Chapter 3

Burning Again

Fwoosh!

"Uuuuuugh!"

White flames engulfed the demon's entire body.

Overwhelmed by the agony of being burned, the demon completely lost control of itself.

Michael stared at the demon's forehead.

"Stop whining. That's what happens when you act up."

Michael slammed the demon onto the ground and kicked it hard in the stomach.

The demon flew backward and rolled across the floor, desperately trying to extinguish the flames.

"My body! My body! Aaaaargh!"

"Man, you sure know how to scream."

The more desperately it struggled, the stronger the white flames became.

As its body continued to burn away, the demon finally collapsed.

The other demons froze at the sight.

Then...

"Attack him together! There's only one of him!"

Someone shouted from among the demons.

At the command, they rushed Michael all at once.

Some swung their fists.

Others unleashed waves of demonic energy.

Whoosh!

Michael easily avoided every attack with a light leap backward.

Even while doing so, he continued giving Sia advice.

"Everyone is different. Some people make use of their strengths by infusing weapons with Ahura. Others surround their bodies with it. And..."

Bam!

Michael kicked away a demon that had been charging toward Sia while wrapped in demonic energy.

Then he continued as though nothing had happened.

"There are also people like you, who suppress their enemies through prayer."

Sizzle...

"Aaaaaaargh!"

The spot Michael's foot had struck was purified and burned away.

The demons' screams echoed throughout the church.

"The important thing is this. Don't blindly copy someone else's method. Find your own."

"If you stubbornly force yourself to use a method that doesn't suit you, you'll only waste your Ahura."

It was the best advice the Apostle of God, the enemy of demons, could give her.

Well, whether she can actually do it is her problem.

Judging by the way Sia stared at Michael with wide, innocent eyes, however, it was obvious she had barely understood a word.

After finishing his explanation, Michael turned toward the demon that had been giving orders.

Judging by the horns growing from its forehead, the demon had already possessed its host for quite some time.

Demonization...

Since ancient times, demons had possessed humans in exchange for fulfilling their desires.

Once a demon entered a human body, it slowly consumed its host.

Eventually, when the demon completely took over the body, demonization occurred.

Tap!

Claws.

Fists.

Waves of demonic energy.

Michael easily avoided every attack directed at him before jumping backward again and creating some distance.

"Consider this the price for failing to control your greed."

Those words weren't meant for the demon.

They were meant for the human being possessed by it.

The owner of that body had surely offered himself to a demon because of his own desires.

"Tch. Idiots."

Michael clicked his tongue and raised one arm, Ahura flowing around it.

Then...

White flames spread above him until they seemed to cover the entire ceiling.

"I'll finish this quickly."

Michael lowered his hand.

The white flames scattered through the air and descended upon the demons.

FWOOSH! SHHHHH!

"Oh my God..."

"It's beautiful..."

The priests lying on the floor stared at Michael's technique in awe.

To everyone present, the pure white flames looked far more beautiful than dangerous.

"God has bestowed upon us the White Flame that purifies evil!"

One of the priests shouted fervently as he witnessed Michael's power.

White Flame...

Michael thought about the name.

That's not bad.

Maybe he actually liked the name the priest had come up with on the spot.

The White Flame spread throughout the church while its divine power left the priests completely unharmed.

SHHHHH! BOOM!

"Aaaaaaargh!"

The demons that failed to avoid the explosions began turning into ash.

The survivors scattered in every direction, desperately attempting to escape.

But instinctively, they understood.

These flames were the natural enemy of demons.

There was nowhere to run.

"Kieeeeeek!"

"Hot! Hot!!"

Unlike the terrified demons, Michael wasn't particularly satisfied with the power he was using for the first time in ages.

He burned every demon he could see, but...

Hmm... This is far too weak.

It takes this long just to purify demons of this level?

Michael could clearly feel how much weaker he had become.

Crackle. Crackle.

He looked at the first demon he had set ablaze.

It was still burning.

Michael repeatedly clenched and opened his hand while Ahura flowed around it.

Originally, a demon of this level should have turned to ash the instant the white flames touched it.

Worse, Michael hadn't even managed to burn the demons hiding nearby.

If there's a reason...

Michael glanced toward the coffin he had awakened from.

Ever since leaving that coffin, he had clearly felt that his firepower was nowhere near what it had been in the past.

I don't know whether this is because of the seal, but I need to recover as much of my power as possible before the next apocalypse.

By then, the demons engulfed in white flames had finally turned completely to ash.

After confirming their destruction, Michael began walking toward the remaining enemies.

He needed to determine exactly how much power he could currently use.

"Wait!"

Sia hurriedly grabbed Michael's arm.

Michael had appeared out of nowhere, and she still couldn't make sense of what was happening.

Who the hell is this man?

Was there really someone like him?

She had no idea where he had come from.

She didn't understand why he had kicked her.

Then, immediately afterward, he had casually started teaching her something completely different from everything she had learned before.

But there was one thing she understood perfectly.

They shared the same enemy.

Demons.

And especially...

Those white flames Michael used were unbelievably effective against demons.

Could he be the owner of one of those holy relics I've only heard about?

They say every owner of a holy relic possesses monstrous power.

Even Sia had been unable to tear her eyes away from Michael's technique.

It was unbelievable that he had incapacitated middle-rank demons so quickly.

His clothing was strange as well.

Michael wore a faded, old-fashioned cassock that looked like something straight out of a history book.

And the rosary ring on his hand, an elegant combination of black and silver, looked like a perfectly preserved relic.

Why would someone like him appear here?

Then...

Ah!

After thinking it over again and again, Sia reached a conclusion.

There was a high possibility that Michael had been sent either by the Exorcism Association or by the Vatican.

Otherwise, there was no explanation for why someone this powerful had suddenly appeared in the middle of their mission.

Maybe it's such a highly classified matter that someone at my level wasn't informed.

If he really was someone that important, then showing him respect came first.

Sia released Michael's arm and immediately bowed.

"Hello! I'm Priest Yu Sia of the Exorcism Association!"

"..."

Silence.

They say the stronger someone is, the worse their personality tends to be.

Even ordinary people became arrogant once they gained a high position.

Someone powerful enough to possess a holy relic would probably be even worse.

But Michael had helped them.

So Sia continued as politely as possible.

"First of all, thank you for helping us. Thanks to you, this mission became much easier."

"This is only part of our verification procedure, but may I ask which organization you belong to?"

"..."

"If you don't want to tell me that, then... could you at least tell me your name?"

"..."

Another silence.

Sia started becoming nervous.

Michael had helped kill the demons, so perhaps he really was reinforcement.

But appearing in the middle of an active mission without warning was no different from being an intruder.

At the very least, she needed his name for her report.

"Michael."

"Huh?"

Just as Sia was beginning to rack her brain for another approach, Michael finally answered in an irritated voice.

He was already annoyed that she had ignored everything he explained earlier, only to start interrogating him about his identity.

"Michael. That's my name."

"I don't belong to any organization."

"Ah... haha. I-I see."

At the same time, Michael wondered why he had bothered answering her at all.

Is it because I mistook her for Helena?

Perhaps that was why he had unconsciously told her more than he normally would.

Michael immediately shook his head.

No. Forget it.

There's no reason to get any more involved with her.

All I told her was basic information anyway.

Sia looked at him as though he were some kind of strange person, but wisely kept that thought to herself.

She had gathered enough information to make a report.

Then she cautiously looked toward the remaining demons.

They seemed to have lost all will to fight.

We've almost dealt with all the intruders inside.

As for the demons outside... I don't need to worry about them.

The enemies attacking from outside would soon be dealt with by someone powerful whom Sia knew well.

At this rate, they could consider the saint's remains successfully protected.

All that remained was...

"I'm sorry, but there could still be an accident. Could you extinguish the flames?"

The priests who had regained consciousness were spraying fire extinguishers at the white flames scattered around the church.

But it had no effect whatsoever.

If anything, the flames seemed to burn even more fiercely, as though they might swallow the entire building.

We can't ruin everything at the very end.

If the church burned down after they had successfully completed the mission, all their work would be meaningless.

"You've already helped us tremendously, so we'll handle the rest ourselves."

It wouldn't be strange for someone powerful enough to wield a holy relic to have an eccentric personality.

With that in mind, Sia worded her request as carefully and indirectly as possible.

There was only one problem.

Sia had absolutely no idea who Michael really was.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Michael stared at her in disbelief.

First she demanded his identity.

Now she wanted him to extinguish the white flames.

There could still be demons hiding nearby, and she was practically asking Michael to give them a chance to escape.

The thought alone irritated him.

Besides, Michael's white flames couldn't ignite ordinary objects.

They only burned demons and evil.

If my flames burned everything indiscriminately, that bastard who stabbed Helena in France would've died by my hand.

For a brief moment, the painful memory resurfaced.

Michael frowned.

His expression became so vicious that he looked more frightening than the actual demons.

Sia visibly flinched.

"C-Could you tell me why you can't? If it's because there are still demons hiding..."

"No. Forget it."

"I'll put them out like you asked."

Michael decided there was no reason to explain how his power worked.

There was also no reason to create unnecessary confusion.

He casually waved his hand and cut off the flow of Ahura feeding the flames.

Fsssshh...

Every white flame scattered throughout the church vanished at once.

Only then did relieved sighs come from all directions.

Since Sia had said they could handle the rest themselves, Michael crossed his arms and began thinking about the organization she had mentioned.

Hmm... The Exorcism Association.

Never heard of it.

Did the Vatican create a new organization?

Even in 1770, back in France, Michael had never heard of anything called the Exorcism Association.

Which meant it must have been established after Michael fell asleep in Lourdes.

Wait.

How many years have passed since then?

If he really had been sealed, then at least some time must have passed.

Michael looked around.

A round object hung from the ceiling.

A lamp.

There was also a black box fixed to the wall.

A speaker.

More importantly, even the materials used to construct the church were completely different from what Michael remembered.

Everything looked far more refined.

Civilization has completely changed.

Has at least a hundred years passed?

Anxiety began creeping through Michael as he realized far more time might have passed than he had expected.

Even five hundred years would barely be enough time for him to prepare for the next apocalypse.

If he had already lost a hundred of those years...

The thought made him dizzy.

While Michael was lost in thought...

Tap!

One of the demons hiding nearby suddenly sprinted toward the exit.

As though that were a signal, the others scattered and began fleeing as well.

"You said you'd handle it yourselves."

Just as Michael had expected, the demons were escaping.

He narrowed his eyes and looked at Sia.

"D-Don't worry! We'll catch them!"

Sia and the priests who had recovered enough to move rushed toward the exit after the fleeing demons.

As she ran, Sia secretly let out a breath of relief.

They haven't undergone complete demonization yet.

If he burns them like that, we won't have any chance to perform an exorcism.

They can still be saved.

That was the second reason Sia had asked Michael to extinguish the White Flame.

If the possessed humans had not yet undergone complete demonization, there was still a way to save them.

Through a traditional exorcism ritual using prayer, the demon could be separated from its host.

"Haa... What a goddamn trial from God."

Michael stared at Sia in disbelief.

Her intentions were painfully obvious.

She planned to cooperate with the other priests, create a barrier through prayer, and perform an exorcism.

"If we'd had someone like her in the knightly orders or the Church back then, we could've worked her to the bone in the name of spiritual training. Tch."

Michael clicked his tongue.

Then something caught his attention.

A rat.

Squeak!

The rat cautiously looked around.

Small horns grew from its head, similar to those of the demon that had been issuing orders earlier.

Wait.

A rat?

Michael narrowed his eyes.

Don't tell me this belongs to that bastard.

While Michael was thinking, the rat quickly crawled into a ventilation duct.

Someone closely associated with rats immediately came to mind.

A crooked smile appeared on Michael's lips.

If the rat belonged to that bastard, then allowing it to escape would actually benefit him.

Michael gathered Ahura at the tip of his finger and flicked it.

A tiny light formed in the air.

It resembled a firefly glowing with pure white radiance.

Guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Track it.

The glowing firefly immediately followed the fleeing rat into the ventilation duct.

I'm counting on you to work hard for me in this life too.

Michael silently sent those words toward whoever was waiting for the rat on the other side.

Then another thought occurred to him.

"Ah."

"Then I guess I should let some of those guys escape too."

Michael rushed toward Sia, who was in the middle of preparing a prayer to capture the fleeing demons.

Then...

BAM!

He kicked her.

"Aaah!"

Sia went tumbling across the floor.

The priests who had been following behind her immediately stopped.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

They glared at Michael and demanded an explanation.

Michael calmly stared back.

"Stay out of it."

"Those people have something they need to do."

"What are you talking about?! If we let them escape, civilians could be killed!"

Sia stood back up while brushing the dust from her clothes.

Michael answered by fixing her with a cold stare.

This was already the second time Sia had used civilians as a reason to interfere with him.

There would not be a third.

Why are his eyes so terrifying...?

The instant Sia and the other priests met Michael's gaze, they froze.

"Whether civilians die or not doesn't matter to me."

"Stay out of my way. Understood?"

Helena had told him not to hate humans too much.

But Michael could no longer live according to that ideal.

He had lost his faith in humanity long ago.

If human casualties became necessary because people stood in his way, he would not hesitate because of them.

Nobody answered.

Then...

"Aaaaargh!"

The screams of the fleeing demons suddenly echoed through the church.

Step. Step.

Heavy footsteps followed.

Each one seemed to shake the floor.

Then a deep voice rang out.

"And who the hell do you think you are, ordering my daughter around?"

A middle-aged man appeared.

His enormous muscular body stretched his priestly robes so tightly that they looked ready to tear apart at any moment.

Judging by his physique alone, his combined squat, bench press, and deadlift could probably exceed seven hundred kilograms without difficulty.

In each hand, he dragged one of the demons that had tried to escape, gripping them by the head.

Several priests followed behind him.

Michael stared at the man in silence.

What the fuck is wrong with those muscles...?

Does he bulk up by eating demons or something?

The middle-aged man tossed the demons behind him.

Then he rolled his neck.

Crack. Crack. Crack.

Looking directly into Michael's eyes, he asked again.

"I'll ask you one more time."

"Who the hell are you, and why the hell did you kick my daughter?"