Chapter 49

Just then, the sound of the door opening suddenly came from outside.

"Carrie, what are you doing?"

Then came Margaret's questioning voice, growing louder as it approached the door.

"Mom?"

This tactic had a significant effect. Carrie looked terrified; in her perception, it really felt like someone was getting closer.

Could it be that the sounds of the fight had woken Margaret?

Carrie not only hastily withdrew her attack but even the protective shield became unstable.

Pennywise immediately displayed a victorious smile.

"Carrie! The voices are fake, they're just illusions."

Randy, feeling helpless, could only offer a reminder.

Indeed, Carrie's biggest problem was her poor psychological resilience. If Emma had that kind of power, she might have dealt with Pennywise immediately and maybe even taken Randy down too.

He knew very well that Pennywise's ability was to sense people's deepest fears and then create illusions to break their psyche.

For someone as devout and crazy as Margaret, Pennywise probably wouldn't even need to get close to disturb her. Why would it summon her?

Moreover, since Pennywise had been in a standoff with Carrie since it appeared, how could it have had the time to wake someone else?

"But…"

Carrie didn't understand. Her perception was completely blocked by the illusions, and she couldn't distinguish between reality and illusion, making her magic unstable.

Helpless, while Carrie's hand was still not fully withdrawn, Randy quickly moved behind her, steadying her arms with his hands.

"Trust me, your mom isn't that scary. You're about to defeat this thing; she doesn't have the ability or the right to control you. Everything you're hearing and seeing is just an illusion created by this guy!"

Margaret's psychological impact on Carrie was too severe, which was why she was so frightened.

"Trust me, if your mom breaks through all this, I'll take you away tonight."

With Randy by her side and saying these words, Carrie finally began to relax. With someone dependable beside her, she even started to hope her mom would barge in.

"Carrie! What are you doing in the room? Open the door now!"

The knocking sounded again, as if it were hammering on Carrie's eardrum.

This made Carrie's heart leap again, but then she noticed something was off.

This wasn't Margaret's style. If she wanted to enter the room, she wouldn't have announced it; she would have just barged in.

"It's fake!"

Realizing she had been deceived, Carrie instantly became furious, while Pennywise secretly rejoiced, thinking it had found a breakthrough.

"Carrie, you unfilial daughter…"

The voice outside abruptly stopped.

Carrie once again launched an attack.

Her palm aimed at Pennywise's head and quickly formed a fist. Pennywise's face suddenly contorted into a mess.

When Carrie's palm opened again,

"Bang!"

Pennywise's head exploded immediately, like a balloon popping, releasing countless golden flakes and ribbons.

The arm that had been continuously invading the room also lost its support, quickly flying out the window like a deflated balloon.

The red balloons in the room also exploded immediately.

Apart from the wind-blown window and the scattered mess, it was as if nothing had happened.

"Is it over?"

Carrie, panting, looked at her hands with curiosity.

What she had just done was purely instinctive, driven by the anger of being tormented by the clown.

"At least it's over for tonight."

Randy sighed, impressed by Carrie's strength. As expected of a witch, but her potential was still dependent on her emotions.

However, Pennywise was probably not dead.

Perhaps after resting for a night, it could quickly recover by eating a few more children tomorrow.

Randy moved to the window and looked outside.

He could only see a shriveled red balloon intermittently visible in the trees, floating along the ground towards the town.

Randy extended a finger, with a glimmer of lightning flashing at its tip, aiming at the balloon representing Pennywise.

"Whoosh!"

A lightning bolt shot out.

But just as it was about to hit the balloon, it was suddenly blocked by a massive arm.

It was a big guy emerging from the shadows. Randy hadn't noticed it before, and from such a distance, he couldn't clearly see its head, but judging by the naked eye, its physique was about two meters tall.

Moreover, it easily blocked Randy's attack, seemingly unaffected, so it probably wasn't an ordinary human.

Was this one of the friends Pennywise mentioned?

Apart from this guy, another strange figure beside the tree also caught Randy's attention. Compared to the giant, this monster didn't look much like a human.

It crawled on the ground like a beast, with a very noticeable tail behind it, resembling a snake's bare tail.

Randy didn't make any rash moves. He hadn't planned to deal with the clown tonight; finding and dealing with Pennywise's main body in its own domain was still necessary.

But Pennywise's social circle was impressive; it had gathered two minions so quickly after just a few days of revival?

No, more than two! Randy looked in another direction in the forest. Though he couldn't see clearly, he sensed that something was lurking there, though it was far from Pennywise and the other two monsters.

It didn't seem to be from the same group?

"Randy, what's going on?"

Carrie's voice from behind snapped Randy out of his thoughts.

Randy glanced at the three monsters—one in the shadows and two in the dark—knowing they would definitely not act again tonight.

So he closed the window and turned to Carrie.

With Carrie's mind struggling to make sense of what had happened tonight, he could make up whatever story he wanted.

"Remember the story about the clown in the forest?"

"???"

Carrie looked shocked. Did she really summon this guy?

"When we were at the stone bridge, the fear you emitted was targeted by the clown. It turns into whatever you fear most, just like it turned into Mrs. Margaret earlier."

"Then what about it!"

"Don't worry, I'll help you deal with it. You've already heavily injured it, so it probably won't dare to come after you for a while."

Carrie was excited but also somewhat inexplicably sad.

"So, you were just here to protect me?"

She thought Randy had another purpose for coming tonight.

Randy was lying through his teeth: "Yes, but to prevent it from coming back, I'll stay here to protect you for the night."

Actually, he was worried that after he went home, the clown might return with its minions for a counterattack.

Pennywise definitely didn't have the guts to come after Carrie again. After all, even though Carrie was timid, her strength was beyond its control.

Randy walked back to the bed, looking at the disheveled Carrie. There wasn't much to see, as she still had a small tank top under her pajamas.

What Carrie wore and her underwear were entirely up to Margaret.

However, her looks were quite striking—her skin was delicate and youthful, but she was far from being sexy.

Carrie couldn't handle being stared at, especially with a gaze sweeping over her whole body. This made her feel more 'uncomfortable' than the earlier battle. Yet, she felt a bit of illicit pleasure, wanting to indulge him, but didn't know how.

Seeing her flustered, Randy decided not to push further.

"Go to sleep."

He tucked her in and then lay down beside her.