Chapter 208: Anto's Secret
Before the trial began, no one thought highly of Catherine.
Family and friends all advised her to give up.
The opposing lawyer also smiled and gestured multiple times.
Although there were no words, his demeanor revealed a message everywhere—You cannot win.
Under such circumstances, the trial officially began.
"...Next, please have the plaintiff's witness, Maura O'Toole, enter the court..."
In the waiting room, Catherine's eyes were full of disappointment.
She understood that she had been played again.
Everything in front of her was just a performance.
Just as she was about to leave, a hand on the hospital bed raised tremblingly.
In the courtroom.
"...Please have the witness arrive within the specified time..."
Even to show the "Tolerance" of the defendant, the opposing lawyer volunteered to wait a little longer.
Everyone quietly looked at the entrance of the courtroom, waiting for an impossible figure.
Just when everyone thought the facts were settled, the doors were suddenly pushed open.
"I have here a handwritten notebook from Dean Delia of the 'House of Charity'."
Catherine pushed a wheelchair, raising her right hand high.
And the old woman in the wheelchair, Maura, actually had her eyes open at this moment.
She had never been as lucid as she was today.
Two years later.
It had been a long time since that trial.
Due to that crucial piece of evidence, the authorities had to reopen the investigation.
And the subsequent results also shocked people.
In just over thirty years, the remains of over seven hundred children were actually found in the septic tank.
But there were no records of their deaths.
The authorities and the Church were forced to publicly admit their crimes, but only mentioned poor supervision.
However, they at least set up a compensation plan, allowing the survivors and their families to receive a sum of compensation.
The media scrambled to interview one of the survivors from that year, Ms. Maura.
Everyone wanted to know why she suddenly woke up.
But the old lady just smiled mysteriously: "An upright gentleman saved my soul."
Ultimately, Maura passed away peacefully at the age of ninety-nine.
This brave lady suffered much torment when she was young.
But in the latter half of her life, she had always been fighting for persecuted people.
Inside the void space.
William had been observing between the two spirit bodies for a long time.
Finally, he came to a conclusion—this did not conform to the rules stated by that evil spirit.
It seemed to be the influence of Maura.
At this moment, through another path, William saw the latter two "Q&A Materials" in advance.
Like a bug in a program.
He tried projecting Holy Power onto the spirit bodies in front of him, and the next moment, changes also occurred.
"Where is this... I remember signing a contract..."
"Who are you? What is a Q&A?"
Facing the noise of the dead spirits, William stretched out his hand and pressed down.
"I say, you two, are you interested in making a deal?"
A moment later, in Mia's apartment.
William blinked and turned his head to look aside.
At this time, Faya was staring at him, and the clock on the table showed that only more than ten minutes had passed.
"It seems the flow of time in the mental world is not quite the same as in reality," William thought secretly in his heart.
Faya's eyes were doubtful: "You... finished?"
She saw William regain his clarity, but there were no changes around, and she thought the other party hadn't succeeded.
But immediately after, Anto's voice came from the porcelain hand: "Hehe, congratulations, you passed the first question."
Although the tone was unruffled, Anto was extremely shocked inside.
With its authority, it could naturally feel some changes in that space.
And just now, Anto actually found that that soul was released.
How is this possible!
According to the agreement on the parchment, even if the participant answered correctly, they could only obtain a little "Right to dispose of souls."
And this right limited the scope, only able to act on those newly captured dead spirits.
But the dead spirits that could participate in the "Q&A" all had particularities.
To a certain extent, they had long become part of the Hand of the Apostle.
Yet this guy could actually break this rule.
"What exactly did he do inside..." Anto thought hard.
On the other side.
Learning that William had succeeded, joy appeared in Faya's eyes.
Previously, when the other party started the Q&A without authorization, she still had some dissatisfaction in her heart.
But looking at it now, maybe the two could really take this holy relic back.
"What did you choose?" She asked curiously.
But William stared at the porcelain hand: "Start the next Q&A."
But Anto said: "Hehe, you indeed have some ability. However, the difficulty next will also increase significantly."
"For the sake of our acquaintance, I'll give you an extra piece of information."
It paused for a moment; seeing William had no reaction, it could only continue speaking.
"Every time you pass a Q&A, you will gain an opportunity to abstain, and the next time you participate, you only need to answer twice more."
After giving enough information, Anto said no more.
It believed this priest would know how to choose.
The reason for doing this was not out of Anto's kindness.
It's just that the current situation had obviously exceeded its control.
Once these two really passed the following Q&A, then it would never have a chance to raise its rank again.
"Giving this information only after I complete a Q&A..."
William rubbed his chin.
"Hmph, it seems you are not completely restricted by the rules as you said."
"Could it be that passing this level affects your escape plan?"
Having its thoughts exposed, Anto snorted coldly and said no more.
William smiled slightly.
"I don't think you need to make any more meaningless disguises."
He suddenly switched to a commanding tone: "My next choices are 'Not Worth It' and 'Worth It'; now hand over your authority."
"What! How could you know!" Anto's shocked voice came from the porcelain hand.
Before it could react, a huge energy fluctuation suddenly emerged on the surface of the porcelain hand.
Immediately after, a black hexagonal prism crystal appeared in the air, slowly floating to William's side.
While grasping the crystal, he gained insight into everything about the Hand of the Apostle.
Inside space.
Numerous dead spirits gathered here, standing blankly in place.
And there were many lines of spirit bodies connecting to them from all sides, constantly extracting the soul power within.
Anto's spirit body was also in a corner, much freer compared to the former.
At this time, under William's authority, this guy was shivering, without a trace of power to resist.
"How... exactly did you... do it." It spoke with difficulty.
William's tone was calm: "You mean this? I just made a deal with two guys."
Not long ago.
Thanks to Maura's help, William met the two spirit bodies before they entered the "Game Rules."
And the communication with them also let William learn a piece of news—dead spirits did not participate in the Q&A game voluntarily.
But the Demonic Pact also left them a "Hope."
As long as the participant successfully found the strongest emotion in their memory, they could shatter the corresponding emotional chain.
For this reason, participants would obtain a privilege after passing the first Q&A.
That is to witness "The most important scene."
But this rule was nothing more than a trap.
Once the participant really chose according to this direction, the dead spirit would be completely swallowed by the Hand of the Apostle.
And the latter would also sink one point deeper toward the Demon Pillar Abyss.
The only way to clear the level was to target the emotional chains on the dead spirits at the same time and resolve the obsessions in their hearts one by one.
Relying on [Atonement Persuasion], this was not difficult for William.
And those two dead spirits also informed him of Anto's true purpose.
This evil spirit possessed certain authority.
It had misled participants many times to obtain more soul power.
And as long as one successfully passed three Q&As, they could seize the other party's authority.
Time returns to the present.
William didn't plan to keep this guy; he immediately intended to use the power of authority to erase Anto.
Perhaps sensing his intention, this dead spirit's attitude changed extremely quickly.
"Everything is negotiable, Your Excellency Priest! I know many Church secrets!"
"As long as you let me go, no!"
"As long as you let me continue to eke out a living in the porcelain hand, I will tell you all of these."
Anto's tone was fawning.
"To enter the Vatican, just relying on strong strength is far from enough; those old guys are more sinister than the last."
But William interrupted: "Twenty-year vintage Holy Water, or being erased by power; you can choose a way to die."
The corner of Anto's mouth twitched immediately: "Twenty years... You think too highly of me; five years is enough."
"But that's not what I mean. I mean our deal... deal..."
"Okay, five years then." William smiled slightly.
Just as he was about to act, Faya in reality stopped him.
Perhaps sensing William's intention, she immediately used a weak tone and said: "Father William, could you please listen to my suggestion?"
William narrowed his eyes and said: "Please speak."
"This evil spirit has done many evil deeds and of course needs to receive divine punishment."
Faya said, making a cross on her chest.
"But it has existed for over a thousand years, and this holy relic was personally designated by Bishop Megos."
"Making a private decision might invite unnecessary trouble."
"Of course, those innocent souls must be saved; your merit this time will definitely be rewarded by the Church."
For some reason, she couldn't let Anto's spirit body be purified.
William raised an eyebrow: "Makes sense."
But he thought inwardly: "So the Church's target is Anto."
Since Faya had already put it this way, William naturally had to cooperate.
So he handed the hexagonal prism crystal to this nun.
Next, the two used the authority to call back Mia's soul.
Max also hugged his daughter tightly.
He witnessed the whole process.
But after Faya released the Holy Art, this father realized that the matter in front of him exceeded the scope he could handle.
So he obediently acted as a background character.
Fortunately, he waited for a good result.
After this, William and Faya returned to the hospital and released all those souls who still had "Bodies."
As for the remaining dead spirits, relying on William's [Atonement Persuasion] ability, he found the obsessions in their hearts one by one.
And the resolution of obsessions also made the dead spirits confess their burial places.
Thus, these dead spirits all found peace.
This took some effort during this period, but it also made his practice in the "Soul Body" part increase a lot.
Southwest of Philadelphia, the address of the Exorcism Institute.
Faya looked hurried, entering it carrying a cloth bag.
With no obstruction along the way, she met Archbishop Jose.
After listening to the course of events, a strange look flashed in this Archbishop's eyes: "It seems this priest indeed has some extraordinary qualities."
But whether to really recruit him still had to be reported to the Exorcism Institute for research.
After all, that person was chosen by Joran first; without preparation, the Exorcism Institute didn't want to oppose a Holy See Messenger yet.
Afterwards, Faya took out the Hand of the Apostle.
And Jose's eyes were also bright: "After so many years, you have finally returned to the Church again."
He gestured with his hand as he spoke, and the male priest beside him quickly opened a secret room in the room.
Jose held the crystal, looking at a cluster of soul in front of him.
"Anto Zadok, former Chief Priest of the Temple, Betrayer."
Doubt flashed in Anto's eyes: "Who are you, what do you want with me."
Jose smiled slightly: "In that Holy War a thousand years ago, you opened an otherworldly space. Many Ancestors fell inside, and of course, those holy relics."
"And only you successfully escaped from inside."
Anto narrowed its eyes: "I didn't expect you to even know this kind of thing."
"But unfortunately, the way to enter 'That Place' is not in my current memory."
Jose chuckled: "Then that is too coincidental; the Church happens to have a piece of 'Memory' about you."
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