Chapter 263: Return
William's mind momentarily drifted before he snapped back, realizing the scene before him was somewhat familiar.
"Am I back...?" he thought to himself.
But the raging gale in front of him quickly interrupted his thoughts.
At this moment, cracks had already begun to appear in the surrounding space, and Rossi, Catherine, and the others were struggling to hold on.
Seeing this, William did not hesitate.
He instantly appeared in front of the two possessed girls, and a pale yellow barrier immediately surfaced around him.
Bang... Bang...
The fierce wind crashed against the surface of the barrier, producing deafening sounds.
Taking advantage of the moment, William reached into his pocket and pulled out a crucifix, beneath which lay the silver badge.
"It's really still here." His eyes lit up.
Subsequently, he pressed both items together against the surface of the demon's spirit body.
In the next moment.
A halo of light enveloped the demon's spirit body.
Immediately after, the surrounding gale suddenly reversed its direction, all beginning to rotate with Pazuzu as the center, and the massive vortex from earlier reappeared.
"This is... God..."
The demon's voice drifted through the air.
But before it could finish speaking, the halo completely absorbed its spirit body.
The room suddenly became eerily quiet.
William quickly put away the silver badge and then activated the outer magic array to purify the residual evil aura clean.
Only then did the three people nearby slowly raise their heads.
Rossi looked at his arm; it had been slashed in a few places, and a small amount of fresh blood was seeping from the wounds.
Catherine's clothes were also somewhat torn.
The one in the best condition was probably Ralph; he had been standing further away and only felt his face sting a bit from the wind.
All three of them let out a silent sigh of relief in their hearts: That was close.
The power that the demon displayed had obviously exceeded their expectations.
If Father William hadn't intervened, they might have truly lost their lives here today.
Feeling the powerful Holy Power lingering in the air, Rossi couldn't help but glance at William; he had completely underestimated this priest's strength.
Rossi asked himself, in that situation just now, he could only focus on self-preservation, yet this William could directly face the blade-like gale. Catherine shared the exact same sentiment.
She saw the holy artifacts William used, and the power radiating from their surfaces made even her heart palpitate.
Those absolutely could not be ordinary, low-vintage holy artifacts.
But Catherine decided not to ask too many questions. Aside from disliking prying into others' secrets, she was still counting on buying holy artifacts from William.
Ralph's mindset, however, was quite peaceful.
"Finally came out for an adventure, and I still ended up being saved by him. This is really..." he sighed inwardly.
On the other side.
William used the magic array to repeatedly check multiple times before confirming that the demon Pazuzu was truly completely obliterated.
After feeding each of the two girls a bottle of Holy Water, he waved to the parents waiting outside the house.
"Angela!"
The black father was the first to rush in, hugging his daughter tightly.
The white couple also arrived closely behind.
Both families repeatedly thanked William and the group.
But aside from William, the other three quietly yielded the main spotlight to him.
All three had their own inner principles and did not like taking credit that didn't belong to them.
William could only respond to them one by one, while also instructing them on some important "paranormal prevention" knowledge.
During this time, Rossi actively approached Chris.
Relying on his superior sensory perception, William overheard their conversation—Rossi asked Chris for Regan's address, wanting to visit the "exorcism subject."
Although he used "investigating the demon's origins" as an excuse.
William knew the other party's true goal was the Apostle Badge. Thinking of this, he reached his hand into his pocket.
Not long ago, William had been sucked into a vortex in front of Chris's house.
He quickly realized he couldn't move and could only grip this holy silver badge tightly.
And within the vortex, he saw some unusual things.
Chaos, evil, holy light, souls... that place was filled with the bizarre and grotesque.
There were bright, holy staircases leading above the clouds high in the sky. Yet there was also scorching magma flowing in a bottomless abyss.
Further away, William even saw many massive shadows looming in the thick fog, exuding a mysterious and dangerous aura.
And he was constantly enveloped by that beam of blood-red radiance, moving rapidly in one direction.
During the journey, loud noises echoed around him multiple times, as if some entity was approaching him.
But a pure, flawless light suddenly descended from high above, boosting William's flight speed up several levels.
Just like that, when he could move again, he was already back inside this house.
And William also understood the purpose of this silver badge.
The blood of an Apostle could activate the badge, allowing it to absorb the most primal power in its surroundings.
The origin power in those blood-red light beams earlier, as well as Pazuzu's initial extraction of power, were all the effects of the silver badge.
When the power accumulated to the brim, it possessed the ability to affect the surrounding space, which was also the reason William was able to return.
In that chaotic void, the badge acted like a dazzling starlight, constantly pointing towards a location high in the sky.
Although William didn't know where that place was.
But judging from the pure holy light he received, he had a faint guess in his heart.
"Could the place I just experienced... be the legendary 'Unknowable Space'?"
If not long ago, William still harbored some doubts about the matter of "summoning angels."
Then after experiencing this journey, his heart completely believed it.
He indeed felt a trace of an aura above the clouds that could be described as "terrifying."
This return trip had exhausted all the power of the badge.
But thinking about the summoning ritual he had to set up in the future, driving the badge at that time would very likely require this massive amount of energy again.
Therefore, William made a prompt decision and absorbed Pazuzu's spirit body within the house once more.
Although the other party didn't have much residual evil power left, the silver badge still absorbed a small portion.
Only then did William tuck it away into his pocket.
"Father William, saved by you once again." Ralph helplessly spread his hands and gave William a hug.
"When did you join the Exorcist Guild?" William asked curiously.
"Hey!" Ralph shrugged, "After the Plague Lands incident, I always wanted to come out and make a name for myself... you know, only an independent man has charm."
"Oh~ So it was for Sadie." William nodded thoughtfully.
Ralph stumbled slightly upon hearing this.
He repeatedly denied it, either saying things like "the demon's lair is a man's true home," or "women will only drag down my progress to becoming stronger."
But when William stated that he would repeat these words exactly to Sadie, the southern demon hunter finally conceded defeat.
"Hey! Give your buddy the bottom line."
Ralph slung his arm around William's shoulder and lowered his voice.
"You don't like Sadie, right!"
Seeing the other party staring at him with burning eyes, William slowly shook his head.
"That's great!"
Ralph forcefully clenched his fists, and his whole person breathed a sigh of relief.
"I've been treating you as my rival every day lately, it exhausted me! Since that's the case, I'll head back to San Venganza tomorrow. There are still many brats down south eyeing Sadie."
William shrugged.
Based on his understanding of Sadie, Ralph's journey of love was very likely going to be fraught with hardship.
He could only silently bless the other party in his heart.
"Father William." At this time, Catherine walked up to the two of them.
Ralph immediately took the hint, nudged William with his elbow, and quickly found an excuse to leave.
After the demon hunter walked away, Catherine finally smiled and spoke:
"You helped me once again. I really don't know how to thank you."
William waved his hand: "We were all doing it to complete the commission. It was just lifting a finger, don't take it to heart."
Catherine nodded upon hearing this.
The "companions" she had met in the past were either scheming against each other for evil materials or lusting after her body.
Very few people were like William, focusing solely on purifying evil spirits and demons.
This greatly increased Catherine's favorable impression of the priest in front of her.
"Could you... give me a way to contact you?" she said while brushing her hair.
"You know, I need high-level holy artifacts to maintain my witchcraft... If you have any surplus inventory in the future, if it's not too much trouble... please let me know."
William reached out and took it: "No problem."
This could be considered a regular client now. If he produced some scrap materials in the future, he could at least exchange them for some money.
Subsequently, Father Rossi proactively came over to greet the three of them.
He stated that he was going to follow Chris to find Regan and investigate the origin of the demon this time, so he wouldn't be traveling with the three of them afterward.
As for handing in the commission.
With his status in the Guild, even if he wasn't present, it wouldn't have any impact.
Naturally, none of them, including William, had any objections.
Before leaving, Ms. Chris also found William and consulted him for some exorcism experience.
She expressed her intention to record this content and include it in the next edition of her book to warn more people.
Towards this unfamiliar new friend, William naturally didn't refuse.
Finally, William and Catherine each used their own methods to purify the entire house once more.
Only after ensuring there were no omissions did they bid farewell to the two families.
Three days later, House of Rest.
William had already turned in the commission, bid farewell to Catherine and the others, and returned to the shop on Dei Commercial Street.
He securely placed the box containing the Holy Apostle Badge away, and then stared intently at the text floating before his eyes.
During the exorcism process, the panel's progress had already updated, but he only had time to pay attention to it now.
After so much time, the current status of the various events was as follows:
[Messenger of Sin]
[Current Progress: Tier 3 (367/1000)]
[Holy Water Eye Cleansing]
[Current Progress: Tier 2 (989/1000)]
[Holy Relic Furnace]
[Current Progress: Tier 3 (762/1000)]
The above were events with no essential changes, only progressing in numbers.
Aside from these, the original [Holy Meaning Study] had advanced to [Missionary].
[Missionary]
[Current Progress: Tier 3 (2/1000)]
[Acquired Ability: Soul Cleansing. Your research into the holy meaning has surpassed ordinary humans. Every time you chant scriptures outwardly, you can imprint the power of your soul onto this world. Your existence is the world's truth.]
The first time he read this description, William was somewhat puzzled.
But he quickly conducted an experiment.
Now, when he chanted scriptures towards an evil spirit again, he found that his soul was more attuned to this world.
This was a change in the essence of life.
If the previous William was just an ordinary person belonging under this world.
Then now, his soul's tier had elevated, like transitioning from a 3D world to a 3.1D world.
Although the change was small, William could already perceive some things that normal humans could not.
For example—the World Will.
He could now faintly sense that there was a supreme existence in this world.
It had no physical form; William could only receive the information it transmitted on a soul level.
It seemed to be a kind of helplessness.
A helplessness toward the evil on the earth... and even toward Holy Power.
It seemed to believe that these things should not exist in the world.
William only sensed it for a moment before forcing himself to pull away.
Just this brief piece of information left his brain in utter chaos, as if it was going to explode.
He keenly realized that he could not proactively contact this entity... at least not before the [Missionary] progress became higher.
Although he felt the danger, he didn't know what use this event had.
But William believed the panel wouldn't present such a thing for no reason.
So he could only put it aside for now.
And the other event, [St. Aquinas Body Code], had now advanced to [Holy Body].
[Holy Body]
[Progress One: Skin (Completed)]
[Progress Two: Bones (Not Started)]
[Progress Three: Blood (Not Started)]
[Acquired Ability: The Chosen One of the Holy Light, significantly improving the theological practice efficiency of the bodily parts.]
This event was much easier to understand.
Among the several parts of theological practice, these three stages were very closely linked.
The difficulty of practicing them was also extremely high.
William had also relied on the mysterious panel to completely finish the Skin in a short period of time.
The subsequent Bones and Blood would equally require a significant amount of time.
Among them, the "Bones" stage required using Holy Power to establish a connection with the bones of the entire body.
And the "Blood" stage required William to release his own blood and bless it with Holy Power.
Only then could he, like Father Rossi, write an oath in blood to seal evil spirits and demons.
Each of these two stages required enduring a great deal of pain.
Many Holy Clergy Members couldn't complete them in their entire lifetimes, and the ability granted by the panel would undoubtedly provide William with immense assistance.
After clarifying his next direction of practice, he rested and reorganized for another day.
The next day.
Early in the morning, Bent came to the House of Rest to convey the words of Matthew, the Acting Dean of Dei Seminary.
"Dean Matthew said there is a commission that you absolutely must complete. Archbishop Jolan had followed up on this type of case previously, and you have also come into contact with it..."
Hearing this, William grew even more curious.
A case handled by a Vatican Archbishop was actually being handed over to a newcomer like him.
"Instructor Flora in the Commission Room has already prepared the materials. She is waiting for you..."
Just like that, William followed Bent to the Seminary Commission Room.
"Father William, the Dean specifically requested this be given to you." Flora held a large stack of documents.
William reached out to take it, found a table on the spot, and sat down.
The documents were about a case in Maine.
In a local town named Derry, disappearance and murder cases occurred every 27 years, and each time the cases would last for a year.
For decades, no suspects had been found.
And the missing persons were mostly children under 15 years old.
During the period when the cases occurred, items belonging to these children would occasionally be found around the town. Either some clothing and toys, or...
Body parts.
Seeing this, William understood why Archbishop Matthew sought him out.
Back when child disappearance cases occurred all over North America, he was the one who provided clues to Jolan.
Later it was confirmed that those cases were committed by members of the "Wings of Vengeance."
However, since the exhibition incident, William hadn't heard any news of these guys recently.
"Could they have come out again?" he wondered inwardly.
"But... compared to that group of angels, this case seems more like that specific American Horror story."
☆☆☆
-> 30 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Inkshaper
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you