Chapter 166: Consciousness Entity
Haggai looked puzzled.
"The black-robed man obviously had more powerful means just now, but he was stopped by the guy with glasses. They must have more important things to do."
William explained.
"A dying beast is the most ferocious; forcefully blocking it might cause greater casualties."
"The most urgent thing now is to wake up the audience in the venue. There are magic arrays I set up on the periphery; they can't escape for a while."
He had another sentence unsaid.
Judging from the direction of the heretics' retreat, they probably went to the place where the backup plan was set up earlier.
In that case, it was better to wait for the former to step on all the traps.
This would both weaken the power of the heretics and avoid confronting them directly.
Bent and the others understood in their hearts and nodded in agreement.
Although Haggai was unwilling to admit it verbally, William's words were indeed correct.
"Haggai, you have to learn from him!" Caroline patted the former on the shoulder.
Hearing this, Silas and the others turned their heads immediately, pretending not to hear anything.
Haggai had black lines on his forehead: "Shut up!"
At this time, those rushing spectators were all stopped by the defected Corrosion Walkers.
William and his group came to an old clergy member.
"Archbishop Ortega, have you found a way to wake these people up?" Haggai crossed himself on his chest and said.
Matthew waved his hand: "You kid stay away from me, lest others think I'm some improper old thing."
The corner of Haggai's mouth twitched, but he still took two steps back.
Then Matthew stood up: "Alas, the Lord gave me guidance, but I lost my sight."
Everyone aside looked at each other, with doubts revealed in their eyes.
Bent asked tentatively: "Did the Lord tell you anything simpler?"
"You seminary students can't even understand this!"
Matthew patted the former's head.
"I know what happened to these guys, but I can't help it!"
He shook his head as he spoke.
"These people are all trapped in a unified consciousness entity. For some, that is the medium connecting the physical body and the spirit."
"Life, death, desire—these have no meaning to them; there is only emptiness there."
Haggai was thoughtful: "Sounds like those believers of the Old Gods."
"At least you have some brains!"
Matthew nodded approvingly.
"To save people, one must go deep into the hearts of these shells in the venue and use words to call back their consciousness."
"This not only requires guidance to the heart but also requires strong mental power; otherwise, one will also fall into it."
He sighed.
"It was certainly easy in the past, but now..."
Although Archbishop Matthew didn't say it explicitly, Haggai knew the inside story.
Decades ago, this Archbishop possessed extremely powerful Holy Power.
Even comparable to Joran.
But due to Church reform, the Exorcism Academy became the new dominant player.
Matthew, belonging to the Sacred Society, naturally became the target of suppression.
At that time, "St. Peter's" had many priests practicing theology diligently, making certain progress in researching the "Unknowable Space."
The latter concerned the inheritance of the Church's power for thousands of years.
To prevent the guys from the Exorcism Academy from destroying it, Archbishop Matthew stepped forward proactively.
He used a holy relic to connect his power with "St. Peter's."
This greatly increased the probability of clergy members in the cathedral cultivating Holy Power.
At the same time, the success rate of making holy artifacts in St. Peter's far exceeded other churches.
Only then was the cathedral spared from political infringement, and Archbishop Matthew has served until now.
Matthew looked at several people: "How is your learning in the course 'Psychological Counseling'?"
Hearing the Archbishop's question, everyone started to stammer.
"Uh... Teacher Richie said I have good talent in reciting prayers."
"I... I just got first place in the Holy Oil test not long ago!"
"Archbishop Matthew, you know I can't use Holy Power!"
"Don't look at me; I was kicked out because I failed theology."
Matthew almost wanted to take out a crucifix to hit people.
"You guys stayed in the seminary for so long for nothing!" He shook his head and sighed.
Caroline pointed to the side and whispered: "Archbishop Matthew, but everyone in St. Peter's has also fallen for it."
At this time, Beatrice and Roderick both had their eyes rolled back, completely trapped in the mental illusion.
William, Haggai, and the academy trio turned around one after another upon hearing this, pretending to look at the scenery.
"You don't talk!" Matthew glared.
At this time, William stood up.
"Archbishop, I visited many families during community service before and have some experience in psychological counseling."
"Oh?"
Matthew looked at the young man in front of him.
"You are indeed good, different from them."
He heard William's words just now and knew this was a person with brains.
William raised his vigilance immediately upon hearing this.
Bro is kindly helping, yet you are making enemies for me!
So he hurriedly said: "Your praise flatters me."
"Without Father Haggai, Silas, and the others, it would have been difficult for us to drive away those heretics."
Hearing this, Haggai felt much more comfortable inside.
The academy trio didn't think much; instead, after seeing Haggai's performance, they silently noted down William's words.
"Hmm, such words are generally used on petty people like this..."
Caroline rubbed her chin: "Haggai, this is um..."
Bent quickly covered the nun's mouth: "Sorry, Sister Caroline, you'd better not talk."
Subsequently, Matthew informed William of the specific guidance method and some precautions.
For example, keep self-awareness at all times, don't believe anything seen, etc.
Then he said they could start.
But William didn't rush to act.
He first set up five layers of magic arrays on the spot.
Then he added several holy artifacts at the joints of his limbs, all of 20-year vintage.
This wasn't over yet.
Next, he drank several bottles of high-quality Holy Water consecutively, stopping only after burping.
After doing these, William gave several bottles of Holy Water to several people respectively, instructing them: "Once you find something wrong, pour it into my mouth immediately."
During this period, Matthew looked surprised.
He had served in the Church for so many years but had never seen such a cautious person.
What do you mean! Do you think I, Archbishop Matthew, can't protect you!
Seeming to perceive his emotions.
This young man smiled slightly: "Your Excellency Archbishop, having you here makes me feel most at ease."
Explanation is too deliberate!
Matthew suppressed the urge to beat someone up: "Hurry up!"
William nodded and sat in the center of the protective array.
Then Silas pressed a spectator in place.
"Lost soul, I know you desire to return to your body; please follow my voice..."
Relying on the ability of [Psychological Counseling], William soon discovered an anomaly.
A stream of energy emerged from around this spectator's brain.
Then it drifted towards William.
He was about to act, but at this time, Archbishop Matthew's voice came.
"Don't move; this is consciousness energy, which can take you to that unified consciousness entity."
William nodded slightly, letting that stream of consciousness energy contact him.
"The holy artifacts have no reaction; it seems there is no evil in it." He thought to himself, feeling slightly relieved.
In the next moment.
The scene in front of William changed abruptly.
At this time, he was floating in a void.
No boundaries, no sound.
The only light source came from the top.
William raised his head, only to see an extremely huge sphere of light.
He instinctively felt a sense of intimacy towards this thing, which made William instantly vigilant.
He hurriedly checked himself.
At this time, the holy artifacts at the joints disappeared, but the string of text in front of him was still there.
This made William breathe a sigh of relief; it meant his ability still existed.
At the same time, he also found a stream of energy on his body connecting to the sphere of light.
"This is from that spectator." He recognized it quickly.
Next, William followed this energy and soon submerged into the sphere of light.
"You caught up with a good market; now is the era of video, and the company's growth will also allow you to enjoy..."
"The patient has a history of long-term overtime work, diagnosed with sudden cardiac death..."
"I will choose a messenger to lead the human world..."
The memory fragments were suddenly interrupted, and William opened his eyes abruptly.
He observed the surroundings.
At this time, many figures were floating around him, all existing in the form of energy bodies.
There was a spiritual thread connecting these figures to each other.
William also had one on himself.
Through this connection, he could actually observe the images in other people's minds.
Past regrets, painful memories, longing for lost ones...
All the images converged into four words—Parting in Life and Death.
But William soon discovered an anomaly.
These images developed to the end, actually all having happy endings.
Looking at that unified happy smiling face, William felt incredibly weird.
[Anomaly.]
A text suddenly appeared in front of William's eyes.
He narrowed his eyes immediately.
[Victim of faith. All pain and prayers in the world are meaningless, just fig leaves covering inner thoughts.]
[We belong to one body originally. The flesh and spirit were just your shackles; it is time to reunite again.]
The surrounding spirits moved together suddenly, all reaching out to William.
[Come back; this is your warm home.]
The spiritual figures floated towards William one after another.
"Who is one body with you?" William spoke suddenly. "Before preaching, I suggest you learn the logic of scams first."
As soon as the voice fell, all the spiritual figures stopped in place.
"Since you say 'pain and regret are meaningless,' then why talk about 'warmth, reunion, home'?"
William scanned the surroundings.
"Isn't this self-contradictory?"
Like silence, no new text displayed in front of him.
"And those false happinesses."
William sneered.
"Perfection represents the ultimate; for humans, this is an unacceptable thing."
"We are cunning, painful, loving, questioning."
"All these imperfect qualities drive human progress instead."
"From the Crescent Civilization thousands of years ago to the medieval city-states, and then to the modern cities today, all these are imperfect."
William spread his hands.
"If one day only perfection remains in the human world, that will be the end of mankind."
As soon as this remark came out, the surroundings seemed to stagnate for a moment.
In the next second, text appeared in front of William again.
[Who are you? You are not his believer.]
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