Chapter 124 – The Unexpected
"The spirit… it's been purified!"
Lorraine's eyes widened, disbelief flickering across her face.
To cleanse a soul — using nothing but words? That was beyond anything she'd ever seen.
"The exhibition incident…" she thought suddenly. "So it really was him."
Ed still looked confused, but one glance at his wife told him enough.
As a scholar of theology recognized by the Church, he had spent years studying ways to repel or contain malevolent spirits — especially methods that didn't rely on holy power or clairvoyance.
After all, most victims of possession were ordinary people.
But after years of research, Ed had reached a cruel conclusion: there was no effective method.
Technology could detect the traces of spirits — electromagnetic waves, temperature fluctuations, residual energy —
but it could never harm them.
That was why Lorraine was always the one who truly performed the exorcisms.
Ed had always thought his wife was every bit as capable as any Church exorcist — though she always told him not to say that out loud.
But after what they'd just witnessed from Father Gideon…
He finally understood the difference.
Compared to this man, the Warrens were simply… human.
While the couple stood there stunned, the Ram Demon made its move.
Everything in the room — furniture, lamps, shattered ornaments — lifted into the air as if caught in a hurricane, then hurled toward them in a storm of fury.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
One after another, objects slammed into the invisible barrier. The room quickly descended into chaos.
But the demon didn't stop.
It had seen what the priest could do — and now it realized it was in real danger.
If it didn't escape soon, even it might become a "servant of Heaven."
But fate had other plans.
Gideon calmly flipped to a new page in his exorcism tome — the "Sanctuary" chapter.
"The Lord shines His light upon the earth,
and the wicked shall find no refuge therein."
As he spoke, the circle of holy sigils around the room flared to life.
The pre-set ritual ignited — trapping the Ram Demon where it stood.
At the same moment, every levitating object in the room lost its power and crashed to the ground.
The demon froze — genuine panic flickering in its glowing eyes.
It hadn't expected the priest to be capable of solo ritual invocation.
This was no ordinary exorcist. This was someone dangerous.
Lorraine recognized it too — her pulse quickened.
For a priest to activate a full exorcism ritual alone… that required an immense reservoir of holy energy.
And this man was so young.
She couldn't understand — how had he achieved that? Even archbishops she'd met couldn't channel half that strength.
Then a guttural voice broke the silence.
"Human… wait!"
It was the demon — speaking.
Lorraine stiffened, heart pounding.
But before she could warn him, Gideon stepped forward — calm, steady.
"You're next," he said flatly.
He was pointing directly at the pale girl standing beside the demon — Annabelle, the one who had offered her soul to darkness.
"I'm talking to you, human!" the demon roared, its voice booming through the room like thunder.
The air vibrated with its fury. Everyone except Gideon clapped their hands over their ears in pain.
Gideon didn't even blink.
He simply lifted a finger to his lips — and mimed zipping them shut.
And suddenly — silence.
The Ram Demon's expression twisted in confusion.
It tried again, but no sound came out.
The right to speak had been revoked.
From the outside, the scene looked absurd: a hulking black demon waving its arms around furiously, gesturing like a mime trying to deliver a speech.
At first, it was terrifying.
But as the seconds dragged on, and one by one the other spirits around it began to vanish into light —
the demon's fury turned to frustration.
Then fear.
Finally, when Gideon snapped his fingers, returning its "voice,"
the demon's first words were desperate and trembling:
"Wait—! Let's… let's talk this out!"
Ed and Lorraine nearly dropped their crosses.
Did a demon just… beg?
Was this really the same creature that had filled the room with malice moments ago?
A demon, pleading with a man of God.
"I can give you anything you want!" it stammered.
"Children! Women! Treasures! Secrets of the Church—anything!"
All eyes turned to Gideon.
The priest stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"That line," he mused aloud, "I've definitely heard that somewhere before."
He frowned. "Didn't some bird once try that trick too?"
Then he paused, glancing at the demon again.
"Wait," he said dryly. "Why was 'children' the first thing you offered? You trying to insult me?"
The demon froze, uncertain.
Whatever it saw in the priest's eyes made it uneasy — because in the next instant, Gideon's calm expression vanished, replaced by something colder.
The demon flinched.
"Don't be hasty," it said quickly, voice trembling. "You humans have a saying — impulsiveness is the devil's work!"
Gideon took another step forward.
"Oh, I'm well aware," he said softly.
He tilted his head slightly.
"You want me to spare you?"
The demon swallowed hard and nodded.
"Then tell me," Gideon said, his tone almost gentle. "Do you know what I want?"
The demon shook its head quickly.
Gideon leaned closer, eyes gleaming with unholy intensity.
"Your body," he whispered, almost eagerly.
For the first time, the great demon of the Ram looked truly afraid.
Because in that moment — in his hungry, fervent eyes —
it realized something terrible.
Compared to the priest standing before it, it was not the most dangerous thing in the room.
Lorraine and Ed exchanged a horrified look.
The demon trembled in silence.
And both of them came to the same chilling realization—
The man they thought was Heaven's instrument…
looked far more like a devil.
Judy clenched her little fists, eyes sparkling with excitement.
"This is so cool!" she whispered in awe.
Mia, however, looked utterly bewildered.
"So it really was this thing that tried to kill me…?" she thought to herself, staring at the horned monstrosity.
But Gideon gave the demon no time to react.
He lifted his hand — and invoked [Voice of Redemption].
The Ram Demon froze, its eyes widening in shock as a strange warmth crept into its chest — the sensation of its heart being opened against its will.
This wasn't possible.
This wasn't even his choice.
"I…" the demon rasped, its voice trembling, "traded my eternity for a foothold in the mortal realm. I gathered worshippers — disciples — who offered their loved ones to Hell in my name. Through their sacrifices, my influence here grew stronger…"
It raised its head, eyes burning with dark pride.
"The world of man will one day belong to Hell. Your 'Lord' cannot stop it — not the fallen ones, not the traitors cast from the sky. The Master of Hell himself will descend upon the House of Slaughter, and his name is—"
The demon never finished.
A sudden surge of malevolent power erupted behind it, swallowing its words.
From the air itself, scarlet light burst forth —
a pentagram of blood flaring to life beneath its feet.
The space around it twisted violently, warping into a churning vortex — a tear in reality itself, spiraling into some nameless void.
Gideon's expression hardened. He stepped back several paces, holy verses already spilling from his lips.
He could feel it — a terrifying presence emanating from the portal.
But it didn't belong here.
Whatever it was, the laws of the human world were actively rejecting it.
The vortex flickered, unstable, like a wound the world itself refused to allow.
He was just about to pull the others back—
When something reached out.
A massive black claw shot from the vortex, tearing through the air.
Its surface rippled and cracked under the pressure of spatial collapse,
as though reality itself were trying to erase it.
For a moment, it almost worked —
the claw began to fade—
But then, from deep within the swirling abyss, a torrent of demonic energy erupted outward,
stabilizing the claw and forcing it back into form.
The monstrous hand clenched.
And in the next instant — it seized the Ram Demon.
"Wait—!!" the creature screamed, its voice breaking in terror.
The hand didn't hesitate.
With a single motion, it dragged the demon down into the vortex —
into whatever abyss it had crawled from.
Then, as suddenly as it appeared, the pentagram flickered out.
The vortex collapsed.
The air went still.
It was as if nothing had ever happened.
Lorraine collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.
Her entire body trembled.
For those few seconds, she had felt death —
cold, crushing, absolute.
Even in the Church's archives, she had never read of a phenomenon like this.
Then, a dreadful realization struck her.
"Ed! Judy! Mia!" she shouted, spinning around in panic.
All three of them lay unconscious on the floor.
No response. No movement.
She shook them desperately, calling their names again and again, but none of them stirred.
Finally, she turned toward Gideon — her eyes wide, pleading, terrified.
The priest, however, stood perfectly still, deep in thought.
"That power just now…" he murmured, frowning. "It felt… familiar."
He ran through his memories, piecing the sensations together —
the oppressive energy, the stench of sulfur, the flickering crimson light.
Then it hit him.
"The Exhibition," he muttered.
The aura that had filled the hall that day —
the same dark resonance now echoed here, identical in every way.
"Could it be," he said under his breath, "that the cultists are performing another summoning ritual?"
Without hesitation, Gideon activated [Ethereal Sight], his pupils glowing faint gold as divine sight flooded the room.
He scanned every corner of the apartment, sensing the flow of spiritual energy, checking for any lingering anomalies.
Then he focused on the binding circle outside, searching for residual demonic presence.
Nothing.
Not a single trace.
Everything appeared… clean.
Too clean.
He frowned again.
"Strange," he muttered. "Just before it was taken, the demon tried to say something. But it was cut off mid-sentence…"
Gideon replayed the moment in his mind.
Its final words echoed faintly in his memory —
"The Lord of Hell shall descend upon the House of Slaughter, and his name is—"
He closed his eyes, feeling a chill ripple through his spine.
Whatever name the demon had been about to speak…
wasn't meant to be heard by human ears.