Chapter 304: The Angel's Descent (Part 1)
Since this morning, this was already the third batch of personnel to return from the Land of the Holy War.
Parolin exchanged glances with several Cardinals he was familiar with, their eyes full of surprise.
They had originally been discussing the aftermath of the attack on the Holy Land, but right now, they had long tossed those matters aside to process the new information reported from below.
Ever since the attack occurred, the Pope had attached great importance to it, personally dispatching a special envoy from the Vatican. And the several Holy Clans had also sent their own personnel.
The crowd engaged in a fierce debate surrounding the "conviction of crimes," but their ultimate goal was nothing more than "power and profit."
But before this, the big shots of all factions had to face a fact—heretics had entered the Land of the Holy War, and they were very likely to lay their hands on the holy relics inside. These items had long been regarded as private property by the various families, yet right now, they were unable to intervene.
After the entrance was destroyed, Parolin had already tried multiple methods, even utilizing the Holy Land's taboo holy artifacts. Yet, he still couldn't locate that space.
It seemed to have been temporarily sealed by some kind of power.
As a result, the several Cardinals could only pin their hopes on the Holy Clergy Members who had gone inside. And among them, aside from a few members of the Holy Clans, the rest were practically sacrificial lambs; the Bishops were very clear about this.
Meanwhile, the Wings of Vengeance had come prepared. Comparing the two, the Church's chances of winning were very low.
Therefore, upon learning that people had returned from inside, the several Cardinals were all extremely surprised.
"It must be Kalvis's doing. Bishop Parolin, the Saul family has cultivated an outstanding heir," the plump Cardinal said with a smile.
"The information is still unclear, it's too early to talk about this. Besides, he is a believer of the Lord; doing this is only natural," Parolin waved his hand. Although he spoke modestly, a hint of a smile flashed in his eyes.
"Looking at the reports from those witnesses, it was a team of young people who controlled a Sweeper." The Cardinal with thin-rimmed glasses picked up a document. They already knew about the existence of Sweepers and were clear about the threat they posed.
"Could it be that you gave him that item?" The plump Bishop looked astonished.
"You're overthinking it. Although the Holy Medallion can control evil using the power of the Holy Mother, I don't even have the authority to use such a thing," Parolin immediately shook his head. "Otherwise, those old fogeys on the Council of Cardinals would have flipped the roof long ago."
The bespectacled Cardinal said, "These are extraordinary times. As long as the situation can be salvaged, there's no need to care about these minor details."
"Well said," Parolin nodded. "Right now, changes have already occurred in the Land of the Holy War. Although we can't go in, we can arrange matters on the outside. We cannot let those young people work in vain."
On the other side.
The Land of the Holy War, Crow's Nest.
William handed a large bag of lost holy artifacts to Bettis. These items were all collected from the areas they had previously explored.
"So far, we have been to over a dozen places, and the terrain has been different every time. I guess that as long as we keep moving forward, we can reach the final gate," he said, looking at the group.
Hesitation flashed in Bettis's eyes. "Are you sure you don't need us to follow? That place is completely unknown and highly likely to be dangerous."
Not long ago, after William collected enough hundred-year vintage holy artifacts, he decided to temporarily part ways with Bettis and the others, taking only Ruen and Freddy with him.
This was also to uncover the secret inside Ruen's head.
As they ventured deeper into the Land of the Holy War, the calling voice in the latter's head became clearer and clearer. The other party even explicitly guided them in a certain direction.
William guessed that this guy was very likely also someone trapped here. And to possess such long-distance telepathic ability, the entity itself might be a powerful existence.
As the saying goes, the enemy of an enemy is a friend.
Right now, the people from the Wings of Vengeance were still nowhere to be found, and the Evil Spirit of this space hadn't shown its face either. Therefore, William had to add a few more trump cards to his hand, avoiding betting everything on Freddy alone. This was why he decided to seek out that voice.
Meanwhile, Bettis, Caroline, and the others continued forward through the buffer zones. Relying on the lost holy relics and stone seals they had collected earlier, they should be able to pass through smoothly.
Moreover, the further they went, the more anomalies appeared in the Land of the Holy War. For example, right now, there were absolutely no Sweepers present in the Crow's Nest area. And this situation had occurred twice before.
This couldn't help but make an idea pop into William's mind—they had been reassigned. Just like how they encountered two Sweepers at the very beginning.
There were two possible reasons leading to this situation: either some kind of existence had posed a large enough threat to the Evil Spirit, causing it to have no choice but to dispatch additional manpower; or, the number of Sweepers in the Land of the Holy War was limited, otherwise the Evil Spirit had no reason to let them, the survivors, off the hook.
This way, the probability of Bettis and the others encountering danger would be much smaller.
And there was another reason for not letting them tag along. If William failed to return from this trip, the resources they had gathered could still help the other Holy Clergy Members, preventing everyone from perishing here.
After giving a few final instructions, William jumped into the cellar.
"May the Lord bless you..." Bettis's gaze was full of worry as she prayed silently.
In a dark, gloomy passage, three figures walked in silence.
From time to time, dense mist vortexes surfaced on the walls on both sides, within which one could see forests, indoors, and some places that looked like alien planets. These were all various areas, most of which William and his group had already visited.
"Are we there yet?" He looked at Ruen at the very front.
At this moment, Ruen had a pained expression, constantly clutching his head: "Still... still need some time."
"Do you have any impression of this place?" Seeing this, William looked at Freddy again.
"Hehe, I don't have much memory before meeting you," Freddy said. "But based on my perception, that seems to be a place with stricter rules."
"Stricter rules?"
"Literally what it means," Freddy shrugged. "The forces binding us are not completely identical. For example, that guy looking like a petal from earlier..."
"You mean the Demogorgon?" William said.
"Hey, who cares what it's called," Freddy snorted coldly. "The place that guy stayed at was much looser than mine. It could freely enter and exit various areas, whereas I would only be let out at specific times."
William revealed a thoughtful look. Compared to the Demogorgon, what Freddy had extra was merely self-awareness. It seemed that for the Evil Spirit, monsters with lower-level instincts were easier to control.
Before long, the three stopped in their tracks.
At this moment, many thorns suddenly sprouted in front of them, and the passage behind was pitch black. It looked as if this path was impassable, but Ruen clutched his head: "It's right... behind this. It seems... very anxious."
William glanced at Freddy, who also revealed a solemn expression.
"Did you remember something?"
"This place... is a forbidden zone..." Freddy also clutched his head.
William waited for him to continue.
"This is the information popping up in my mind. The end of the passage does not welcome Sweepers snooping around."
William shrugged: "Since that's the case, we have to go in even more. Can you break through these thorns?"
"Heh, well said," Freddy flashed his sharp blades.
The next moment, the thorns fell to the ground, turning into a thick cloud of mist, and the passage behind opened up to the three.
"Let's go," William patted Freddy.
The latter was slightly displeased but still took on the responsibility of testing for traps.
After walking for about two hundred meters, they finally reached the end.
Before them was a row of old iron fences, behind which was a small cubicle. In the center was a swirling vortex, and a person was standing in front of it.
That person was exceptionally tall and robust, wearing dark, heavily soiled overalls. His face was covered in pitted scars, looking extremely hideous. Compared to him, even Freddy could be called a "handsome young lad."
And at this moment, the man's limbs were bound by black auras, and his body was also controlled by a giant pitch-black clawed clasp. William had seen this kind of thing on the wooden meat hooks.
"You... it's you talking in my head!" Ruen pointed at the other party.
William also frowned.
"Humans, you actually managed to control a slave," the man spoke, his voice extremely hoarse.
"Hmph, I advise you to watch your wording. We are only in a cooperative relationship," Freddy flashed his blades.
"No difference."
Clang! A metallic clashing sound rang out, leaving a claw mark on the iron fence. Freddy's face was as gloomy as stagnant water.
"Human, aren't you afraid he'll kill you?" the man asked without a care.
William spoke up: "As mentioned just now, we maintain a friendly cooperative relationship."
"But this slave doesn't seem to think so."
Finding that William was the leader, the man immediately shifted his gaze to him.
William narrowed his eyes, not understanding the other party's intentions. Right now, the power of the Demon Contract was still active; if Freddy really wanted to do something, there was no need to wait until now.
Thinking of this, William didn't intend to be led by the nose by the other party anymore. He immediately pulled Ruen and turned around: "Let's go, it seems there's nothing of value here."
Ruen nodded blankly. Ever since seeing this strange man, the voice in his head had disappeared. The two quickly walked a few meters away. Freddy glared at the man and then turned to follow.
"Wait!" the man suddenly spoke.
But William showed no intention of stopping.
"Damn humans," the man muttered softly, then shouted, "Don't you want to leave this godforsaken place?"
Only then did William halt his steps: "Your Excellency, if you only have nonsense to spout next, then there is no need for us to talk."
The man stared at William for quite a while before speaking: "The vortex behind me is where the Evil Spirit's power lies, and it also holds the control authority of this space."
Hearing this, William narrowed his eyes. Being able to say terms like "space control authority" proved that this guy was quite extraordinary.
"As long as you destroy the power inside, this space will return to its rightful owner, and we will all return to the human world."
The amount of information in this sentence was massive.
But William wasn't in a hurry. Instead, he asked another question: "Before that, sir, you should at least introduce yourself."
"Hmph, is that important?"
"Who knows, anyway, we aren't the ones being controlled."
After a moment of silence, the man finally spoke: "Jason Voorhees."
Hearing this name, surprise flashed in William's eyes.
"The serial killer from the Friday the 13th series. As long as a single piece of him exists, he can resurrect out of thin air. He can be called the undisputed king of durability in American horror movie history..." He recalled these titles: "To think it's this God of Slaughter."
"You know me?" Jason sensed the former's anomaly.
"I've heard a little."
"Hmph, perhaps on the outside I would kill you, but here our interests align," Jason said.
"So he was worried about scaring me, which is why he didn't say his name," William thought to himself.
But outwardly, he looked skeptical: "Your Excellency's words completely lack persuasiveness."
"You are a smart person, otherwise that guy wouldn't listen to you," Jason gestured to the side.
"Hey, we have a cooperative relationship," Freddy stepped forward again.
Ruen beside them was already somewhat dazed: "Father William's connections are truly vast, to actually know this kind of terrifying guy..."
On the other side, William held Freddy back: "Let's talk about the vortex behind you. You said this space has an owner?"
"Heh, that's right. This place once belonged to the Will of the World of the human realm," Jason brought up another new term.
"Will of the World... you mean..."
"That's not important," Jason seemed unwilling to talk too much about it. "The Will of the World has always been trying to reclaim this space, but the Evil Spirit usurped the authority here and rewrote the rules, setting up a desperate escape game."
William raised an eyebrow. So everything happening here really was intentionally designed.
"As long as you can destroy the Evil Spirit's power, the Will of the World will immediately reclaim its authority, and your powers can also be restored." This was the second time Jason mentioned the vortex.
William asked: "What about you? How did you enter here?"
"Hmph, I refused to become a slave, and that guy couldn't do anything to me, so naturally, it could only imprison me here," Jason said.
William looked at Freddy: "Can you sense anything?"
"Slaves don't have such authority," Jason sneered.
Freddy's eyes were cold, but after a moment, he still shook his head.
"If that's the case, then let's go," William said, preparing to leave.
"But... this..." Ruen looked left and right.
"Human! Do you not want to leave anymore!" Jason also said viciously.
"You expect people to believe baseless claims?" William gave him a look like he was looking at an idiot. "Besides, the thing in this vortex is binding you. Who knows, maybe after breaking it, you'll regain your power and conveniently kill us, your saviors."
"Taking a step back, would an Evil Spirit capable of usurping spatial authority place something so important right next to an enemy? If this isn't a lie you made up, then I really have to doubt your IQ."
Hearing this, Freddy revealed a mocking smile: "Hehehe, this guy is not easy to fool."
Ruen had an expression of sudden realization; he hadn't thought of any of this at all.
"Hmph, truly detestable humans," Jason said.
"So, if you still aren't planning to tell some truth, I think there's no need for us to talk anymore," William's eyes were cold.
The air fell into a brief silence.
"Alright, you guessed right," Jason said. "As long as you enter the vortex, these things can leave me."
Ruen had a face full of anger. William waited for the other party to continue.
"Don't be angry. After all, your origins are unknown. Of course, you being dead is the safest option," Jason said.
Hearing this, William sneered: "A guy like you actually seeks safety?"
"Times change. Even though I'm very hard to kill, being trapped here means I can't enjoy the pleasure of crushing human flesh," Jason said with an intoxicated look.
"W-William, maybe we should just go..." Ruen gulped.
"Spare me the meaningless intimidation. Let's talk business," William's tone was calm.
"Hmph, detestable guy," Jason spat out. Then he raised his head: "Do you want to make a deal?"
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