Chapter 166 — The Unified Consciousness
Haggai frowned in confusion.
"The man in black clearly had stronger methods," he muttered.
"But he was stopped by the man with glasses… which means they still have something more important to deal with."
Gideon responded calmly.
"A cornered beast fights the hardest. Forcing a direct confrontation now would only cause more casualties."
"Right now, our priority is to wake the audience."
"I've already set up formations around the perimeter. Even if they flee, they won't get far."
He left one thing unsaid—
Judging from their escape route, the cultists were most likely heading for their hidden failsafe.
Which suited him perfectly.
Let them walk straight into every trap he'd prepared.
It would weaken them without the need for a frontal clash.
Bente and the others quickly understood and nodded.
Even Haggai, though unwilling to admit it, knew Gideon was right.
Caroline slapped Haggai on the shoulder.
"See? You should learn from him!"
Silas and the others instantly turned their heads away, pretending they'd heard nothing.
Haggai's eye twitched. "Shut up."
---
By now, the corrupted audience members were being held back by the redeemed Corrosive Walkers.
The group stopped beside an elderly clergyman.
"Archbishop Ortega," Haggai crossed himself.
"Have you found a way to wake them?"
Mattheus waved his hand irritably.
"Stand farther away, boy. I don't want people thinking I'm some improper old man."
Haggai quietly stepped back two paces.
Mattheus stood and sighed.
"The Lord has shown me the truth… but my sight has failed me."
Everyone exchanged puzzled glances.
Bente cautiously asked,
"Did the Lord… say anything simpler?"
"You've been in seminary this long and you still don't understand?!"
Mattheus smacked Bente on the forehead.
"I know what happened to them—but I can't fix it!"
He shook his head.
"They've all fallen into a unified consciousness—"
"For some, it's the bridge between body and mind."
"Life, death, desire… none of it matters in there."
"There is only emptiness."
Haggai murmured, "Sounds like the Old Gods cult…"
Mattheus nodded approvingly.
"At least you still have a brain."
"To save them, someone must enter their inner world…
Call their awareness back with words alone."
"But without powerful mental strength, that person will be swallowed as well."
He sighed.
"If this were years ago… it would've been easy."
He didn't explain further.
But Haggai knew.
Once, Archbishop Mattheus's sacred power rivaled even Jolan's.
But after the reform movement, the Exorcism Institute rose to power—
And the Scholar Order was pushed aside.
Mattheus chose sacrifice.
He used a holy relic to bind himself to St. Peter's Cathedral,
So that priests within could cultivate sacred power more easily,
And holy relic creation there would succeed at an unusually high rate.
Thus St. Peter was spared politically—
And Mattheus remained in his position until today.
Mattheus glanced at them.
"How did you do in psychological counseling class?"
The group immediately froze.
"…Father Richie said my prayers were good?"
"I ranked first in holy oil testing!"
"…I can't even use sacred power!"
"…I was expelled for failing theology…"
Mattheus nearly raised his cross like a weapon.
"You WASTED your years in seminary!"
Caroline timidly whispered,
"Archbishop… even St. Peter's people are affected too…"
At this moment, Bettice and Roderick were already fully unconscious.
Gideon, Haggai, and the seminary trio all turned away—
Pretending to admire the scenery.
"You!"
Mattheus glared. "Stop talking!"
---
Gideon stepped forward.
"Archbishop… when I did community work, I counseled many families."
"I have some experience with mental guidance."
Mattheus examined him carefully.
"You… are different from the rest."
Gideon instantly went on guard.
Brother, I'm helping—why are you setting me up as a target?!
He quickly replied,
"I wouldn't have succeeded without Father Haggai, Silas, and the others."
Haggai immediately felt better.
The others silently memorized the reward pattern.
So this is what you say to soothe sensitive people…
Caroline tilted her head.
"Haggai, that was—"
Bente clapped a hand over her mouth.
"Sorry, Sister Caroline. Please stop talking."
---
Mattheus then explained the process and warnings to Gideon:
Stay lucid.
Distrust everything you see.
Do not lose yourself.
Then he announced they could begin.
Gideon did not begin.
Instead—
He laid out five layers of formations.
Then attached twenty-year holy relics to every joint.
Then drank several bottles of holy water—
Until he burped.
Then he handed holy water to everyone else.
"If anything goes wrong," he said gravely,
"POUR IT INTO MY MOUTH."
Mattheus stared in disbelief.
In all his years—
He had never met someone this paranoid.
Do you think I, Mattheus, can't protect you?!
Gideon smiled.
"With you here, Archbishop—I feel safest of all."
…That sounded fake.
Mattheus clenched his fists.
"Just start already!"
Gideon sat inside the formation.
Silas restrained a random audience member.
"Lost soul… you long to return. Follow my voice—"
Using Psychological Counseling, Gideon sensed something wrong.
Energy flowed from the man's mind—
Toward him.
Mattheus's voice cut in sharply:
"Don't move. That's consciousness energy."
"It will bring you to the unified consciousness itself."
Gideon let it touch him.
His relics did nothing.
"No corruption…" he thought.
Then—
The world vanished.
He was floating in nothingness.
No sound.
No edges.
Only a massive sphere of light above.
And a strange… intimacy.
Image attractive.
Which terrified him.
He checked himself.
His relics were gone—
But his system display remained.
Good.
A tendril of consciousness connected him to the sphere.
"It belongs to that man…"
He followed it.
And entered—
Voices exploded inside his mind.
"This media company will grow rapidly in the digital era—"
"The patient died from cardiac arrest after long-term overwork—"
"I shall choose a messenger to guide the world—"
Reality, lies, death, and prophecy—
All colliding inside a single mind.
The fragments of memory were suddenly severed.
Gideon snapped his eyes open.
He looked around.
Countless figures floated nearby—each existing as a being of pure energy.
Threads of spiritual light connected them to one another.
One thread extended from his own body as well.
Through this connection, he could see into the thoughts of others.
Regrets from the past.
Painful memories.
Longing for those who were gone…
Every image ultimately converged into four words:
Separation by life and death.
Yet something felt wrong.
No matter where the memories began,
Every single one ended in happiness.
Reunions.
Smiles.
Perfect closures.
Looking at those identical happy endings, Gideon felt not comfort—
But unease.
---
???: An outsider.
Text appeared before his eyes.
Gideon narrowed his gaze.
???: A victim of faith.
All suffering and prayer are meaningless—merely veils that hide your true desires.
???: We were always one.
Flesh and mind are only shackles you once bore.
It is time to return and become whole again.
All the drifting figures turned toward him at once—
And reached out.
???: Come back.
This is your warmest home.
The spirits began floating toward him.
---
"Who do you think you're uniting with?"
Gideon suddenly spoke.
"Before you preach, I suggest you study logic first."
The spirits froze midair.
"You say pain and regret have no meaning."
"Then why speak of 'warmth,' 'reunion,' and 'home'?"
He swept his gaze across the countless figures.
"Isn't that self-contradictory?"
Silence.
No new words appeared.
---
"And those fake happy endings…"
Gideon scoffed.
"Perfection implies finality."
"For humanity, that's unacceptable."
"We are deceitful.
We love.
We suffer.
We doubt."
"All of these 'flaws'—"
"Are exactly what push humanity forward."
"From the Crescent Civilizations of ancient times…
To medieval city-states…
To modern nations…"
"Human history is built on imperfection."
He spread his hands.
"The day this world contains only perfection—"
"Is the day humanity ends."
---
The space itself seemed to pause.
Then—new words emerged.
???: Who are you?
You are not his believer…
-