Long-term salvation

"I smell Rod, he's coming home."

The cat didn't say anything, but just continued to eat its snacks.

"What a pity," the wolf girl narrowed her eyes slightly. "There are still quite a few people at home, otherwise I could have taken action... Or do I have to wait until night? But then, there would be too many competitors - throw away my shame and attack now? Hmm - what a difficult decision."

Cat: "...Please be normal."

"Eh?! Pickman, did you just speak?!"

"Meow~~"

"Maybe I heard it wrong," Bai Zi held the cat's front legs and lifted it in front of him to examine it carefully. "How can a cat speak?"

"..."

Why the hell did a jackal transform into a human and talk? He's the ancient Egyptian god of death (Anubis), after all. Couldn't he just stop thinking about mating and robbing banks?

The cat's eyes twitched slightly, and it suddenly felt like the most normal creature in all of Hill Manor - as expected, it was time to return to its owner's body... That wasn't a good place to be, so it was better to go to the kitchen and ask Ms. Marian for something to eat.

While struggling, Pickman and Baizi heard Rhodes' voice. He seemed to have shouted several times, making the voice still have a little echo:

"Everyone gather in the reception room, there's something to do!"

Hearing this voice, Bai Zi picked up Pickman in his arms and trotted briskly towards the reception room.

In just two or three minutes, Rhode drank the coffee Marian had brewed in the reception room. He looked at the bewildered girls in front of him and said in a deep voice:

"I'm planning to go to Spain to resolve a religious incident in the otherworld. However, due to the Vatican, I don't plan to bring anyone with me... Yes, including Mari and Hinai."

Mary's cat ears twitched twice, and the little nun's cheeks puffed up. She whispered a rebuke to those hypocritical people who had occupied the Vatican. Even Bai Zi's wolf ears drooped limply, and her face was full of obvious disappointment.

"Don't be so disappointed. There will always be opportunities in the future," Rhode said with a soothing smile. "But besides the incident itself, I plan to call D up again... Okay, D isn't here. Marian and Little Red Riding Hood, you two come with me and stay alert for possible enemies from a distance. I'll have the local Plessy Logistics Company employees pick you up. The enemies might be human."

"Wait, Rod," Abigail raised her hand. She had already taken Pickman from Bai Zi's arms and raised it to Rod, saying, "Pickman and I have invented some new functions that can definitely help you - come on, Pickman, give him the whole job!"

Abigail said, throwing her cat up.

Instead of doing a backflip, the cat landed lightly on the ground and gave Rhodes a dead look. Then it bit its own tail and pulled hard. The tail covered with black cat fur was immediately pulled off. Something like a shadow emerged from the wound and soon condensed into a cat tail again.

"This one……"

Rhodes took the cat's tail in a daze, and it immediately turned into three revolver bullets in his palm. Abigail walked forward, stretched out her hand, and touched her palm with hers.

The girl's soft fingers brought a little warmth, but this wonderful feeling was soon replaced by coldness. At this moment, Rhodes seemed to feel that he could see the mist shimmering with starlight through the gaps.

[Pollution points in the other world increased by 1]

Finally, the shells of three .357 Magnum bullets were engraved with twinkling star patterns. They lay quietly in Rhodes' palm, emitting a faint and strange aura.

"Bullets to close small and medium-sized gaps in the other world. Fire two or three medium-sized ones," Abigail's face showed some fatigue. She climbed into Rhode's arms and sat down, stretching and yawning. "You can use it according to the situation. You can also fire one at yourself. That way, Pickman and I can teleport directly over."

"Thank you so much, Abigail."

Rhode smiled and patted the girl's head. She narrowed her eyes slightly, raised her chin, and gave a smug look to Nyako, who was biting her handkerchief. Just as a new round of civil war among the descendants of the evil god was about to begin, Rhode pondered for a few seconds, turned to Baizi, and said:

"Baizi, I have a mission that requires your help. Remember the Book of the Dead that I told you about? It's hidden in an apartment converted from an abandoned bank. I hope you can find it."

"That's not a problem. In fact, when I was trying to achieve 'financial freedom', I already detected many strange auras," Bai Zi nodded. She took out a thick notebook, flipped through the bank's structural diagrams and robbery plans, found a page in the address book, and showed it to Rhodes. "This is where I feel something strange, but some are underground, so they are very weak... Maybe they won't appear until an earthquake cracks the ground."

"I understand." Rhodes nodded slightly and exhaled slowly. "If you find something definite, I'll go with you to get rid of it. But now, I have to go to Spain first."

"Ok!"

A bright smile appeared on the wolf girl's face.

Chapter 222 Spanish Town (3K)

A small town near Seville, Andalusia, Spain.

Rhodes stopped the car at the edge of town and looked out across the river and the narrow plains at the rolling hills. The lush forests were a pleasant sight. If he looked toward the nearest stream, he could see the pebbles and large boulders in the riverbed.

These natural creations, which are far older than human civilization, appear white and pure under the sunlight, but they are also worthless and can be found everywhere.

"If nothing unexpected happens, they are waiting for us in a restaurant in the small town."

Father Gabriel Amos said this as he sat in the passenger seat, holding a tourist map in his hand, struggling to decipher the messy Spanish instructions on it. After stuffing it into the storage compartment on the car door, the old priest rolled down the window, breathed in the fresh air outside, and continued:

"A cardinal, a guard, and Father Thomas who still stays in the monastery...should we ask that poor mother and her daughter to retreat?"

"She probably won't agree," Rhode said, stepping on the accelerator and driving the car slowly into the town. "Let's keep it by our side to avoid any accidents. Besides, I'm not sure if she's possessed or not, so it's not appropriate to let her out rashly."

"I see," Father Amos nodded slightly.

The car drove through the town, attracting curious glances from passers-by, but the long-time residents thought it was just a tourist from out of town. After circling the town twice, the car finally stopped in front of a restaurant that looked a bit old. The restaurant was just an ordinary Spanish restaurant.

Walking into the restaurant, Rhode looked around and saw only an old man dressed as a priest and a sturdy adult man. They were quietly eating bread and some sliced ​​Iberian ham, with two bowls of dark brown seafood soup next to them.

Hearing the sound of the restaurant door opening, the sturdy man looked up, but the next second, his head was pressed on the table. A dagger flashing with cold light stabbed into the wooden table, and the blade reflected the man's shocked eyes - the speed was too fast, even faster than the last time they met!

"Good afternoon, Mr. Constantine of Holy Trinity."

Rhodes spoke calmly, lowering his eyes slightly, holding the man's head with his right hand, and turning the handle of the dagger with his left hand, allowing the sunlight to refract from the smooth blade and shine on the face of the cardinal who was standing still opposite him.

"And this Cardinal Raffaello Piero Simone, also from the Holy Trinity? Oh? You're actually one of the leaders of the Holy Trinity? I thought you'd come here wearing your red robe. Are you afraid of seeing your blood being the same color as your clothes?"

"What?! Wait, there must be some misunderstanding... Holy Trinity?" Father Amos hurried forward, made the sign of the cross on his chest, and tried to console him, "Mr. Rhodes, this is the cardinal and his guard I told you about—did you have a feud before?"

Constantine: “…”

"Mr. Constantine and Bishop Raphael are both members of the Holy Trinity, an extremist Christian organization." Rhodes could clearly feel the trembling in his palm, which made him raise his eyebrows slightly. "And they attacked the manor house where I was staying on a stormy night. Of course, they were repelled."

"In fact, they were almost completely wiped out."

Bishop Raphael whispered, took a few deep breaths, raised his head, and met Rhodes' eyes. His deep, icy blue eyes were filled with unparalleled majesty. Compared with the scrutiny and slight disgust revealed in these eyes, his handsome angelic face seemed worthless and could be seen everywhere.

Suddenly, Bishop Raphael, a clairvoyant, saw everything around him rapidly losing color. He saw... the sun. The star's light was restrained, offering warmth and a hint of heat. But whenever Bishop Raphael looked up, the light irritated him to tears and pain.

This is far from the end!

As if it were displayed specifically for him, behind the star called "the Sun", an even more ethereal behemoth was slowly pressing in. It/he/she/he was far more majestic and terrifying than the "Sun". In just a glance, in that instant, the bishop felt his entire soul being immersed in icy sea water - he could not look any further, he could not look any further, he had to look away quickly, because -

Do not look directly at God.

This sentence popped up in Bishop Raphael's mind, but when this thought came out, everything around him returned to normal. If it weren't for the faint pain still running back and forth in his brain, he would even think that it was just his imagination.

The person in front of him... Bishop Raphael exhaled slowly, his eyes swept across Constantine's face, and suddenly thought:

If he were to be killed, would the Son of God forgive the Holy Trinity?

No, it won't.

In a rage, He would destroy the entire Holy Trinity, even the Church—yes, He is the other side of the Savior who washes away suffering, the Lord of Hosts who represents judgment and destruction… judging sinners… destroying demonic enemies… this is truly…

awesome!

The truth will soon be revealed here, true or false, all will be revealed under the glory of God, and the disguise will be removed before the devil's painful screams. Bishop Raphael thought so, although he now had to think about how to survive from the gun of the person in front of him.

If Rhodes knew what Bishop Raphael was thinking, he would only reveal a helpless expression - as the saying goes, "Everyone can see the expression they want in the Emperor's face", right?

"Interesting! I didn't expect to run into someone from Trinity here, and one of them is a high-ranking official, and the other is a senior commander. Killing you two here will likely cause serious damage to Trinity. I'm really curious."

Rhodes's eyes swept over Bishop Raphael and said with a hint of sarcasm:

"Raphael finally became a cardinal. And how come your name also contains the names of the other two heroes of the Renaissance? It seems that your parents have high hopes for you, Bishop."

"...I didn't get into the art university, but I did well in my studies at the seminary, so I became a priest after graduation," Bishop Raphael forced a smile. He didn't know how his name became known to the person in front of him - he was nearly seventy years old, and now only the Pope and those close to him in the Holy Trinity knew his full name, not even Constantine!

"So, you set a trap, using a poor child and the kind Father Amos, just to lure me in and bring me here so you can kill me right here."

Rhode said with interest. He continued to hold Constantine's head down, but the latter did not dare to stand up to resist... This made Rhode feel a little bored. He let go of his hand, took a half step back and looked at Bishop Raphael:

"And by the way, let's verify if I can really be resurrected on the third day? Come on, where's your assassin? I can't wait to see the 23 wounds on my body."

Subconsciously, Bishop Raphael wanted to stand up and kneel, begging for forgiveness from the person before him, but he managed to calm himself down. He first recited a few verses from the Bible in a low voice, then dared to speak slowly and carefully:

"That's not the case, Rhodes...Sir, that's just a misunderstanding. Trinity has absolutely no such intention."

"Wait, wait, Holy Trinity, you really exist?!" Father Amos, finally coming to his senses, opened his eyes wide in shock. He looked around, "I thought it was just a legend—wait, does the Pope know about this?"

"He obviously acquiesced, didn't object, didn't support, and pretended not to know."

Rhodes sneered, and he pulled back the dagger, letting the murderous weapon disappear from his palm. This scene fell into the eyes of Bishop Raphael and Constantine, but they chose to hide their shock in their hearts and explained aloud:

"There are only two of us here, and we're unarmed... As Father Amos told you, we're here just to witness how you exorcise the demon. Look, we even brought cameras!"

"Foolish behavior," Rhodes sighed.

"Eh?"

"You should be armed, even with a pistol—even if you can't fight, it will be easier for you to kill yourself and avoid torture."

Bishop Raphael and Constantine: "..."

Is this Saint really a physical exorcist? Should I go get some guns and take them to the church to be consecrated? Time is running out, so could I apply some purity seals?

"Forget it. I don't want to waste any more time with you. Gentlemen, what are we waiting for? Let's go now." Rhodes picked up a piece of Iberian ham from the table and stuffed it into his mouth. He savored the wonderful taste of the ham and said vaguely:

"Please finish this quickly. I want to go home early and spend time with my girls."

+ + + + + + + + +

Watching the car drive away from the restaurant, Little Red Riding Hood took a sip of juice and stretched, revealing her graceful figure in the bright sunshine. She glanced at the person sitting opposite her and said boredly:

"When do we leave?"

"Five minutes later," Marian said, looking at an extremely detailed map of the surrounding terrain. "I have also notified the Plessy Logistics personnel to stand by in this town - I hope that any possible fighting will not spread here."

"Tsk, that's possible... The monastery isn't far from here, and the population of this town isn't small either."

Little Red Riding Hood said this, and looked around the town again, muttering to herself:

"We should take a vacation here after this incident is over and go to the river and the forest to play for a while."

"There's always a chance."

Marianne said flatly.

"Don't forget, victory in this war is in our hands."

"Yeah, yeah, including that one—Ouch, why did you hit me?!"

Chapter 223 Oh, isn't this Asmodeus? (3K)

The closer the car got to the ancient monastery, the more Rhodes could sense the darkness lurking within it - the gathering dark low clouds separated the sunlight shining over the town, and the two places, so close together, were as clearly separated as rivers flowing into the sea.

A vague shadow like black smoke lingers by the monastery not far away. It is a sign of danger and a warning to the living, but ordinary people, unable to see the truth, set foot here and become food for evil creatures.

Rhodes drove along the smooth dirt road, passing through the dry and dead forests on both sides. He looked left and right, and saw Bishop Raphael and Constantine sitting in the back seat, looking rather restless, in the rearview mirror.

It looked like something out of a Soviet joke: "I don't know who that man is, but the driver is Comrade Brezhnev."

Thinking of this, Rhode chuckled, which made the two people in the back row even more nervous. Even Father Amos, who was worried, subconsciously looked back. Seeing this, Rhode had no choice but to change the subject:

"Constantine, have the false stigmata on your palms healed?"

"Healed, my lord."

"You used to take anti-infection drugs frequently, right?"

"...Yes, sir," Constantine lowered his head in shame. After returning, he confronted his sister Anna, and the latter had no choice but to tell the truth under constant questioning. As a result, Constantine's faith completely collapsed, and then he received orders from Bishop Raphael in confusion.

As the car got closer to the monastery, Rhodes lost the mood to mock the two members of the Holy Trinity. A few minutes later, he parked the car at the gate, and Father Thomas, who had been waiting there, quickly stepped forward.

"You must be Father Gabriel Amos," Father Thomas said, glancing at the other people getting off the bus. His gaze lingered on Rhodes for a few seconds until Father Amos's voice brought him back to his senses. "Excuse me, everyone. Please come in with me quickly. The boy is in very bad condition."

After motioning for the others to go in first, Rhode stood at the doorway and took in his surroundings. The monastery's brick walls were an unpleasant gray-black, making this building, perched on a small hill, the only one conspicuous enough in the entire forest. The courtyard was overgrown with weeds, and withered vines clung to the walls, completely enveloping them like claws.

In addition, the circular well sealed by a stone disc is eye-catching enough.

After quietly looking at the round well for a while, Rhodes followed the others into the monastery.

The building also shows the vicissitudes of time, but after Ms. Julia moved in with her two children and renovated it, it became a little brand new - but at the same time, it also awakened the nightmare that was sleeping there.

After passing the chapel on the first floor and reaching the second floor, Rhode saw Father Thomas and Constantine being flung from the room by an invisible force. They slammed into the glass cabinet and gasped in pain. From inside the room, the sound of high-pitched Bible recitation, the cries of two women, and the deep, arrogant roar of a beast could be heard:

"That thing is useless to me. God isn't here! Do you see the cross on the wall? It's upside down, upside down, mocking your incompetence!"

“…So arrogant.”

Rod twisted his neck, took off his gloves, and walked in with an expressionless face.