After eating and drinking their fill, the two slender girls, now clad in cotton overcoats, sat on the ground, their small faces flushed, radiating happiness.
To be full and warm was, for them, the greatest bliss.
Silas felt this situation couldn't continue. He asked, "If a Demoness doesn't use her powers, can others tell what she is?"
Helles, the older one, shook her head. "No. Ordinarily, Demonesses don't look significantly different from other people. Well, if I had to point out something special, Demonesses tend to have a wider variety of hair and eye colors."
"Then why are you hiding?"
Bernice explained, "Although we escaped quickly after being discovered as Demonesses, the Church obtained our portraits from people who knew us. Now, the Night Watchers, Demon Hunters, Divine Punishers, and Exorcist Nuns likely all have our likenesses."
Silas nodded at this, then a detail caught his attention.
He had heard two new terms: Divine Punishers and Exorcist Nuns.
Silas pondered for a moment, then said, "My current situation is somewhat unstable, so I can't help you much for now. You should hide here for a while longer. I'll try to find a way to allow you to live normal lives."
Hearing this, the two girls were overcome with emotion, their gratitude overflowing. "Thank you!" they exclaimed, tears welling up.
Just as the three were talking, Silas's ears suddenly picked up other sounds.
"Shh!" Silas gestured with his finger, listening intently.
Silas had mastered knowledge of sound beyond that of ordinary people. His ability to perceive sound had improved considerably, not through his ears, but through mystical means – through Spiritual Energy.
The two Demonesses looked bewildered but obediently fell silent, even slowing their breathing significantly.
Faintly, Silas heard two sets of footsteps approximately fifty meters away.
"Are you serious? There are pretty little girls in this dump? Chuck, you better not be lying to me, or you know the consequences," a gruff voice boomed.
Another voice, laced with sycophancy and lewdness, replied, "Rest assured, Mr. Louis, they're definitely your type. Neither is over twenty. Though they're a bit dirty, I can tell their skin is very fair, and they look good too. Take them back, give them a wash, and they'll absolutely be beauties."
The gruff-voiced Mr. Louis let out a sinister chuckle.
"That voice… that name… it's the bully who controls this neighborhood," Silas thought.
Louis was an absolute scoundrel, frequently extorting small merchants, beating up vagrants, and molesting women.
However, because his sister possessed striking beauty and was a well-known belle in high society, his misdeeds had been suppressed multiple times.
The local residents both hated and feared him, keeping their distance.
At this thought, Silas turned his head and asked in a low voice, "Have you been discovered by anyone here?"
The two girls first shook their heads in confusion, then Helles suddenly remembered something. "Oh! Yesterday at dusk, when we were searching the trash bins for candles for the ritual, we encountered a vagrant. He gave me a rather lewd smile at the time and then left."
Silas looked down at the worn-out candles on the magic circle, clenched his fists, and said, "I absolutely cannot let those two succeed."
"Did he discover us?" Helles's face paled.
Silas nodded slightly and briefly recounted the conversation he had just overheard.
Upon hearing this, the two girls didn't panic but remained remarkably calm. It was evident they had grown accustomed to such a life.
Helles stood up. "I'll go drive them away. We absolutely cannot let the Lord Apostle be exposed!"
Silas raised a hand to stop her. "No, if you do that, you'll expose yourselves. Things are very tense right now. If you go out like this, there's a nine out of ten chance you'll be caught."
A glint of icy resolve flashed in Bernice's eyes. "If that's the case, then let's kill them!"
Silas looked at Bernice with some surprise, then waved his hand. "It hasn't come to that yet. Let me handle this first!"
With that, Silas picked up a stone and stood on the steps.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
He struck the stone against the steps.
As the tapping sound echoed, Silas slowly released his Spiritual Energy, guided by the knowledge he possessed.
Silas used his mystical knowledge of sound, creating certain resonances through contact and connection, to make the two scoundrels approaching outside hear sounds they shouldn't be able to hear.
For instance, the sound of souls.
Outside, a police officer, fat as a ball and wearing a blue cotton police overcoat, was being led towards the basement by a thinly clad, emaciated vagrant.
"How much further?" Louis said irritably.
The vagrant, called Chuck, smiled. "Just ahead, almost there."
Tap! Tap!
At that moment, the two heard a few tapping sounds of stone from ahead.
Chuck's expression brightened. "Right there! Right there!"
Louis, hearing this, grew increasingly excited, his fleshy body trembling as he quickened his pace.
But before they had taken two more steps, the sound of tapping stones instantly transformed into an incredibly hideous noise.
It was an indescribable sound, like the friction of something being squeezed.
This grating sound was unbearably piercing, making them feel dizzy and nauseous.
Furthermore, for some unknown reason, this sound also induced a violent trembling in their souls, as if an unspeakable horror lurked behind it.
Aaaah! Aaaah!
Accompanied by piercing screams, the two men's eyes bulged, their mouths gaped, drool streaming down, their faces contorted in terror. They shrieked and yelled, fleeing blindly, scrambling and stumbling as they turned and ran, leaving only a chaotic mess of footprints in the pristine white snow.
In the basement, Silas's face was slightly pale, but mostly, he felt pleased and relieved. "Taken care of."
This first attempt had yielded results far better than Silas had imagined. For ordinary people, the sound of souls was almost lethal.
"I truly hope this incident raises your Spirit Vision enough for those monsters to kill you," Silas thought. While not one to hold grudges obsessively, he deeply despised bullies who preyed on ordinary citizens.
He wouldn't hesitate to harm them, even to ruin the lives of such scum.
Beside him, Helles and Bernice stared, completely stunned.
They didn't know what had happened, but they had clearly heard the terrified screams of the two men outside.
"The Lord Apostle is truly worthy of being our Lord's apostle. So powerful!" Helles thought.
Although the two possessed mystical abilities, they lacked mystical knowledge and had no concept of what had just transpired.
At this moment, they simply felt that Silas's ability to make people scream so miserably just by tapping a few stones was incredibly cool and powerful.
Silas, trying to appear nonchalant, let out a quiet breath and said in a relaxed tone, "Although I've dealt with them for now, this place is no longer safe. You need to find another location."
The two girls nodded upon hearing this, then looked utterly bewildered.
They were unfamiliar with this place and had no idea where they could find a safe haven.