Chapter 31: Holy Water

Chapter 31: Chapter 31: Holy Water

Chapter 31: Holy Water

Axel Vance stood near the back of the church and watched Father Kenneth’s assistant stretch both arms toward the congregation like a television faith healer preparing for the grand finale of a revival broadcast. His mouth twitched as several worshippers swayed with tearful expressions while Father Kenneth continued preaching in his immaculate white suit. Axel seriously considered turning around and leaving, but the sincerity on the congregation’s faces made him hesitate long enough to wonder whether the man might possess some genuine ability beneath all the theatrics.

Axel had nothing urgent waiting for him in Miami anymore, so he eventually found an empty pew and decided to stay until the service ended. If Father Kenneth turned out to be nothing more than an entertainer, Axel would lose an hour at most, and if the system reacted to something inside the church, the visit would immediately become worthwhile. After everything involving Michael Myers, Room 1408, and the cult, Axel had learned not to dismiss strange things simply because they looked ridiculous.

Father Kenneth’s passionate sermon finally ended, and the congregation gradually began filing toward the exits with expressions of relief and satisfaction. Many paused beside a large donation box and slipped folded bills or envelopes through the opening before leaving. Axel waited until most of the crowd disappeared, then stood and approached the front of the sanctuary.

Father Kenneth noticed the unfamiliar young man almost immediately and gave him a warm pastoral smile. "Is there something I can help you with, my child?" Axel had no interest in wasting time with introductions, so he asked directly, "Father, do you have anything here that can actually help with an exorcism?"

Kenneth’s eyes brightened for a fraction of a second before his expression transformed into solemn compassion. His gaze traveled over Axel’s posture and clothing as though quietly estimating what kind of donation might be possible. "You came to the right place, because this church offers proper spiritual intervention and exorcism services under legitimate Christian authority."

Axel remembered enough about formal Catholic exorcism to know it was not something normally sold like an appointment at a barber shop. He also had no desire to spend days or weeks waiting for clergy to investigate whether a supernatural problem met the requirements for a formal rite. "That sounds slow. Do you have anything more practical that I can carry with me?"

Father Kenneth paused.

Then a knowing smile appeared.

He glanced toward his assistant, who immediately disappeared behind the stage and returned carrying a velvet cushion with both hands. Resting on top was a clear glass bottle decorated with a gold ribbon around its neck, presented with enough ceremony to make it look like a piece of jewelry rather than water.

Father Kenneth pointed dramatically toward the bottle. "This is holy water personally blessed by me after seventy-two hours of prayer and spiritual preparation. Every drop carries divine grace capable of driving darkness from places ordinary people would never dare enter."

Axel stared at him.

The sales pitch sounded almost exactly like the late-night advertisements he remembered from his previous life.

"Can I see it?" Axel asked.

"Of course. Feel the blessing for yourself."

Kenneth confidently handed him the bottle.

The instant Axel’s fingers touched the glass, a familiar translucent panel appeared before his eyes.

[Blessed Holy Water detected.]

[New Specialization Activated: Holy Water]

[Holy Water Lv.1 — 0/1000]

[Effect: Psionic Power +0.1]

[Holy Water: Reciting scripture over clean water can imbue it with holy power. Holy Water inflicts severe damage on unclean and supernatural entities. Effectiveness increases with Psionic Power.]

[Psionic Power: 1.3 → 1.4]

Axel almost lost control of his expression.

The stuff was real.

He quietly focused on the bottle and immediately sensed a trace of supernatural energy inside the water, but the amount was so faint that it barely registered compared with the power he felt while using Holy Reading. Father Kenneth had somehow managed to produce genuine holy water and then dilute its strength until the supernatural content was almost an afterthought.

Axel looked from the bottle to the smiling preacher. The man might be a shameless salesman, but apparently he was a salesman with at least one real product. "How much?"

Father Kenneth’s smile became even warmer. "The grace of God has no price, naturally, but maintaining this church requires considerable expense. For this bottle, we ask only a modest contribution of nine hundred and ninety-nine dollars."

Axel silently handed the bottle back.

Kenneth immediately added, "For you, I could make an exception. Eight hundred and ninety-nine."

"No."

Axel turned and walked toward the exit without another word.

Father Kenneth called something after him about reconsidering, but Axel did not stop. Paying nearly nine hundred dollars for supernatural water weaker than something he might be able to make himself would have been ridiculous. Still, he could not complain too much because the encounter had given him an entirely new specialization for free.

Outside the church, Axel stood on the sidewalk feeling both amused and strangely satisfied. He had gone looking for another weapon against spirits and found one through a preacher who behaved like a television salesman. Axel started toward the curb to hail a taxi for the hidden federal facility, then stopped with one hand already raised.

Taking a random cab directly to the laundromat hiding a clandestine federal base suddenly seemed like an incredibly stupid idea. The driver could remember the destination, recognize Axel later, or simply become curious about why a police officer repeatedly visited an ordinary laundry business. Axel lowered his hand and looked across the street, where a Ford dealership happened to be displaying several new trucks.

He thought about the money now sitting in his account and smiled.

Axel had a driver’s license.

There was no reason he needed to keep paying strangers to drive him around.

Roughly ten minutes later, Axel was sitting behind the wheel of a brand-new Ford pickup, running one hand across the steering wheel while the engine idled beneath him. The truck was practical, spacious enough for weapons and equipment, and far less conspicuous in 1980s America than constantly arriving in police cars or taxis. After weeks of prison riots, cult gunfights, burning hotels, and supernatural killers, buying something ordinary felt surprisingly refreshing.

Axel pulled away from the dealership and merged into traffic. The combination of a new vehicle and a newly unlocked specialization improved his mood enough that even Miami seemed slightly less chaotic than usual. Several blocks later, he noticed an unopened bottle of drinking water lying on the passenger seat and immediately thought of Father Kenneth’s overpriced merchandise.

Axel found a safe place to pull over and parked before reaching for the bottle. He unscrewed the cap, held the container in one hand, and quietly began reciting scripture he already knew from repeated Holy Reading practice. Almost immediately, he sensed a faint thread of Psionic Power moving down his arm and entering the clean water.

Nothing about the liquid visibly changed.

There was no light.

No steam.

No dramatic heavenly choir.

Then the system confirmed the result.

[Holy Water successfully created.]

[Holy Water: EXP +3]

[Holy Water Lv.1 — 3/1000]

Axel stared at the ordinary plastic bottle and laughed quietly. "Father Kenneth would probably charge a thousand dollars for this."

He screwed the cap back on and tossed the homemade holy water onto the passenger seat. The ability was simple, portable, and potentially far more useful than carrying a Bible into every close-range fight. More importantly, it gave Axel another specialization he could steadily train without depending on supernatural enemies appearing first.

He eventually reached the laundromat containing the hidden federal facility and parked far enough away to avoid drawing unnecessary attention. Security was noticeably tighter than before, and Axel passed through several checks before a young federal agent finally escorted him underground. After everything at the record factory, nobody seemed interested in treating visitors casually anymore.

The agent led Axel into an office where Clarice Starling sat behind a desk nearly buried beneath reports and evidence folders. Faint dark circles rested under her eyes, and she was spinning a ballpoint pen between her fingers with the irritated focus of someone who had answered the same questions too many times. The moment she looked up and recognized Axel, some of the exhaustion disappeared from her expression.

"Axel?" Clarice asked, visibly surprised. "What are you doing here? Are you actually recovered already?"

Axel pulled out the chair opposite her and sat down. "The doctors said I’m healthy enough to wrestle a cow, so apparently I survived." Before Clarice could ask anything more, he placed the bottle of homemade holy water on the desk and added, "I also brought you some water."

Clarice blinked, then gave him a tired smile. "Thanks. At least somebody around here remembers basic human needs."

She opened the bottle and took a long drink without hesitation. A moment later, her expression subtly changed as a soothing warmth spread through her body, easing some of the tension that had built up after days of interviews, reports, and internal questioning. Clarice lowered the bottle and looked at it with mild surprise.

"This is strangely good water."

Axel kept his expression neutral. "Maybe you were just thirstier than you thought."

Clarice took another smaller sip and shook the bottle once. The oppressive fatigue behind her eyes had already eased enough for her posture to relax, which told Axel that Holy Water might have beneficial effects on ordinary people as well as harmful effects on supernatural creatures. He decided not to mention that theory until he understood the specialization better.

Instead, Axel leaned back in the chair and changed the subject. "How did everything go on your end?" He glanced at the mountain of paperwork around her before adding, "The Bureau didn’t make your life too miserable, did they?"

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