An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 363

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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 363
Part 2. You Cannot Make Us Surrender (3)
Sometimes, very rarely, there are moments like this.
Moments that transcend language.
When words aren’t necessary, when urgent emotions that words alone cannot contain come surging forth.
Crack!
Shin Yoseph, gripping so hard that his finger joints audibly cracked, sent an intense gaze toward Kang Hyung-seok.
Then he blinked slowly.
Go.
Kang Hyung-seok answered Shin Yoseph’s message with a nod, then moved as if throwing his body forward.
Scrape!
Pain shot through me from the jagged wall and my scraped knuckles, and the scent of blood spread through the air.
But I didn’t even think to touch the wounds as I retraced my steps.
It felt as though Shin Yoseph was watching me.
I could feel the desperate gaze piercing the back of my head.
“Huff! Gasp! Haah!”
Back at the fork in the path, I immediately moved toward where the entrance had been.
Shin Yoseph had made his choice.
To send me out.
‘Wait.’
Only this word filled my mind.
My incantations as a Shaman had been ineffective against the Demon.
So let the exorcist priest handle the Demon, and let the Shaman find what only a Shaman can do.
It was a message Shin Yoseph conveyed without words, and in the gaze piercing the back of my head, I felt no resentment or bewilderment.
Instead, I felt something closer to a plea.
Splash!
Reaching the slope that had now become an uphill climb, I felt the moisture soaking my shoes.
Shortening my breath as I looked upward, I heard the sound of rain, and water was streaming down the slope.
Rainwater was seeping into this space where the plywood had broken through to the outside.
Splash! Splash! Scrape!
Using my hands to grip the slippery slope, I began climbing.
As I drew closer to the top, the stream of water wetting my hands grew thicker, and the sound of rain grew steadily louder.
Strange.
Was this place always like this?
Something feels different.
After completely exiting the slope, I continued walking toward the entrance.
Splash! Splash! Splash!
Walking along the corridor where water had pooled, I could begin to guess the reason for this sense of wrongness.
‘It’s too dark.’
By this point, the entrance should be visible, and there should be light.
Yet the surrounding darkness bred ominous thoughts.
What if Shin Yoseph hadn’t captured the Demon, but rather the Demon had seized not just Shin Yoseph, but me as well?
Whirrrr!
Shaking the Shaman’s Bell, I fixed my gaze on the water streaming across the floor as if trying to drag me deeper into the Abandoned Mine.
Then I lifted my face, drenched in sweat and water droplets, and slowly parted my lips.
“Tae Sang Wol Hwang Cheon Ji A, Hwang Ji Jae A, Il Wol Jo A, Seong Sin Yeong A, Je Seon Geo A, Sa Myeong Yeong A.”
If I am not the one being seized, then let the Master of my body reveal the truth.
“Tae Eul Rim A, Ok Sin Do A, Sam Gwan Bo A, O Je U A, Buk Sin Sang A, Nam Geuk U A, Geum Dong Si A, Ok Nyeo Bae A.”
If we can move forward, let light be revealed unto us.
“Yuk Gap Jik A, Yuk Jeong Jin A, Cheon Mun Gae A, Ji Ho Tong Sa, San Taek Yong A, Gang Ha Do A, Pung U Song A.”
If we can overcome this situation, grant us the touch of that possibility.
Splash, splash.
I was in the midst of reciting the Taeul Bosin Gyeong.
In the distance, the entrance appeared, and faint light glimmered forth.
Whoooosh!
How could it be so dark, even with rain pouring down like a deluge?
I squeezed out my remaining strength and rushed toward the entrance, which cast its faint light like a guide, and soon emerged from the Abandoned Mine.
Fat raindrops pelted me mercilessly, and fresh air surged forth with the downpour. Drenched like one pulled from water, I gasped for breath.
But not long after, I had to hold even that breath.
“…What is this?”
My eyes, blessed with spiritual sight, could perceive it.
Whoooosh!
In this Forest, shrouded in relentless rain that seemed to fall sideways and oppressive dark clouds, things that should not be seen became visible.
People.
No—Victim Spirits.
The souls of Demon Worshippers that the Mountain Spirit had shown me.
Wheeeeee!
The Victim Spirits of humans thrashed their arms and legs with a violence and speed far greater than leaves shaken by the howling wind, soaring high into the air.
As if infinitely rejoicing at the descent of their Master upon this land.
Whoooosh!
The grotesque laughter of the Victim Spirits, flailing their limbs, became wind and echoed throughout the entire Forest.
***
Whoosh.
A small spark ignited, illuminating the surroundings.
Warm heat, a fingernail-sized ember dancing with the flow of air.
It was Shin Yoseph’s lighter, but now it rested in the Demon’s hand.
The Demon and Shin Yoseph faced each other at close range, the lighter suspended between them.
The Dragon’s form was gone.
In its place stood a being with a face like a white porcelain mask and wings adorned with abundant white feathers.
Soft.
The Demon gently caressed Shin Yoseph’s face with the back of its hand and fingers, then spoke.
“You’re trembling, Ignatius. I feel your pain.”
Shin Yoseph stared at the Demon, his face rigid.
Its white, statue-like form resembled an angel, and warmth radiated from its fingers, yet I knew what lay beneath that exterior.
So he gazed at the Demon with unwavering eyes.
“Faithless one. You don’t know what you’re doing.”
Shin Yoseph’s eyebrows twitched, and the lighter’s flame flickered in response, but the Demon’s voice continued calmly.
“As long as I live, I will not abandon you. Where there is darkness, I will bring light. Where there is despair, I will bring hope. Look at your God. He is silent.”
“Shut up.”
“Smile.”
The Demon spoke with such earnest longing that it seemed genuine, caressing Shin Yoseph’s cheek.
The touch was extraordinarily gentle and kind, yet Shin Yoseph writhed, turning his face as though a great spider crawled across it.
“I will bless your laughter. I will not condemn your joy, and I will bless your glory to continue.”
“Huh! Huh!”
“Weep.”
When Shin Yoseph looked at the Demon through narrowed eyes, clear tears streamed down its white cheeks.
“I will weep with you.”
Shin Yoseph’s lips, jaw, and eyes trembled as he clenched his molars.
The Demon’s tongue is terrifying.
Though my mind knows I shouldn’t listen to those words, my heart responds regardless of my will.
No matter how hard I struggle, it’s difficult to hold my heart firm through sheer determination.
It was then.
Soft.
A hand touched Shin Yoseph’s back.
Not the Demon’s touch.
It was far warmer—a human’s hand—but not Kang Hyung-seok’s.
“Don’t be seduced.”
Father Leo’s voice reached directly into his heart.
“The Demon preys on humanity’s weakest points. If you listen, you’ll be caught in its designs, so hold your mind firm.”
That calm tone is familiar.
It’s the same tone Father Leo used when teaching the newly ordained exorcist priest Shin Yoseph.
I understand.
Shin Yoseph answered without a sound, his gaze meeting the Demon’s.
Then, with the same serene composure he’d worn during an exorcism ritual with Father Leo long ago, he opened his mouth.
“Abnas, Oriax, Alloces.”
The Demon’s lips sealed shut, and the lighter’s flame between the two beings trembled and flickered.
“What is your name?”
Ssshhh.
A thin breath escaped from the Demon’s mouth.
It no longer writhed its tongue to seduce him, and the gentle aura gradually diminished.
“In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, I ask you: what is your purpose in coming here?”
Shin Yoseph’s voice carried weight.
The resolve not to yield to the Demon accompanied him.
With faith at his side, my heart became steel, and I was no longer alone but two.
Just as Kang Hyung-seok stood with his guardian spirit.
Shin Yoseph stood with his senior.
“Ignatius.”
The Demon hissed like a snake, uttering Shin Yoseph’s baptismal name.
“Why do you turn away from truth?”
“My truth does not lie with you. Demon, your will is already broken—depart from this land and return to Hell.”
Crackle!
The flames danced, casting writhing shadows.
Because of this, the Demon’s angelic face appeared to contort.
“I already stand against you, and your authority ends here.”
Shin Yoseph raised the silver cross.
At that same moment, Father Leo’s voice came from behind him.
“I will pray.”
Understood.
Shin Yoseph gripped the cross until his fingers turned white, then brought it to his chest.
I felt the steady rhythm of my heartbeat, and behind me, Father Leo’s prayer continued.
“Spirit of God, Spirit of the Lord, Most Holy Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Immaculate Virgin, Angels and Archangels, and all the Saints of Heaven, descend upon me.”
A prayer against all evil.
A prayer that brings torment to the Demon and peace to those who believe in God.
“Melt me and make me new, fill me with yourself, and use me as your instrument.”
As Father Leo’s prayer continued steadily, Shin Yoseph stared at the Demon and spoke.
“We will stand against you.”
The Demon’s eyes, growing increasingly rigid and contorted, gleamed.
Now it no longer appeared as an angel.
It revealed itself only as a Demon, stripped of its hypocrisy and exposing its hideous nature.
“You cannot subdue us.”
Clang.
The cord attached to the silver cross rang out with a metallic sound.
***
I held my breath as I gazed up at the sky.
I had to think.
I had to think and think again.
What I could do, what I must do.
Splash!
As I turned my head sharply enough to send raindrops scattering from my hair, the entrance to the Abandoned Mine came into view.
Shin Yoseph and the Demon were there.
Without a Possessed Person, the Demon existed on this land.
“…Why is it there?”
I stood beneath the sky.
Yet the Demon dwelt in that deep, shadowed underground.
Though it had devoted itself to this land, it remained in darkness, not light.
There had to be a reason.
‘An incomplete ritual.’
I knew nothing of Demon summoning, but thinking of it as sorcery, the reason became clear.
“The Possessed Person.”
The spirit that was not killed.
I lifted my head and looked up at the spirits writhing in the branches above.
“The ritual performer, the sacrifice.”
Shin Yoseph had called the dead the sacrifices.
Four people already dead. One person not killed.
If this was a ritual completed by death, what I could do was clear.
Whirrrr!
As I shook the Shaman’s Bell raised above my head, the spirits’ movements ceased.
Rumble!
The ash-grey sky unleashed thunder, and as I became drenched in rain, I began to recite the sacred words.
“Today we guide the Victim Spirit with sincere devotion and chanting. May you abandon the bonds of this realm and depart to the afterlife.”
The Victim Spirit Guidance Sutra.
Sacred words used to comfort and guide the souls of the deceased.
“Through the merit of our chanting, may the wisdom of transcendence be revealed. May all profound dharma for the Victim Spirit be fully understood, and may liberation and nirvana be achieved.”
If the Demon’s descent required the spirits of the dead, I would guide those souls to salvation.
Even spirits bound by the Demon, I would save them.
Whirrrr!
I shook the Shaman’s Bell and looked up at the spirits.
“May Amitabha Buddha guide you to the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, and may all achieve Buddhahood.”
The spirits, too, had ceased their movements and looked down at me.

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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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