Chapter 14 - Boogie Boogie Boogie (6)

I looked down at Suhyeon's corpse, briefly pondering what had happened in the blink of an eye.

I had no intention of scolding Grizzly. He'd been trying to save me. Still, I'd have to train him to control his strength later.

"Haah..."

It had simply happened too fast, and it was absurd. Seriously, why had he charged at me with a knife? Granted, the evil spirit had driven him out of his mind... but...

My eyes narrowed.

... In a way, this was the evil spirit's doing, too.

Just then, a scream rang out behind me.

"Aaaaaaah!"

Apparently, someone who'd arrived behind me a little late had witnessed it. I could more or less guess who.

"Ah... aah..."

It was the new housekeeper, Kim Sora. At her scream, Ellie hurried over and asked,

"Sora! What happened?!"

"Th-the evil spirit! It did it again! It shoved S-Suhyeon...!"

Nice assist.

Just like the chandelier falling and killing the shaman, all Sora would have seen was Suhyeon suddenly flying backward, smashing through the railing, and falling.

Yes, this was the work of a wicked evil spirit. There was no need to make things more confusing, so it was easier to leave it at that.

You were trying to kill everyone anyway. You can take all the blame.

Besides, if they discovered that I possessed an Invisible Vampire, I'd have to kill them both to silence them.

I'd only killed someone by accident. I wasn't some lunatic who enjoyed killing people without a qualm.

And even if no clear physical evidence remained, the very act of killing someone would steadily pile up suspicion against me. If I could get through this without killing them, all the better.

I approached Sora, who had collapsed to the floor. While Ellie carefully considered what to say to her, I spoke instead, using a gentle voice to soothe her.

"No... why is this happening? I don't want to die..."

"I won't let you die."

"...!"

Ellie's and Sora's eyes widened at words so firm amid all this confusion. I smiled gently and told them what they wanted to hear.

"It's only natural to be scared, but you don't need to be so afraid. The existence of demons means God exists, too."

Being frightened in this mansion would only strengthen the boogeyman inside Emily. That was why I was pretending to be a seasoned professional who could reassure them.

Even if this was only my second time in the field, and my first exorcism.

At any rate, it seemed to have worked. Sora's gaze was still shaky, but she tried to get up.

"I'm sorry. I'm not the only one having a hard time."

Ellie shook her head and helped Sora to her feet.

"No. Of course you're having a hard time. But we still have to walk out of this darkness."

Her voice was gentle yet resolute.

"If only for the people sacrificed to the evil spirit."

I nodded at her words.

"... R-right."

I quietly turned my gaze away from the broken railing.

Yes, that was already in the past. What mattered now was taking action to solve the problem, just as Ellie had said. If only for the shaman and Suhyeon, victims of the evil spirit's wicked machinations. And to prevent any further victims.

And at that very moment.

CRASH!

Emily's bedroom door shattered in the dark hallway. Pastor Go Juwon hung suspended in midair, kicking his feet and howling.

"God! Lord! Save me! Save meeeee!"

BANG! CRUNCH!

He slammed into the hallway wall.

Blood streamed from Go Juwon's eyes and nose. His body trembled, then slid down, leaving a bloody smear on the wall like a splattered tomato slithering down after being thrown against it.

Pastor Go Juwon: dead.

We had another victim already!

Sora spoke with watery eyes, looking ready to burst into tears.

"Y-you said God exists, too...!"

Well, I guess he hadn't wanted to save him...

Neither Ellie nor I had anything to say.

At least this time it really was entirely the evil spirit's doing. ... No, that wasn't a good thing.

I dragged a palm over my face and immediately pulled myself together. Now we really were out of time.

I'd come all this way and gone through all this trouble. If Smith, the man paying me, died too, it really would all have been for nothing.

"Did you get the brazier?"

"Yes, we found it, but..."

At my question, Ellie and Sora brought over an ornate brazier decorated with gold from behind them. Sora spoke cautiously.

"I heard it's an antique brazier used in Zoroastrian rituals. ... Will it be all right?"

"It's fine. What matters is that it's a brazier."

I took my robe out of my bag—a white coat inscribed with names of power—and put it on.

I wasn't trying to create an atmosphere, but its hem fluttered as I slipped into it.

I'd had my incense pouch with me from the start. I fastened the water container holding the holy water and holy-water sprinkler at my waist.

Preparations complete.

I looked into Emily's room, where light spilled through the broken doorway, and gripped the grimoire's cold steel cover.

"Then let's go."

Sora looked close to tears. But at the sight of Ellie nodding resolutely, she used the lighter she'd brought to ignite the bundle of paper they'd put in the brazier instead of firewood, then followed.

Emily's room was a mess.

Had the pastor tried an exorcism and failed? Torn pages of the Bible lay scattered everywhere, as though in mockery. Smith sat slumped on the floor, his face blank with despair.

And Emily... the evil spirit inside Emily sat leaning sideways on the bed, glaring at me with a chilling smile.

"Another unbeliever has come speaking God's words, pretending to be his servant!"

The girl's lovely, clear voice rang out together with a monstrous screech like scraping metal.

"Go on, try! This body is already mine, and this mansion is my stomach!"

I hadn't intended to laugh, but I couldn't help it.

"Ha!"

"...?"

An unbeliever... Wrong. I believed in God.

There were plenty of invisible things in the world, but nobody disbelieved in forms of energy like solar heat, electricity, or nuclear power, did they?

I gave the boogeyman a faint smile.

"Do you use electricity with a heart full of reverence?"

"What?"

Our great Lord, God, amen. Blah, blah, blah.

It was all just entering code to obtain the energy needed for magic. Yes, what mattered were the incantations, rituals, and procedures.

"O creature of fire, I consecrate you."

I took incense from my pouch and dropped it into the brazier's flames.

"May all falsehood flee from you. May you suffer neither harm nor deception."

WHOOSH!

As the flames touched the incense, they blazed fiercely upward.

"Almighty Lord, that which is made by this fire—"

The incense burned in an instant, producing smoke that filled the room in one rush.

"—bless it!"

I'd only just begun learning magic, but I still had a rough understanding of what a magician was.

Gods, spirits, great names, demons. Without distinction, magicians imprisoned mysteries within arbitrary rules of their own making and used powers that weren't theirs to achieve whatever they desired.

Shameless people. That was what magicians were.

God existed, and he was a mass of energy.

As smoke and incense filled the room, Emily's chilling smile twisted into a grimace.

"Urgh...! Urrrgh—?!"

"Your kind is vulnerable to the smell of incense. That's why you ran away when you saw me in the lounge."

Raphael burns a fish's entrails with incense, and Asmodeus, possessing a maiden's body, flees.

I walked steadily toward the boogeyman, whose face was contorted as it glared at me, and took the holy-water sprinkler out of the container.

Solomon, son of David, takes up hyssop, and it becomes a holy-water sprinkler.

I swung the sprinkler, scattering holy water over Emily's body. As it touched her—

"Aaaaaaaaah!"

A monstrous scream that wasn't Emily's rang out from her vocal cords. Sweat streamed down her face, and her eyes darted anxiously.

This was dangerous! Dangerous! He was the real thing!

Those who imitated accursed Solomon, who practiced heresy in God's name, who plundered demons...!

A real magician! It couldn't let him come any closer!

Emily glared at Yohan, focusing power into her eyes just as she had when she'd sent the pastor flying. But—

[YOD, HE, VAU, HE], [ADONAI], [EL], [ELOHIM]

The holy names inscribed on his coat to ward off evil spirits blocked it effortlessly. It couldn't affect him.

Yohan drew closer through the smoke, the hem of his white coat swaying.

"Don't come closer... I said don't come near me—?!"

Emily tried to lunge at Yohan and stop him with brute force, but some tremendous force pressed her down onto the bed.

"Gah—?!"

"Grrrr..."

An invisible beast's low growl rumbled through the room.

Grizzly, of course.

Emily's fierce squint suddenly softened. She spoke to Smith in a pitiful, innocent voice.

"Uh... agh... it hurts. It hurts... Grandpa. Grandpa, help me. This man is...!"

"E-Emily... is that you?"

At that nonsense, I put away the sprinkler.

"Shut up, you vile thing."

I reached out, seized Emily's blond hair, and slammed her head into the bed.

I wasn't doing this out of any ill will toward Emily. When dealing with a demon, you couldn't show weakness or hesitation.

"Must I bring the king of demons before you and have you flogged before you come to your senses?"

The Son of God rebukes the demon, and the possessed man is healed.

"Do you think I can't? You nameless wretch, you insignificant thing crawling through cracks."

For an instant, the shadowy evil spirit's face overlapped Emily's.

"This body is already mine! Go ahead! I'll bite off its tongue and gouge out its eyes! This child will die because of you!"

"Go ahead."

"—?!"

Emily's eyes—the evil spirit's eyes—opened wide.

I bent down and spoke quietly into Emily's ear.

"Like you said, it's your body, not mine. You'll be the one hurting, not me."

I straightened again and looked down at Emily's face.

"Go ahead. She's pretty enough that tormenting her should be fun."

Needless to say, I was acting. I wasn't a psychopath who took pleasure in tormenting others.

Emily's face twisted.

"Do you... think this will make me fear you?!"

"Then why didn't you come kill me yourself?"

"—?!"

What had convinced me I could defeat it was that it had sent Suhyeon instead of coming to kill me itself.

If I were merely an annoyance, it would have come to deal with me personally. Instead, it had gone to the trouble of tempting Suhyeon and sending him. It had kept avoiding me, killing people to build up its power.

I narrowed my eyes, looking down at Emily's face—the evil spirit's face—as fear began to show in its contorted features.

"You were afraid of me."

"Ah... aaagh...!"

Here, the identity of the one who devoured fear was changing.

"Let's end this."

I placed a hand on Emily's forehead and recited an incantation.

"Lord, imprison my enemy behind iron bars. Vanquish it. Defeat it."

"St... op... stooooop!"

At the evil spirit's cry, I withdrew my hand and brushed back Emily's sweat-soaked hair, speaking in a gentle voice laced with mockery.

"Then cry. You can beg, too."

I thought I needed something stronger, so I quoted a line from a novel I'd once enjoyed.

"Cry."

I bent down and pressed my forehead against Emily's, staring into those hollow eyes, into the abyss, with a twisted, savage smile.

"Cry and prove your innocence, you mongrel."

I dragged out the demon hiding within. There was nowhere left to hide.

"Ah... aah...!"

Emily's mouth opened, and a black shadow poured out. It flailed its long arms, trying to escape, but—

"Haaah..."

Grizzly's waiting arms caught it and dragged it straight toward him. His teeth sank into its body.

"Aaaaaah! Mercy! Great One! Great One! Great One! Mercy! Mercy! Mercy! Mercy!"

The mouth that had mocked so freely now cried for mercy.

My gaze grew cold. Really, what good was flattery when it was all over?

I gave a faint, incredulous laugh.

"You didn't cry, dumbass."

Then I gave a quiet order in a low voice.

"Eat."

At my words, the shadow cried out in terror.

"Great One! I'll cry! I'll be your servant! You who turn stones to bread! You who wear Solomon's crown! Master of the beast from the stars! Mercy—?!"

It was already too late.

"Gyaa~"

Grizzly gleefully carved it apart with his teeth and claws, tearing it up and devouring it.

"Aaaaaaaaaah!"

The mansion shook, and the evil spirit vanished, shredded to pieces.

To me, it was a gruesome sight. But to everyone else, it would look as though the exorcism had succeeded and the evil spirit had dispersed into thin air.

... I hoped so.

With everything over, silence settled over the room. Smith looked at Yohan in disbelief.

"You... just... who are you?"

He was trembling too much to get the words out smoothly.

In answer to Smith's question about who I was, I knew I'd be one hundred percent embarrassed and regret it later...

But apparently I'd gotten swept up in the atmosphere too. I repeated the introduction I'd given in the kitchen.

"Ghostbuster."

This time, nobody scoffed.