An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 295
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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 294
Part 1. I Am With You (3)
Whoooosh!
Flames spread across the ceiling, and smoke reeking of sulfur billowed forth.
A light source that turned everything in the world a searing red.
Within that inferno, Shin Yoseph stood motionless as time itself froze, his gaze fixed on Father Leo within the ceiling.
Father Leo did not appear to be in pain.
He simply kept his eyes closed in serene silence.
Clang clang clang!
The loud ringing of the Shaman’s Bell seized Kang Hyung-seok’s attention.
He glanced up at the ceiling once more, then turned his gaze toward Shin Yoseph.
“Shin Yo…!”
The Shaman’s Bell issued its warning.
Do not believe.
What the eyes perceive.
What the heart reflects.
And everything that shakes the soul.
“I know.”
Shin Yoseph, standing like a man whose soul had been hollowed out, smiled bitterly and met his gaze.
“I know better than anyone.”
An exorcism was underway.
It was Shin Yoseph who had witnessed, felt, and endured the cunning of demons far more than Kang Hyung-seok ever had.
Though he appeared drained, Kang Hyung-seok read the will that lingered in his eyes and nodded heavily.
Then he gripped the Shaman’s Bell and the sacred blade with all his strength.
“Mujung-ja jayeon-ja pyobja jang-cheonha-nani.”
Kang Hyung-seok’s incantation to expel malevolent spirits began.
And at that moment, Shin Yoseph traced the sign of the cross and, lowering his gaze, prayed in a heavy voice.
“Lord, grant eternal rest to Father Leo.”
He was an unfortunate man.
“Dongbang-cheongje yeongbo-imyeo nambang-jeokje munso-imyeo seobang-baekje.”
“Let eternal light shine upon him.”
A man who devoted his entire life to others, not himself.
A man who lived out the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
“Hyeonggi-imyeo bukbang-heukje hyeondong-imyeo dongyaksan-sin wolsang-yong.”
“May Father Leo and all those who have departed from this world.”
Live a life like the twelve apostles who battled unclean spirits, so prepare a place for him.
He is one who planted truth where error dwelt, hope where despair reigned, and light in darkness.
“Namyaksan-sin danjin-yeong seoyaksan-sin suil-gwon bukaksan-sin.”
“By God’s mercy, grant him the rest of peace.”
Have compassion upon him.
Deliver him from suffering.
“True essence of the Central Sacred Mountain Spirit, Ho Yeol-su, Spirit of the Eastern Sea, Spirit of the Southern Sea, Chu Ryu.”
“Amen.”
Clink.
The chain of the silver cross hanging around Shin Yoseph’s neck swayed with a metallic sound.
Whoosh!
The flames grew fiercer, and the Snakes that had been hiding in the corners revealed their fangs with cold, gleaming eyes.
Shin Yoseph simply closed his eyes.
‘I will not be deceived.’
I will wait for the moment.
I will wait quietly for Kang Hyung-seok’s turn to end, for that moment when the true nature of the Demon would be revealed.
Even if my heart ached terribly, it could not compare to Father Leo’s suffering, bound by the Demon.
If I didn’t believe that, I felt I would collapse.
Creak, creak.
As his trembling hand gripped the cross so tightly his fingers turned white, Kang Hyung-seok was reciting the final verse of the Livestock Farm Incantation.
“Let the thousand heavens be formed, let heaven and earth tremble, let the thousand heavens bend, let the four heavens shake, and by the thousand heavens above, let all ten thousand ghosts and spirits be annihilated.”
At that moment, both Kang Hyung-seok and Shin Yoseph turned their gazes toward the ceiling.
The Victim Spirits that had been bound by the Demon left this place.
Whoosh!
What remained was only flame and a single spirit.
Park Pyung-sik, the Possessed Person and the deceased.
-Ahhhhhhh! Ahhhhhhh!
Park Pyung-sik’s screams were chilling as his arms and legs continued to twist, bend, and break.
Crash!
Kang Hyung-seok, earnestly hoping his suffering would subside, shook the Shaman’s Bell and stepped backward.
It was not from fear of the Demon.
He had instinctively realized that his turn had ended.
“Pray.”
Kang Hyung-seok spoke while meeting Shin Yoseph’s eyes, and Shin Yoseph, gripping the cross, moved toward the coffin.
“In the name of Jesus Christ our God, and through the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and the Archangel Saint Michael.”
Step, step.
“Through the intercession of the Apostle Saint Peter and the Apostle Saint Paul and all the saints, we stand to resist and do battle against the temptations and deceits of Satan.”
Step.
Standing directly before the coffin, Shin Yoseph deliberately looked down at the casket with its lid thrown open, not at the ceiling.
Park Pyung-sik’s corpse was wrapped in paper.
Symbols indicating his faith as a Catholic were inscribed in places throughout, and the paper carefully wound around him to the crown of his head bore not a single trace of soot.
As if to declare that all these flames and everything filling this mountain cabin were nothing but illusion.
“Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered; let those who hate him flee before him.”
Shin Yoseph’s voice was different from usual.
It carried a far heavier and deeper power.
It was as if someone else were praying alongside him.
“As smoke vanishes, as wax melts before fire….”
“The wicked shall perish before God.”
A deep male voice suddenly rang out from behind, and Shin Yoseph’s body trembled violently.
I wondered if this too was an illusion, but the voice Shin Yoseph heard was also audible to me.
And I saw him.
A man in black standing behind Shin Yoseph.
“Behold the cross of the Lord here.”
The calm yet resonant voice continued the prayer.
Shin Yoseph’s lips trembled, then he clenched his teeth, and soon he prayed in harmony with the voice that followed.
“And let the power of your enemies retreat.”
“And let the power of your enemies retreat.”
The two voices blended together as naturally as if they were one.
“The Lion from the line of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered.”
“The Lion from the line of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered.”
It was only natural.
It was Father Leo’s voice.
Just as he had done in life, he was praying alongside Shin Yoseph for the exorcism.
“Lord, pour your mercy upon us.”
“As we have hoped in you together.”
“Wretched being, whoever you were, we expel you and all the forces of the Devil and all the attacks of the enemies of Hell.”
“All the legions and alliances and tribes of the Devil, I cast you out.”
The power in Shin Yoseph’s voice grew ever stronger.
Yet conversely, his voice trembled, his pronunciation faltered, and a salty taste lingered in his mouth.
His jaw.
Father Leo’s hand settled upon Shin Yoseph’s shoulder.
It was after Shin Yoseph had gasped for breath through his open mouth and swallowed hard enough to make his Adam’s apple bob.
“Ignatius.”
That voice from memory reached my ears.
“Focus. He’s revealing himself.”
I swear, Shin Yoseph had never wanted so intensely to turn around and look behind him.
Yet he looked forward instead.
The exorcism was not yet complete.
“…I understand.”
“In the name and power of our Lord Jesus Christ, I cast you out.”
“From the souls created in the image of God by the Holy Church and redeemed by the precious blood of the Lamb of God, depart.”
“Demon, I ask you.”
Shin Yoseph lifted his head and looked toward the ceiling.
“What is your name.”
Flames writhed across the ceiling.
Yet there was no violent resistance.
The demon that had clung to Father Leo even after Park Pyung-sik’s body had expired, unable to go anywhere else.
A weary, exhausted abomination, with no suitable vessel nearby to inhabit.
Just as Kang Hyung-seok had his Guardian Spirit, Shin Yoseph had Father Leo.
Whoooosh.
The dying embers traced intricate patterns across the ceiling.
Two circles of different sizes.
Within them lay a rectangle with two vertical lines, a circle encompassing it, and a triangle drawn below.
Shin Yoseph knew which demon this symbol represented.
“Furkas.”
The fiftieth of Solomon’s 72 Demons, commanding twenty legions.
Once a virtue angel, known by another name as the Duke of Death.
Depicted as an old man riding a pale horse, wielding a great scythe.
Thus a demon that symbolizes death itself.
“…Return to where you belong, Furkas.”
The moment Shin Yoseph’s voice ceased.
Neeeeiiiigh!
The cry of a great horse filled the mountain cabin.
Black bloodstains began seeping from the paper wrapping Park Pyung-sik’s face.
It appeared as though what dwelt within was flowing outward.
Whoosh! Whoooosh!
The remaining embers withered as if writhing in agony, and the pattern on the ceiling scattered.
The flames gradually vanished, and darkness descended.
Heavy silence fell.
No trace of spider or snake remained; only the open coffin and the faint stench of death lingering from within.
The deceased had finally found rest and peace.
But Shin Yoseph had not.
“…I am deeply sorry.”
He bowed his head at the presence he still felt behind him.
“I truly am sorry. I… I have no words adequate enough to express my remorse.”
Father Leo had died during the exorcism.
Because Shin Yoseph had fled, and this had become a profound guilt that tormented him.
“It is already done. Why do you apologize so?”
“…Had I not fled, you would not have died.”
“Life and death are the Lord’s will—why would that be your fault?”
“Cain’s murder of Abel was not the Lord’s will, was it?”
Shin Yoseph spoke with difficulty, as though making confession.
“My weakness killed you.”
“The demon killed me.”
“I am the cause.”
Shin Yoseph spoke through sobs, and Father Leo’s hand came to rest upon his hair.
“It was you who followed me that day to the Possessed Person.”
“…Father.”
“It was you who performed the exorcism.”
“….”
“Do you regret that as well.”
No.
Never.
Shin Yoseph wanted to answer with words, but his throat constricted, so he shook his head instead.
“We are human because we are insufficient, and we are insufficient because we are human. Because we are not divine, we always make mistakes, and we move forward by using those mistakes as stepping stones.”
“Are you forgiving me, Father?”
“There was nothing to forgive from the beginning.”
A brief silence fell.
When that silence grew heavy and Shin Yoseph’s head bowed deeper, Father Leo’s voice continued.
“I have seen it all. Everything you have lived through.”
“….”
“You have done better than anyone, Ignatius.”
Shin Yoseph’s firmly sealed lips trembled.
His adam’s apple bobbed once more.
There were so many things I had wanted to share if I ever spoke with Father Leo.
Yet the words would not come.
As Shin Yoseph gripped his dampened vocal cords and drew ragged breaths, Father Leo’s soft and gentle voice reached him.
“Do not think of revenge.”
“…Then how am I to live?”
“Through your calling.”
Swish, swish.
The touch of Father Leo’s hand upon Shin Yoseph’s hair gradually felt more distant.
“You will face tribulation in this world. But take courage. I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33.
At this, Shin Yoseph answered in a solemn voice, as though harmonizing with Father Leo.
“For me, Christ is the entirety of my life.”
Then, as though receiving ordination, he closed his eyes.
His lips remained firmly sealed.
Father Leo’s voice reached him then.
“Fear not, for I am with you.”
A passage from Isaiah 41.
It was immediately after Shin Yoseph’s eyes widened in astonishment.
“I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
Shin Yoseph turned around urgently.
It was but a moment, yet Father Leo’s figure appeared dimly before him.
But it was only for a brief moment before the interior of the Mountain Cabin, shrouded in darkness, filled his vision once more.
Wherever he looked, the only human form visible was Kang Hyung-seok standing with clasped hands before the door—Father Leo was nowhere to be found.
In the thick darkness and profound silence, Shin Yoseph murmured as if speaking to himself.
“…Amen.”
His voice resonated through the quiet Mountain Cabin.
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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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