Chapter 143 — Exorcising the Demon
"In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit —
O power of divine radiance,
let Your light descend upon this land and scatter all that is wicked and unclean…"
As Gideon's solemn chant filled the air,
the holy relics he had placed throughout the sunflower field flared to life,
shining with a pure, blinding white.
At once, the surrounding divine energy began to converge,
flowing toward the altar in a great spiral of light.
Carlby knelt with his eyes closed, trembling.
When the light brushed his cheek,
his weary heart filled with a peace he had not known in years —
like soaking in a bath of sunlight after a long winter.
But for the demons, that same holy radiance was suffocating.
"Fool! He's trying to purge us both — move!"
Marbas' furious voice bellowed from the swirling black.
"Nn...ah...ahh—"
The crow statue on the other side convulsed violently,
Valakh's mocking laughter rising between ragged gasps.
Gideon had, for a fleeting moment, considered destroying both demons.
But seeing the pleasured grin spreading across Valakh's stolen host,
he wisely abandoned the idea.
Shaking off all distraction,
he poured the full current of his sacred power into the infernal contract.
Through the [Sacred Gaze],
Gideon saw it clearly —
a web of glowing "lines of power" stretching from the parchment,
binding Carlby's soul to the dark vortex.
These were the very threads of infernal law.
And now, he invoked one of the Church's forbidden rites:
the Ritual of Divine Illumination and Purification —
a ceremony capable of summoning the purest holy energy
and banishing all darkness within its reach.
As the ritual circle pulsed brighter,
the threads etched across the parchment began to wither and fray.
Gideon uncorked another vial of holy water and drank deeply.
The rite consumed enormous reserves of sanctified energy,
but he had practiced it many times in secret —
he knew how far he could push before collapse.
"Impossible!" Marbas roared, panic creeping into its voice.
"How can a human wield such power!?"
"Wait! We can negotiate!"
"Whatever Valakh promised you — I'll pay double!"
The fear in its tone betrayed the truth.
It finally understood:
this mortal priest had the strength to destroy the entire sacrificial ritual.
If Marbas was driven out,
everything it had built would vanish into nothing.
Gideon's voice was calm, but cold as judgment.
"Human or demon —
it's always the same."
"Only when destruction comes do you realize it's too late to change."
He pressed harder.
The parchment began to sizzle.
Each glowing thread snapped, one by one,
like severed nerves screaming in silence.
Drip... drip...
Blood welled up from the parchment's surface,
soaking into the soil until the earth itself turned red.
When the light faded,
the contract lay blank —
every word erased.
At that same instant,
Carlby felt something warm and familiar stir within him.
He looked up.
The spectral form of his soul drifted toward him,
the chains around it shattering like glass.
A wave of dizziness hit,
and then — peace.
His soul rejoined his body, whole again.
Gideon allowed himself one brief breath of relief
before turning back to the two demons.
Valakh, having repeatedly overwhelmed his rival,
now stood triumphant.
Marbas' power had been reduced to a faint flicker —
no longer a threat.
Gideon raised the Book of Exorcisms,
ready to purge the fiend entirely.
"Human!" Marbas' voice shrieked, dripping with venom.
"I curse you! The seventy-two demon lords of the pit shall hunt you until death!"
"I will be waiting for you in Hell!"
Gideon exhaled slowly, unimpressed.
"Assuming they ever manage to agree on anything…"
The demon faltered.
It had tried many times to glimpse this man's past,
but every attempt showed only mist —
a void of divine concealment.
Marbas finally realized the truth:
this priest was no ordinary servant of the Church.
A low, cruel laugh broke the silence.
Valakh, of course.
"I know his name," it said slyly.
"Tell you what —
if you join me for a little possession performance next Christmas,
themed around 'Surprise Gifts,'
I might just tell you."
It grinned, watching for a reaction.
Marbas gave none — just a cold snort.
Gideon ignored them both.
"Enough talk." He turned another page.
"It's time you rest."
Marbas glared at him,
trying to memorize the priest's face — the human who had defied a demon.
"If you 'accidentally' purge me along with him," Valakh added, smirking,
"I won't hold it against you."
Gideon ignored the remark and began to chant.
The light flared once more,
rolling over the land like a rising dawn.
Marbas screamed,
its form unraveling into dust and smoke —
erased completely from the mortal realm.
When the glow dimmed,
only silence remained.
Gideon lowered the scripture and whispered,
"As expected… it's never as simple as it seems."
Gideon surveyed the scene.
The sacrificial ritual had not ended with the demon's banishment.
If anything — it was intensifying.
From beneath the soil, more dark energy began to surge upward.
The sunflowers, once radiant under the dawn,
now shivered as their seeds swelled unnaturally, almost ripe to bursting.
"Heh… seems that stubborn fool Marbas isn't done yet."
"He's burning his own essence just to meddle with the mortal world."
Valakh's voice echoed faintly, dripping with amusement.
"Even with your power, you can't stop this ritual?" Gideon asked, brow furrowed.
"Heh. Don't test me, priest. 'Ritual cleansing' wasn't part of our deal."
Valakh smirked, his form flickering amid the fading crimson mist.
"Never underestimate a demon lord's reach —
even when his body's been banished from your world."
Gideon nodded slowly.
"Understood."
He tossed the final bottle of holy water toward Valakh.
"Hah. I thought you might conveniently 'forget.'"
"Humans have their share of wickedness," Gideon replied,
"but at least some of us still honor our word."
"Tch. How boring."
Valakh uncorked the bottle and drank greedily,
his grin widening in contented blasphemy.
"Fine. Consider this a free favor, for old times' sake."
He turned to leave, then paused — voice lowering.
"The weakest point of a demon lord's power…
is where its ritual focus lies."
A final surge of crimson vapor burst from the crow statue,
spiraling skyward before sinking back into the swirling rift and vanishing completely.
Gideon waited several moments,
watching carefully until the last trace of the demon's presence faded.
Only then did he sheath the Book of Exorcisms and exhale.
Above the farmland, a black mist spread like smoke,
dimming the world until not even sunlight could pierce through.
The air thickened with rot and whispers.
Within the glowing ring of holy relics,
Judy, Silas, and the others huddled together —
the only safe zone left in the entire field.
But even that was temporary.
Once the sanctified energy within the relics burned out,
they would all be trapped — or worse.
Gideon could have left.
He could have walked away now, before the holy field collapsed.
But the ritual's power had already marked Jess's family.
No matter where they fled,
the curse would follow them to the ends of the earth.
He had already tried severing that link once —
but something had pushed back,
a force that nullified even his divine light.
"Never underestimate a demon," he muttered, half to himself.
The sun was still a long climb from noon —
but they didn't have that long.
The Solomons wouldn't survive until Church reinforcements arrived.
Gideon straightened, resolve flashing behind his calm eyes.
"Looks like I'll have to handle this myself."
He bent down, retrieving the parchment contract.
Even with the demon gone, the object remained —
its surface now blank, yet still radiating faint malice.
He sealed it within a sanctified capsule,
ensuring that no remnant of corruption would linger.
As he did, the others cautiously approached.
"Father Gideon," Silas stammered,
"did you really destroy both demons?"
He'd seen little of the fight —
only felt two overwhelming presences vanish at once.
Such a feat was beyond comprehension.
Even Professor Ritchie, the academy's top exorcist,
had never purged two infernal entities simultaneously.
For Silas, the realization was awe-inspiring —
the calm, unassuming priest before him belonged to a different echelon entirely.
Bente and Zal felt the same rush of admiration.
Especially Bente.
Knowing that Gideon had used relics from the holy armory's restricted vault,
the student's respect deepened into something close to reverence.
"Perhaps," Bennett thought,
"Father Gideon is the one I should truly learn from —"
"His courage to face evil alone,
and his unyielding vigilance… even in victory."
Judy stood beside Gideon, chin slightly raised,
trying — and failing — to hide the small smile tugging at her lips.
Her pride was quiet, but unmistakable.
Jess brushed a strand of hair from her face,
her gaze lingering on the young priest with something almost like wonder.
"Are… are we safe now?" asked Roy, his voice trembling.
The others relaxed at the question —
but Gideon didn't.
He looked at them all,
the quiet edge in his tone enough to freeze the air.
"Of course not."
Silence fell instantly.
"When the ritual resumes," he continued,
"every member of your family will die."
His words struck like iron —
cold, final, and mercilessly honest.
The Solomons' faces went pale.
Whatever fleeting hope they had felt
was crushed beneath the weight of reality.
And somewhere beneath the earth,
the sunflowers began to whisper.