Chapter 262: Mutation and Parting
Actually, William could have started his practice as soon as the magic array was activated.
But with his previous experience, he decided to consume the demon's power a bit more, lest the other party still have other tricks up its sleeve.
"You two, the upcoming ritual is somewhat dangerous. Please wait here," William turned his head and said.
Chris hesitated to speak but finally nodded.
Karras still had that incredulous look on his face.
"Is this... the real world," he thought inwardly.
After checking the house's arrangements again, William walked into the villa.
Second Floor.
William opened the room door, and Regan turned around.
At this moment, the latter glared at William with resentful eyes. The areas on her body surface contaminated by Holy Water were currently being repaired by green mucus.
"High-vintage Holy Water... to think you actually have this thing. The passage to Heaven should have been closed," Regan said through gritted teeth.
"Passage to Heaven?"
William raised an eyebrow. This guy in front of him seemed to have brought up some Church secret.
He tried to fish for more information, but the demon said no more, only stating: "Using such a precious thing so casually, the current Church is truly extravagant."
"As long as it can expel you, it's not a waste."
"Expel me...? Giggle~" Pazuzu sneered. "You underestimate the power of a demon too much. If you still intend to make a move, now is your last chance."
After speaking, it revealed a ferocious smile.
"This guy is quite confident in itself," William thought inwardly. "It seems it still has many tricks."
He walked in front of Pazuzu, then raised his right hand.
In the next moment, the latter actually found the power within its body rapidly draining.
"What is this situation!" It was momentarily stunned in place.
Only then did it realize that its origin power was being absorbed by the priest.
"This is... Holy! Art!"
Pazuzu gritted its teeth: "You are actually a Holy Clergy Member possessing a Brand."
"You're quite knowledgeable," William smiled.
At this time, the Skin Reshaping of his head was progressing rapidly, completing a small patch in just a few minutes.
Pazuzu didn't have time to retort; it could only use all its strength to stop the outward flow of evil aura.
Seeing this, William spoke again: "Weren't you very arrogant when possessing the girl? Be generous, pollute me with your evil aura!"
He opened his arms as he spoke.
Pazuzu remained silent.
It really wanted to ask a question—Absorbing evil aura like this, aren't you afraid of dying?
This was the first time Pazuzu had encountered such a thing.
Before long, Regan's body was profusely sweating.
Pazuzu could feel the speed of the aura draining was gradually weakening.
It withstood this round of contention.
"Hmph, that guy shouldn't be feeling good either." Thinking of this, it raised its head.
But was met with a splash of a bottle of Holy Water right in its face.
A large amount of white smoke also appeared in the air, as the two powers clashed fiercely.
Pazuzu was forced to mobilize power to resist again.
At this time, it discovered that the priest opposite had started absorbing power again.
And the other party even had a look of anticipation.
Pazuzu realized one thing—this Church slave was squeezing its origin power dry!
"Bitch, you f*cking..."
Pazuzu could no longer endure it, cursing with the darkest and most vicious words.
This voice was even heard by the two waiting downstairs.
Chris looked at Karras, whispering: "Mr. Priest, these foul words... Regan should forget them after the exorcism is completed, right."
Karras was stunned for a moment: "Madam... now is not the time to focus on this kind of thing..."
Inside the room.
Under several clashes of power, Pazuzu was already on its last breath.
Conversely, William's complexion was ruddy, and the last patch of Skin had also completed its power reshaping.
Pazuzu panted heavily.
It understood in its heart that if it didn't do something else, it would very likely disappear completely from the human world.
"Why... with the power currently overflowing from that space, it's completely insufficient to support a priest practicing to this extent. Is this guy really human?"
Pazuzu was destined not to get an answer.
It sensed the two human auras outside the house, then suddenly tore Regan's clothes open.
Immediately after, it ran to the window and shouted down: "Mom, I feel so sick!"
In the next moment, it controlled Regan's body to fall from the second floor.
Accompanied by a heavy thud, a pool of blood quickly appeared around Regan's body.
And "she" also stared blankly at Chris, silently opening her mouth.
"Regan!!"
Chris's mind went blank, and she was about to rush forward.
But Karras was a step faster, stopping Chris.
"Father William said we shouldn't act recklessly."
At this time, Chris's eyes were already full of tears, her voice trembling: "But she's hurt! She's hurt!"
Karras's heart sank.
He looked towards the second floor, but didn't see Father William's figure there.
"I'll go take a look."
Ultimately, Karras decided to step forward alone.
He squatted beside Regan, using his hand to feel for breath under her nose.
Soon he frowned, bending lower to observe Regan's pupils.
Lifeless, deathly still...
The girl seemed... dead.
But the next moment, those eyes turned amber again.
Karras instantly felt something was wrong.
Just as he was about to get up, he felt a pain in his throat, and then the scene before his eyes began to rapidly retreat.
"Next time you want to inspect, I suggest you use some props, like a stone or something."
Karras shook his head and saw himself standing a few meters away, with Father William standing right beside him.
"Just now... I was attacked?"
He touched his neck; a small patch of skin had a layer scraped off.
Aside, Chris widened her eyes.
Seeing Regan stand up again, her inner emotions hadn't fully turned around yet.
But then she saw Karras's figure disappear from the spot, and when he appeared again, he was already in another place.
"Am I really... not dreaming." She was extremely puzzled inwardly.
On the other side.
Karras was just about to express his thanks, but found William staring straight at him. Accurately speaking, staring at the necklace on his chest.
He looked down and saw that the silver badge had somehow been stained with blood.
"Father... William?"
"Can you let me take a look." William looked solemn, pointing at the necklace.
"Of course."
Karras didn't know why, but still took off the necklace.
William reached out to take it, then carefully observed it with [Holy Eye].
From his perspective, the silver badge was currently emitting a holy radiance.
The wings engraved on its surface projected a mass of Holy Power, enveloping all that blood.
At the same time, a pillar of light extended from the badge, leading all the way to the sky. Red and gold intertwined, forming a bizarre picture.
No matter how William moved, this thin pillar pointed towards a certain direction high in the sky.
At the same time, many light specks suddenly appeared within the light pillar.
He quickly recognized that these were all the origin powers constituting this world.
But the aura they emitted was even more powerful, as if they had just awakened from thousands of years of dusty history.
"Could it be... this is the Holy Apostle Silver Badge?" William thought inwardly.
Thinking back now, in the ending of the original work, Karras proactively lured the demon to possess his own body, then jumped out of the window, ultimately using his life to take the evil away.
Suicide is seen as unclean in the Church.
But with such a spirit of sacrifice, even Hell would find it hard to bear the weight of his soul.
Perhaps only such a Holy Clergy Member could be called an Apostle.
"Can you sell this necklace to me?" William looked at Karras and said.
Karras looked puzzled.
But William's grace to him simply couldn't be measured with money. How could he possibly ask for money?
Besides, this was just an ordinary badge anyway.
"You speak too heavily, I am willing to give it to you." Karras proactively took off the necklace.
William raised an eyebrow: "Many thanks."
Seeing the wings still consuming the blood on it, he immediately arranged a small isolation magic array on it.
Subsequently, William thought for a moment and said: "The demon's attack will very likely leave residual evil aura; I'll help you handle it."
Karras nodded blankly, admiring William's meticulousness even more.
But what puzzled him was why Father William used that silver badge to wipe away his bloodstains...?
The wound was quickly cleaned up, and William also put the silver badge into his pocket.
Previously, when Pazuzu disappeared, he didn't rush to pursue, but first investigated the other party's possible backup plans in the house, only stepping forward when Karras was in danger.
He never expected that he would actually obtain this material under these circumstances.
Now that the main purpose of this trip was completed, next he had to find a way back.
But before that, he still had to solve the trouble in front of him first.
Thinking of this, William took out the exorcism Bible.
"Exorcism is not simply chanting scriptures. Before the evil spirits and demons' power is weakened, doing so is nothing but futile."
He looked at Karras.
"Only by beating them half to death first will chanting the scriptures yield twice the result with half the effort. Here, I leave this part to you."
William opened to a certain chapter and handed the book to Karras.
The latter took it solemnly, and then began chanting: "In the name of the Father, the Son..."
Karras didn't possess a Brand, but under the influence of William's Holy Water, the surrounding Holy Power still slowly gathered.
During this time, William wasn't idle either.
He guided the evil aura to fly towards himself, reshaping the last small patch of Skin.
Opposite them, Pazuzu screamed itself hoarse, but simply couldn't stop the loss of power.
A moment later, William stopped his practice.
At this time, his skin surface was covered in runes, and that thin film around his body appeared again.
The runes slowly etched onto the thin film, and the latter also emitted a bright radiance.
Amidst Karras and Chris's incredulous looks, a pale yellow light shield condensed on William's body surface.
This was exactly the third-level Holy Art of the Skin stage—[Holy Light Barrier].
William gently touched it with his hand, and ripples immediately appeared on the surface of the barrier.
He tried to approach Pazuzu, and the residual evil power on the latter was all isolated outside.
"It's done!"
William's eyes lit up.
With this Holy Art, it would be very difficult for evil spirits and demons to sneak attack him in the future.
However, maintaining the shield consumed a lot of Holy Power, so even William couldn't keep it on all the time.
"I'll still use it as a trump card in dangerous times," he decided secretly.
At the same time, a line of text popped up before his eyes, and the panel's progress also synchronized its update.
But now was not the time to study this.
Through Father Karras's chanting, the gathered Holy Power around was already very massive.
William immediately activated the magic array, intending to completely obliterate Pazuzu with its powerful purification force.
But at this time, the silver badge in his pocket suddenly flew out, then arrived above Pazuzu's head.
The holy radiance covered this demon, and the latter actually found it couldn't move at all.
"This is... how could such power exist." Pazuzu finally revealed a terrified expression.
William also narrowed his eyes.
He tried to take the silver badge down, but found he simply couldn't shake this item.
At the same time, the surrounding Holy Power also began to be absorbed by the badge.
And Pazuzu screamed even more miserably.
From William's perspective, this demon's spirit body was being extracted by the silver badge.
And it wasn't just a simple absorption of evil aura.
It was directly extracting its origin power.
Regan's expression became increasingly ferocious, and a huge stone statue faintly appeared behind her.
It was a winged monster with a head like a lion.
In the next moment, the stone statue shattered with a crash, and all the stone debris was absorbed by the silver badge.
Regan also slumped to the ground again, but her expression returned to calm, and her body was clean without the slightest trace of evil.
Just as William planned to step forward and check, he was suddenly pulled in front of the silver badge by a huge force.
At the same time, a vortex appeared in mid-air, and a sudden fierce wind swept through this area, even turning the surrounding sky dim.
William, located in the center, felt a strong repulsion, as if he would be squeezed out of this space at any time.
He keenly realized something and immediately released the "Holy Light Barrier," while firmly holding the crucifix in his hand.
Aside, Karras and Chris were already dumbfounded.
The two completely couldn't understand what was happening right now.
"Have Regan drink this later..." William quickly instructed.
He first threw out a bottle of high-vintage Holy Water, then tossed a small bag of holy artifacts to Karras, telling the other party to use them carefully.
"Ms. Chris, Karras's mother is in poor health. For the sake of my exorcism, please try to help him... By the way, you two..."
Karras finally suddenly realized that Father William might be leaving.
"Okay... okay, I understand!" Chris nodded blankly.
"Father William! Thank you..." Karras shouted hurriedly.
But there was no longer any shadow of the other party before their eyes; even that vortex had completely disappeared.
"You... thank you."
Only then did Karras finish his final words.
"Mom..."
At this time, Regan slowly climbed up from the ground, and Chris hurriedly rushed over.
She fed the Holy Water to her daughter according to William's instructions. Before long, the latter spat out a large patch of green mucus.
But Regan's complexion was like a different person compared to before.
Even Chris could tell her daughter was fine now.
She placed both hands on her chest, silently praying for William.
Aside, Karras picked up the holy artifacts on the ground; it was full of items inside.
Recalling when he first met William.
At this moment, Karras already understood that demons truly existed in this world.
And he had met a true exorcist.
"What is this?" Regan suddenly took out a slip of paper from her pocket.
After opening it, a sentence was written inside.
"Father Karras is an upright and kind person, and he has now resigned from the Church..."
This tone looked exactly like Father William's, so the two immediately leaned over.
"Ms. Chris being able to raise a child independently and attentively accompany Regan is enough to show she is also a competent mother."
"Right now you are both single. Ms. Chris, I wonder if I can ask on behalf of Karras, may he invite you for a drink?"
"Of course, this is just my suggestion. If you two are not interested, just forget it."
Seeing this, Karras and Chris both turned their heads with unnatural expressions.
It was Regan who finished reading the last part.
"When you read this letter, I might have already left this world. Of course... not dead."
"I am not a person of this world, and this world is not peaceful either. Demons, evil spirits, knights, wizards..."
"This world will become very dangerous in the future. Do not easily trust anyone... even the Church."
"Meeting you two is also considered fate. Use those holy artifacts to protect yourselves. I hope we will have a day to meet again."
The three looked at each other, all shocked by the information on this piece of paper.
"Ms. Chris... let's leave here first." Karras's eyes were no longer confused.
"Okay."
The three quickly walked into the house.
One year later.
Manhattan Herald—"Famous movie star Chris MacNeil announces retirement from acting. According to reliable sources, she married an outsider..."
"The Vatican Church announces it will continue to expand the number of community service personnel. At the same time, it states that exorcism rituals are merely a culture, and asks believers not to easily believe..."
New York University Campus.
Father Merrin sat alone in his office.
His eyes were tightly closed, and a bone floated in front of him.
A moment later, the bone began to move around him, and it took fully three minutes before it landed on the desk.
Father Merrin exhaled and picked up a confidential letter from the desk.
"...News from the Holy Land states that multiple 'Holy Light Passages' controlled by the Church remain isolated. This year's spiritual awakening is still canceled, and the Church will continue to shrink its dispatched personnel..."
"There were once Holy Power fluctuations at that star Chris's home, but that Father Karras is just an ordinary person..."
Father Merrin put down the letter and sighed.
For some unknown reason, a black-haired figure suddenly surfaced in his mind.
But since a year ago, that person seemed to have completely disappeared.
And the evil god Merrin had always been paying attention to also vanished without a trace.
He sighed again and picked up the pen on the desk.
Augusta Town, Georgia.
A white residence by the road.
Several figures were clinging to the window, peering inside.
And in the room, four exorcists were resisting the surrounding gale vortex.
Right at this moment, the gaze of one of the priests suddenly changed.
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