Kalvis remained silent for a while before finally speaking again.
"Jolan Borja... his intended actions would damage the interests of the Holy Clans..."
Just as William expected, Jolan had indeed acted too radically in his desire to change the Church's landscape, forcing those ancient families with millennia of heritage to make their move.
"...and the entry point we chose was you subordinates," Kalvis looked up.
"The sealed sacrificial item you received back then had long been tampered with. Once activated, it would completely corrupt the user."
"Holy Clergy Members dying due to exorcism errors happens often in the Church. No one would investigate it."
William sneered.
To think this Holy Clan member was still using the same old trick. Truly, "classics never go out of style."
"...but we didn't expect you to successfully escape, and John Casson died instead," Kalvis narrowed his eyes slightly. "From the very beginning, that mission was prepared specifically for you."
"I am truly flattered," William said.
Kalvis closed his eyes: "Left with no other choice, we had to change our strategy and issued the wanted notice for you..."
"We also pardoned the crimes of some people who had previously followed Jolan."
"To muddy the waters and confuse the public?"
"Correct."
In the corner, Betis shot a worried glance beside her.
Currently, Cid was trembling all over, her knuckles white from clenching her fists so tightly.
The next second, she walked straight out.
"Cid!" Betis cried out in alarm.
Dana, Jules, and the others were startled, only just realizing there were other people present.
William, however, remained expressionless, seemingly unsurprised.
Cid took a few steps and stood right in front of Kalvis.
Slap!
She slapped him hard across the face.
"Why!" Cid's eyes brimmed with tears. "You study the Bible and receive the Lord's blessings, yet you commit such demonic acts!"
Kalvis merely snorted coldly and didn't reply.
At this time, Betis also walked out, giving William a slight nod of acknowledgment.
"I am sorry... Father William," Cid suddenly spoke, her voice incredibly low. "I misunderstood you..."
After saying this, she lowered her head and walked toward the tunnel, seemingly drained of all her strength.
"I'll go check on her," Betis said quickly before hurrying after her.
"You guys should follow those two nuns and leave too," William said. "You have no part to play in what happens next."
Dana was watching the direction the nuns left in. Upon hearing his words, she finally turned her head.
"Okay... you must be careful." After a moment of thought, she nodded in agreement.
The other three also raised no objections.
Everything they had witnessed today completely shattered their worldview. They also knew this Mr. William was no ordinary person, and staying would only drag him down.
Thus, the four of them quickly said their goodbyes and left.
"Now it's time to discuss our business, isn't it," Jason spoke in a low, rumbling voice.
"You mentioned 'we' earlier..." William turned his head. "Are these monsters... friends, all your people?"
He originally wanted to just call them monsters, but after a second thought, he added "friends" at the end.
Jason nodded: "After leaving the Land of the Holy War, I intended to return to Camp Crystal Lake, but not long after, I suddenly lost consciousness. When I woke up, I was here."
It gestured to its side.
"These guys experienced something similar. Right now, there are many ghosts and monsters like us imprisoned beneath these ruins."
"If what this Church kid said is true, your human world is going to be in grave danger."
Hearing this, William raised an eyebrow: "You actually caring about humans... that's even rarer than a divine descent."
"Hmph, I'm not doing it for you guys," Jason clenched its fists. "If we could leave, we would have been gone a long time ago."
William looked it up and down: "You guys don't look like you're restrained right now..."
"The Church's glass cages naturally cannot hold us," Jason narrowed its eyes.
"In fact, our power was enhanced once again not long ago. Breaking out of the cages is a piece of cake."
William waited for it to continue.
"But precisely because of that, our power has long been locked onto. We cannot leave this place on our own. And those guys are relying on our existence to continuously draw closer to the human realm."
"Those guys?"
"The Demon God's legion!" Kalvis suddenly spoke up, glaring at William with a grave expression.
"Listen, whatever conflict exists between us, you must let me leave now. Otherwise..."
He panted heavily.
"Otherwise, the Demon God's legion will use the evil aura in the magic array to descend upon the human realm! When that happens, not just North America, but the entire world will be completely reduced to purgatory!"
Jason also spoke: "We don't want to become slaves to those guys, which is why we want to cooperate with you."
William rubbed his chin, paying no attention to Kalvis.
"Since the Demon God's legion is coming, what can I do to help you?" he asked Jason.
"Only a purifying power can sever the connection between us and them," Jason said. "This method must be entirely controlled by the caster. We only trust you."
Hearing this, Kalvis's eyes went wide.
He had never seen a ghost or monster place such immense trust in an exorcist. The two were supposed to be mortal enemies!
William was also momentarily stunned. He didn't expect things to develop in this direction.
"Back in the Land of the Holy War, we were just using each other. Besides, there was a parchment contract back then..." He had a peculiar expression.
"If I actually help you now, many innocent civilians will undoubtedly be harmed because of it later."
A flash of surprise crossed Kalvis's eyes. Only now did he understand how William had managed to recruit such a monster to work for him back then.
Simultaneously, he was amazed that this ordinary priest could obtain an item like a demonic contract.
"Helping us is helping humanity," Jason seemed to have prepared its argument in advance.
"Although the power inside me is constantly growing, it is also becoming increasingly difficult to control. Once the Demon God's legion descends, we are highly likely to be manipulated by them."
"As for harming others..."
Jason let out a few dry, raspy laughs that sounded quite terrifying.
"I don't plan on doing that anymore."
"Oh?" William raised an eyebrow.
"Killing, taking souls, getting killed, then resurrecting for some reason, and endlessly repeating the cycle..." Jason closed its eyes slightly.
"Such work is far too tedious, and it doesn't elevate one's rank either."
It opened its eyes and stared at William: "Therefore, I have reached an agreement with Freddy. We're changing the way we collect power."
"He will be responsible for constructing the dreamscapes, and I will be responsible for going in and killing people."
Before William could ask, Jason rushed to continue: "Don't worry, those humans won't die in reality after dying in the dreamscape like before."
"They will only have a terrifying nightmare and lose some fear, that's all."
William paused slightly. Why did this sound so familiar?
"As for the stability of our cooperation..." Jason reached a grimy hand into its clothes and soon pulled out a yellowed piece of parchment.
"With this contract here, I believe you can rest easy."
William reached out and took it, then raised an eyebrow.
Written on it were exactly the conditions Jason had just mentioned, including the part about changing how they collected evil power.
And with William's current abilities, he could confirm this was a genuine demonic contract.
"Valak provided this," Jason said, seemingly anticipating William's question.
"It also plans to participate in the fear-harvesting operation. It drafted these terms personally according to your standards."
A demon from Hell indeed possessed the authority to forge contracts.
Therefore, William confirmed once again that the document wasn't forged.
Meanwhile, Kalvis beside them was completely dumbfounded.
He never imagined William could maintain such a good relationship with evil existences.
In this moment, a thought suddenly struck him—driving this priest out of the Church was an extremely grave mistake.
"So, what do you say?" Jason asked.
William looked thoughtful. After a moment, he replied: "If you can agree to one condition, it's not out of the question."
"What is it?"
"Help me rescue those exorcists, and lead me to the location of the Source Power passage," William said.
"Since you are locked onto by the Demon God's evil aura, you must know from where they will descend."
Before Jason could speak, Kalvis looked utterly shocked: "Source Power passage... how do you know about that place? What are you planning to do!"
William merely looked at Jason.
"Fine," Jason agreed after a moment. "But we will not stay to fight the Demon God's legion."
"Deal."
On the other side, at the ruin's stone altars.
The exorcists and Holy Clergy Members trapped inside wore expressions of agony, unleashing all their strength to resist the evil invasion.
Several Holy Clan members stood guard nearby, maintaining the stability of the magic arrays.
Suddenly, one of them stood up.
"What's wrong?"
"The underground cells holding those ghosts have lost control! The higher-ups ordered us to accelerate the extraction of power!"
"What!"
Although the group didn't know the reason, they understood the situation was urgent, so they immediately released their own power.
With this, the magic array nodes operated even faster, and the people inside let out agonizing screams.
One Holy Clergy Member's body was suffused with blood. His skin was peeled off layer by layer by some unseen force, and his flesh and blood, mixed with his clothing, were sucked into the magic array.
The evil aura beside him immediately pounced onto his body.
In merely a few seconds, this Holy Clergy Member was completely transformed into an evil monster.
Accompanied by a flash of Holy Light within the magic array, his body turned to dust inch by inch, ultimately vanishing completely.
Simultaneously, the Source Power converging within the magic array grew a bit brighter.
Such scenes played out across the dense forest.
On the Sorcerer Association's side, the stone altars where the junior sorcerers had stood were long since empty. Only Longbarn and Winona were still struggling to hold on.
The former's face was covered in dark blood vessels, and the magical power in his body was constantly weakening.
The latter's clothes were torn to shreds, and her once coldly beautiful face was now deathly pale.
At the stone altar where the Lord Knights were located.
The Pioneer Chivalric Spirit floating behind Hawkwood had shrunk considerably, but it was still resisting stubbornly.
Henry's eyes were bloodshot, his facial muscles contorted. Every so often, he would look to the side, calling out to Pence, who had already collapsed on the ground.
Pence, being the weakest, had long since succumbed to exhaustion.
If it weren't for Hawkwood bearing the brunt of the pressure at the front, the two of them would have probably turned to dust long ago.
The situation at the Rosicrucian Order's stone altar wasn't looking optimistic either.
Those witches who had just joined the Academy lay motionless on the ground, their bodies stiff.
Only Foxx, Zoe, and a few others were still resisting.
But their bodies were equally covered in wounds, fresh blood streaming down their thighs. They were relying solely on magical power to maintain the integrity of their skin.
To the side, Fiona had long been subdued by the Holy Clan members, sporting two red handprints on her face.
Slap!
A crisp sound rang out once again.
Fiona tilted her head, spitting a mouthful of bloody saliva onto the ground.
"Heathen bitches. You all should have faced the Lord's punishment long ago, yet you still dare to hurl insults at us!" a black-robed Holy Clan member spat.
"If I hadn't lost my power, I could crush a bug like you with one hand!" Fiona gritted her teeth.
But her defiance only earned her another slap.
"Consider yourself lucky. At least your death will be quick," the Holy Clan member sneered. "Unlike them..."
He pointed at the witches inside the magic array.
"Skin peeling, flesh and blood extraction... this is a torment far more agonizing than being burned at the stake."
At the same time, Zoe was reaching her limit, streaks of blood appearing on her beautiful face.
Just as she thought she was about to die, she felt the surrounding pressure suddenly ease.
Zoe forced her head up, only to see a soft, pristine white light glowing before her, and a familiar figure standing there.
"William..."
William placed a holy statue on the ground. Then, three rings of golden patterns flared in his eyes as he injected powerful Holy Power into the magic array node, following the method he had extracted from Kalvis.
Accompanied by a shattering sound, the barrier separating the inside and outside of the magic array instantly broke.
"Stop!" a female voice shouted.
Immediately after, a tall figure stepped out from the dense forest.
"By destroying the magic array and rescuing them, the Divine Descent Ritual will also be affected! When the Demon God's legion invades, the people of North America will suffer because of this!" Rorsie frowned.
"And you two." She looked at the two nuns behind William.
"Assisting a Church fugitive in sabotaging the ritual. Are you planning to betray the Church!"
"If Your Excellency Rorsie wishes to go in and take their place personally..." William interrupted her. "Then it's not out of the question."
"Otherwise, save these selfish and foolish excuses."
Rorsie narrowed her eyes tightly and said no more.
She waved her hand lightly, and numerous masked figures stepped out from the dense forest.
Formidable Holy Power surged around them; they clearly possessed significant strength.
"Calling for backup? I have some too." William clapped his hands as he spoke.
Immediately after, rustling sounds echoed from the woods, and all sorts of bizarre, monstrous silhouettes emerged.
Seeing this scene, the Holy Clergy Members present couldn't help but gasp in shock.
"The ghosts from the ruins." Rorsie frowned tightly. "So it was indeed your doing. Kalvis is probably dead by your hands too."
William shrugged: "Heh... who knows."
At this point, Rorsie smiled faintly: "Then I actually owe you my thanks."
"However, as a human, you stand side-by-side with evil spirits and ghosts. Are you planning to betray humanity?"
William countered sharply: "I'm still far behind the Church's 'good deeds.'"
Rorsie knew further words were a waste of time, so she immediately gave the order with a wave of her hand.
The Holy Clergy Members each drew and activated their holy artifacts, and a surge of powerful Holy Power blasted into the sky.
On the opposite side, without needing any order from William, the ghosts and monsters charged toward the Holy Clergy Members.
In an instant, violent tremors erupted in the dense forest.
Meanwhile, in the underground ruin base.
Parolin watched the monsters running amok in the dense forest and the Holy Clan members fighting them, his face devoid of any expression.
After a moment, he suddenly spoke: "Initiate the Divine Descent early."
"Cardinal Parolin! This... shouldn't we notify the other Cardinals?" an attendant beside him asked in surprise.
Upon hearing the question, Parolin turned his head and gave him a look.
The Holy Clergy Member immediately lowered his head, acknowledged the order, and left.