Chapter 160: Reversal Ritual
Confusion appeared in Haggai's eyes.
"Sister Caroline and I have cleared two floors of the City Hall earlier, but the remaining floors and offices have not been checked yet," William explained unhurriedly.
"These heretics might have set up other means."
Haggai originally thought the other party was being stingy, but hearing this, he couldn't help nodding.
"Makes sense."
So, Bruce and its companions were divided into several parts.
Half of them followed William and the other two to investigate, and the rest split up.
Haggai had also proposed—they could each lead some monsters, which would be more efficient.
But William refused on the grounds of safety.
"Divide and conquer is the beginning of total annihilation." Haggai savored this sentence.
Recalling the Church's past commission files, there were indeed many exorcism teams who stumbled on this.
He nodded secretly: "Only through multiple exorcisms can such experience be summed up; I have to include it in the book."
As a compiler of Church classics, Haggai was preparing a theological book.
This book was mainly aimed at grassroots clergy members, containing exorcism precautions he excerpted from past classics.
The purpose was to improve the survival rate of grassroots priests in exorcism commissions.
On the other side, under the investigation, they indeed found suspicious traces.
William looked at a stone statue. This object had a human appearance but grew fleshy wings.
It sounded very similar to an "Angel."
But its ferocious face, sharp fingernails, and the evil aura emerging on the surface all foretold the ominous nature of this thing.
"This is... a Statue of Depravity."
Surprise was revealed in Haggai's tone.
"It hides the original power of evil inside, capable of corroding the surrounding space."
William looked at the ground near the evil statue; sure enough, there were already signs of corruption.
"This kind of offering has good concealment and can spread evil in the dark. That trace of original power can also serve as a replenishment for heretics..." Haggai recalled the content he had read in the classics.
"It seems this is a backup plan they left behind."
Since it was discovered, he naturally wouldn't leave it be.
So Haggai looked at Caroline, intending to let her purify it with holy artifacts.
But William spoke up: "Father Haggai, you mentioned the ritual of power reversal earlier..."
Since this was a backup plan prepared by the heretics, once the venue plan failed, they would likely activate this evil statue.
In this way, purifying it directly would be too wasteful.
Why not add some strong ingredients? Maybe it could completely eliminate the heretics.
After listening to William's plan, Haggai stared at this priest with a strange look.
"The Lord will forgive our black hearts, right?" Caroline asked uncertainly.
This behavior was both cunning and dark, completely unlike what an upright clergy member would do.
"Mercy to the enemy is cruelty to comrades." William's tone was flat.
Haggai's eyes lit up; this sentence must also be included!
"Sister Caroline, the 'New Testament' has enlightened us that as long as we know our sins in our hearts and repent sincerely, we can obtain self-redemption."
"Moreover, we are doing this to purify evil; the Lord will definitely understand us." He said seriously.
Caroline whispered: "Is this an excuse for cover-up?"
The corner of Haggai's mouth twitched immediately.
"Sister Caroline, no need to say it out loud..."
William shrugged.
In his previous life, he had also learned about the Church's commandment culture, which was essentially a tool used by upper-class rulers for exploitation.
For example, the "Old Testament" once stipulated that men must undergo circumcision to express that they had "shed the desires of the flesh."
But to spread faith more widely, the "New Testament" changed it to the more acceptable "Baptism."
This also saved William's "brother" from physical suffering.
Back to the main topic.
Haggai handed the process of the Power Reversal Ritual to William.
This naturally belonged to knowledge that "cannot be easily spread."
But since William was a helper invited by Archbishop Borja, plus the situation was unfavorable to the Church at the moment.
Therefore, Haggai did not hesitate.
"So that's how it is..."
After listening to the other party's narration, William immediately understood how the ritual worked.
Holy Power and Evil Power both originated from the "Unknowable Space."
Only after being assimilated by demons or priests did they evolve into forms with different attributes.
And the power in the ritual was the same.
Although it came from the setter, as long as its original part was assimilated, the attribute of the power could be completely changed.
This was the safest way to crack the ritual.
When William was at the sunflower farm earlier, he had stopped the sacrificial ritual by purifying the offerings.
But Haggai told him that this behavior was very dangerous.
"Offerings maintain the balance of the ritual's power. Destroying only parts might cause excessive power accumulation, thereby triggering unknown disasters."
According to this boy, Church history had recorded evil spirit invasions from other worlds caused by the imbalance of ritual power.
William nodded; it seemed he was indeed lucky that time.
At the same time, he also thought of another thing: such knowledge could obviously only be mastered by the high-level officials of the Church.
It seemed he really needed to climb up.
With Haggai's help, William quickly set up the ritual.
When Holy Light lit up on the surface of the evil statue, surprise flashed in Haggai's eyes.
He didn't expect Father William to be so talented.
The transformation of attributes not only required huge Holy Power but also required the priest to control Holy Power meticulously.
He heard that Archbishop Borja could only do this after entering the Exorcism Academy.
But this person in front of him was just a priest, yet he succeeded on the first try.
Haggai felt a little envious inside.
If he could also use Holy Power freely, it should be like this too...
Next, William placed the evil statue in a conspicuous position and set up a small isolation array around it.
Haggai and Caroline both looked puzzled.
"This can indeed shield the aura of Holy Power, but..."
Haggai pointed to the location where the evil statue was found.
"Wouldn't they know that something was done to the item this way?"
But William didn't answer; instead, he continued to arrange things in the room.
Crucifixes on the door frame, Holy Water hidden in the corners of drawers...
In a small room, William actually set up more than a dozen traps.
Caroline and Haggai both gasped.
But he wasn't done yet.
William opened the door wide, then pasted a piece of paper outside the door.
The two leaned over curiously, only to see it written on it—Evil Statue Inside →
Following the direction of the arrow, one could just see the stone statue placed on the table.
Like that apple on the tree in the Garden of Eden.
Everything was laid out in the open.
"Whether the evil statue will be discovered is not important."
At this time, William explained.
"I just give them a choice: when cornered, bet that the evil statue has no traps."
He smiled.
Haggai and Caroline shuddered instantly.
Both could foresee a heretic trying to escape, finding the backup plan arranged earlier before leaving.
But at this time, seeing those words at the door.
After some mental preparation, if he decided to enter the room, he would encounter those dozen traps.
If he survived by luck and thought this was all, then...
"Too insidious!"
Both thought inwardly at the same time.
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