Chapter 43. From Her Heart, Inside Her Mind, Beside Her Ear
Meanwhile, while ESP and Jungon cleared the streets, Sia and Heesong chased after Yeonhwa.
Using the sensory technique Michael had taught her, Sia successfully located Yeonhwa and followed her into the city.
However, the closer they got, the more demons appeared to block their path.
SQUIRT! PSSHT! PSSHT!
“Get out of the way, all of you!”
Heesong repeatedly pulled the trigger of the water gun in her hands at the approaching demons.
“Kekeke, what are you going to do with a toy like that…? AAAAAAGH!”
The demon had mocked the weapon as nothing more than a toy.
Then it suddenly screamed.
Its flesh hissed as if burning.
The smell of scorched meat filled the air.
“How do you like my HolyGun?!”
HolyGun.
Heesong’s custom electric water gun.
It was filled with holy water.
Every demon hit by it suffered painful burns.
“Sia! Now!”
At Heesong’s signal, Sia gripped her cross and began reciting a prayer.
“I, Anastasia, child of God, appeal to Saint Michael the Archangel. By the power given by God, cast Satan and the other evil spirits who roam through the world seeking the ruin of souls into Hell. Amen!”
“AAAAAAGH!”
“No! I haven’t gathered enough blood yet…!”
Thanks to the cross Heesong had made for her, Sia could now purify demons from possessed bodies without performing a full exorcism ritual.
However, the real problem started now.
“Tch. I’m the idiot for expecting anything from trash like them.”
Behind the demons blocking the road, Yeonhwa sighed while collecting blood into the mirror.
“You just keep following me. Fathers, please get rid of them!”
Hearing Yeonhwa’s request, her father turned toward Sia and Heesong.
The demon currently possessing him had expanded his skeletal structure.
His body looked even larger than before.
“Grrrr. Stop interfering and leave!”
Glug. Click.
As the demon threatened them with its massive body, Heesong reloaded the HolyGun with holy water and aimed.
“Who does a demon think it’s threatening?! Sir, I apologize in advance. This is going to hurt!”
Heesong pulled the trigger.
A large amount of holy water shot toward the demon.
SPLAAASH!
The demon crossed both arms in front of its face to block the holy water.
However, the holy water attacked the demon like white blood cells destroying an infection.
SSSST. SSSSSST!
Wherever the holy water touched, flesh began melting as though covered in acid.
“…Cast Satan and the other evil spirits into Hell by the power granted by God. Amen!”
Sia’s prayer joined the attack, trying to force the demon out.
Any ordinary demon would already have been rolling across the ground and desperately trying to escape the pain.
WHOOOM!
However, this one seemed highly resistant to aura.
With one broad swing of its arm, it scattered the aura around itself.
“Grrrrr, useless!”
As though it had forgotten the pain, the demon charged like a bull toward Sia, who was still reciting the exorcism prayer.
“…Protect us from all evil. …Through the names of all Your saints, we beseech You. Amen!”
Sia hurriedly continued her prayer.
A thin membrane formed over her body.
GRAB! SQUEEZE!
The demon looked like it was about to punch her.
Instead, it grabbed Sia by the throat.
The pressure tightened until she could barely breathe.
Fortunately, the Prayer of Resistance reduced the damage she received from demons, allowing Sia to endure it.
“Guh, take this!”
SPLASH!
Sia pulled out holy water Heesong had given her earlier and splashed it at the demon.
The liquid struck its face directly.
The strength in the demon’s grip weakened.
“Grrrr!”
Finally gaining some room to breathe, Sia shouted toward Heesong.
“Unnie! I’m fine! Hurry and go after Yeonhwa!”
The longer this trial continued, the more civilians would suffer.
Stopping Yeonhwa as quickly as possible was the most important thing.
Heesong hesitated while aiming the HolyGun at the demon.
“Maybe I should stop the demon first….”
“Then it’ll be too late!”
“…All right. Sorry, but I’m leaving this to you!”
Heesong had hesitated to leave Sia behind.
However, after hearing Sia’s words, she changed her mind and ran toward Yeonhwa.
“GRAAAH! I told you it’s useless!!”
The demon recovered and tried to throw Sia away so it could stop Heesong.
However, Sia wrapped both legs tightly around the demon’s waist and gritted her teeth.
“Where do you think you’re going?! You’re playing with me!”
She sounded confident.
In reality, the hand still around her throat and the killing intent coming from the demon made her entire body tremble.
Haa, when is that irresponsible bastard coming back?! I even brought the book with me on purpose!
It had already been around two hours since Michael entered the artwork.
There was still no sign of him returning.
She had even carried the book with her because she assumed that if he entered through the book, he would also come back out through it.
“You’re asking for death!”
Crack, crack!
The demon’s bones twisted.
Its muscle structure began changing.
The huge muscles that had previously relied on brute strength started shrinking, allowing the demon to become faster and more agile.
So it can change even without the mirror!
At some point, Sia had begun suspecting that the possession was not being replaced through the mirror anymore.
Instead, the demons were switching places inside the host.
Now that Yeonhwa and the mirror were nowhere nearby, that theory was confirmed.
“Guuuh! You’re shrinking the muscles?! If Father saw this, he’d lose his mind…!”
Suddenly, Sia’s body rose into the air.
WHOOOSH! BOOOOM!
The demon slammed her directly into the ground.
The accumulated damage combined with the massive impact.
Sia’s Prayer of Resistance shattered.
Her consciousness blurred.
“Guh!”
Her legs momentarily lost strength.
Sia tried tightening them again.
However, the demon easily shook her loose and turned toward Yeonhwa.
“…Anastasia, child of God….”
Sia remained stubborn.
Hearing her quietly begin another prayer, the demon grabbed her by the throat again and lifted her.
“Annoying human. If you had simply stayed down, you might have kept that pathetic life of yours.”
“Guh! L, let go!!”
Sia struggled while trapped in the demon’s vicious grip.
Escaping by herself looked impossible.
There was nobody nearby who could help her.
Michael had entered the artwork two hours ago and still showed no sign of returning.
Sia herself had sent Heesong after Yeonhwa.
What do I do? What am I supposed to do?
As her consciousness slowly faded, Sia squeezed out the last remaining aura inside her.
She gathered it into her hand and punched the demon.
Tap. Tap.
There was no miraculous reversal.
A punch thrown after losing nearly all her strength was no different from a child’s fist.
The demon scoffed at the weak blows.
“Insignificant human. Let us end this.”
This can’t happen….
Just as her consciousness began slipping away, an unfamiliar voice echoed from her chest, inside her mind, and beside her ears.
“natúra, cĭto, custódĭa [Natura, Cito, Custodia].”
The sudden voice was calm and beautiful.
As the chant-like words passed through her, aura gently flowed from Sia’s body.
