Chapter 200: Several Possible Evolutions of an Evil Spirit's Scheme
Inside the hospital room.
Gideon had just finished examining Riley.
"Father… is he going to be all right?" Sue asked anxiously.
Gideon raised two fingers. "I have bad news—and good news."
Without waiting for a response, he continued.
"The bad news is that Riley's soul has already been taken. Right now, his body is like a city bus."
Jade asked nervously, "What… what does that mean?"
Gideon shrugged. "It means anyone can get on."
He deliberately chose a blunt, everyday metaphor to make the situation unmistakably clear.
Jade's family immediately wore expressions that looked like severe indigestion. As they glanced at Riley, some very unpleasant images surfaced in their minds.
"Father Gideon…" Faya took a deep breath. "Please—mind your wording."
"Sorry," Gideon replied calmly. "That was the simplest way to make you understand."
Sue spoke again, her voice trembling. "Then… what's the good news?"
Gideon said, "Because Riley's injuries are too severe, even if a spirit were to possess him, it wouldn't be able to properly control this body."
"So, for a short time at least, he shouldn't be able to harm himself again."
Jade's family nearly passed out on the spot.
Too badly injured… counts as good news?!
They clearly weren't used to this priest's way of explaining things.
"Then… can you save Riley?" Sue asked desperately.
This priest seemed to know far more than anyone else. Maybe—just maybe—he had a solution.
"Possibly," Gideon replied.
Hope immediately appeared on their faces.
"But first, we have to find the Apostle's Hand," Gideon added.
Earlier, he had followed the transparent chains to this hospital, only to find them extending outward again. Combined with what had happened in the ward, the conclusion was obvious—
The stolen souls were all contained within the Apostle's Hand.
At this very moment, a similar chain was connected to Riley's chest.
"Mia took it!" Jade said urgently. "She must have gone home—I'll take you there!"
Just then, Irene arrived at the hospital as well.
She had already contacted the local parish to handle the incident at St. Charles Church. After the routine questioning, she'd been told to go home and rest.
But worried that Gideon might need help, she came straight here the moment she left the church.
Irene stepped into the room just as they were discussing the rescue plan.
Gideon looked steadily at Jade's family.
"Before that, we still need to deal with your problem."
"Our… problem?"
The family exchanged puzzled looks, clearly not understanding what the priest meant.
Faya frowned slightly. Activating [Ethereal Sight], she examined the three of them.
Although the outlines of their souls were faint, she detected no trace of evil aura.
Irene felt the same confusion.
As a descendant of Saint Lucy, she had been born with the ability to perceive the supernatural.
But Gideon said calmly,
"Evil spirits, malignant wraiths, and demons are all extremely cunning."
"They are experts at grasping what the human heart desires most—and using that desire as bait, luring people step by step into traps they've carefully laid."
Faya's eyes lit up.
The summary was frighteningly accurate.
She recalled past missions—many clergy members and civilians had fallen precisely because of this.
Is this sharp insight the reason the Archbishop holds him in such high regard? she wondered.
Beside her, Irene's eyes widened.
It felt as though lightning had struck her mind.
To become a full-fledged nun, carving the holy mark was only part of the requirement—the truly difficult part was practical exorcism experience.
She had never worried about the former.
With her innate talent, she had always been confident she would obtain the mark.
But the latter had long troubled her.
Her father had warned her more than once: evil entities were treacherous beyond imagination.
Without methods tailored to counter them, hidden dangers would inevitably remain.
Irene had never feared confronting evil head-on—but she had always struggled to grasp its deceit.
That was why her father had forbidden her from participating in spiritual awakening rituals.
Yet after hearing Gideon's words, understanding struck her instantly.
As long as you identify their objective, you can see through their traps.
Gideon, however, was unaware of the thoughts racing through the two nuns' minds.
He had said all this for only one reason—to perform a mental correction before the operation.
To prevent anyone from turning into a "liability" halfway through.
Pointing at the hospital bed, he asked,
"Pop quiz—if Riley suddenly asks you for help, what should you do?"
Jade hesitated, then answered tentatively,
"Maybe… refuse him?"
"Wrong." Gideon shook his head.
Everyone looked confused.
Hadn't he just said evil spirits preyed on human desire?
What they wanted most was Riley's recovery.
Irene racked her brain as well—she had arrived at the same answer.
"Then… stay away from him?" Faya ventured, recalling Gideon's style.
This time, Gideon nodded.
"Very close."
Seeing that no one could think of another answer, he explained:
"You're all overlooking a basic fact—given Riley's current condition, he cannot speak."
Realization dawned on everyone's faces.
Gideon smiled faintly.
"Never underestimate details like this. Evil spirits specialize in exploiting what people overlook, using them as the foundation for hallucinations and false realities."
"In those situations, what you believe to be 'right' is often exactly what they want you to believe."
"That's why distancing yourselves immediately is usually the safest choice—and prevents things from getting worse."
Irene pondered for a moment, then raised her hand again.
"Father Gideon… isn't it possible that 'keeping distance' is also part of an evil spirit's plan?"
Gideon nodded approvingly.
"Correct. That brings us to the second scenario—what kind of evil spirit you're dealing with."
"Under normal circumstances, in densely populated human areas, evil entities have very limited influence."
"Their illusions can only target a small number of people and are easily exposed by collective perception."
"So they usually preserve certain elements of reality—like not altering the terrain—to make their illusions more convincing."
Irene's eyes lit up.
"So distancing yourself lets you leave the area of influence."
"Exactly."
Gideon continued,
"But if you suddenly get the bright idea to go 'exploring' a murder house at a specific hour of the night—"
He emphasized the word exploring.
"Then even your perception of terrain can be manipulated."
Faya was visibly impressed.
These were extremely concrete exorcism experiences—clearly accumulated through repeated real encounters.
She remembered Gideon came from a small local church.
That meant far fewer resources than the seminary.
Yet he had survived countless encounters with evil entities.
That alone proved his exceptional talent.
Perhaps the Archbishop could invite him… she thought.
Gideon went on,
"Back to Riley. During the struggle for his soul, the evil spirit may use his body as leverage."
"Even if Riley can't move right now, we still need proper defensive measures."
He turned to a nurse and requested several restraint straps.
These were meant to secure a patient's limbs to prevent movement during treatment.
After a fair bit of work, Gideon wiped his forehead.
"This… isn't that a bit excessive?" Jade asked cautiously.
The others also stared at the priest with strange expressions.
Riley was now bound with restraints nearly everywhere.
Almost every inch of skin was secured.
Even there…
At this point, even an angel would need time to free him—let alone an evil spirit.
Gideon explained calmly,
"Some succubi gain strength through male victims. That area cannot be left unguarded."
Though it was difficult to imagine such an entity, they chose to believe him.
"From now on, if an evil spirit possesses Riley, it will have only two objectives."
He raised two fingers.
"First—gain freedom.
Second—lure you into killing him, causing psychological collapse and creating new hosts."
His gaze hardened.
"So from this moment on, you must control yourselves. If anything abnormal happens, distance yourselves from the bed immediately."
Jade, Sue, and Daniel all stiffened, visibly tense.
"Relax," Gideon said, returning to a calm tone.
"These things lack creativity. Their tricks are always the same."
"They'll pretend to be an evil spirit and claim Riley's body is already taken."
"Or beg pitifully in Riley's voice, crying about physical pain."
"Or try to get close to others and sabotage the ritual."
"If they're slightly smarter, they might even spill blood or shed flesh to make it more convincing."
A heavy silence filled the room.
Including Faya, everyone stared at Gideon as if he were a monster.
This level of analysis alone could be published as a church treatise, Faya thought in shock.
Is this really what a parish priest is capable of? I might never reach this level, Irene marveled.
"This… this is real professionalism," Jade swallowed.
Recalling their earlier "rescue attempt," she now felt painfully foolish.
Sue looked equally stunned.
She had never believed in such things—but watching this priest, she realized supernatural defense was a discipline in itself.
Gideon calmly accepted the awe-filled gazes.
These were simply hard-earned lessons distilled from countless horror stories.
A must-have survival manual for anyone dealing with the supernatural.
After finishing his instructions, Gideon set up a small formation in the room and handed several low-grade holy relics to Irene.
She would stay behind with Faya to guard the room.
The Apostle's Hand involved malignant spirits—and had been personally ordered by Archbishop Jose.
So Gideon and Faya would handle it themselves.
Jade held Riley's hand and silently prayed.
Then she turned around.
"Let's go."
Elsewhere, in a residential apartment several blocks from Queen Valley Hospital—
It took Gideon and the others some time to arrive.
"Mia lives on the fifth floor," Jade said, pointing at the building.
At the same moment, inside a fifth-floor apartment—
"Mom… what did you just say?"
Mia stared in shock at the couch by the mirror.
But in reality—
There was nothing there.