Chapter 012 — Order of the Golden Bull (4)
Leaving behind Valefor’s screams as they gradually faded into the distance, Mikael headed down the stairs.
Under the dim glow of the small lights, the followers had just opened the door and were busy carrying supplies inside.
“Did you hear? Apparently, some idiot woman showed up earlier.”
“Oh, I heard. They said she was the most pathetic infiltrator they’ve ever seen. Looks like the Exorcism Association really is running out of talented people.”
A clumsy exorcist priest.
Judging from the situation, they had to be talking about Sia.
Good grief. Of course.
Mikael, who had been listening in, was about to quickly take them down and enter the stone chamber when—
“Anyway, the ritual is almost complete.”
He stopped when the conversation suddenly became important.
“Right. The day our Master descends is not far away.”
Descends? So that’s what this is.
Demons basically had two ways of influencing the human world.
The first was possession—feeding on human desires and stealing their bodies.
The second was manifestation, where their true bodies appeared directly in this world.
And when a high-ranking demon manifested in the world, it was called a Descent.
This is getting much bigger than I expected.
The amount of power a manifested demon could use depended on the quality and quantity of the sacrifices.
And since Divine Beasts were among the sacrifices these people were using, if Haagenti himself descended—
It would be nothing short of a disaster.
There was no more time to waste.
“Once our Master descends, we won’t have to keep hiding anymore, right?”
“Of course. We won’t even need to wear these human skins any—fuck!”
“Intrud—!”
The followers tried to shout, but Mikael was faster.
“Ignículus.”
Fwoooosh!
Mikael launched the White Flame he had prepared beforehand, engulfing the followers.
“Aaaagh! Mmph!”
They tried to scream from the burning pain, but Mikael quickly covered their mouths.
The white flames that burned demons spread across their entire bodies and reduced their flesh to ashes.
“As I thought. They were demons.”
Mikael brushed away the drifting ash and opened the door to the stone chamber.
Creeeeak—
There seemed to be no electricity inside the chamber.
The faint light from candles and torches hanging along the walls was all there was.
Still, it was bright enough for him to clearly see through the iron bars near the entrance and into the prison cells beyond.
“W-Water….”
“Ugh… I don’t want to die like this….”
Inside the cells were everything from corpses that had already been reduced to bones to people wasting away because they had barely been given any water.
Some of them must have resisted fiercely, because they were handcuffed and chained to the walls.
Are they all sacrifices…?
Every person imprisoned here was destined to become a sacrifice for the ritual.
As if to prove it, people hanging from inverted crosses filled both walls deeper inside the room.
“You insane fucking fanatics….”
Mikael slowly scanned the chamber.
Then he looked toward the deepest part.
In front of an altar, more than ten followers were lying flat on the floor, muttering something under their breaths.
Whine… whine…
Familiar cries came from the round display platforms on either side of the altar.
Mikael raised his head.
Two animals were lying there, breathing heavily.
“Noah. Enoch. I’ll get you out soon.”
They were the Divine Beasts Mikael had traveled with long ago.
Noah, the dog.
And Enoch, the cat.
So much of their strength had already been drained that their bodies were terribly thin, and they could barely support themselves.
Mikael’s fist tightened.
“You’re not going to die peacefully.”
His eyes turned cold as he stared at the followers.
“You irredeemable bastards.”
The prisoners whose sacks had been removed inside the chapel were all people Sia knew.
“No way… Father Kim, Father Park… even Father Jeong….”
They were all priests who had gone missing from the Exorcism Association.
Their faces were pale, as if they had suffered terrible torture.
Worse, their expressions were completely blank.
They looked like people whose minds had been broken by some kind of mental torture, leaving barely any reason behind.
“I will ask you.”
The abbot placed his hand on Father Jeong’s forehead first.
“You who have sinned—will you repent now and believe in the Golden Bull and the Father?”
At first, Father Jeong showed no reaction.
But then—
“Father, your follower Shin Taedeung humbly asks this of you. Guide this wicked man onto the path of repentance and correction, so that he may begin a new life within the embrace of the Golden Bull.”
The abbot, Taedeung, recited the prayer.
Then life slowly returned to Father Jeong’s blank eyes.
And his expression gradually twisted in agony.
“U-Ugh… Aaaagh! Stop! Please, stop!”
Veins bulged all over Father Jeong’s face.
Was the pain simply too great?
Father Jeong even began doing something bizarre, digging his fingernails into his own face.
“I will ask again!”
Taedeung raised his voice.
“Will you repent and believe in the Golden Bull and the Father?!”
“I’ll believe! I’ll believe, so please! Just make this pain stop!”
After hearing his answer, Taedeung blew softly into Father Jeong’s ear.
Father Jeong’s entire body trembled for a moment.
Then his appearance changed.
He now looked gloomy and miserable, just like the followers of Tragedy sitting in the pews on the left side of the chapel.
Only then did a satisfied smile appear on Taedeung’s face.
He removed his hand from Father Jeong’s forehead.
“Welcome to the Monastery of the Golden Bull, Brother.”
Clap, clap—clap, clap—clap!
The grand welcoming ceremony continued after that.
Every time another person became a follower of Tragedy, thunderous applause filled the chapel.
Before long, every priest who had gone missing had been reborn as a follower of the Monastery of the Golden Bull.
What the hell just happened?
Sia could barely understand what she was seeing.
If this has something to do with demons… was it a curse? Possession? What did they do to the priests?
The whole situation was confusing.
But from the inverted crosses and all the suspicious circumstances, one thing was certain.
These people were connected to demons.
I have to distract them somehow before they do anything worse to the priests.
Even Sia knew what she was thinking of doing was reckless.
But she also knew this was the moment to act.
Using the pew in front of her as cover, Sia lowered her body and slowly gathered her aura.
Then, so quietly that no one could hear her, she began reciting a prayer.
“I, Anastasia, child of God, call upon Saint Mikael the Archangel. Protect us in battle against evil, and aid us against the schemes of demons. Intercede for us, so that the Lord may command them.”
It was the prayer of protection she had used at the cathedral.
A prayer that restrained the movements of evil and protected its caster from danger.
A soft, sacred energy slowly began to rise from Sia’s body.
Then—
“Sister Sia.”
Taedeung’s voice called out to her.
Sia flinched.
“Among these people, is there anyone named Jungsoo whom you mentioned?”
Sia froze.
“Ah… how unfortunate.”
Taedeung sighed with genuine sorrow.
“I truly believed that someone like you would understand us and join us.”
He trembled as if something deeply unfair had happened to him and clutched his head.
Eventually, he even fell to his knees.
Trying to understand what was happening, Sia raised her head.
Taedeung raised his head at the same time.
Their eyes met.
