Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics

Shiller arrived at the village church and here he encountered an unexpected person, Batman.

His figure was hidden within the fog, appearing only as a faint outline in front of the withered garden hedge of the church, almost light enough to float away.

The moment Shiller stepped out from the corner of the street, Batman turned his head towards him, but Shiller keenly noticed that Batman's gaze was unfocused. It seemed as though he was looking at him, but not really seeing him.

Shiller had a bad premonition.

"You're here too," he approached and said, "I found something very important in Jeff's house, which makes me think this issue might be much more serious than imagined."

"What is it?" Batman asked, "What makes you feel panicked and incredulous?"

"Stop joking around," Shiller said, "You're not some mind-reading guru, how would you know I'm panicking? Or do you think the church is a good place for flirting?"

Batman turned his head back and said, "You should ask your collar."

Having said that, he walked towards the church's main door, and Shiller tugged at his Roman collar.

The Roman collar worn by Catholic priests is very special. It's a piece of white fabric pulled by the two sides of the collar, perfectly fitting over the Adam's apple of a male throat. Every time one speaks, the fabric's presence is keenly felt, making it quite uncomfortable.

That is precisely the purpose of this collar, to remind priests to choose their words carefully, to think of God with due devotion before speaking.

"You'd better not curse out loud," the Transcendent suddenly warned, "Otherwise, that would be a role-play mistake."

Silently pursing his lips, Shiller ascended the steps.

Batman had already pushed open the church door. This church, located in a remote village, was as simple and dim as ever, with a huge cross at the center, its top and arms covered in dust.

Bright moonlight leaked through the gothic pointed arch window behind the cross, elongating its shadow significantly. Rows of seats were closely arranged, with the front few spots cleaned thoroughly, and footprints that had not yet melted away.

Before the bizarre event occurred, something strange had already happened. Someone must have hurried into the church to pray, hoping to receive God's protection.

Batman walked up to the podium, with Shiller closely following behind. He rushed to place his hand on the Bible on the podium and then picked up the Bible, turning to the first page.

The text recorded on it was no different from the Bible as he remembered it. Shiller knew the Bible by heart, but for some reason, he now felt the urge to browse through this Bible.

"This is not what priests use," Batman commented.

"You can look around here," Shiller suggested, "Go check the confessional and bedrooms. I will communicate with God here."

Batman gave him a look, but again as if seeing nothing, turned and walked further inside.

Shiller flipped through the Bible, comparing its contents with what was in his mind. Initially, it seemed as though there were no discrepancies; the text matched perfectly, almost to the letter.

But as he continued to turn the pages, Shiller noticed some words were smeared. Each word had only one letter obscured, so it was still possible to discern the words and infer which letters were obliterated.

He turned all the way to the last page and found that approximately over a hundred characters were erased.

The sequence of characters floated through his mind for a moment, and Shiller realized their order was mixed up. To put them together correctly, one must master the correct method.

But Shiller didn't want to arrange them. He could guess what the sequence of letters would form after being assembled.

First, the number of vowels and consonants meant that the result was unlikely to be English, more likely to be Latin. And all the spells in "Water God Keta Yate" are in Latin.

Secondly, Shiller had originally thought that Jeff had just coincidentally obtained a spell from someone, but after finding that book in his house, he understood that Jeff may well have been tainted with forbidden knowledge.

Those who are tainted by forbidden knowledge end up in one of two ways: either they cherish the knowledge out of fear, paranoid about someone else stealing their treasure, ultimately driving themselves mad.

Or they feel compelled to spread the forbidden knowledge, hoping more people know about it, even at the cost of their lives, and still, they end up driving themselves mad.

Shiller guessed that Old Sirteck seemed to be the first kind, while Jeff appeared to be the second. And with Batman saying this kind of Bible is not for priests, then it was very likely left by Jeff, deliberately using this method to draw attention so that once someone decrypted the secret of the characters, another forbidden spell would be acquired.

"Aren't you sure you don't want to try to crack it?" the Transcendent asked, "If you succeed, you could gain Mythical Skill Points, and you could also acquire a spell."

"There's no need," Shiller said, "I don't plan to handle this in a mythical way because, in the end, this is a human catastrophe. It's something that has to fall on the human race, so naturally, it needs to be resolved in a human manner. Relying on magic won't work."

"Your view is quite peculiar," the Transcendent said, "But it's not unique, because Batman thinks the same way."

Shiller caught the implication in his words and tentatively asked, "Has Batman also come into contact with mythical knowledge?"

"He's gone much farther than you."

Shiller immediately realized that Batman might have come into contact with forbidden knowledge, considering he was the first to head to the docks. Not only might he have encountered many Deep Divers, but he might have also encountered some other horrors.

Thinking of this, Shiller felt somewhat worried. He quickly walked through a side door and saw Batman standing at the end of the corridor, some illusions flashing by—a sign of declining mental health value.

"What did you see at the docks?" Shiller asked directly.

"I found the correct application of the Psychoanalysis Method," Batman seemed to answer indirectly. He continued, "At the same time, I came into contact with a magical being."

Shiller took a cold breath, God help them, he prayed it wasn't an Outer God. Even a giant octopus would have been marginally better at this point—they had no means to confront the arrival of an Outer God; its coming would mean certain annihilation.

"What's its name?"

Batman shook his head without speaking. Shiller didn't know whether he couldn't repeat the name or simply chose not to, but he reminded Batman, "I hope you haven't been so bold as to communicate with it directly. You haven't, have you?"

Batman shook his head again.

Shiller let out a small sigh of relief, then continued, "I've learned from this book that there are many horrific beings in places unknown, always ready to descend. I hope you won't become an accomplice of theirs, or else you'll never be able to escape your guilt."

He felt his hint was clear enough, though he didn't know if Batman had taken it. Batman's current state was very special; his entire being had become ethereal.

Just now, Batman said he'd found the correct application for psychoanalysis. Shiller guessed that Batman must have unlocked that skill, but he had no idea what could have driven Batman to activate Psychoanalysis.

"Have you finished reading the Bible?" Batman asked.

"I've read it, but I can't give it to you," Shiller promptly tucked the Bible away and said, "I'm not being stingy. You just don't seem like someone who'd place their hopes in religion."

"You've seen something in there that you don't want me to know about," Batman stated. "Even things you yourself wish you didn't know, things you feel might bring disaster."

Shiller sighed, "Even if you have learned it, there's no need to rush to show me Mind Reading, because it's not that rare. I'm with thousands of such people every day. You know it yourself, that's enough; no need to tell me. I don't have the time to listen."

After he finished, Shiller glanced toward the hallway and asked, "Have you investigated the bedroom and study?"

"Yes," Batman nodded. "There's something in the study, do you want to come and see?"

Batman turned and walked forward; Shiller followed behind him. When the door to the study opened, Shiller didn't follow Batman inside but instead raised the crowbar high in his hand.

Bang!

"Hisss..." the Transcendent inside Shiller's mind took in a cold breath, "Are you really hitting that hard?"

"There's something seriously wrong with him." Shiller put away the crowbar—now smeared with blood—looking at Batman, who was unconscious from a blow to the back of the head, and furrowed his brow deeply.

"I believe he truly must have resorted to Psychoanalysis out of a moment of difficulty, and his old friend would have helped him with it. But once he gets out of the predicament, he'll quickly dispose of the trouble."

"Because he's simply not accustomed to using methods like these. If possible, he'll return to his senses as soon as possible, setting everything back on course, instead of suddenly converting to what he once saw as a theological subject and repeatedly flaunting it before me."

"What in the world is going on here?"

Just as Shiller was about to bend down to pull Batman, he looked up and saw the interior of the study.

All the candles were lit, and with the room brightly illuminated, every wall, floor, desk, and item within the study was inscribed with sacrilegious spell.

"Uh—"

Shiller let out a scream as blood flowed from his eyes; he hurriedly retreated a few steps and squatted on the ground to catch his breath.

When he opened his eyes, his vision was a sea of red with no sign of improvement. Those desecrated, horrific texts were still hovering in his sight. Shiller had no choice but to activate his Soothing Skill, forcibly pulling up his mental health value.

After a while, when he finally recovered, Shiller took a deep breath.

He had previously suspected this might be a trap since Batman's reactions were too abnormal, but he never expected the entity that had ensnared Batman to be so ruthless.

Just now it was only a glance with the corner of his eye as he looked up. If he'd really followed Batman inside, surrounded by those spells with Batman blocking the door, leaving him no escape, then he would have been truly free to pick his preferred Heaven.

After recovering, Shiller hurriedly dragged Batman by the ankles, fearing other rooms might also be dangerous, he decisively dragged Batman to the front of the podium.

He fed Batman a painkiller pill, checked the wound on the back of his head to ensure it wasn't life-threatening, then Shiller started to ponder what all this could mean.