Chapter 255 — Another Séance Incident
Exorcist Guild — Commission Consultation Room
Outside Room 205, Catherine gestured for Gideon to wait a moment before stepping forward to knock.
"Come in."
A man's voice sounded from inside.
Gideon followed Catherine into the room and immediately met two pairs of eyes.
There were two people inside.
One wore a long black robe and had short gray hair.
The other wore a mask that covered the upper half of his face. Judging from the holster at his waist and his leather attire, he was clearly a demon hunter.
"This is Mr. Rossi, the one who accepted the commission," Catherine introduced.
"And this is…" she turned toward the robed man.
"Kins," the masked demon hunter said in a low voice.
Catherine then introduced Gideon to them.
"Oh~ Mr. Gideon. I didn't expect we'd have a fellow member of the Church joining this commission," Rossi said with a smile.
"I actually snuck out from the Church to come to the Guild, so you'll have to keep that secret for me."
Gideon raised an eyebrow.
The man admitted that so casually—it meant Rossi clearly didn't care if others knew.
Seems easygoing on the surface, Gideon thought.
He smiled in return. "Mr. Rossi, you've already used my 'weakness' as leverage as well."
"Haha! I like this guy!" Rossi laughed, glancing at Catherine.
Gideon then looked at the demon hunter named Kins.
The man seemed vaguely familiar.
As if sensing his gaze, Kins shifted slightly and spoke in a dull voice.
"Now that everyone's here, let's get to business."
"Mr. Kins is right." Rossi took out four files and placed them on the table.
"This commission comes from a friend of mine. Based on the information she submitted, the case should be rated Corruption."
He opened the folder.
"However, after reviewing it myself, I decided to raise the difficulty to Corruption level."
"There may be an ancient evil deity involved. Because of that, I don't want our team to underestimate the enemy."
"That's why I waited until we had a full group before beginning the mission."
Rossi pointed to himself, then looked around the room.
"I specialize in sealing evil spirits and demons."
"Miss Catherine has unique methods of mental defense."
"Mr. Kins's firearms can deal direct damage to spiritual entities."
"And Mr. Gideon…"
"He excels at restraining and limiting the movement of spiritual beings."
"So when we face evil later, everyone should rely on their specialty and leave the corresponding tasks to their teammates."
Gideon stroked his chin thoughtfully.
Right at the start, he outlines potential risks and analyzes everyone's strengths…
No wonder he's ranked on the leaderboard. After hearing this, even I think he sounds reliable.
Once everyone finished absorbing the information, Rossi continued.
"This case involves two child victims."
"According to their families, the girls were very close friends at school."
"One week ago, they disappeared in the school forest. The incident caused quite a stir locally."
"Five days later, they were found at a farm several kilometers away."
"However, according to the police report, when the girls were found, they were in relatively good condition—but their shoes and backpacks had been left behind in the forest."
Catherine raised her hand slightly.
"You mean they couldn't possibly have traveled several kilometers that easily?"
Rossi nodded.
"Unless someone helped transport them by car. But the police have already ruled out that possibility."
He handed them a document.
"This is the explanation the girls gave for their disappearance."
Gideon and the others picked up the files in front of them.
After reading for a moment, Gideon raised his brow.
"...Angela, a girl of African descent. Shortly before she was born, her mother experienced a massive earthquake in Haiti."
"Angela was born safely, but her mother tragically died."
"Since childhood, Angela had always been curious about her mother. One day she found her mother's belongings in the house."
"According to Angela's own statement, in order to fulfill her wish of seeing her mother, she invited her best friend Catherine to the forest to play a séance game that was currently popular…"
At this point, Gideon rolled his eyes inwardly.
When will these stupid séance games finally be banned…
Gideon picked up the hospital diagnostic report.
"…After examination, neither girl showed any obvious external injuries, and all medical indicators were normal. However…"
"…Both girls exhibited a certain degree of temporal disorientation. They firmly believe they were only in the forest for a short time and never lost consciousness during the period…"
Gideon stroked his chin.
From a medical perspective, the situation might seem mysterious. But from a theological standpoint…
It was most likely caused by mental hallucinations or some special ability of an evil spirit.
He continued reading the parents' statements. Among them, Angela's father's account stood out.
"…After she returned, she seemed like a completely different person. She often stared at me blankly, and her tone became cold."
"Once, Angela even tried to sneak up behind me with a scarf. The door in the room seemed to close by itself… though perhaps my eyes were playing tricks on me…"
"For some reason, her fingernails began to fall off, and there were scratch marks on her legs. One day she suddenly started convulsing on the floor, and I had no choice but to send her back to the hospital…"
The other girl, Catherine, had similar symptoms.
"…One time we went to church, and Catherine suddenly crawled out midway through the service. For some reason, there was heavy bleeding from her lower body, and she began hurling blasphemies at the Lord and the priest…"
That was the entirety of the file.
Based on the information available, it indeed looked like a typical séance-possession case, and the commission rating would normally not be very high.
When everyone finished reading, Rossi spoke.
"Any thoughts?"
Catherine raised her hand first.
"The girls' distorted perception of time was probably caused by spiritual influence from the evil spirit."
Rossi nodded.
"That's my guess as well."
"We should approach the girls quietly," said the demon hunter Kins. "Otherwise the spirits might do something extreme."
"Reasonable." Rossi considered it. "If the entity senses holy power or other threats, it might take the girls as hostages."
Gideon shook his head slightly.
From the moment the girls were possessed, they were already hostages.
Approaching exorcism with that mindset would only tie your hands and make it easier to fall into the spirit's trap.
When the moment comes, you must be willing to abandon what cannot be saved.
"What about you, Mr. Gideon?" Rossi turned toward him. "Oh, right—have you decided whether to accept this commission? You can still change your mind."
"No need," Gideon replied. "I'm in."
He tapped the file.
"There's something that concerns me. The spirit possessed Catherine and entered a church. That suggests it doesn't fear the Church's power."
"To act so openly inside a church… wouldn't that only be possible for a demon-level entity?"
A strange glint flashed in Rossi's eyes.
"That's right!" Catherine clapped her hands softly. "Churches are protected by holy light. Lower-level evil spirits can't even approach them."
Kins glanced at Gideon before turning his head slightly away again.
"Father Gideon is correct," Rossi said. "That's also why I called everyone here."
"Decades ago, my friend Chris encountered something similar. So we must be extremely cautious."
After discussing the necessary preparations, the four went off to make their own arrangements.
Soon afterward, they set out for the commission location.
---
Augusta, Georgia
A four-door sedan rolled slowly along the asphalt road.
This town lay on the outskirts of Georgia, far from the city center, preserving a quiet rural atmosphere.
Standalone houses lined both sides of the road. Occasionally, residents stepped outside to take out the trash.
Before long, the car stopped in front of a gray house.
"Beep—beep."
Rossi honked twice.
Soon, an elderly woman with white hair stepped out of the house.
"Hey, Chris! It's great to see you!" Rossi greeted her warmly.
Catherine and Kins stood quietly nearby.
Meanwhile, Gideon surveyed the surroundings.
Hmm… I didn't see any luxury houses on the way here. Looks like there aren't any bargain villas around, he thought.
Before coming, Gideon had even called a local real estate developer.
He learned that most residents in this area were middle-class families, so no one had built large luxury estates here.
"These are…?" Chris asked.
Her voice drew Gideon's attention.
Although she was elderly, she carried herself with remarkable elegance. Her cream-colored casual outfit looked both comfortable and refined—clearly someone of considerable means.
In my mind, she's still the way she looked when she was younger… Gideon mused.
Rossi gestured toward the group.
"Let me introduce you. These are colleagues I work with…"
At the moment, both Gideon and Rossi had changed back into their Church attire. Chris was also somewhat familiar with the Exorcist Guild.
Soon everyone had introduced themselves.
"Oh dear—how forgetful of me! I should invite you inside!" Chris said with a smile.
"Please come in. I'll make some tea. We still have important matters to discuss."
The group followed her into the house.
"Careful, it's hot."
"Thank you."
After placing the teapot down, Chris sat on the sofa.
"After submitting the commission request to Mr. Rossi, I drove to Augusta," she said, her expression troubled.
"That same day, Mr. Fielding—Angela's father—came to see me."
"Afterward, he finally believed that what was happening to Angela couldn't be explained by science. So he decided to arrange an exorcism for his daughter."
"But after the church evaluated the situation, they refused the request."
Catherine looked confused.
"Why? The Church has been very active in dealing with supernatural incidents recently."
Rossi answered simply:
"Manpower shortage."
"Recently the Church reassigned a large number of clergy. Many regions are now understaffed."
"That's what they told us," Chris nodded.
"The priests who remained lacked experience with exorcism, so they had no choice but to refuse."
Kins suddenly spoke.
"Knowing they might die. A wise decision."
Catherine discreetly poked him, reminding him that two people present were from the Church.
Kins didn't seem to care.
"Unfortunately, the girls don't have that much time," Chris sighed.
"Recently their condition has worsened again."
"Their skin is ulcerating, their teeth have turned yellow, and they've lost much of their hair."
"The two girls are not only becoming more grotesque in appearance, their personalities have grown violent as well."
Gideon narrowed his eyes.
This was a classic case of soul devouring.
Once the girls' souls were completely consumed, their bodies would become nothing more than vessels for the evil spirits.
"Mr. Fielding has lost patience," Chris continued.
"So he and the other girl's parents have decided to conduct an unofficial exorcism."
Rossi frowned.
"That's reckless."
Chris nodded.
"Yes. Evil spirits are cunning. Performing an exorcism without preparation could easily play into their trap."
"They've hired a local Voodoo witch, and they plan to perform the ritual tonight."
Chris stood up with a helpless smile.
"If you hadn't come today, I would have tried to stop them myself."
At those words, warning bells rang loudly in Gideon's mind.
A former protagonist… a scholar devoted to exorcism research… planning to personally intervene in an exorcism…
Storylines like this usually ended with Chris dying.
Gideon silently resolved to keep a close eye on the old woman.
After all, he still needed to learn more about the Apostle Emblem from her.
At that moment, Rossi approached Chris and asked to speak with her privately.
The remaining three continued discussing the exorcism plan in the living room.
But Gideon focused his attention on the neighboring bedroom.
Thanks to years of anointing his ears with holy oil, his hearing had long surpassed normal human limits.
Soon, Rossi's voice drifted out.
"…Ms. Chris, I've also been studying ancient evil deities recently. In your book, you described your daughter's exorcism."
"The priest who performed the exorcism… he seemed to wear a silver medallion, didn't he?"
Chris replied, "Oh… let me think."
"Yes, Father Carlos did wear a silver medallion necklace."
"After he… after he died fighting the demon…"
Her voice choked slightly.
"After his death, his friend Father Dale gave the necklace to Regan. I asked her to keep it with her at all times, hoping Father Carlos's spirit might continue protecting her."
"May the Lord bless the brave priest's soul," Rossi said solemnly.
"Is the necklace still around? It might help us in this exorcism."
"Of course it still exists," Chris replied.
"But it's with Regan. And she… we haven't seen each other in several years."
"Still because of that matter?" Rossi asked calmly.
"Yes. Regan has always resented me for writing about her possession in my book."
"But I only wanted people to understand that demonic possession should never be ignored…"
"Your dedication is admirable."
After that, the conversation drifted to other topics.
Rossi mentioned that after finishing this exorcism, he planned to visit Regan to see Carlos's relic.
Hearing no further useful information, Gideon withdrew his attention.
So he's also after the Apostle Emblem.
Gideon thought carefully.
That medallion can seal powerful demons… Is Rossi planning to confront something dangerous?
There wasn't enough information to draw conclusions.
Still, since Rossi's objective aligned with his own, Gideon decided it might be useful to let him search for clues first.
Soon, Chris and Rossi returned to the living room.
After resting briefly, the group drove toward Fielding's house.
---
Evening
Beside a main road stood a white house.
Several figures moved in and out, carrying furniture outside while bringing candles and lime powder inside.
A black car stopped by the roadside.
A man stepped out and waved toward a middle-aged woman near the house.
"Father Maddox…"
"Anne, you're a nurse. You should persuade them. What they're doing is dangerous."
The woman shook her head.
"But… you know this isn't just illness."
"You came here… does that mean the Church finally—?"
Father Maddox sighed.
"I understand what you're asking, Anne. I only came to observe."
"The Church still believes the girls should receive psychiatric treatment."
"I'm sorry. I can't help."
Anne looked disappointed.
"What's happening in the Church that requires so many people…"
At that moment, a Black man—Fielding—walked over.
"Father, whether you intervene or not, we have to do this."
Maddox hesitated.
"What you're doing is extremely dangerous. You—"
Beep.
A car horn sounded at the intersection.
Everyone turned their heads.
Another car was approaching.
Moments later, five people stepped out of the vehicle.
---