.
Then, leaping over the collapsing stairs, he threw his body into the playroom.
The moment he entered, the crying boy looking at him with malice. Around him, men and women whose eyes, nose, and mouths were mutilated and who had been swept up in the situation.
Souls bound to this world because of resentment, still filthy.
After confirming everything, Andy closed the door.
Kung—
So that no harm came to the young miss.
—Purify.
Like sprinting at full speed while running, no, even more, his body and mind were pushed to the limit, his heart beating wildly.
Actually, purification was not simply spewing divine power indiscriminately. Because the power was quickly depleted, the key was to refine it cleanly and use it as efficiently as possible.
Unlike that, Andy released light without restraint.
Since he did not know the actual purification method of the priests, this was the best and possible way.
The light gathered behind his back spread like a halo, enveloping the entire room.
Rest for the dirty things fairly.
No matter what sin they committed in life, the dead had to go to the afterlife. Contamination had to be cleaned, cracks had to be repaired, and all this was natural.
Beeeeeeee— The light emitting a clear resonance burned the impurity-bound things in the house endlessly, melted them, and made them dim.
The man who found relief in this sight slowly closed his eyes.