Chapter 262 — Mutation and Farewell
In truth, Gideon could have begun the ritual the moment the formations were activated.
But remembering what happened last time, he decided to drain a little more of the demon's power first, just in case it still had other tricks up its sleeve.
"Both of you, the next part of the ritual may be dangerous. Please stay here," Gideon said, turning toward them.
Chris wanted to say something but stopped herself and finally nodded.
Carlos still looked completely stunned.
So this… is what the real world looks like, he thought.
After checking the arrangements around the house one last time, Gideon stepped inside the villa.
---
Second Floor
Gideon opened the bedroom door.
Regan turned to face him.
Her gaze was filled with venomous hatred. The areas of her body that had been touched by holy water were now slowly being repaired by a layer of green slime.
"High-grade holy water… and you actually possess something like that. The passage to Heaven should have been closed long ago," Regan hissed through clenched teeth.
"The passage to Heaven?"
Gideon raised an eyebrow.
It sounded as if the demon had just revealed some secret related to the Church.
He tried to probe further, but the demon said nothing more.
Instead, it sneered:
"Using something that precious so casually… the modern Church really has become extravagant."
"As long as it drives you away, it's worth it."
"Drive me away?" Pazuzu let out a cold laugh.
"You underestimate the power of demons. If you still intend to attack, this is your last chance."
It grinned viciously.
This demon is quite confident, Gideon thought. It must still have other tricks.
He stepped forward and stood directly in front of Pazuzu.
Then he raised his right hand.
In the next instant, Pazuzu felt its strength draining away rapidly.
"What's happening?!" it shouted in shock.
Only then did it realize that its core demonic power was being absorbed by the priest.
"This is… a holy technique!"
Pazuzu snarled.
"You're a marked cleric!"
"You're pretty knowledgeable," Gideon replied with a smile.
At that moment, the reconstruction of the flesh around his head progressed rapidly. In just a few minutes, a small section had already been restored.
Pazuzu stopped arguing and focused all its energy on preventing its demonic aura from leaking away.
Seeing this, Gideon mocked it again.
"You were pretty arrogant when you possessed that girl earlier. Be generous—use your evil aura to corrupt me!"
He even spread his arms wide.
Pazuzu remained silent.
It wanted to ask a question:
If you absorb evil energy like this… aren't you afraid of dying?
This was the first time Pazuzu had encountered something like this.
---
Soon Regan's body was drenched in sweat.
Pazuzu could feel the rate at which its energy was leaking begin to slow.
It had endured this round of struggle.
That priest must be suffering too, it thought, lifting its head.
But the next moment—
A bottle of holy water splashed directly into its face.
White smoke erupted in the air as holy power collided violently with demonic energy.
Pazuzu was forced to draw upon more power to resist.
And then it realized something horrifying—
The priest had started absorbing its power again.
And he looked almost… excited.
Pazuzu suddenly understood.
This servant of the Church was draining its very essence.
"You bastard, you—"
Unable to endure any longer, Pazuzu erupted into a torrent of the most vicious curses imaginable.
The shouting was so loud that Chris and Carlos downstairs could hear it clearly.
Chris turned to Carlos and whispered,
"Father… those horrible words… Regan will forget them after the exorcism, right?"
Carlos blinked.
"Ma'am… I don't think that's the most important issue right now…"
---
Inside the Room
After several violent clashes of power, Pazuzu had grown extremely weak.
Meanwhile Gideon's face looked radiant, the last piece of reconstructed flesh already completed.
Pazuzu panted heavily.
It understood one thing very clearly:
If it didn't act now, it might disappear from the human world forever.
How is this possible…
With the amount of energy leaking from that realm, it shouldn't be enough for a cleric to reach this level of cultivation.
Is this man even human?
Pazuzu would never get the answer.
Sensing two human presences outside the house, it suddenly tore open Regan's clothing.
Then it ran to the window and shouted downward:
"Mom! I feel so bad!"
In the next moment—
It forced Regan's body to jump out of the second-floor window.
The impact echoed heavily when she hit the ground.
Blood quickly spread around her body.
"Regan!!"
Chris's mind went blank, and she immediately rushed forward.
But Carlos was faster.
He grabbed her arm and held her back.
"Father Gideon told us not to move!"
Tears filled Chris's eyes as her voice trembled.
"But she's hurt! She's hurt!"
Carlos's heart sank.
He glanced toward the second floor—but Gideon was nowhere to be seen.
"I'll go check."
In the end, Carlos decided to approach alone.
He knelt beside Regan and checked her breathing.
Soon his brow furrowed.
He leaned closer and examined her pupils.
Empty.
Lifeless.
The girl… seemed to be dead.
But the next instant—
Her eyes suddenly turned amber again.
Carlos immediately sensed something was wrong.
He tried to stand up—
But a sharp pain struck his throat.
The world in front of him suddenly seemed to rewind.
"Next time you want to check something like that," a calm voice said,
"I recommend using a tool first. Maybe a rock or something."
Carlos shook his head.
He found himself standing several meters away from Regan.
And beside him stood Father Gideon.
"…Was I just attacked?"
Carlos touched his neck. A thin layer of skin had been scraped off.
Nearby, Chris stared with wide eyes.
She had just seen Regan stand up again, and her emotions hadn't even begun to settle when she witnessed something even stranger—Carlos's figure suddenly vanished from where he stood and reappeared several meters away.
Am I… really not dreaming? she wondered in confusion.
---
Carlos was about to thank Gideon when he noticed that Gideon was staring directly at him—more precisely, at the necklace hanging on his chest.
Carlos looked down.
Somehow, the silver medallion had been stained with blood.
"Father… Gideon?"
"May I take a look?" Gideon asked solemnly, pointing at the necklace.
"Of course."
Though confused, Carlos removed the necklace and handed it over.
Gideon accepted it and carefully examined it using Holy Sight.
From his perspective, the silver medallion was now radiating a brilliant glow.
The pair of wings engraved on its surface emitted a cluster of holy power, wrapping around the blood that had stained it.
At the same time, a pillar of light extended from the medallion straight into the sky.
Crimson and gold intertwined in the air, forming a strange and sacred scene.
No matter how Gideon moved, the pillar continued pointing toward the same spot in the heavens.
Inside the beam, tiny points of light began appearing.
Gideon quickly recognized them.
They were the fundamental energies of this world.
But the aura they emitted was far stronger—as if they had awakened from thousands of years of slumber.
Could this… be the Holy Apostle Silver Medallion? Gideon thought.
Thinking back to the original story, Carlos eventually allowed the demon to possess him and then leapt out of a window, sacrificing himself to take the evil with him.
Suicide was considered unclean by the Church.
Yet such devotion was so profound that even Hell itself could not bear the weight of his soul.
Perhaps only someone like him deserved the title of Apostle.
---
"Would you sell this necklace to me?" Gideon asked.
Carlos looked confused.
But the kindness Gideon had shown him couldn't possibly be measured in money.
How could he accept payment?
Besides, to him it was just an ordinary medal.
"You misunderstand, Father. I'd be honored to give it to you," Carlos said, removing the necklace.
Gideon raised an eyebrow.
"Thank you."
Seeing that the wings were still absorbing the blood on its surface, Gideon quickly set up a small isolation formation around the medallion.
After thinking for a moment, he added,
"The demon's attack might leave behind traces of evil energy. Let me clean it for you."
Carlos nodded, even more impressed by Gideon's attentiveness.
Though he couldn't help wondering—
Why was Father Gideon wiping his wound with the silver medallion itself?
Soon the injury was cleaned.
Gideon slipped the medallion into his pocket.
When Pazuzu had disappeared earlier, Gideon hadn't chased it immediately. Instead, he searched the house for possible traps.
Only when Carlos was attacked did he intervene.
He hadn't expected that in the middle of all this, he would obtain the exact artifact he needed.
Now that his primary goal was achieved, the next step was finding a way back home.
But before that—
He still had to deal with the problem in front of him.
Gideon took out the Exorcism Bible.
"Exorcism isn't just about reciting scripture," he explained to Carlos.
"If the demon's power hasn't been weakened first, chanting prayers is useless."
He looked directly at Carlos.
"You must beat them half to death first. Then the prayers become far more effective."
He opened the Bible to a specific page and handed it over.
"Your turn."
Carlos accepted it solemnly and began reading:
"In the name of the Father, and of the Son…"
Carlos didn't possess the divine mark, but under the influence of Gideon's holy water, holy power slowly gathered around them.
Meanwhile, Gideon continued working.
He guided the remaining evil aura toward himself, reconstructing the final fragment of his holy skin.
Across from him, Pazuzu screamed furiously, unable to stop the loss of power.
After a while, Gideon finally stopped.
His skin was now covered with glowing runes, and a thin membrane appeared around his body once again.
The runes gradually engraved themselves into the membrane, which began shining brilliantly.
Before Chris and Carlos's stunned eyes, a pale golden shield formed around Gideon.
This was the third-level holy technique of the Flesh Stage—
Holy Light Barrier
Gideon touched it lightly.
Ripples spread across the shield's surface.
When he stepped closer to Pazuzu, the demon's remaining evil energy was completely blocked outside the barrier.
"It worked!"
Gideon's eyes lit up.
With this technique, demons would find it nearly impossible to ambush him again.
However, maintaining the shield consumed a large amount of holy power.
Even Gideon couldn't keep it active indefinitely.
Better keep it as a trump card, he decided.
At the same moment, a line of text appeared before his eyes as the system panel updated his progress.
But now wasn't the time to study it.
---
The Unexpected MiracleL
Carlos's chanting had gathered an enormous amount of holy energy.
Gideon activated the formation, preparing to use its purification power to completely erase Pazuzu.
But suddenly—
The silver medallion flew out of Gideon's pocket.
It hovered above Pazuzu's head.
Holy radiance poured down upon the demon, locking it in place.
"What… what is this power?!" Pazuzu screamed in terror.
Gideon narrowed his eyes.
He tried to pull the medallion down—but it wouldn't budge.
At the same time, the surrounding holy energy began flowing into the medallion.
Pazuzu's screams grew more desperate.
Through Gideon's eyes, he could see the demon's spiritual body being pulled apart.
Not just its evil aura—
But its very essence.
Regan's face twisted grotesquely.
Behind her, the faint outline of a massive stone statue appeared.
It was a winged creature with the head of a lion.
The next moment—
The statue shattered.
Every fragment was absorbed into the medallion.
Regan collapsed to the ground.
But her expression was peaceful now, and her body was completely free of evil.
--
Just as Gideon stepped forward—
A powerful force suddenly dragged him toward the medallion.
A swirling vortex appeared in the sky.
Violent winds swept across the area, and the daylight itself began dimming.
Standing at the center, Gideon felt a strong rejection force—
as if the world itself was pushing him out.
Realizing what was happening, he immediately activated Holy Light Barrier and gripped his cross tightly.
Nearby, Chris and Carlos stood frozen.
They had no idea what was happening.
"Hurry… give this to Regan later," Gideon said quickly.
He threw a bottle of high-grade holy water.
Then he tossed Carlos a small bag filled with holy artifacts and warned him to use them carefully.
"Ms. Chris… Carlos's mother is in poor health. Please help him when you can… Also, you two…"
Only then did Carlos realize.
Father Gideon was about to leave.
"I… I understand!" Chris nodded blankly.
"Father Gideon! Thank you—!" Carlos shouted.
But the vortex vanished instantly.
Gideon was already gone.
"…Thank you," Carlos whispered softly, finishing the words too late.
---
Aftermath
"Mom…"
Regan slowly climbed up from the ground.
Chris rushed forward and fed her the holy water as Gideon had instructed.
Moments later, Regan vomited a large mass of green slime.
But her complexion had completely returned to normal.
Even Chris could tell—
Her daughter was safe.
She clasped her hands together and silently prayed for Gideon.
Nearby, Carlos picked up the bag of holy artifacts from the ground.
It was filled with precious items.
Thinking back to the first time he met Gideon, Carlos finally understood.
Demons truly existed.
And he had met a real exorcist.
"Hey, what's this?" Regan suddenly said, pulling a folded note from her pocket.
Inside was a message.
"Father Carlos is an upright and kind man. And now he's resigned from the Church…"
Chris and Carlos immediately leaned in.
"Ms. Chris raised her child alone and devotedly cared for Regan. That proves she's a wonderful mother."
"Since both of you are currently single… Ms. Chris, may I ask on Carlos's behalf whether he could invite you for a drink?"
"Of course, this is only my suggestion. If either of you isn't interested, feel free to ignore it."
Both Carlos and Chris awkwardly turned their heads away.
Regan continued reading.
"By the time you read this letter, I may have already left this world. Of course… I'm not dead."
"I am not from this world. And this world is far from peaceful."
"Demons, evil spirits, knights, witches…"
"The future will become dangerous. Trust no one too easily… not even the Church."
"It was fate meeting you two. Use those holy artifacts to protect yourselves."
"I hope someday we will meet again."
The three of them looked at each other in shock.
Finally Carlos spoke.
"Ms. Chris… we should probably leave now."
His eyes were no longer filled with confusion.
"Alright."
The three of them quietly walked back into the house.
---
One Year Later
A headline appeared in the Manhattan Pioneer:
"Famous actress Chris MacNeil announces retirement. Reliable sources report she has married someone outside the entertainment industry…"
Another announcement from the Vatican followed:
"The Church will continue expanding community service personnel. Exorcism rituals are merely cultural traditions. Believers are advised not to take them too seriously…"
---
New York University
Father Merrin sat alone in his office.
His eyes were closed.
A bone floated in front of him.
After several minutes, the bone slowly moved around him before finally falling onto the desk.
He let out a long breath and opened a confidential letter.
"News from the Holy Land: several 'Holy Light Channels' remain sealed. Spiritual awakenings are canceled again this year…"
"Church personnel abroad will continue to be reduced…"
"Holy energy fluctuations were once detected at actress Chris's residence. However, Father Carlos appears to be an ordinary man…"
Merrin put down the letter and sighed.
For some reason, a black-haired figure suddenly appeared in his mind.
But for an entire year—
That person had vanished completely.
Even the evil god he had been tracking had disappeared without a trace.
Merrin sighed again and picked up his pen.
---
Augusta, Georgia
Inside a white house by the roadside, several figures peeked through a window.
Inside the room, four exorcists struggled against a violent swirling storm.
Just then—
One of the priests' expressions suddenly changed.