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Chapter 32: Visitors from the Church
Gideon Black didn't rush upstairs. Instead, he approached the body on the floor.
Thanks to his Ethereal Sight ability, he detected no lingering spiritual energy around the servant—clear proof that the person was already long dead.
He abandoned the idea of trying to resuscitate her.
Before examining the body, Gideon uncorked a small vial of holy water.
(Sanitizing, just in case...)
After completing the basic "purification," he turned around and picked up a shard of broken glass from the floor.
Seeing no suspicious reaction from Emma nearby, Gideon carefully sliced open the body's skin.
"Oh my God! What if she was still alive?"
Percy gasped and covered her mouth in shock.
She had assumed the priest was trying to save the woman.
But what happened next completely shattered her expectations.
As soon as Gideon made the incision, the exposed muscle tissue immediately unfolded—fresh and pink—but not a single drop of blood flowed.
Exactly as Gordon had described.
Emma widened her eyes and crouched down beside the corpse.
Her expression didn't show the slightest fear—only growing curiosity.
Gideon ran a few more tests, checking key arteries as well.
The results were all the same.
After a moment's thought, he gently lifted the hem of the corpse's clothing—and his brow furrowed.
The entire abdominal cavity had collapsed inward unnaturally, with only a thin membrane of skin remaining, as if everything inside had been hollowed out.
The faint spiritual energy he had sensed earlier was now concentrated there.
From the shape, it resembled two small hands pressed together—almost like a folded pair of wings.
"What do you think you're doing?!"
A sudden shout broke Gideon's concentration.
He turned and saw three men approaching from the garden.
The man who had spoken was tall and broad-shouldered, holding a device that looked like a portable spotlight.
His companion carried a machine with antennae and a stack of paper that showed something like ECG waveforms.
The third man wore a long gray trench coat and a cowboy hat—radiating an old western vibe.
The tall man quickly stepped forward and shoved Gideon aside.
"Pale skin, collapsed abdomen... Looks like it's happened again."
He crouched down and began inspecting the body with practiced precision. Then his expression darkened.
"Blunt force trauma in several areas... Why the hell is her neck cut open?!"
He turned to glare at Gideon.
"You realize you're tampering with a crime scene, right? Who gave you permission—"
The man, apparently named Zion, launched into a tirade.
From his words, it was clear he believed this was a potential breakthrough—until Gideon "ruined everything" by interfering.
"Pfft, even if a few more people drop dead, it's not like you'd be able to solve anything."
Before Gideon could respond, the cowboy-hatted man cut in.
"Father, I'm John Stone. What have you discovered?"
He flashed Gideon a friendly smile.
Gideon glanced between the two groups and quickly figured it out—this was a turf war over who'd claim the investigation (and likely the commission fee).
"Same signs as the last two cases, except—"
He was cut off mid-sentence.
"Knew it. A priest trying to play coroner."
"Hey, you—" John turned to Zion. "You're doing a fine job... of making yourself look incompetent."
"What did you say?!"
Just as it looked like fists might fly, the third man stepped in between them.
"Enough. Let's stay focused on finding real leads. Mr. Nicken's already losing patience."
"Now that's more like it," John adjusted his hat with a smirk. "Morrison, if you ask me, you should ditch this guy and go solo."
He turned around once more.
"Father, sorry for the interruption. Please, continue."
Gideon Black shrugged and resumed calmly,
"The woman was attacked in the abdomen, and she wasn't possessed when she fell from the upper floor."
"Oh?"
John raised a brow.
"Impossible! The previous victims had no visible injuries. And if she did fall from above, wounds would be expected,"
Zion quickly objected.
"If you ask me," he continued, "she was probably part of some cult and messed up during a ritual."
At that moment, Percy stepped forward.
"The priest is telling the truth! I saw something in the woman's stomach, too."
John looked surprised.
Then, noticing the box behind Percy, he immediately recognized her identity.
"So both newcomers have spiritual vision?"
That ability—the Sight—was something only real demon hunters possessed.
Indeed, John himself was such a hunter.
He had just wrapped up a case in Philadelphia when he caught wind of the murder at the Nicken estate.
Planning to take one last job before heading home, he came straight to the scene—
only to find the body had already been removed.
The only ones who'd seen the scene firsthand were Zion and Morrison.
But Zion insisted the victim died during some cult ritual, which threw John's entire investigation off course.
By the time he realized it, the lingering traces of malevolent energy were already gone.
That misdirection was the root of his disagreement with Zion.
Now, having heard what Gideon and Percy said, John knelt beside the corpse.
Sure enough, he detected a faint, almost imperceptible aura around the abdomen.
It trailed subtly—upstairs.
John immediately drew a silver dagger and started up the stairs.
Gideon, having finished his own inspection, followed close behind.
---
Upstairs, Derek and Gordon had already swept the floor.
As before, they found no signs of forced entry.
Delle sat by the bed, comforting a young girl.
When she noticed the group arriving, she looked up and asked:
"Gentlemen, did you find anything?"
John repeated what Gideon had previously reported.
Hearing it truly was the work of an evil spirit, Delle's expression turned grave.
"Mama, what happened to Margaret?" the little girl, Carol, looked up at her mother.
Margaret was the name of the victim downstairs.
"She wasn't feeling well, so I sent her home to rest," Delle replied with a gentle smile.
Just then, two more people appeared at the top of the stairs.
Everyone turned to see Jim, followed by another man—a priest.
The man wore an elegant black silk cassock, the cuffs adorned with a silver cross emblem.
"Mr. Nicken," the priest said with a polite smile, "I believe I can resolve this case immediately. And I hope you'll give serious thought to our earlier proposal."
Jim narrowed his eyes.
Shortly after Gideon and the others had left, this so-called priest, Evan Bray, had appeared at the door.
Jim had been ready to throw him out—
until Bray presented a letter of recommendation from the governor himself.
That forced Jim to listen.
Evan claimed the Church had heard of the unfortunate incident at Jim's estate—
and knowing he had a major tour coming up, they had sent someone to assist.
The terms were simple:
All Jim had to do was agree to build three churches in downtown Philadelphia.
The issue?
Those locations were prime real estate, places most construction companies couldn't buy even if they had the cash.
And more critically—
Jim had already secretly allocated those areas to various stakeholders. There were considerable interests at play.
There was no way he could agree.
He was just about to decline—
when Evan Bray revealed a miracle.