An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 364

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

Chapter 364
Part 3. I Am Your Chain (1)
Whoooosh—!
The rain drumming against my body is bitterly cold.
The sky remains shrouded in darkness, and the Victim Spirit’s form is grotesque and unsettling.
Yet Kang Hyung-seok continued the Victim Spirit’s ascension, ringing the Shaman’s Bell.
“What are the five aggregates you clung to in life but now abandon in a single breath? Mere wood and stone without their master.”
These were those who sought to summon the Demon.
I cannot claim that what they did in life was righteous.
The Demon they summoned to satisfy their selfish desires was cruel, demanding human sacrifice.
“Even if you were born a king and commanded all under heaven, do you not know, Victim Spirit, that death comes to all?”
These were sutras meant to correct their wrongs, not to comfort them.
Death is not the end.
“The five aggregates are thus fleeting and hollow, ultimately dissolving into nothing.”
What comes after exists, and so they shall face judgment for the karma they accumulated in life.
Hell.
For the Demon Worshippers who rejected causality and believed sorcery could resolve all worldly matters, this would be the cruelest fate imaginable.
Clang-clang-clang!
Kang Hyung-seok shook the Shaman’s Bell to send those who committed such atrocities away from this Cursed Forest.
The spirits’ arms and legs trembled.
Yet unlike before, they did not appear filled with joy and elation.
Instead, they seemed to writhe in unbearable terror of Hell and the judgment of Yama, King of the Underworld.
***
Shin Yoseph had no knowledge of what transpired outside the Abandoned Mine.
Yet he could sense it.
The Demon’s authority was no longer as it had been, and with no fear in his heart, he understood that it could no longer seduce him with a serpent’s tongue.
“Shamanic practices that become the source of malevolent intent, the Demon’s influence and the ravaging of evil, and sorcery steeped in malice.”
Father Leo’s prayer continued unbroken.
“Black masses, the Demon’s incantations, bindings of malice, curses cast through the gaze.”
“Drive away demonic obsession and possession by the Demon, we beseech you.”
Adding his voice to Father Leo’s prayer, Shin Yoseph raised the silver cross.
The metal cord rang out with a sharp sound, and the lighter’s flame flickered with an unsettling tremor.
“How foolish. Truth and peace and prosperity stand before your eyes.”
The Demon’s voice held no warmth.
It was murky, as though an ugly true face had been laid bare, and it scraped across the vocal cords with a grating sound.
Then it retreated a step backward, and Shin Yoseph felt a hand pressing against his back.
Father Leo was pushing him forward.
Thud.
Advancing a step as though pursuing the retreating Demon, Shin Yoseph opened his mouth as he listened to Father Leo’s prayer.
“No one desires you.”
Shhhhh.
The Demon’s face as it exhaled was no longer as it had been.
The angelic visage was gone, replaced instead by black skin and serpentine eyes.
The pure white wings had transformed into bat-like appendages, and the skin was covered in scales like those of a reptile.
“Reveal your true form. Hell, which you fear, awaits you—Demon, return to the place where you belong.”
Shhhhhk.
A crimson tongue, as though stained with blood, writhed beyond black lips.
Clack.
The lighter the Demon dropped rolled across the floor but did not lose its spark, illuminating the space from the lowest ground to the highest ceiling with a faint yet unmistakable glow.
“Demon, I am your chains.”
Shin Yoseph advanced another step toward the Demon.
“I persecute and suppress you, so you cannot emerge into the world.”
“…Israel.”
“I am your light.”
Shin Yoseph picked up the lighter.
Then he extended his arm and shone it upon the Demon.
The Demon’s brow furrowed, its lips twisted, revealing hideous fangs.
Simultaneously, intense hostility and murderous intent filled the Abandoned Mine.
“Cast all these evils into the fiery pit of Hell so that they may no longer touch me or any of creation in this world, we beseech you.”
Father Leo’s prayer reached him from behind, and Shin Yoseph, facing the Demon, recited a different prayer as well.
“All martyrs of this land, through the grace of God you shed your blood with steadfast faith for the love of Jesus Christ, the Gospel, and the Church.”
Understanding the purpose of the prayer, the Demon’s face hardened.
Those who are put to death for religious conviction and righteous cause are called martyrs.
It was a prayer for the martyrs, offered on their behalf.
“We wage fierce battle against the forces of evil in this present world.”
“Through the Immaculate Virgin Mary, in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior, I command in the name of Almighty God.”
“We sing of the glory of victory that you have won, and we praise God, the source of all goodness.”
Shin Yoseph held the lighter higher, illuminating the demon’s face more brightly as he continued his prayer.
“Pray for us, we beseech you.”
It was then that Father Leo’s prayer against all evil joined his own.
“All evil spirits that torment me, depart at once.”
Shin Yoseph’s eyes appeared momentarily devoid of emotion.
Yet within burned a profound resolve.
“Brave martyrs, we especially beseech you—pray to God for our nation.”
If only I could suppress this demon.
I was prepared to accept that today might be my last day on earth.
***
Kang Hyung-seok understands his calling.
Because I know what the Guardian Spirit is.
He is the protector deity of this land, and so the Shaman who receives this spirit must share the Guardian Spirit’s will.
May all evil on this earth vanish.
May exploitation and suffering, hatred and blame, calamity cease to exist.
Whirrrring!
Kang Hyung-seok shook the Shaman’s Bell with fervent prayer.
Rain pouring down from above.
Lightning illuminating the heavens.
Thunder reverberating through the air.
And countless Victim Spirits.
All of it seemed to watch over Kang Hyung-seok.
“Sin has no true nature—it arises from the mind. When the mind ceases, so too does the karma of sin.”
That was when it happened.
The hand shaking the Shaman’s Bell stilled, and the lips reciting the scripture slowed.
My gaze turned from heaven to earth.
Four Victim Spirits stood there.
Their forms were all eerie and grotesque, yet I already knew their truth.
Murdered spirits—sacrifices.
Bound even in death, unable to ascend, chained to summon the demon to this land.
Whirrrring.
As if on their behalf, the Shaman’s Bell rang out, and I continued the scripture while gazing upon them.
“When all attachment is shed and one returns to purity, the path the Victim Spirit walks shall be filled with radiance.”
Release your sorrow.
Release the resentment of those who could not live out their destined span.
“Forgive what was hated and abandon greed, so that with a purified heart you may reach the Pure Land of Buddha.”
Though I cannot bring you back to life, I can at least pray that you ascend the wheel of rebirth and find happiness in your next existence.
“Cast away corrupted thoughts and free yourselves from delusion. Attain the wisdom of prajna, and you shall be reborn in the Pure Land.”
As Kang Hyung-seok recited the scripture with fervent devotion, emotions and memories not his own seeped into his consciousness.
Each one was a human life—a flower that never bloomed.
The blessing at birth.
The suffering in life.
The agony in death.
Nothing was fleeting; Kang Hyung-seok received the sorrow and resentment of all the Victim Spirits with his entire being.
Waaaaang!
And he expelled it through the Shaman’s Bell.
“If what comes departs and what departs comes, then fear not the final breath of this mortal flesh.”
Kang Hyung-seok gazed upon the Victim Spirits, his voice fading as he finished the scripture.
“By the sacred mantras we chant in unity, all karmic bonds are severed, the hellish realms crumble, and through utmost sincerity, we escape the suffering of the three realms.”
The rain began to ease, its intensity gradually diminishing.
The spirits suspended in the sky still writhed in terror, while the Victim Spirits remaining upon this earth watched Kang Hyung-seok in silence.
The heavens parted.
The clouds tore asunder, and the light streaming through their gaps appeared like a ladder.
The gates of heaven opened.
Waaaaang!
“Amitabha Buddha, grant rebirth in the Pure Land of ultimate bliss.”
And Kang Hyung-seok’s recitation ended.
***
Footstep.
Shin Yoseph approached the Demon with a cross in one hand and a lighter in the other.
The Demon’s serpentine eyes looked past Shin Yoseph, where Father Leo stood.
There was no path to the surface anywhere.
“You are already judged.”
Shin Yoseph pressed the Demon with a calm voice, and it released a low moan from its mouth.
It was considerable.
The years spent waiting for the Demon to ascend to the surface.
Had it killed just one more person, the Demon could have descended to the surface, but now everything had crumbled to dust.
“You have no place in this land. Behold. The gates of Hell open before you.”
Shin Yoseph knew the end was drawing near.
Clang.
He released the silver cross and held it toward the Demon.
The lighter’s flame cast a soft glow around him, and the fangs between the Demon’s twisted lips gleamed.
“Begone!”
Shin Yoseph raised his voice even louder at the Demon cowering in the corner.
“This place is not yours!”
At that moment, the Demon’s mouth opened wide.
And it emitted the sounds of all manner of beasts.
Sheep, snake, camel, horse, tiger, rat.
The simultaneous moans of the creatures were not a signal of resistance.
A signal of submission and defeat.
Indeed, the Demon’s form was crumbling, growing increasingly indistinct.
And when everything had vanished, Shin Yoseph stood watching the place where the Demon had been, his face drenched with sweat.
“…Haah.”
Breath burst forth from deep within my chest.
The lighter’s flame illuminated the wall.
What lay there was a human face carved as if etched in stone.
Yet the expression was twisted with such intensity as would be impossible for any living person.
It was over.
Footstep.
Shin Yoseph turned and moved forward.
His mouth tasted of blood, and his face was drenched with sweat like a man pulled from water.
I wanted to express gratitude to Father Leo, but my entire body felt like a wrung-out cloth, and no voice would come.
“You did well.”
Yet was it mere imagination that Father Leo’s voice reached my ears from right beside me?
“You saved a person.”
“Huh, hah.”
Shin Yoseph breathed heavily through twisted lips, his steps unsteady.
Then rainwater that had seeped inside soaked his feet.
Instinctively, I sensed danger, yet Father Leo’s voice continued unbroken.
“Though you walk through waters, I shall be with you; though you cross rivers, they shall not overwhelm you.”
Isaiah 43:2.
Shin Yoseph nodded heavily and, relying on the faint glow of the lighter, pressed forward toward the exit of the Abandoned Mine.
“Though you walk through fire, you shall not be burned; the flames shall not consume you.”
It was then.
Clang! Clang!
From beyond the lightless darkness came the urgent footsteps of someone running.
“Shin Yoseph!”
It was Kang Hyung-seok’s voice.
Exhausted, Shin Yoseph slumped against the wall, leaning his shoulder upon it, but raised the hand holding the lighter high.
To signal that someone was here.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Kang Hyung-seok splashed through the stagnant water, rushing forward.
Without hesitation, he lifted Shin Yoseph to his feet and draped his arm around his own neck.
Thump!
Gripping his waist firmly to keep him from slipping, Kang Hyung-seok walked toward the exit of the Abandoned Mine.

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