An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 204

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 203
Part 7. Hide and Seek (3)
Tap, tap.
Park Mi-ryung walked slowly up the Mountain Road, then suddenly glanced behind her.
She hadn’t seen a single person on the way up here.
Yet she turned to look back because of a presence visible only to her eyes.
“Elder.”
There was no answer, but she continued speaking.
“You told me to become a stake. To drive in a stake, I must face it directly.”
The Great Goblin.
Her Guardian Spirit.
Staring into the darkness, Park Mi-ryung continued.
“Do you believe I can face it, Elder?”
Whoooosh.
Suddenly wind swept through, rustling leaves and brush, caressing her cheek. And beside her ear, a soft voice whispered.
There was one to guide the way—why concern herself with anything else?
“…I understand.”
Park Mi-ryung answered with an unwavering heart.
***
Crunch, crunch.
Shin Yoseph, who had climbed to the middle of the Mountain, walked forward illuminating his path with a lantern.
He wore a cassock called a soutane, a silver cross hung from his neck, and he carried a lantern and censer in his hands.
Pop! Crackle.
He lit dried resin granules from a frankincense tree and placed them in the censer.
Smoke spread and mingled with the Forest air.
A slight pungency, yet a delicate sweetness.
A mysterious fragrance between subtle grass scent and earth smell.
“Sancte Michaele Archangele, defende nos in proelio (Saint Michael the Archangel, protect us in battle).”
A prayer offered to Michael.
Also a plea for protection from Demons.
“Contra nequitiam et insidias diaboli esto praesidium (Be our bulwark against the malice and snares of the Devil).”
Reciting that prayer, Shin Yoseph walked heavily toward the Mountain Peak.
Though the Oni is not a Demon.
But since it is malevolent and disturbs the world, it can be opposed through prayer.
“Imperet illi Deus, supplices deprecamur (God commands it; we humbly beseech).”
Shin Yoseph stared into the darkness.
Then he moved the hand holding the censer to his chest.
‘There is work to be done. Saint Michael, protect me.’
The Oni that Kang Hyung-seok had told him about was a being that severed human necks.
The count was three hundred.
One had already died, leaving two hundred ninety-nine.
A soft hiss escaped the incense.
Shin Yoseph moved his hand holding the censer slowly, letting the smoke drift farther and wider.
A mystical aura enveloped him, and an energy distinct from Shamanism shielded his body.
Then, piercing through the fragrance of the incense, came a different scent.
‘Burnt… smoke?’
Shin Yoseph turned his head toward the direction of the smell and bolted without hesitation.
The burnt odor intensified, and bizarre screams began to echo.
Kyaaaaaaagh!
Like fingernails scraping a chalkboard, the sharp sound made my hair stand on end.
Sizzle! Sizzzzle!
Screams and other sounds mingled together.
‘Damn it, damn it!’
A terrible thought seized me.
Had another victim fallen?
Shin Yoseph ran harder toward the source of the sounds, praying desperately.
And then I saw it.
Kyaaaaaaagh!
A Roe Deer, collapsed and shrieking, being torn apart alive by a grotesque figure.
Sizzzzle!
The creature ripped the Roe Deer’s leg apart and, from the darkness, locked eyes with Shin Yoseph while chewing the chunk of meat.
Kyaaaaaaagh!
The Roe Deer, still clinging to life, wailed as if its last breath were escaping, and the stench in the air assaulted us.
The reek of blood, the warm smell of entrails.
Decay and the stench of rot.
Breathing hard through my nose and mouth, Shin Yoseph met the creature’s gaze.
No one needed to tell me.
That was an Oni.
Its inhuman form and grotesque black face made it unmistakable.
The blood-soaked upper body and the terrifying aura radiating from it confirmed it.
Kyaaaagh! Kyaaaagh!
Each time the Roe Deer’s lungs filled with air, the screams poured out.
The intervals were mechanical, disturbingly regular.
The most grotesque thing was the Oni’s eyes.
Its pupils, catching the lantern’s light, reflected it like a cat’s, appearing utterly otherworldly.
Kyaaaagh!
The Oni seized the Roe Deer’s throat as it shrieked loud enough to rupture eardrums.
Crunch!
Then it twisted and snapped the neck like wringing out a wet towel, and opened its blood-soaked mouth.
The scent of incense.
It was Japanese, but Shin Yoseph could understand it.
“What is your name?”
Shin Yoseph spoke, and the Oni rose from his seat.
His thickly lacquered hair towered above Shin Yoseph, casting down a menacing gaze.
“Why do you serve another when there is a great Emperor?”
The Oni’s hand moved to his waist with threatening intent.
Only then did Shin Yoseph notice the Japanese sword, and he clenched his teeth with force.
Click.
Then, with the hand holding the censer, he touched the cross.
“You are like a Snake. I do not fear you.”
At that moment, the Oni’s eyebrows twitched.
“Korean.”
Shin Yoseph suddenly felt his body stiffen.
Not from fear.
The acrid aura emanating from the Oni’s form became an invisible hand that clung to him.
‘Spirits?’
The aura was so powerful that Shin Yoseph’s eyes caught a glimpse of it.
Headless phantom spirits crawling forth from the Oni, drawing near to him.
Shin Yoseph shifted his gaze toward the Oni.
Shing.
The Oni’s eyes as he drew his Japanese sword were chilling.
Not the eyes of one regarding a conversation partner.
The eyes of one gazing upon something that would incur no sin to kill.
Clatter.
Shin Yoseph set down the lantern and gripped the cross, opening his mouth.
“Crux sacra sit mihi lux.”
His voice carried holiness and melody.
The exorcism prayer of Saint Benedict.
From the smoke rising from the censer, Shin Yoseph continued the sacred chant toward the Oni.
“Non draco sit mihi dux.”
Let no dragon be my guide.
“Vade retro, Satana.”
Satan, begone.
“Nunquam suade mihi vana, Sunt mala que libas.”
What you counsel is vanity. You offer only the chalice of evil.
“Ipse venena bibas.”
Drink that poison yourself.
Click.
He swung the censer toward the Oni.
More smoke poured forth from the censer, spreading across the floor.
The sacred incense filled the space between Shin Yoseph and the Oni.
Frankincense is one of the three gifts the Magi presented when Jesus descended to this earth.
Therefore, it symbolizes holiness.
It also symbolizes the mission of the Savior.
Sizzle, sizzle.
The Oni’s skin turned crimson where the frankincense smoke touched it.
Its eyes became bloodshot, and the lacquer coating on its face cracked.
Through the fissures, the Oni’s face twisted as raw red flesh was exposed.
“Speak your name! If not, return to the place from whence you came!”
Clang!
“Uuuugh.”
As the chain of the censer rattled with sound, the Oni’s face contorted further and it groaned.
The unclean had touched the sacred.
The Oni’s expression was like that of a possessed person upon whom holy water had been sprinkled, its peeling skin like that of someone doused in sulfuric acid.
“Wretched creature, whatever you once were, we cast out you and all the forces of the demon, all the attacks of the enemies of hell, all the legions of the devil, and all their allies and kindred!”
Shin Yoseph’s voice erupted with commanding force.
In contrast, a low, pained sound flowed from the Oni’s mouth.
“Damn you Koreans.”
Shin Yoseph’s gaze gradually lifted.
The Oni’s body rose into the air.
Smoke billowed from the Oni’s ascending form, as if being dragged upward by vengeful spirits.
“May our sovereign reign eternal, through countless ages, until pebbles become great stones and moss grows upon them.”
The Oni’s voice echoed across the Mountain.
Kimigayo.
“Come forth, come forth, I bid you come, protect the imperial realm, together stand against the multitude of foes that gather, fear them not, dread them not.”
The Oni, now suspended high in the air, vanished into another Mountain, consumed by smoke and flame.
“Huff, huff.”
Confirming the Oni’s disappearance, Shin Yoseph gripped his cross tightly.
“Archangel Saint Michael, illuminate us with your light.”
Protect us with your wings.
Receive us with your sword.
After finishing his prayer, he called Kang Hyung-seok.
***
Zzzzzing!
My phone vibrated in my pocket.
But instead of answering, I looked up at the night sky.
The back of my neck prickled, and every hair on my body stood on end.
I could see something spewing smoke tearing wildly across the night sky.
An Oni.
I pulled out my phone and immediately pressed the call button.
(It went somewhere else!)
Hearing Shin Yoseph’s voice, I felt a wave of relief wash over me.
“Is he safe?”
(He’s fine. But I don’t know where it went.)
If you’re doing something, hurry.
That’s what Shin Yoseph’s tone seemed to be saying.
I looked back up at the night sky and responded quickly.
“Head to Amisan! Don’t climb the Mountain, and contact the others!”
I had to drive the Oni toward Amisan.
I had to make Park Mi-ryung and the Oni meet in the end.
(Got it.)
Shin Yoseph hung up urgently, and in that brief moment, I ran my tongue across my parched mouth.
Then I turned my attention to the wind that was blowing.
Whoooosh whoooosh whoooosh.
Was it the wind ringing the Shaman’s Bell with its sound?
Or was it the guidance of my Guardian Spirit?
Either way, nothing felt right.
It seemed to be urging me to hurry.
Thud thud thud thud.
I ran while pulling the shoulder straps of my backpack taut.
The bag pressed snugly against my back, radiating heat, but it no longer swayed.
I had been running through the Mountain for quite some time now.
It wasn’t even a proper path, and I’d nearly twisted my ankle several times.
Whoooosh!
Shaking the Shaman’s Bell, I confirmed the direction of the wind and continued sprinting through the dark Mountain at full speed.
Whoooooosh!
I could sense what the wind whipping at my clothes and hair wanted.
The most remote part of the Mountain.
It was guiding me to the most damp and spiritually dense place.
“Huff, huff.”
As the wind grew gentler, I looked around me.
Sweat trickled down my chin, and my back where it touched the bag was damp and hot as if scalding water had been poured over it.
Yet the air surrounding me was paradoxically cold and crisp.
‘How could such a place….’
possibly exist?
When the wind died down, I understood.
Kang Hyung-seok was the only one breathing in this place.
No birds, no insects, no snakes or spiders.
All that existed was thick yin energy and darkness, along with Kang Hyung-seok and plants that had grown stunted as if crushed by something unseen.
Gulp.
Kang Hyung-seok swallowed hard to steady his breathing, then shook the Shaman’s Bell.
That was when it happened.
Crack-boom!
Lightning split the clouds and illuminated the Mountain.
As if to light the surroundings, the lightning continued to flash repeatedly.
Rumble-crash-crack!
Shaking the Shaman’s Bell toward the thundering sky, he examined the ground.
Then he stood before a certain spot, picked up a flat stone, and sat down on the earth.
Crack-boom! Rumble-rumble!
Beneath a sky that threatened to unleash torrential rain at any moment,
Thud! Thwack! Thud!
Kang Hyung-seok began clawing at the soil with the stone.
Just as someone had done here long, long ago.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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