Chapter 25. ESP
Extreme deception could change a person.
Just like Mikael right now.
BAM! BAM!
“Die! Die! Die! If you’re alive, die! If you’re already dead, die one more time!”
Furious over being tricked by Huisong, Mikael rampaged through the club with an iron baseball bat, smashing tables, speakers, and everything else in sight while beating every demon he came across like he was exterminating rats.
His eyes were so bloodshot and wild that it almost looked as if flames were shooting out of them.
“Eeeeeek! S-Save me!”
“That crazy bastard! Somebody stop him!”
Even though Mikael had completely lost himself in his rage, his swings were still sharp and precise like sword strikes.
The problem was that what he held wasn’t a sword.
So instead of clean cuts, bruises were piling up everywhere.
“Where do you think you’re running?!”
Mikael grabbed a fleeing demon by the hair and repeatedly slammed its head into the floor.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
BANG! BANG! BANG! CRACK!
With every slam timed perfectly to the club’s pounding beat, the demon’s nose became flatter and flatter until broken teeth flew from its mouth.
Because this entire scene existed purely for Mikael to vent his anger, it looked even more brutal.
“K-Kegh... S-Stop... Ghk!”
The demon in Mikael’s grip finally passed out.
“That’s it? Next! NEXT!!”
More than ten demons were already sprawled behind Mikael, whose eyes had completely rolled back in rage.
Mikael had fought demons for thousands of years.
Even without aura, dealing with low-ranking demons like these was second nature to him.
“Well, well. What’s this supposed to be? A bribe?”
At that moment, one demon held out a thick bundle of cash toward Mikael.
“Y-Yes, sir.”
Mikael didn’t even count it.
He simply shoved the money back into the demon’s pocket.
Pat. Pat.
“Even if I’m broke, I’m not taking money from some snot-nosed brat like you.”
“I’ll just kill you and take it afterward.”
CLANG!
Mikael smashed the demon-shaped ATM with his bat, then looked around for his next target.
Watching all of this from a distance, Sia stared blankly and muttered,
“...How did things end up like this?”
Before the two of them raided the club, they had come up with a plan.
Sia would use prayer to restrain the demons, and Mikael would finish them off.
But the moment Mikael saw the entrance, all rational thought disappeared and he charged straight inside.
Just how much did the Bishop know? Has he somehow understood the truth of the universe?
Was it when she met Yohan before taking this mission?
He had said Mikael probably wouldn’t be able to use his powers like before, so they should bring a useful weapon.
Jungon, who happened to be listening, suggested giving him a baseball bat.
And now—
A demon bleeding heavily after being beaten by Mikael came crawling right to Sia’s feet.
“P-Please stop that man! At this rate, he’s going to kill all of us!”
The demon crawled all the way to the entrance and begged Sia while pointing at Mikael.
Unfortunately, it had chosen the wrong person.
Sia had no intention of defending the demons in this club either.
From what she had heard, they were humans who had willingly offered their bodies to demons in exchange for fulfilling their desires.
“Cough, cough...”
“Ughhh... W-Water...”
When they first entered the club, the demons had been feeding on human souls and vitality through suction catheters inserted into their bodies.
“You fucking parasite bastards!”
While Mikael massacred the demons in a blind rage, Sia tried to rescue the injured civilians.
But most of them had already been drained of all vitality and had become cold corpses.
Even the few who were still alive had dried-up bodies and looked as if they might die at any moment.
“Well... I don’t really see any reason to stop him. Hehe.”
Sia’s lower eyelid twitched from anger.
“W-What do you mean...?”
A bright smile appeared on her face.
And in the hand she casually extended forward was an iron baseball bat identical to Mikael’s.
Focus. Focus!
After surviving at the monastery with nothing but a broom, Sia had discovered the possibility of injecting aura into objects.
She had been practicing every day ever since.
And recently, she had begun thinking that she needed some real combat experience.
Conveniently enough, the perfect targets were right in front of her.
With the same solemn mindset she used when reciting prayers, Sia poured power into the bat.
Wooooong!
A faint light began glowing from the aura-infused bat.
Her aura control was still too rough for the weapon to be very powerful.
Even so, against weakened demons, a direct hit would guarantee purification.
The demon saw the aura and immediately turned around, desperately trying to crawl back the way it came.
“If you committed a sin that can’t be forgiven, I think you should accept the punishment properly.”
“Don’t you agree?”
BAM! CRACKLE!
“AAAAARGH!”
Sia swung the bat with a gentle smile and purified the demon.
Then she looked toward Mikael, who was still rampaging like a lunatic.
“What filthy bastard crawled out of nowhere and possessed you?! Why did you possess him?!”
Mikael grabbed another demon by the collar and demanded an explanation.
“I-I heard the owner of this body liked nightlife, so...”
“Shut up! I didn’t actually want an answer!”
“Die and go back to Hell!”
CLANG!
Without even listening to the rest, Mikael smashed the demon over the head with the bat.
The Exorcism Association had searched for him and brought him in.
They had listened to him talk about being a mercenary, trades, contracts, everything.
He had even defeated Hagenti for them.
And what had he gotten in return?
Extortion and construction labor?
“I’m definitely getting revenge later, you fucking vermin!”
“Get over here! Come here!”
“Stop running!”
“If you’re going to do something, then fight me instead!”
“KRAAAAAH!”
It was practically the return of an evil spirit.
Some demons had already given up entirely.
A few even ran toward Sia and begged her to purify them instead.
The problem was—
“Haa... It’s not like coming over here will make things any different.”
Sia was also beating demons with a baseball bat.
If anything, she was worse.
After what happened at the monastery, she had gotten somewhat better at using aura and was now pouring even more of it into every strike.
CRACKLE!
“Thank you!”
“Thank you so much!”
And yet, the demons purified by her aura looked relieved rather than pained.
“Whew! Damn, that really cleared out all the frustration in my chest!”
There wasn’t a single unharmed demon anywhere near Mikael.
Some were writhing across the floor like insects.
Others had cracked skulls and were unconscious.
With the bat resting on his shoulder, Mikael finally began calming down after releasing some of his stress.
His vision cleared.
Then—
“Ah, shit. I was supposed to ask these bastards something...”
Now that his reason had returned, Mikael remembered something he had completely forgotten while consumed by anger.
It was what Sia had told him before they arrived at the club.
— “There’s a high chance demon worshippers are involved.”
— “Hah? Those bastards were hiding here?”
— “They could be the ones backing this place, so we need to investigate that too.”
Demon worshippers.
Humans who directly worshipped demons instead of God.
Throughout Mikael’s long life, there had never been an era without demon worshippers.
They always stood behind demons and used their influence throughout the world.
Tap. Tap.
Mikael nudged a few of the demons who seemed to be in relatively good condition.
He planned to wake one if it reacted.
But every single one was unconscious to the point where he couldn’t tell whether they were alive or dead.
“Damn... I should’ve gone easy on at least one of them.”
Did I lose control too much?
While Mikael regretted his actions, Sia approached after finishing her purification work near the entrance.
“Are you done?”
At her question, Mikael cleared his throat and frowned.
“I’m done, but...”
“Doesn’t look like they’re here.”
He couldn’t bring himself to admit that he had mindlessly beaten everyone unconscious.
“Yeah. I asked a few of them in exchange for purifying them, but it doesn’t seem like this is where the demon worshippers are.”
The method was strange, but fortunately, Sia had gathered the necessary information.
She lowered her still aura-covered baseball bat and scratched her head.
Then her eyes shifted toward Mikael.
“...Looks like you got quite a bit out of them?”
“It’s pocket change from brats. Not much.”
Mikael stuffed a wad of crumpled bills into his pocket.
Sia smiled awkwardly.
