Chapter 330: Sinner
"The items inside come from the Land of the Holy War, involving a certain mysterious existence behind them. When the sealing power is activated, the user will also completely fall into corruption..."
Ambo recalled the scene when he received this sacrificial item.
At first, he had been surprised that "the sacrifice is related to evil power," but given that Lord's status, there was no need to trick him over such a matter.
Therefore, Ambo didn't care about his so-called "reputation" and still executed the sneak attack according to the original plan.
After all, as long as he left no survivors, no one would know he was connected to the evil here.
And the power of the sacrifice did indeed astound him.
Judging by the energy fluctuations in the room, Ambo even thought a true demon had descended.
If it weren't for the holy artifacts prepared by his superiors in advance, he probably would have been affected by that evil existence too.
Originally, the sequence of events should have been: William summons evil but suffers a backlash, and Ambo arrives just in time to stop the disaster.
But the book in the former's hands changed the entire situation.
"He clearly has an ordinary background, yet he managed to turn the tide in the Land of the Holy War. He even got his hands on the item that the Lords of the Holy Clans exhausted all their efforts to obtain but failed..." Ambo narrowed his eyes tightly.
"Just how many secrets does this guy have."
On the other side.
While Ambo was dazed, the evil aura in the room had been almost entirely drained.
"Wait! As long as you stop now, I am willing to obey your commands!" the Kayako hybrid managed to say with great difficulty.
"This human next to you should be your accomplice, yet he actually used evil power against you. It seems your Church also has internal strife..."
This evil existence actually began to act as a lobbyist.
"Damn it! These cunning scums!" Ambo immediately went on high alert.
If William really cooperated with this evil existence, his situation would become extremely dire.
But at this time, he heard the former speak.
"Sure, as long as you willingly accept the exorcism ritual, I'll let you off."
Hearing this, the Kayako hybrid's eyes darkened.
"Even if you win this time, this space will eventually merge with us. Your attempts are nothing but futile struggles..." its tone grew cold.
William rudely interrupted it: "If you have the time to spout harsh words here to cover up your failure, you'd be better off going back and seriously reflecting on yourself."
He sounded like he was lecturing a student.
As soon as his voice fell, the map on the opened page of the black leather book suddenly radiated light entirely.
Immediately after, the Kayako hybrid's body also began to twist, violently dragged into the "book" by an invisible force.
"Ugh-uh——"
Accompanied by a rapid, bubbling croak, the evil aura in the room completely vanished, leaving only a bizarre drawing on the page.
It was a seated skeleton, its posture resembling some specific ritual.
Thud... Thud, clink.
A glass bottle tumbled onto the floorboards, rolling toward William.
This was exactly that sealing sacrifice from earlier.
But right now, the interior of this object held absolutely no evil aura, only a small fraction of residual Source Power. And observing from the perspective of spirit particle runes, this power was also exceptionally pure.
William stepped slightly sideways, letting the glass bottle roll to the corner of the wall.
Then he raised his head: "Now it's time to settle the score between us."
Ambo's fists trembled slightly; he hadn't expected the other party to be able to single-handedly deal with an existence of this caliber.
At the same time, he also realized another thing—the Lords above had severely underestimated this priest's strength.
"Hmph, I admit I misjudged, but do you think this is enough to..." Before Ambo could finish his sentence, he was interrupted.
Three circles of golden patterns surfaced in William's eyes, and immediately after, Ambo's body froze.
Just as the latter prepared to resist, he discovered many pale purple auras appearing around him.
Subsequently, these auras condensed into a purple chain, tightly binding Ambo's body.
This was exactly the manifestation of the Sin of "Desire."
"What! You can actually read the emotions of the living!" he exclaimed in shock.
In the Church's records, the Holy Arts of the Soul Body stage were divided into four levels.
The third level was [Envoy of Sin], allowing Holy Clergy Members to distinguish emotions and condense a single chain from them to trap enemies.
But this ability only worked on spirit bodies; it was ineffective against ordinary humans.
After all, the spirit particle runes within a human soul were incredibly complex and constantly changing.
If one accidentally sank into them during research, it could easily cause the Holy Clergy Member's consciousness to descend into madness.
At the same time, practitioners of this Holy Art had to use implements to assist in condensing the chains, just like Kerson.
To master the next level of the Holy Art, [Emotion Chain], one needed to condense the chains without the aid of any items and be able to completely decipher the spirit particle structure of a living person's soul.
This was a dual test of spirit and Holy Power.
Earlier, when Ambo spied on William using the Emotion Chain to restrain the evil spirit, he assumed the latter had used an auxiliary item somewhere he couldn't see.
But he didn't expect...
At this moment, feeling the powerful force locking down his body, Ambo knew he had no chance of winning.
"Four Brands, massive Holy Power, and possessing a legendary holy relic..." He struggled to raise his head, staring dead at William.
"We both clearly come from lower-level dioceses, why is your luck so good!"
"It seems you still don't understand. What traps you isn't me, but your own desires," William said calmly.
"This is a bottomless pit. The more you seek, the more you will be dragged down by it."
"The status and power you currently possess are things countless Holy Clergy Members could never reach in a lifetime, yet your gaze is always fixed solely on the very top."
Ambo snorted coldly: "If you don't climb up, you will definitely be dragged down by others. This is the true Church! You will always compromise for some reason or another!"
"Ah... I saw through that a long time ago," William sighed. "But power and profit are not the only things worth pursuing in this world."
He stared into Ambo's eyes: "Even if the day comes when I am truly forced into a corner, I wouldn't fall to the same fate as you."
Ambo sneered, clearly not believing him.
"I'll give you a piece of advice," William didn't care about the other party's attitude.
"He who has no desires is invincible."
Ambo looked confused, not understanding the meaning of this phrase.
"What do you plan to do now? Take me back to the Vatican to confront them and clear your name?" He had already tossed the previous warning to the back of his mind, curling his lips as he stared at William.
"Your performance has already told me that won't work," William said.
"Hmph, exactly. I'm not afraid to tell you, right when I made my move just now, your backer, Jolan, had already been brought up for investigation by the Cardinal Council. Right now, he can't even protect himself!"
"Don't think he can escape just because of his noble status. Like I said, as long as you..."
"As long as you don't climb up, you'll be dragged down by others," William calmly finished the sentence.
Ambo frowned slightly, seemingly not expecting the other party to maintain such composure.
"Jolan's failure is destined," William said.
"For the Church to stand tall for a millennium without falling, the relationships within it must be intricately intertwined, not to mention the existence of the Holy Clans who have controlled massive resources for a long time."
"Under these circumstances, being so impatient to make changes right after gaining a little power will undoubtedly touch upon the interests of those true big shots."
"He thought pushing me to the forefront could clear out the opposition within the Priest Order, completely unaware that this was only forcing those big shots to make their move prematurely."
"If the Church were truly that easy to change, there wouldn't have been those wars."
As soon as his voice fell, the air fell into silence.
Ambo widened his eyes, staring at William as if looking at a monster.
He didn't expect the other party to have such a deep understanding of the Church's situation.
Even the doubts that had always troubled Ambo were completely enlightened in this instant.
"Who... who exactly are you..."
His voice trembled, unwilling to believe that the person before him was truly just an ordinary lower-level parish priest.
"Just a priest who happened to read a few history books."
Ambo felt unparalleled remorse inwardly. If he hadn't blurted out that Jolan was under investigation, there might have been room to turn things around now.
"If you are still harboring the thought that I might let you off..." William's tone suddenly turned freezing cold.
"Then you are a bit too naive."
"If you... don't kill me, you can still use me as a witness." Ambo felt unwilling inwardly and forced himself to say it.
But the only response he got was William's calm gaze.
It was a gaze that looked at a dead man.
He saw William take out a black amulet from his bag.
Ambo instantly sensed a cold, ancient aura.
"This is..." Cold sweat seeped from his forehead.
The next second, the amulet suddenly emitted a mysterious power, and immediately after, a figure appeared in the room.
Upon seeing the other party's face, Ambo looked completely incredulous.
"Ker... Kerson!"
"Rather than turning into an evil spirit with an unwilling heart, it's better to fulfill your obsession and find peace early," William said as he passed by Kerson.
"From now on, he is yours."
Kerson cast a complex look at William, then drew a cross on his chest.
Immediately after, he turned and walked toward Ambo.
"No! No!" Ambo struggled fiercely.
"William, come kill me yourself!"
"..."
After a muffled groan, the shouting behind him ceased completely.
William turned around, only to see Kerson's soul gradually fading, disappearing from the room shortly after.
And another corpse lay on the floor.
William was just about to step forward when the next second, a pentagram magic array surfaced on the floor beneath Ambo's body.
Immediately after, a massive amount of evil aura surged out from within.
He immediately frowned and stepped back, taking out a holy artifact to respond.
But this aura didn't expand; instead, it transformed into several black ropes, tightly binding Ambo's corpse.
"Ah—"
A sudden explosive shout echoed in the room, and then Ambo's soul suddenly manifested.
His face was ferocious as he stared deadly at William.
"I will curse you forever! Forever!"
Before he could finish speaking, the floorboards suddenly split open to both sides. Immediately after, scorching magma erupted from below, and Ambo's soul fell toward the gap.
He struggled fiercely, trying to break free from his bindings.
But the next second, over a dozen arms suddenly reached out from the gap. Their skin was deathly pale, devoid of any aura of the living.
Grab... Grab...
These hands grabbed onto Ambo's soul one after another, then yanked forcefully.
Swish—
Under William's watchful eyes, Ambo's soul, along with his body, was dragged into the ground.
Subsequently, the room returned to normal, and the cracks in the floorboards vanished without a trace, as if nothing had happened just now.
William's brows were knitted tightly, the golden patterns around his pupils shining exceptionally bright.
"They all disappeared," he muttered. "Evil aura, magma, underground... could it be Hell?"
He couldn't help but form this thought—Ambo had committed too many evil deeds, so his soul suffered punishment after death.
But this conjecture was entirely baseless, and currently, there were no other clues, so William could only temporarily drop it.
He looked at the mess all over the room, feeling somewhat emotional inwardly.
According to Ambo's words, this operation was clearly aimed at Jolan.
And as a perceived supporter, William would naturally find it hard to escape unscathed.
Perhaps right now, he had already become a wanted criminal by the Church.
"It seems that after I get out, I'll have to hide my tracks first before investigating..." he thought to himself.
Subsequently, William took out his holy artifacts and the exorcism Bible, performing a purification of the room. Although the Book of the World had absorbed the power of that mysterious existence, omissions were inevitable.
After doing all this, he prayed for Kerson using the Gospel.
William didn't know much about this teammate he had only recently met, but watching how Kerson interacted with Sid and the others, they must have been deeply trusted companions.
"Sigh..."
William shook his head inwardly, then inadvertently glanced to the side.
He walked over to the wall, his eyes lighting up with golden patterns, before picking up the glass bottle on the floor.
Observing it again now, the evil aura inside had indeed been completely eradicated.
He took out the Book of the World again. The page that had absorbed Kayako was still glowing.
At this time, a line of text appeared on the edge—Insufficient accumulated power of the Old Gods, unable to close the corresponding Source Power passage.
"Old Gods... passage..."
William raised an eyebrow, understanding many things in an instant.
"It seems the Book of the World can extract different powers attached to items." He examined the glass bottle.
"This purified Source Power should be the reward that Will of the World gave me."
William remembered the voice that rang in his ears just now when he intended to pry into that mysterious power.
Based on his understanding of the Old Gods, the other party should belong to the "unlookable" category of existences, so that voice had clearly saved his life.
Thinking of this, he also formed a guess about the owner of the voice.
William then approached Mia. Right now, she and the cameraman Simon were the only living people left here.
The two had previously had their consciousness affected by the power of the Old God, and they had fallen unconscious again after the Kayako hybrid was extracted, but at least their lives were preserved.
William immediately helped Mia up, using a "Soul Body" Holy Art to call out to her.
A moment later.
"What... happened to me." Mia clutched her head, her face pale.
"Your lives are not in danger, but you will need to rest for a very long time," William said as he helped Simon up.
It was not that simple for ordinary people to recover after having their minds affected by such an existence.
"You..." Mia looked at William, hesitating to speak.
Both of them had witnessed the scene of Ambo framing his companion. To them, such a thing felt very unreal, like something out of a movie.
"We... we can testify for you," Mia finally summoned her courage.
"As long as we find the police, submit the evidence of him killing someone, plus our testimonies..."
William smiled and shook his head: "Ms. Mia, the moment supernatural powers officially debuted to the public, past laws had already lost their meaning."
Mia opened her mouth, feeling like she sort of understood but not entirely.
"Right, Mr. Simon should have recorded the footage just now, correct." William suddenly remembered something.
Although the effectiveness of self-proving might be limited, holding onto this evidence of guilt was also a trump card.
"Simon definitely recorded it!" Mia turned her head.
But at this moment, Simon was sitting cross-legged on the floor without saying a word.
"What's wrong." William frowned slightly.
He saw the cameraman continuously fiddling with his equipment, his hands clearly trembling.
As Mia and William approached, they found an obvious gash on the main body of the video camera, clearly damaged during the anomaly just now.
"Don't tell me... all the data is gone." Mia's breathing became rapid.
Simon weakly covered his face, slowly nodded, and then actually began to sob softly.
"This was his newly bought equipment, he hadn't even tried many of its functions yet," Mia also slumped onto the floor. "Now it's all gone..."
William shook his head inwardly. It seemed luck was not on his side this time.
"You two, at least you are still alive. But if you don't want trouble to find you later, from now on..." He gave the two a warning.
Two days later.
Philadelphia, Dei Commercial Street, House of Rest.
Many Holy Clergy Members had gathered here.
"You can't just barge in like this! This violates North American property rights!" Judy yelled anxiously.
Lorraine hurriedly held her daughter back, but her eyes were also full of worry.
At this moment, a squad of Holy Clergy Members kicked open the front doors of the House of Rest and ransacked the place.
They wore pure white robes embroidered with a special symbol; they were clearly not local Holy Clergy Members.
And Archbishop Matthew was blocked off to the side, his face looking extremely grim.
At this time, one of the white-robed Holy Clergy Members stepped out and faced the crowd.
"William, guest professor at Dei Seminary, newly appointed member of the Holy See Priest Order."
"It has been verified that this Holy Clergy Member colluded with evil spirits and demons, waiting for an opportunity to murder his team member John Kerson, as well as Ambo Roshu, who rushed to provide backup."
"This behavior severely violates Church oaths and is a blasphemy against the Lord!"
"Therefore, the Vatican Cardinal Council has issued an order for a Church-wide manhunt for William and his accomplices!"
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