Three rings of golden patterns surfaced in Sandri's eyes, and his body radiated a faint glow. A modestly sized circular barrier then expanded outward, encompassing the entire crater.
The next moment, time within the barrier seemed to stop.
The grass, dirt, rocks, leaves... everything froze in place, and the erupting evil aura hung suspended in mid-air.
Simultaneously, a powerful surge of Holy Power hurtled toward William.
At this time, hundreds of chains condensed from evil aura shot out from the bottom of the crater, lashing out at William as well.
Hugh Rowland, observing from the sidelines, narrowed his eyes and drew his crucifix longsword.
In an instant, violent tremors erupted around William.
After the dust settled, he stood there completely unharmed, surrounded by numerous floating runes glowing with golden light.
These runes emanated from the surface of the black leather book.
They varied in shape, their meaning unknown, but they were capable of isolating and repelling powers of all attributes.
Seeing this scene, Sandri's expression turned grave.
"Do you know what doing this means!" he roared.
"You, your friends, and all the exorcists present will become ordinary people!"
"Supernatural power will vanish completely! Evil will conquer the entire world, and countless innocent people will die because of this!"
As his voice faded, a brief silence fell over the air.
The exorcists all stared at the figure standing beside the black leather book, complex emotions flashing in some of their eyes.
"Your Excellency still doesn't forget to spout lies even at a time like this," William said calmly.
"Supernatural power will indeed disappear, but evil existences will also cease to exist, won't they?"
Sandri's eyes narrowed tightly: "Are you truly willing to become an ordinary person?"
"Immense power, fame, wealth... these things are right at your fingertips now. But once supernatural power is gone, they will all become illusions."
His tone suddenly softened.
"As long as you stop right now, I can make the call to have the Church revoke your wanted status. If you want to return, that's fine too, and you can even be promoted to the position of Archbishop."
William looked Sandri up and down with an expression that seemed to say, Are you an idiot?
"A Cardinal of the Church actually using worldly desires to tempt someone. Is this what Your Excellency reads in your Bible every day?"
He pointed at the bottom of the crater as he spoke.
"Don't tell me you're in cahoots with these demons."
Sandri's eye twitched for a moment.
"As for those promises of positions..." William sneered. "If you were in my shoes, would you agree?"
"Why," Sandri ceased his persuasion, looking genuinely perplexed instead.
"Why would you give up immense power and a status above the vast majority of people?"
"With the talent you've displayed, you would definitely become one of the absolute best, even among exorcists."
William smiled faintly: "Everyone pursues different things. You, and you all..."
He pointed at the majority of the exorcists present.
"To me, depriving you of the privileges of supernatural power is the most important thing."
"Ordinary humans have no obligation to become your vassals, and this world is not ready to accept supernatural power."
"What gives you the right to decide everything!" Sandri roared in fury.
"Heh... Your Eminence," William sneered.
"I believe those ordinary people harmed by supernatural power hold the exact same sentiment."
Sandri was instantly left speechless, his pupils contracting violently.
On the other side, the black leather book completely absorbed the power of the Tablet of the Ten Commandments.
The text engraved upon it faded bit by bit, indicating that the Holy Power attribute within this Legendary Item no longer existed.
Simultaneously, the Church's Source Power passage marker on the page suddenly lit up.
A block of text appeared before William's eyes.
This time, he chose "Close".
The next moment, the black leather book abruptly erupted with a massive surge of golden Holy Power.
Immediately after, evil aura, magical power, mental energy...
These various attributes of exorcism power all shot toward the sky at this moment.
At the same time, similar scenes occurred at Source Power passages all over the world.
The surrounding exorcists were utterly shocked, trying desperately to figure out what had happened.
Ordinary people who witnessed the anomalies, on the other hand, watched the spectacle with detached amusement.
These diverse powers, like floodwaters bursting from a dam, continuously overflowed into the heavens and dissipated.
Simultaneously, all exorcists discovered an unacceptable truth: their power was disappearing.
This feeling... it was as if something vital was being extracted from their bodies.
"Urrgh..."
Many people in the dense forest immediately revealed expressions of agony.
Curses, angry shouts, a barrage of attacks...
William instantly became the target of public criticism.
But no matter how the exorcists tried, they could not reverse this outcome.
Before long, quiet gradually returned to the dense forest.
The supernatural power within the Source Power passage vanished completely, and the rift at the bottom disappeared as if it had never existed, leaving only a massive dirt crater.
The expressions of the exorcists varied.
Some wore hideous scowls, continuously trying to activate their power.
Some had vacant stares, slumping powerlessly onto the ground.
Others looked calm, leaving the dense forest alone.
"Nobody move!"
A shout suddenly rang out from the woods, followed by numerous heavily armed soldiers pouring out.
Underwood was among them, an uncontrollable excitement on his face at this moment.
He jogged a few steps and arrived at the crater.
"Mr. William, you..."
William watched the black leather book in his hand dissipate into the wind, then dusted off his palms: "Mr. Secretary, I leave the rest to you."
Hearing this, Underwood's eyes lit up instantly.
"No problem! Please go rest first. North America will not forget your contribution this time."
William nodded, then calmly walked away.
The Secretary's voice soon echoed from behind: "Your Eminence, please come with us."
One year later.
The influence of supernatural power had completely withdrawn from people's lives.
Under the deliberate control of North America, the vast majority of people even believed it was all a hoax. After all, this was standard operating procedure for the North American government.
As for those anomalies that had appeared... it must have been certain countries across the Pacific manufacturing dangerous weapons again!
Meanwhile, another piece of news caused ripples across the globe: a coalition of countries, led by North America, claimed that spies had infiltrated the Church and planned to exercise mind control over its followers.
Consequently, these countries imposed sanctions on the Church and replaced its core personnel.
Most of the former high-ranking Holy Clergy Members disappeared without a trace.
As for ordinary Holy Clergy Members and local followers, after their identities were confirmed as clear, they quickly returned to their peaceful lives.
On the west coast of the Pacific, in a rural town.
A postman riding a bicycle stopped in front of a house.
He stuffed a letter into the mailbox by the door, then quickly left.
Creak~
Shortly after, the front door opened, and a handsome young man in slippers walked out.
He went to the mailbox and took out the kraft paper envelope inside.
It was a letter from North America, signed with the name "Judy Warren".
The contents of the letter were quite ordinary, filled with a young girl's thoughts and longing.
However, the ending mentioned another matter: Mom has already mailed the package!
At the same time, security departments across the world all received a package.
The item bore no name on the surface, nor any obvious identifying features of its origin. It was even difficult to trace when it was dropped off.
After conducting standard hazardous materials evacuation and screening procedures, intelligence departments everywhere opened the package.
Inside the box was only a single storage drive. But after security personnel connected it to controlled equipment, the contents left everyone astounded.
Surveillance plans, lists of field agents, cutting-edge technology...
The storage drive was actually filled with data concerning North America's core secrets!
And judging from the content and the situations monitored by security departments in various locations, the authenticity of this data was extremely high!
In an instant, this matter caused massive shockwaves among the upper echelons of various countries.
Simultaneously, retaliatory measures against North America were quickly initiated.
Because the intelligence was accurate and involved deep secrets, North America suffered heavy losses in this matter. Many of their deployments had to be halted midway, and they were forced to lay low for a long time to come.
This also brought a brief, rare period of peace to the entire world.
And the instigator of all this, William, had long since retreated to a certain countryside, enjoying his long-awaited leisure time.
(End of Book)