Chapter 73. The Performance Begins (2)
Hissssss!!
"AAAAARGH!!"
"It burns! It burns! IT BURNS!!"
The demons, unable to defend themselves properly because of the bells, were easily exposed to the aura and began to be purified. On top of that,
"Saint Michael the Archangel, commander of the heavenly armies! May this place be filled with peace, tranquility, and holiness, and may no evil energy pass beyond this point. Protect this space with the shield of your divine power! Amen!"
A long, white wall of aura rose between the demons and the priests.
Seeing the priests fight so hard, Jungon clenched his fists.
The temporary barrier meant to stop the approaching demons was also complete. If they could keep this up, they would finish the Grand Exorcism Ritual and bind even the enormous tree.
Then we'll be able to get rid of that filthy tree too.
They were only a few steps away from success.
Just as Jungon began to feel hopeful,
"Hiss. Haaah."
He heard someone drawing in a strange breath.
Jungon, who had been about to rush forward to join the priests, couldn't move a single step.
And he wasn't the only one. Every priest present was unable to move.
What on earth is this bastard?!
Cold sweat ran down Jungon's forehead. He had no idea when the creature had appeared.
Gulp.
Nobody dared to open their mouth. They couldn't even make the slightest sound. The moment they did, they felt they would lose their lives.
The demons were no different. Faced with the arrival of a superior being, they threw themselves flat against the ground. Even the demons who were being purified endured their pain and prostrated themselves.
A man whose face was covered in mismatched patches of human skin, with his mouth tightly sewn shut, rolled his eyes from side to side.
Snap. Snap.
The stitches began breaking apart, allowing the man's mouth to open slightly.
"Found you."
The man's voice sounded like someone scraping a blackboard. He was Personality, and his eyes had settled on Priest Sim. This was the traitor who had been trying to become a demon worshipper.
Personality could have taken him away for interrogation immediately, but he didn't.
Roll, roll.
His eyes moved in every direction before stopping in the center. Then he grinned.
The priests grew even more tense at his chilling smile.
"There are too many. Let's reduce their number by half before we begin."
Reduce what?
The priests were confused by the sudden announcement, but their questions didn't remain unanswered for long.
They sensed thick demonic energy flowing from Personality's breath. At the same time, they heard a sound like metal being struck.
"Those who could not bear the grief of the protagonist's death chose to take their own lives."
The priests covered their ears against the unpleasant noise. Some even closed their eyes, afraid that looking at Personality's disturbing face might cause something terrible to happen.
"...It doesn't seem like anything is happening."
Despite the sticky demonic energy and the strange noise, the words coming from his stitched mouth had sounded rather ordinary.
"I, is it over?"
Personality watched the priests begin to relax, and his smile widened until it nearly reached his ears.
"The moment people feel safe is the perfect time for them to fall into despair."
At that instant, several priests began trembling and fell into despair.
"AAAAARGH!! No! No!!"
"Hey! Get a hold of yourself!"
The priests were divided into two groups.
The first consisted of those who had been affected by Personality's voice and had fallen into despair.
"WAAAAH! He's dead! Someone who must never have died is dead!!"
"I can't stay here. I have to follow him."
They didn't even know who the protagonist was. Nevertheless, overwhelmed by grief, they scattered in different directions.
BANG! BANG!
Some began striking their heads against the walls.
"Now I can be with him too!"
Others picked up broken pieces of glass lying on the ground and aimed them at their necks.
STAB!
Blood poured from the neck of a priest who had driven a shard of glass into himself.
As the situation descended into chaos, the oppressive presence of the demon holding the priests in place began to weaken. Without even having time to enjoy their newfound freedom, the other priests rushed toward their companions.
"Brother, why are you doing this?!"
"You bastard! Calm down!"
These were the second group, the priests who hadn't been affected by Personality's voice.
Since they weren't among those targeted by his words, they hadn't lost their reason. They grabbed their companions and desperately tried to stop them.
"How long are you going to keep fooling around?"
Personality turned his eyes toward the demons.
Before they could answer, he opened his mouth again.
"Beasts that had lost their reason sought nothing but slaughter."
Personality's voice reached the demons and the infected.
"Grrrrrr."
A growl like that of a wild beast emerged from the middle of the crowd.
Their backs, which had been held upright, began bending toward the ground.
The arms that had once handled tools were now being used to support their bodies as they walked on all fours.
"Lord, why have you..."
One of the priests maintaining the barrier let out a lament at the horrifying sight.
The personalities of both the infected and the demons had changed completely.
They had become more emotional and more savage.
"Awooooo!"
At someone's howl, the demons and infected who were behaving like wild animals all turned their attention in the same direction.
Their target was already decided.
It was the pale, translucent wall made of aura, which gave off a powerful sense of holiness.
Their eyes glowed red as they stared at the barrier protecting the priests from evil.
CLANG! CLANG!
"GRAAAAAH!!"
The infected, who had absolutely no resistance to the aura, were the first to attack.
Like wild animals, they showed no trace of intelligence. Driven solely by the desire to break through the wall, they threw themselves against the barrier of white aura.
They scratched, bit, kicked, and struck it, using every method available to wear the wall down.
"Ghk! Our aura is being drained too quickly!"
"Hold on anyway! If we give way, everything will be over!"
It was dangerous. A large number of priests had already been taken out of action by Personality. At this rate, the barrier would be broken in no time.
The priests responsible for the temporary barrier desperately squeezed out their remaining aura in an attempt to hold on. Thanks to their efforts, they managed to keep it standing.
"Haaah. Haaah."
In the middle of the chaos, one priest remained standing completely still, breathing heavily.
It was Jungon, whose enormous muscles looked as though they might burst through his cassock. He, too, appeared to have been targeted by Personality's words. He was using his physical strength to suppress his body, which kept trying to act on its own.
Ghk! My body won't listen to me.
He wanted to gather his aura and free himself from this strange phenomenon, but he couldn't concentrate because his body kept trying to take its own life.
A demon who could make priests kill themselves and turn demons into beasts with nothing more than his voice.
I have to stop him before this leads to an even greater disaster.
If Personality was allowed to continue, the wall would eventually be breached, and the damage would spread even further. Jungon had to deal with the demon producing that strange voice as quickly as possible.
However, with his body overwhelmed by the urge to harm itself, he couldn't think of a suitable method.
What should I do...?
At that moment, Jungon spotted a bloodstained shard of glass.
SPLURT!
Blood burst from the forehead of a priest who had been striking his head against a wall.
The priest fell backward and began twitching. His body was no longer under his control, as though he had suffered a stroke.
"Saint Raphael the Archangel, arrow of God's love and medicine, I ask you to heal this man's illness and restore his health. Raise him with your hand, embrace him with your arms, and help him overcome his hardships. Amen!"
Beside him, a priest who had retained his sanity desperately recited a prayer to save him. As he spoke the Prayer to Raphael, who symbolized medicine and healing, warm white aura flowed from his entire body.
"Damn it. Please don't die."
The injured priest's skull had been fractured so badly that treating him with aura alone would be difficult. Even so, the priest continued pouring aura into his companion in an attempt to save him.
"Please, let me help you."
Jinwoo approached the priest and extended his hands. He recited the same prayer, and an aura even more sacred and soothing than the other priest's flowed from his palms.
The injured priest's expression became noticeably more peaceful as he received the aura.
"Th, thank you."
"It's nothing."
Jinwoo looked around. Everyone was in a state of confusion because of the strange phenomenon.
It resembled a situation in which people took their own lives after the death of a famous person.
Recognizing something he had seen before, Jinwoo's expression hardened, and he whispered quietly.
"The Werther effect..."
The term originated from The Sorrows of Young Werther, in which readers imitated Werther's death. It described a social phenomenon in which people emotionally identified with news of a famous person's death, particularly suicide, and imitated the act.
For some reason, Jinwoo felt that the current situation resembled the Werther effect he had read about in books. However,
Is something like that even possible?
It meant that Personality, the demon standing before him, could turn a social phenomenon into reality simply by speaking it aloud. Jinwoo frowned at such an unbelievable ability.
"The smell of blood is wonderful..."
Personality grinned as he breathed in the scent of blood. With Jinwoo's limited experience, he couldn't begin to understand a being like him.
Can we purify him?
From Jinwoo's perspective, Personality seemed full of openings. He could launch a powerful exorcism prayer filled with aura at any moment...
No. An exorcism prayer won't be enough. We need something stronger, perhaps a Holy Relic...
Jinwoo shook his head. The demonic energy radiating from Personality was so overwhelming that it made him dizzy. His instincts told him that the difference in their power was simply too great.
"There are still too many. I need to reduce their number further."
Personality, who had been quietly enjoying the smell of blood, turned his attention toward the priests who were saving their companions.
When he spoke of reducing their number, he meant the number of priests. Even after witnessing so much bloodshed, he was still saying that it wasn't enough.
"You wicked demon! After causing all this chaos, you're still not satisfied?!"
Three priests who had given up trying to save their companions gathered together.
All three were around Jungon's age, and they were veterans who had been leading the others on the front lines.
"We have to stop that demon, no matter what!"
"It's been a long time since I had to show what I can really do!"
Fwoosh!
One of the priests lit an incense burner. As smoke began rising from it, the priests gathered their aura.
The incense smoke made their aura clearer and more distinct.
Pop!
They opened their bottles of holy water and poured the contents over their heads, making their aura even more sacred.
Holding their rosaries, the priests began reciting the same prayer.
"Saint Michael the Archangel, leader of the heavenly armies, protect us on the battlefield of this world. Defend us against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. Restrain and subdue him, and by the power of God the Father, cast Satan and the other evil spirits who roam the world seeking to devour souls into Hell."
The faint aura flowing from the priests gathered together. The enormous mass of aura gradually took on a single shape.
A sword? Is that the sword said to have slain the dragon?
In Jinwoo's eyes, the aura had taken the form of a sword.
According to the Bible, it was probably the sword with which Archangel Michael had defeated the wicked dragon.
"Amen!"
The sword created by the senior priests rushed forward, ready to cut apart a demon far smaller than the dragon it had once slain.
WHOOOOSH!
Just before the dragon-slaying blade could mercilessly cut Personality down, his eyes turned toward the sword's tip.
"Being in an unfamiliar place filled with people causes extreme anxiety."
Once again, the sound of metal being struck came from Personality.
THUMP!
"Ghk!"
"What kind of trick have you played?!"
The priests who had been reciting the prayer suddenly grabbed their chests.
An unpleasant sensation began squeezing their hearts, and everything around them seemed distorted. Their breathing grew rapid, and chills ran through their bodies.
The strange condition that had suddenly struck the priests was a panic disorder.
Thud!
Eventually, one of the priests could no longer endure it and fell to his knees.
Naturally, his connection to the aura forming the sword was severed as well. As a result,
SHATTER!
The sword rushing toward Personality broke apart and scattered into particles of light.
