Mark found Süleyman in a state of utter exhaustion—like a nation whose shipyards had been seized and whose armies routed. From the grim expression on his face, it was clear his neurons were firing only negative messages.

There was balance in every unit of life. The continuity of that balance depended on events unfolding at the right time, the right reactions occurring at the right moment. The universe, like a master, conveyed messages to the sons of Adam whom it carried upon its surface:

“The oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen in the air exist at specific levels. The speed of the Earth, its distance from the sun, the 116 elements in your soil and your body—these and countless other numerical values essential to your survival remain within a reference range. Otherwise, the balance of life would collapse for you. And to think that the power behind all this operates without will—that is the true imbalance.”

But balance alone was not enough. The universe answered again in its own way:

“Can a child born before nine months be healthy? Can a newborn run before it learns to crawl? Do humans clothe themselves without regard to seasons or weather? Does not every part of life show that balance and timing are both necessary for survival? And if humanity does not take these messages as reference when making decisions, they will encounter events ending in sorrow, disappointment, and despair.”

Süleyman felt as though he could hear those two messages from the universe. He muttered to himself:

“I shouldn’t have rushed. I shouldn’t have allowed anger to enslave the mind of my emotions.”

Indeed, the hunter understood once more that not only a peaceful life, but also success in one’s pursuits, depended on the union of heart and mind.

Mark told Süleyman about the woman and her son. He explained that they had not attended the show, and that the young man’s left arm truly moved independently of his will, and added:

“So, understand this: that young man is definitely not one of Madman’s frauds. What I can’t figure out is how he ended up like this right after Madman cursed him.”

The Demon Hunters also realized they needed to gather more information about Madman. Despite the new experience they had just witnessed, Mark warned Süleyman:

“This man is surrounded by people fanatically devoted to him—people who would do anything at the slightest gesture. We’re police officers, but we need to set aside the logic of ‘law, justice, due process.’ Without sufficient concrete evidence, without detaining him properly, without adequate law enforcement support, we shouldn’t even touch a hair on his head. If he figures out that we’re investigating him, or if we try to treat him like a normal suspect and bring him in for questioning, believe me, we’ll pay the price. He’ll either brand us as traitors and have us lynched, or he’ll convince his followers that we’re devils or apostates and turn us into targets. Maybe we’ll end up as unsolved murders, or they’ll make it look like we were killed by some junkie in a dark alley.”

Süleyman summarized Mark’s warning in a single sentence:

“So basically, we have only one bullet to fire against the enemy—and no room for mistakes.”

The Demon Hunters—especially Süleyman—disguised themselves. He wore a wig and grew a goatee. With sunglasses on, he looked like an intellectual. They blended into the crowd. Madman no longer fit into the performance hall. After recent events, what began as a small snowflake had grown into an avalanche.

He now addressed the masses outdoors. Rather, with sermons delivered in public squares, he drove crowds to emotional extremes. In those moments, Mark and Süleyman knew that if they were pointed out as enemies, their dismembered bodies would never be found—and they were probably right.

In his speeches—which sounded more like political rallies—he often repeated the same message:

“You are the chosen ones who will save the earth. Because you are different from others, and because God’s will to cleanse the world of sin will manifest through you, you are exempt from certain religious obligations. If ruling the world requires wealth, and if people bow before status and power, then it will be you who live in the most luxurious villas and occupy the highest positions. To achieve this, everything is legitimate for you. You don’t need to attend Sunday services or go to church. If anyone tries to restrain you with excuses, never yield—burn everything down if necessary.

“But above all, never forget this: always protect your brother, and stand by him, knowing he is always right. Stand against others, and stand with him.”

Mark pulled Süleyman aside and whispered:

“In this remote rural area, hidden between steep mountains, there isn’t a single representative from the national media. If people in Berlin heard what this man was saying, the whole country would erupt. And those big guys walking around in the crowd must be checking whether anyone is recording with a phone or some other device.”

Süleyman nodded in agreement and added:

“I don’t know exactly why, but sometimes even people we know to be good and fair act as if they are bewitched and show no reaction to speeches like this. Perhaps it is, as sacred texts warn, the result of societies inclining toward injustice, leading to the sealing of their hearts. So, the sealing of the heart should not be understood only as a religious consequence, but also as an inability to distinguish right from wrong. This truth shouldn’t be overlooked.”

Seeing Mark look at him as if to ask why he was giving this explanation, Süleyman continued:

“What I mean is this: even if people in Berlin or in the capital of another country heard these absurd doctrines, the world might not change at all.”

After thinking for a moment, Mark conceded the point. Süleyman elaborated:

“Sometimes the line between good and evil can be very thin. I say this because sacred texts state, ‘Let there be among you a community that enjoins good and forbids evil; they are the ones who will attain salvation (3:104),’ or speak of spreading your heavenly Father’s kingdom. Most religious guides read such verses to believers, encouraging them to cultivate virtues. In that case, aren’t such people the same community Madman calls ‘the chosen ones’?”

Drawing from the words of a revered saint he admired, Mark replied:

“The sacred text you’re talking about speaks to everyone. It doesn’t say, ‘You are warriors of goodness,’ but, ‘Become people of goodness.’ That way, everyone strives to be virtuous, and no one becomes arrogant. People think, ‘Only God knows who is truly good.’ But if a preacher—like Madman —says to his audience, ‘You are the chosen ones,’ then it implies they possess that status by birth or simply because they submitted to him, without any effort of their own.

“Moreover, anyone who believes in a God who intends to fill the world with love and justice would never think they are different from others or exempt from religious duties. On the contrary, they would believe their responsibilities—worship and service to society—are even greater.”

Mark and Süleyman had come to realize that the man they had initially dismissed— Madman —was, in truth, a consummate professional in the craft of deceit. There was nothing he did not exploit for his own gain: values, expectations, donations, interpretations—everything was bent to serve him.

Mark voiced what came to his mind:

“If we look at the stories of prophets from ancient times, we see that those who associated partners with God did not deny His existence. We know this because they offered sacrifices both to idols and to God, or performed acts of charity in their names. We see this in the rites of the Mesopotamian Romans, and in the pagan practices of the Arabian Peninsula.

“What hasn’t changed is that people still commit idolatry. What has changed is the form: before, they did it with pagan gods and idols—now they do it by giving sanctity to individuals who have deified their own egos, like Madman. Sadly, there are many people, both in the East and the West, who have fallen into this mindset.”

Süleyman signaled with his eyes that Madman was on the move. They watched him for a while, but soon realized there was nothing new to learn. He had already shown the limits of his fraud. They abandoned the idea of following him.

Mark said, “It’s not him we should focus on, but the woman’s son I told you about—Simon Enke. After that, we’ll look into the first and second volunteers we saw at the performance hall.”

To access Simon’s health records—his past illnesses, medications, and medical reports—Mark broke into the Ministry of Health database. One diagnosis caught his attention: Simon had epilepsy and suffered occasional seizures.

“You know,” Mark began, explaining to Süleyman, “our understanding of how the body works—how we treat the diseases we face—has often come from studying illnesses themselves.

“We learned how the lungs function because of the plague, how the immune system works because of AIDS, and how hormones affect the skeleton because of disorders like acromegaly. Yes, people suffered because of these diseases—but medicine advanced, and humanity realized how strangely foreign its own body is to itself.”

Understanding the message in his partner’s eyes, Mark did not change the subject.

“You know, humanity has known for centuries that epilepsy originates in the brain. I won’t even mention the primitive methods used in ancient times—drilling holes in the skull, chaining people and abandoning them for days in so-called sacred places. For the past couple of centuries, they even tried surgically removing different lobes of the brain to treat it.”

Süleyman understood what Mark meant.

“So you’re saying that what Simon is experiencing might be related to his epilepsy treatment.”

“Yes, because the root cause of epilepsy is the disruption of electrical activity in the brain.”

Süleyman was not surprised, but still asked:

“So is this electrical activity the same as the current in power outlets?”

“A similar one, but at a much lower intensity. The current in outlets is alternating current. The electrical activity in the human body isn’t exactly that. The reason impulses and responses in our nervous system are so fast is the electrical transmission between neurons. And in addition to that, chemicals called neurotransmitters—released into the synaptic gap between neurons—allow the signal to pass from one neuron to another.”

“What happens, then, that causes this abnormality and triggers an epileptic seizure?”

“The brain performs its functions thanks to electrical activity within a certain standard. Of course, each function has its own characteristic activity. When we measure activity in different regions of the skull—frontal, occipital, parietal—with electrodes, that is, through an EEG, we see that the human brain exhibits different levels of electrical activity during sleep, rest, reasoning, imagining, etc.

“It is also known that when the brain needs to send a command to a specific organ, neurons in the responsible region fire. These firings happen in an orderly manner—not randomly.

“And this is precisely where the problem arises in epilepsy patients: an abnormality occurs, for reasons we still don’t fully understand. Neurons in many different parts of the brain fire irregularly and uncontrollably.

“As a result of this widespread firing, various muscles begin to move—especially in the arms, legs, and hands—and the salivary glands become active.”

“I understand all of that,” Süleyman said, “but why does the firing mechanism malfunction in epilepsy patients while it doesn’t in you or me? Do we know the answer to that?”

Mark shrugged, spreading his hands. “How could I know what scientists themselves don’t?”

After gathering his thoughts, he continued,

“There’s no definitive answer. People who experience epileptic seizures often describe entering a strange state beforehand. They say they see an image, or smell a specific scent even when nothing like it is present. Neurologists have also discovered that certain images, sounds, odors, and chemicals can trigger seizures.”

While explaining what he knew about epilepsy, Mark continued to go through Simon’s medical records one by one.

“One of the causes of epilepsy is pathological formations in the brain—cysts, tumors, things like that. When these are removed, the seizures stop. But in some cases, new disorders develop afterward.”

Süleyman listened carefully. He realized just how much knowledge Mark had acquired about the brain and its diseases. After what they had witnessed ten years ago in Bosnia and Italy—the mystical organization they confronted and the horrors they attempted—Mark had understood that even police officers must update themselves like machines.

It was no longer enough to know the latest forensic techniques. Technological and medical advancements also had to be followed closely. Criminals might use unknown, untested methods, and officers needed to detect them before they harmed anyone.

The era of dinosaur cops—with big bellies, cigarettes hanging from their mouths, believing they could catch any criminal—was long over. And that was only the technical side.

Morally, too, an officer who pursued criminals could not be greedy or obsessed with money.

Mark, aware of all these realities, constantly updated himself and his department.

“Doctors have reported patients who, after epilepsy surgery, suffered vision impairment, memory loss, hearing loss, partial loss of reasoning, and even partial or complete loss of motor function and emotional capacity.”

“Alright,” Süleyman interrupted, “maybe Simon went through something like that.”

Pointing at the screen, Mark replied,

“That’s why I’ve been checking his entire medical record—to see if he ever underwent such surgery. But as you can see, we haven’t found anything.”

Süleyman hadn’t read every report, but he checked stamps, doctor signatures, and dates to verify whether the documents were technically reliable. Then something caught the Demon Hunter’s eye.

“Why are Simon’s medical reports consistent for every month—except for the last three? And from what I see, he’s been prescribed different medications in those three months than before. That means there’s something missing from this system. But I can’t see which hospital issued the prescriptions.”

After thinking for a moment, Mark agreed. He decided to contact the doctor listed in the records. As soon as Mark mentioned Simon’s name, the doctor remembered him.

“This is a small town. Cases involving neurosurgery and neurology are rare. And because patients in my department require monthly follow-ups, I remember each of them. I last saw Simon three months ago. He was having frequent epileptic seizures and suffering greatly—especially because the curious stares of others were affecting his psychological state.

“I told him that surgery at a fully equipped university hospital might improve his condition, but there was a risk of things getting worse—including death. Brain surgeries are always risky. He left uncertain, and I don’t know what he decided afterward.”

Mark thanked the doctor and hung up. Turning to Süleyman, he asked:

“So the guy definitely went somewhere for surgery. But how are we supposed to find which university hospital it was?”

“This system only covers our state. That means he went to a hospital outside it. And it shouldn’t be hard to guess which state he went to. It must have been one of the university hospitals in Berlin, where medical developments are closely followed.”