Chapter 78 – The Lamb Scripture
"The remains?"
Vincent's voice carried a hint of confusion.
He had expected the priest to demand something like, "Let us leave first."
Who would have thought this priest was concerned with the dead?
"Most of them… I've turned into wax figures, if you're interested," Vincent said, testing the waters.
"I could take you to the wax museum right now. How about it?"
Gideon shook his head and immediately pressed the cross against the pulsating flesh orb.
A sharp, acrid smell filled the air.
"Ahhh…"
Vincent's voice cracked, raw with pain.
"You filth! All of you deserve to die!"
The booming sound reverberated through the space.
Buildings around them began to tremble.
Soon, the sound of rushing water filled their ears.
In an instant, corrosive liquid surged in from all directions.
Trees and houses hissed and smoked upon contact, quickly sinking beneath the acidic tide.
"Corrosive."
Sadie's sharp eyes immediately recognized the substance.
The acid was about to engulf them.
Carly and Wade panicked, frantically searching for higher ground.
Sasha scanned the area, trying to locate an escape route.
Sadie looked to Gideon, trusting that he must have a plan.
Yet he remained calm, almost indifferent to the surrounding danger.
The next moment, the acid swept over them.
Everyone closed their eyes—except Gideon.
When the corrosive tide receded, they opened their eyes to find themselves unharmed.
A faint, white glow radiated in a circle around their feet, forming a protective barrier.
The acid could not cross it.
Gideon turned and produced the exorcism scripture, preparing to chant.
"W-wait!"
Vincent's voice rang out again.
"Just… just joking earlier. I'll give you the remains right now."
As his words fell, the acid instantly retreated and vanished.
The walls around them now revealed rows of wax figures, each with lifelike expressions, astonishingly detailed.
Among them was a small boy, perfectly resembling Simo.
Suddenly, the space echoed with a series of loud crashes.
Light appeared again at the top, and the "ground" of the town folded back into its proper orientation, flattening smoothly.
The wax figures gathered along the road at the town's entrance.
Everyone was stunned.
Hadn't they just had a life-or-death standoff?
Why was everything suddenly calm?
Seeing the town return to normal, Carly no longer wished to linger and grabbed Wade to leave.
"Hold on."
Gideon suddenly reached out, stopping them.
"Mr. Vincent, your tricks are crude at best," he said.
"If you had held out like a real man earlier, maybe I could have believed you planned to give that thing up."
As he spoke, Gideon flipped through the exorcism scripture, preparing for the next move.
Not far off, a voice echoed from within the cluster of wax figures.
"Y-you… what must I do for you to let me go?"
Vincent wriggled out from the pile.
By now, only his head retained a human form; the rest of his body had turned into a wet, sticky mass of flesh, covered with sharp, jagged spikes—truly a terrifying sight.
"Let you go?"
Gideon raised an eyebrow.
"You know the law of survival: the strong prevail, the weak perish. I shouldn't have to explain it to you."
Vincent's face twisted with rage.
"If that's the case, I'll drag you all down with me!"
His body began to swell, as if preparing to make another move.
But Gideon was no longer giving him any chance.
He recited a sacred mantra, activating the holy relics he had placed at the entrance.
White light suddenly flared around Vincent.
By the time he realized, it was already too late.
Blinding beams of holy light transformed into long spears, piercing toward Vincent.
"Pth… pth…"
Sounds of flesh being pierced rang out. Vincent was held rigidly in place.
With his final breath, he shot a gaze full of hatred at everyone before collapsing into a puddle of rotting flesh.
The pulsating flesh orb shattered into fragments alongside his death.
Meanwhile, the evil aura that had engulfed Ambrose began to dissipate, slowly extending into the surrounding forest.
Carly exhaled shakily.
Without the priest's intervention, she would have been dead moments ago.
"Thank you!" she said sincerely.
Gideon said nothing, instead drawing out more sacred relics.
For the next while, he performed a thorough purification ritual on Vincent's corpse, ensuring that resurrection would be impossible.
Witnessing this, the others couldn't help but feel a deep respect.
It was astonishingly meticulous work.
When he was done, Gideon turned to them, his expression stern:
"Never trust strangers lightly. And don't indulge in foolish curiosity…"
"And you," he said, glancing at Sasha.
"Spend the rest of your years quietly. Don't go wandering off for no reason…"
Over the next few minutes, the three received an unusual but effective lesson.
They nodded silently, like little chicks pecking at grain.
Sadie, nearby, occasionally revealed a look of sudden comprehension, clearly learning a lot herself.
Once the "safety rules" had been firmly impressed on their minds, Gideon instructed them to gather all the wax figures together.
He then set up another set of ritual tools around them.
Opening the Lamb Scripture, he spoke in a calm, unwavering voice:
"Lamb of the Lord, remove the chains of mortals, and gaze upon them with mercy…"
At his words, the wax figures glowed faintly white.
Their expressions—anger, pain, terror—gradually softened into serenity, as if all suffering had become mere memories.
Sasha watched in awe.
This… this is the exorcism I've always dreamed of!
"This priest seems even stronger than my father…" she whispered.
After completing the ritual, Gideon sent Sadie and the others to search the town, ensuring no other victims remained trapped.
He himself walked in a different direction, anticipating the arrival of Vincent's reinforcements.
Though he didn't know their strength, he was ready to give them a little surprise.
After some time, the group reconvened at Ambrose's entrance.
Sadie's team had indeed found a victim—a woman named Jennifer.
She had been deceived into coming to the town by Lester and was found completely naked.
According to Jennifer, Vincent had nearly covered her in hot wax before the group arrived in time.
As fellow survivors, Carly comforted Jennifer.
Meanwhile, Gideon carried a wax figure of a young boy.
The setting sun bathed the town's streets in red light.
Under Gideon's guidance, the group departed through the entrance.
Along the way, they encountered Carly's companions.
After learning what had happened in Ambrose, her friends were utterly incredulous.
Soon, they parted ways with Gideon.
Before leaving, Carly hugged him tightly.
"Thank you."
She waved goodbye, and Jennifer left with them.
To prevent any danger on their return journey, Gideon left them a bottle of low-aged holy water.
He also warned them not to get off the vehicle unnecessarily and to report to the authorities as soon as they arrived.
Naturally, Carly and Wade took these precautions seriously.
Having experienced the dangers of Ambrose, they now understood the meaning of safety deeply.
Gideon, meanwhile, led Sadie and Sasha back into the forest.
Shortly after they left, a shadow moved swiftly from the distance.
Azazel stood atop a treetop, his eyes fixed on the town below as the dusk painted the streets in gold, his brows tightly furrowed.