Chapter 339: The Unclean Nun (Part 5)
Irene whipped her head around, her heart skipping a beat.
"Personal privacy is highly valued here; perhaps our conversation was overheard." Oana stood up.
"I'll go take a look."
Creak.
When the door opened, a black-robed nun stood outside.
"Oana, Sister Ruth's prayer time has ended. It is your turn for duty," she said expressionlessly, her tone incredibly cold.
"I understand," Oana nodded slightly.
Only then did the new nun evaluate Irene: "You haven't taken your vows yet, correct?"
"Yes, I plan to..."
"Then you shouldn't be here. Leave at sunrise tomorrow. As for now... you should go to sleep."
The other party's tone brooked no argument.
Irene could only look toward Sister Oana.
"You can sleep in my room. I will be praying all night tonight," Oana smiled slightly.
A few minutes later, Irene was led to a room.
"Come find me in the chapel later."
Leaving those words behind, Sister Oana quickly disappeared down the corridor.
At the same time, in front of the abbey's main gate.
William unloaded several boxes from the carriage; inside were numerous holy artifacts.
He turned around to see a line of skeleton nuns standing in perfect formation.
Gail, Mark, and Frenchie stood to the side.
William wore a solemn expression: "Sisters, the organization is about to entrust you with an arduous yet glorious mission."
"Right now, the Abbey of St. Carta is occupied by an evil spirit. That guy has murdered your compatriots and plans to unleash evil powers..."
"...Only by completely purifying this evil spirit can we return peace to you and a clear sky to St. Carta!"
His tone was impassioned, and he even raised his fist at the end.
"Hey... this speech is making even me want to join in," Frenchie cracked his neck.
"Then you might need to find a rope to tie your hands first, and only untie them when you meet the evil spirit," Mark said.
Frenchie was stunned for a moment, then realized something.
"Hey, I'm half Spanish! I'm not a real Frenchie!"
On the other side.
William had already distributed the holy artifacts.
"The abbey's outer walls are very high, but there isn't absolutely no way in."
He put an arm around one of the skeletons, turned around, and pointed at the lower edge of the castle above.
"The sewage drain—a sacred place. For centuries, it has borne the mission of maintaining the abbey's cleanliness and nourishing the surrounding forest."
"And the waste flowing through it was released by sacred souls, one by one. It is the Lord's blessing to the human world, which is why believers respectfully refer to it as 'Holy Shit'..."
The three people listening nearby were instantly shocked!
Is that really where the phrase comes from?! He's completely lying to people... err, dead people!
"...Therefore, you should not disdain that place. Truly sacred remains can maintain their purity even when in contact with filth..."
"When the Light of Humanity doesn't issue year-end bonuses, I'm going to use this kind of excuse too," Mark whispered to Gail.
In short, after a rousing mobilization, the skeleton nuns were infected by William's emotions.
Each carrying holy artifacts, they scattered and began to infiltrate the abbey's interior.
"It takes some time to set up a magic array in an abbey this large," William walked toward the three.
"Before that, let's go inside first. Presumably, that evil spirit has already made its move."
Gail nodded: "I'll go get the containers."
William also took out some sticks and blades from the carriage, handing them to Mark and Frenchie.
"Exorcism isn't just about using supernatural powers; sometimes, physical methods are also a good choice."
The two looked at each other and took the words to heart.
"Then... let's move out!"
William led the way, then placed a holy statue on the stone steps.
Hum—
Accompanied by a burst of Holy Light, the evil aura at the doorway instantly vanished completely.
Mark and Gail looked amazed.
Although they had witnessed William's skills before, only after truly studying exorcism powers did they comprehend his formidable strength.
And among the many Holy Clergy Members they had seen, William was the most professional one they had encountered, both in terms of power intensity and exorcism experience.
Frenchie's mouth hung open in awe.
Today, he finally witnessed the true face of this world, and simultaneously, felt an immense yearning for it inwardly.
Crash!
The abbey's main doors were blasted open from the middle.
William retracted his wooden stick, then raised it high again.
Smash!
One side of the doorframe was completely dismantled.
"What are you standing there for," William looked back. "We have to dismantle the doors before going in, to prevent the evil spirit from using its power to seal our escape route."
Gail looked at the shovel in her hand, then shrugged: "Alright, dismantling the house this time is purely a personal action and has nothing to do with the Light of Humanity."
As soon as she finished speaking, she swung the shovel at the upper doorframe.
The main entrance quickly echoed with the sound of "renovations."
Corridor beside the Library.
"Huff... Huff..."
Father Burke sprinted frantically through the darkness with a pronounced limp, occasionally glancing backward.
The clothing on his left leg was tattered, coated with a patch of pitch-black liquid, and even his skin had begun to rot.
Not long ago, he had been attacked in the library. Fortunately, he managed to crash through the doors with his body at the last moment and escape.
Unfortunately, the monster still managed to scratch his ankle.
Thinking of this, Burke's face grew incredibly grave.
Immediately after escaping, he had treated the wound with the Holy Water issued by the Church, but even after using the entire bottle, he failed to eliminate the evil aura on it.
This completely exceeded Burke's expectations.
He had witnessed many evil powers, but the one he encountered this time was clearly different.
"Could it be a demon..." Burke thought in shock.
If that was truly the case, things were terrible!
An evil existence of this caliber was not something he, an ordinary seminary student, could handle. It would require the intervention of multiple parish-level teachers, or the dispatch of personnel from the Holy See's Priest Order.
However, he heard that something had happened over there recently, and all Priest Order members had been temporarily recalled.
Burke shook his head to maintain clarity.
Those matters were too distant from him; right now, the most important things were the monster behind him and his own injury.
Before long, he reached a fork in the corridor.
Faint candlelight on the walls illuminated the passage, but further down, there was still nothing but endless darkness.
"Is this leg going to be crippled..."
Burke knew he couldn't hold on much longer.
"Gurgle..."
The low growl behind him closed in again.
At this time, footsteps also echoed from one of the corridors ahead.
He turned his head and found a group of figures wearing white cloths over their heads.
The white cloths were stained with fresh blood, and their walking posture was also somewhat bizarre.
"Hello?"
He tried to communicate with them but was met with silence.
Under these circumstances, anyone would know these figures weren't right.
Tap... Tap...
Just as he was preparing to take the remaining path, several figures appeared there as well.
Father Burke was instantly filled with despair.
"What a coincidence, Father," one of the figures suddenly spoke.
This sudden voice brought him joy, but upon recognizing the speaker's identity, anxiety flared in his heart.
"Run! These are monsters controlled by evil spirits!" Burke hurriedly shouted.
"Burke... I feel so much pain... Can your friends save me?"
A boy with deathly pale skin rushed out from the darkness, his head tilted, a black snake wrapped around his neck.
Father Burke's face sank.
He was the only one here who could handle these monsters; it seemed he truly couldn't escape this time.
He endured the pain to stand firm, took a deep breath, and pulled a pocket Bible from his pocket.
But the next second, the Bible in Burke's hand was snatched away.
"Keeping the Bible close to your chest, that's a good habit," William said, stepping in front of him.
"You..." Burke looked confused.
The next moment, his eyes went wide.
He saw the "detective" before him suddenly project a barrier, intercepting the "boy" mid-air.
The latter landed and instantly pounced again, but then froze in mid-air, unable to move.
"This is... a high-level Holy Art!" Father Burke exclaimed in surprise.
Although he himself had only mastered the first-level Holy Art of the Soul Body stage.
As a seminary student, he couldn't possibly be mistaken.
"So that means... he's also a Holy Clergy Member. No wonder he could say so many things related to evil back at the entrance," Burke thought to himself.
But quickly, he realized another thing.
The person before him had used two different "dominant" high-level Holy Arts, which meant the other party very likely possessed dual Brands.
Such a powerhouse in the Church was either a teacher at a diocese or parish-level seminary, or an exceptionally talented student among them.
He might even... come from the Vatican.
"Since the Church dispatched someone like this... why did they send me?" Burke felt puzzled inwardly.
Meanwhile, after controlling the "boy," William also figured out the identity of the group of figures covered in white cloths.
The latter were all bound by powerful evil forces, and a certain special rune flowed within the blood of their bodies.
Combining this with his current understanding of this castle, they were very likely the victims sacrificed to the evil spirit in the past.
Thinking of this, William immediately tossed down holy artifacts to set up an isolation magic array, opened his Bible, and began to chant.
Seeing this, Father Burke was secretly shocked.
"A ritual exorcism! To actually set it up so casually... just how much Holy Power does this Brother possess..."
Accompanied by William's voice, Holy Power fluctuations instantly surged within the magic array.
The corpses of the victims also erupted in agonizing roars.
Shortly after, a massive amount of corrupted blood seeped out from under the white cloths, and the corpses gradually turned to dust, leaving only over a dozen pure white spirit bodies floating in the air.
"G-Ghosts!" Frenchie screamed in terror.
These spirit bodies bowed slightly toward the group, then quickly dissipated on the spot.
Father Burke turned his head, looking at the "detective" in sheer disbelief. At this moment, he finally understood that the person before him was an incredibly powerful Holy Clergy Member.
"Please..."
Father Burke had just opened his mouth when he was interrupted.
"It's your turn next," William said, looking at the "boy."
The latter immediately put on an aggrieved expression, the black snake wrapped around its neck long gone.
"Burke... I feel so much pain, it's been controlling my body, I couldn't refuse," the boy covered his face. "I hurt you, didn't I?"
Burke took a deep breath, the pain buried in his heart welling up once more.
"Little guy, don't worry," Frenchie also stepped forward. "This gentleman is very powerful, he can definitely save..."
Before he could finish his sentence, he saw William grab a wooden stick and viciously smash it into the back of the "boy's" head!
Thwack!
Following a very satisfying muffled sound, the "boy" face-planted onto the floor.
"You... what are you doing!" Frenchie's mouth hung open.
William looked up: "Clearing his head a bit."
With that, he swung the stick again, smashing the "boy's" raised head back into the floor.
"Creating illusions to deceive people, this is the most common trick used by evil spirits," Gail stepped forward to explain. "That boy died a long time ago. Am I right, Father Burke?"
Father Burke took a deep breath, then nodded: "It's a monster created by the evil spirit using my fears."
Frenchie muttered, "This is too realistic..."
Mark stepped forward and threw an arm around his shoulder: "Didn't you just interact with two beautiful nuns? How could you forget so quickly?"
Hearing this, Frenchie's expression instantly changed, and he hurriedly covered his mouth and ran to the side.
"Where is Sister Irene?" Gail asked Burke. "The evil spirit has likely targeted her as well."
"We were separated after entering the abbey," Burke shook his head.
"No need to worry, I think this poor boy will tell us," William said.
The "boy" pushed itself up and turned its head, only to see a smiling face and a wooden stick with blood on its tip.
That smile... was even more terrifying than Lord Demon God.
Holy Clergy Members' Quarters.
Irene lay on the bed, her eyes tightly shut.
Her body trembled slightly, and her expression looked somewhat pained.
"No!"
Irene sat up abruptly. She looked around, only then realizing she had fallen asleep at some point.
"What was that just now..."
She recalled the residual images in her mind—the ground cracking open, a massive horde of monsters pouring out, led by a nun wearing a black robe.
"Right! Sister Oana!"
Irene remembered her promise, hurriedly put on her shoes, and quietly crept downstairs.
The Chapel.
Over a dozen candles flickered in the darkness.
The nuns' prayers echoed around her, but they sounded somewhat sorrowful.
Irene slowly approached the holy statue, where a figure was currently kneeling.
"Oan..."
She was just about to speak when she noticed a figure lying on the floor nearby, covered by a white cloth.
Irene's heart instantly sank.
She slowly approached, leaned down, and pulled back a corner of the white cloth.
The next second, Sister Oana's face appeared before her.
Her face was black, blood seeping from the corners of her eyes. This nun had unexpectedly died!
Creak—
At this time, the chapel doors suddenly opened, and several black-robed nuns walked in together.
They locked the door latch from the inside, then approached the holy statue, surrounding Irene in the center.
The next second, these nuns all knelt on the ground. The nun who had told Oana to end her shift earlier was also among them.
"We must pray now!" The woman looked at Irene with a serious expression.
"No matter what you see or hear later, you cannot stop. You must keep your eyes wide open at all times!"
Irene looked bewildered, looking up at the statue of the Virgin Mary.
The holy statue in the darkness had its eyes downcast, looking somewhat gloomy, and its body seemed to be stained with some dark liquid.
She panted heavily, her legs involuntarily kneeling on the floor.
"Holy Mary, you are full of mercy, the Lord is with you..."
Accompanied by the sound of prayers, a gust of wind suddenly blew through the chapel, making the nuns' robes flutter wildly, as if some existence was awakening.
Gradually, the wind died down.
Just as Irene thought it was safe.
Bang!
The next second, with her at the center, the surrounding nuns were blasted outward by an invisible force.
The cheek of the Virgin Mary statue also fell off as a result.
Irene's eyes widened. Trembling, she looked back, only to see the nuns lying motionless on the floor, completely unconscious.
She forced her breathing to steady and looked up at the statue of the Son of God.
At this moment, she decided to continue praying.
As she recited the prayers, the unconscious nuns gradually woke up.
Seeing this, Irene felt encouraged and continued to raise her voice.
Riiip—
Suddenly, the clothes on her back were violently torn open.
At the same time, a mass of power had already approached right behind Irene.
Just as that power was about to touch her skin, a powerful surge of Holy Power erupted from her pocket.
"Ugh-uh——!"
A low snarl instantly echoed in the chapel.
Just as Irene was feeling confused.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The chapel doors were suddenly pounded on forcefully.
Immediately after, a familiar voice came from outside: "Water meter check!"