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Alessio, an exorcist whose family's souls have mostly gone to Hell, dares challenge the exorcists by going to the Vatican and forcing his way into their secret home to purify the corruption within them. Along with his fiancee and his best friend, he'll try not only to exorcise demons but also exorcise the many problems the exorcists as a whole.

Exorcism of the Hollow: Culling the Church: Chapter 3 – Voices of Conflict

Chapter 3 – Voices of Conflict

The city has become chaotic ever since we left, however, they are no longer being chaotic over us. Instead, they are fighting amongst themselves about their day-to-day problems while mixing in ideas about what to do about us. They don’t even pay attention to us while we make our way through the crowd. The center of the crowd’s attention is two groups of peasants and royals arguing back and forth with their supporters arguing for them on the sidelines.

“The peasants that make your clothes, your weapons, and the upkeep of your expensive houses deserve more than just a few exorcists to defend us. The demons are running rampant through the city and the only one that seemed to do anything was that Ombra who blew them up and disappeared,” one of them says.

“If hard work is your bargaining chip, then our hard work should be our winning hand. Do you think it is a simple thing to manage the most extensive branch of the Church that protects the world from demons and frees souls from Purgatory? Do you think it’s simple to rule? To be the examples that you’re supposed to look up to and work hard for?” another says.

“The last has been made first so we should be put first above you! You always wear masks even if you aren’t an exorcist and that mask is one that you wear when you pretend to be caring and have the Church’s best interest at heart while you only care about yourselves and what you think to be what’s right.”

“You’ve made yourself first by putting yourselves above us! You’ve hardly felt the influence of demons in years while we and those among you who were brave enough to become exorcists risk our lives every day to keep you safe!”

“You call this safety? Your walls easily fell to an exorcist whose family linage is mostly in Hell!”

Why did they have to bring that up?

“It wouldn’t have happened if you peasants kept your own in line or did you forget that his whore of a mother was one of your kind?”

“Okay, that’s enough,” I say while making my way through the crowd.

“What are you doing, Alessio?” Marina says.

“Probably what he usually does,” Magnus answers.

You got that right. I get to the center of the crowd and slash at the two punks arguing and the crowd starts to run away in fear. The bodies of the people turn hollow before disappearing into thin air.

“How did you know those two were demons?” Marina asks.

“I didn’t. I just wanted to knock some sense into them,” I admit.

The crowd comes around once they realized they were manipulated by demons.

“Hey! Those are the outsiders!” one person says as they start talking amongst themselves.

“They protected us from the demons!”

“But they also brought them here!”

“Who cares? They put the royals in their place.”

“They also showed how ineffective how the weapons of the peasants are!”

Again, the crowds start arguing with each other, and again, I try solving the problem with my favorite solution, violence. The demons are behind this again, however, I see their true form more clearly now. One has protruding spikes for a head, jagged spike elbows, and a cross in their hollow chest while the other is feminine, has a jagged cross with spikes for head along with spikes on its arms, and a hollowed-out face and stomach.

Both say, “We’ll never disappear because of the traitors among you.”

They then go into the crowd that starts fighting again as they claim the other side are the traitors that the demons spoke of.

“Spread out and find them!” I say to Marina and Magnus.

We go throughout the crowd getting rid of the demons by targeting the people who are arguing and most of the time, we are correct. Otherwise, we just knock down people in the rowdy crowd and get them angry. These demons don’t care if they get caught. If they manage to start trouble, then they’ve served their purpose. Other exorcists and civilians begin to fight each other in an attempt to banish the demons while others use it as an excuse to attack the opposing side. This is useless. They’re just playing into the demons’ hands. We have to solve this problem in a different way. I then manage to meet up with Marina and Magnus outside of the crowd.

“What do you think we should do? My number one solution is a dud and we can’t trust the people in the crowd to solve it themselves,” I admit.

“Perhaps, if we can’t solve this problem in the peasant part of the city, then we should start with the royals. This entire place seems to be eating itself alive more than usual,” Magnus suggests.

“You think that the royals will listen to us even though we broke down their gate scared everyone behind it?”

“It’s our only option as far as I know. We’ll have to come across your family, Marina.”

“I know,” she says in a voice that sounds like she begrudgingly accepts it, “I just hope it’s not soon.”

“Hey,” I say as I hold her close, “I’m here for you.”

I put aside my mask and kiss the top of her head while she hugs me tightly.

“Alright, you two. Ready to go yet?” Magnus says.

“No, I don’t really want to,” Marina says before looking at me, “But I guess we have to.”

“I have your back too, Marina. Trust us. Even if your family rejects you, we’re here and we care about you.”

“Thank you, Magnus.”

I nod to Magnus who nods back. We head to the hole I created in the gates to the center of the city to find people who are trying to repair it. In preparation for a fight, we draw our weapons, but the workers don’t want to fight us despite giving them so much work to do. Instead, they put their tools down and let us pass. Even the exorcists that are guarding them don’t do anything and some of them shout encouraging words at us.

“It’s about time we get some respect,” I say.

“They’re following us,” Marina says.

“Good. We need all the help we can get,” Magnus says.

Turning around, I raise my sword, then say, “Follow me if you wish to not only change the exorcists and the Church but the whole world! If we change ourselves and those closest to us, we can free the world from evil and no army of Hell can stop us. What are you waiting for? A better future starts with us!”

The crowd cheers for us but are then suddenly silenced by a hail of arrows that rain down around us. Chains then wrap around us as several decorated exorcists come out of the crowd and scare most of them away. Now I know how Christ felt at His crucifixion.

“Father…” Marina says while looking at the royal exorcists’ leaders.

“I’m not your father, criminal. Take them away to the execution area to be an example for everyone else,” he says, which seems to break Marina’s heart.

The anger I feel rattles my chains until I’m able to control them all. These chains extend then fly through the air like a tornado that tosses the royals around in the air while not hitting Magnus and Marina. After having my fun, I use the chains to retrain everyone around us then bring Marina’s dad to me. I then beat him with my sword even though it doesn’t really cut or hurt him.

“Alessio, stop it!” Marina says.

“He needs to pay for what he’s done to you! No father should disown their child!” I say.

“I have no child like her! Besides, you’re not doing anything to me. God will not allow you to kill me with that sword-”

I kick the bastard in the face before grabbing him by his collar.

“I got plenty more than my sword.”

“You’ll never win, you peasant trash.”

My peasant trash head headbutts him and breaks his nose.

“Punks like you need peasant trash like me to put you back in your place.”

“Alessio! He’s still my father!”

“He doesn’t seem to think so. Why should I be merciful to him when I need to teach him respect?”

“Because you’ll be just like him if you do. Royals like him took the law into his own hands and went beyond what their authority allowed so they could do what they thought was right.”

“And you’re doing the same thing,” her father says before I put my sword to his throat.

“No, we aren’t. You’ve seen what we can do and this is only because God allows it. Sometimes the servants need to remind their masters who allow them to have any authority over them. Alessio, I know what should be done. Please, let me face him in a fair duel for the right over my house. If I win, then I’ll be in control over a powerful house and prove that God is on our side. If I lose, then I’ll face my punishment.”

“Marina, you don’t have to-”

The chains I had on everyone disappear in a near instant flash of light.

“It appears that God accepts your terms and so will I. Now I see that it was a mistake not to erase my own mistake,” her father says as he gets up and pushes me aside, “I’ll prepare for our duel, which will be today. It’ll be in the dueling area because I’d rather have your blood spilled there where the other fools who have challenged the royal houses have failed and your body will be buried among them.”

The punk walks away with the rest of the royals.

“I can’t stand him,” I say before Marina hugs me. She shivers and I can hear her hold back her tears. “Marina…”

“I’m scared, Alessio,” she admits while I try to comfort her by holding her as tightly as I can.

“It’s okay. It’s okay.”

When we get to the dueling area, Magnus and I are separated from Marina who has to prepare herself for the fight alone with royal exorcists preventing us from being with her. I was going to start a fight with them, but both Magnus and Marina stop me as it would cause an unneeded mess.

“I’ll show them a needed mess if they give me a reason,” I say to Magnus while sitting in the dueling area’s stands, “We’re here because of the mess they started anyway.”

“Don’t become reckless. This is something that your princess needs to do.”

“I don’t like it. I don’t like any of this. It feels set up.”

“If it is, then we can jump in, but if that does happen, don’t go to any extremes. It won’t help improve the royalty’s opinion of us.”

“Who cares what they think about us? All they need to know is that they need to change.”

“We need to as well. I still see that prideful imbecile I first met in you that thinks he’s better than everyone.”

“…I’d punch you in the face if I didn’t see what you were talking about upon self-reflection.”

“Don’t get me wrong. I still need to change.”

“But at least we’re better people now than we were before.”

“I hope that’s the case.”

“If there’s anything these people are guilty of, it’s putting me in a near occasion of sin for how much they make me mad. I need to focus on something different to get my mind off it.” Looking around, I see different weapons on the weapon rack and royal exorcists with crossbows. “Why are they fighting with weapons that they make here? Why can’t they just use the weapons they pull out of themselves?”

“Because they may be a weapon disadvantage if one can use a spear while another only has a dagger. In the arena, both combatants use the same blessed weapon.”

“Who makes these weapons? The peasants that aren’t exorcists?”

“Yes.”

“What about the crossbows?”

“Those too since no exorcist has been able to manifest one out of themselves to my knowledge.”

“Why not make modern guns? Why just make bows and crossbows?”

“As far as I know, it’s because those weapons invoke times when the Church was at her strongest in terms of worldly power and make the powers of Hell fearful as a result, or it could just because they’re simpler to make. Besides, with the power that comes from the Ombra blessings, you don’t need guns, crossbows, or any kind of physical weaponry. Squads of elite royal exorcists, the Council of Seven, and our leader couldn’t even stand against us with the blessings you wielded, remember?”

“I remember, but it would still be convenient to have especially guns.”

“I wouldn’t say so. I’ve seen blessed guns used against demons before and it takes a little more than half a pistol clip to put them down.”

“What about shotguns?”

“Five shots from a pump action, more than half a clip or drum from a full auto, and six shells a double barrel. Don’t even get me started with machine guns. You may as well exorcise the demons by taking pictures of them with a camera at that point. The Ombra showed me the ineffectiveness of long ranged weaponry to teach me why our blessings are better than mere blessed weapons.”

“Aw, and I thought shotguns would be more effective especially double barrel shotguns.”

“Real life isn’t like a video game, Alessio. You want to exorcise demons as fast as you can because the cowards will flee once they’re on the edge of being banished and become harder to find and more powerful in the next encounter as a result. That’s why you want an exorcist’s weapon or the power from an Ombra’s blessing since they will instantly banish the demon assuming God wills it and the wielder uses their blessings properly.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Two royal guards escort Marina and her dad before handing them their swords. The crowd around us is mostly royals. They cry out for Marina’s execution, which makes me want to fight every single one of them. It’s a good thing for them that we’re in a secluded area away from them. A group of our supporters is cheering for us outside of the arena. Apparently, it costs an arm and a leg to get in with very few of our supporters being with us.

“This duel will decide who will hold total power over House Lux. Whatever the outcome, let God’s will be done,” the announcer says before the duel begins.

Marina’s dad goes in hard with his attacks while also blocking her counterattacks. His style is very much like Marina’s when we first started training. It seems like she is seeing if her dad has the same way of fighting since she’s the one who’s is now on the offensive. She begins to counter almost every attack he makes and strikes back accordingly. This gets to the point where her dad becomes visibly frustrated and waits for her to attack only for her to just walk in circles as she does the same.

“Attack, you lazy girl! This is a duel, not a staring contest!” Marina’s dad says.

“I know how you fight and how to counter it. I’ve learned how to think outside of the box,” Marina answers back.

“How dare you mock our family’s fighting style?! This way of fighting has protected us for generations!”

“You forget who gives our way of fighting that power.”

What Marina says sends him over the edge. He becomes too reckless and this leads to her tripping him at every turn and her blade to his throat. That’s my girl. The royals in the crowd screech out in defeat. On the contrary, my supporters and I cry out in victory.

“It’s over, father. I’m genuinely sorry that I had to embarrass you,” Marina says.

“And I’m not sorry for this,” he answers back before kicking her away. The royal exorcists enter the arena with their weapons drawn. “You know how I operate and that I would do anything to see the right thing be done.”

The royals and peasants begin to fight and in the chaos of it all, I can’t seem to get to Marina. All I can do is call out to her and try my best to fight my way to her. Neither Magnus’ nor I’s Ombra blessings are activating at the moment and Marina looks like she needs all the help she can get as she fights against the royals with her greatsword. Please, God, help her. She doesn’t deserve to die like this. Tearing my way through the crowd, I can only get so far before the gates around the arena activate and prevent me from getting to her.

“Marina!” I call out again.

She looks at me before smiling. She then says, “I love you, Alessio.”

“You choose to disrespect our divine traditions till your dying breath. You’ll see that I was right when God sends you to Hell,” Marina’s dad says as he and his royals have her cornered.

“You always seem to think that our traditions are divine because of its history and how you’ve thought it through and reasoned every argument for it and rebuked every criticism of it,” Marina says while still trying to defend herself, “I have too, but I never thought to think of it in a better way until I met Alessio. I never thought to think with my heart.”

A force goes out from Marina pushing back her dad and the royals as a blue light transforms her appearance. Her mask has a less drowsy face on it as it looks livelier and includes the addition of a spiky black crown on her head. In addition, her exorcist clothes are a deeper blue and appear to be fancier with the addition of a long cape on her back. She then pulls out a second greatsword from her chest. Despite typically using both hands to wield one greatsword, Marina moves around and fights with both greatswords as if they were daggers as she dances around the royals and brings each one of them down to their knees including her dad without even being scratched.

“It's over, father. God has blessed me and shown that my actions are justified,” Marina says.

“…fine. I concede,” her dad responds.

Seeing this, the royals and peasants within this arena stop fighting though I still hear trouble outside of here. Hopefully, they’ll calm down once they get the news. As soon as the gates of the arena open, I run in and give Marina a hug and kiss.

“I knew you’d win,” I say to her.

“Haha, I didn’t,” she says.

“We better go outside to stop the chaos. You better get up and help us.”

“Don’t tell me my job,” Marina’s dad says.

When we get outside of the arena to see that the people are rioting against each other despite the news of the fight being spread among them.

“These peasants are rowdy as always. Now you see what we have to deal with on a daily basis. They aren’t like this just because you are here,” Marina’s dad points out.

“There are two demons among the crowd that are turning them against each other. It doesn’t matter how many times we banish them. They just keep coming back,” I say.

“They’re your typical demon then. What we need to do is rally the people and make them work under a common cause, which we’ve been trying to do for years. There’s no lasting solution to this. It’s just how humanity is.”

“It doesn’t have to be this way,” Marina says, “I’ve already shown you that our family’s fighting style needed fixing and improving. Why can’t we change the way we talk to and understand each other? Perhaps there’s something that we’re missing.”

“…yes, I see. I think you’re right.”

The sky suddenly blackens before a building in the center of the city blows up with something coming out of it and flying our way. What appears in front of us is a demon that floats in front of us. Its arms, body, and horns float independently from each other and they all have mouths on them.

Every part of the demon’s body speaks in unison as it says, “Your leadership is dead. Our forces are entrenched in this city and its citizens. Submit and you may live in peace.”

I raise my sword to the demon, “That’s never going to happen.”

“Vade retro Satana,” Marina says while having both her greatswords out.

“Drink your own poison,” Magnus adds.

“Then die for your God has abandoned you.” Many stony and hollow bodies begin to rain the sky as if carved out from it. “Drown under the many hollows that your kind has produced.”

The peasants who don’t have weapons and cowardly royals take cover while those who do have weapons and the bravery to fight step forward and try to take out as many of the incoming statues. Thankfully, Magnus’ and I’s Ombra blessing activates and we can send out a counter barrage of arrows of light that materialize and meet the statues in the sky. Our barrages clash, but we aren’t able to stop all the statues.

With neither of us able to get the upper hand, I say, “Hey! We need someone to get in there and take care of it!”

“I got it!” Marina says as she heads with several other people.

As I continue to hold off the barrage, I can see the demon split off into five pieces while one hand continues to send statues at us. Marina and the others fight off the other parts of the demon together. This clash continues until more people join in the fight. It’s not long after that until the demon suddenly disappears. The weather clears and the rest of the statues that were in the sky dissipates into dust.

“Did we win?” I ask.

“I think so. I don’t know how since we couldn’t cut through any of the demon’s parts,” Marina says.

A man dressed in a robe that’s decorated with crosses, Miraculous Medals, St. Benedict medals, and brown scapulars steps forward and says, “That was a demon that could only be defeated by our repentance of our disunity. It stepped out of the shadows where it was manipulating us because it felt that its control over us was threatened. These are signs of a bright future, indeed.”

“Who’s the crazy looking guy?” I ask Magnus.

“A mystic who knows more about the demonic than both of us,” Magnus says.

“Oh. I’m glad that he’s here to answer our question.”

“Princess Marina,” the mystic says as he bows, “You will help lead us along with your husband and his good friend into a new age for the exorcists. An age where we will no longer be divided against each other.”

“I-I-I will?” she stutters.

Marina looks to her dad who seems to be just as surprised. Because of what the mystic says along with the other mystics, it is decided that Marina will rule here in the exorcist’s home for a time to help unify the exorcists and mend their broken bonds. She can hardly get me to listen to her, so I don’t know why they think she’s crucial, but if they think it’s God’s will, what can I say? Since I’m officially allowed to be with Marina now, I’m allowed to also live in her house. Not sure if I’ll enjoy that with Marina’s dad being there. Marina made us promise her that we’d behave ourselves and I think we both gave a half-hearted yes. I’m looking forward to our sparring matches and talking down to the rest of her family since she’s told me that they’re like her dad.

Before I go to Marina’s house to plan our wedding, I go to where my family’s house is along with someone who knew my family. The house is predicably in the peasant area of the city and no one lives in it. It’s fairly rundown with dust being the occupants of the building.

“How come no one has bought it or taken anything out of here yet?” I ask the neighbor.

“Everyone thought this place was cursed since your family is considered traitors to the exorcists and the Church. It was supposed to be purified over the course of seven days, but no one cared to do it.”

“What about the rest of my family? Where are they?”

“They were emboldened by your mother’s rebellion against the exorcists and left here as well and promised to come back when they were strong enough to change the exorcists. God knows where they are now and what they’re doing.”

“I’ll eventually go out to find them, but for now, I have a family here to take care of.”

“The royal exorcists may not be giving you any formal thank you or ceremony for helping us but thank you. A lot of us appreciate you for coming here to give us the slap in the face that we needed.”

“Don’t mention it. I didn’t expect to be thanked at all for doing this. In fact, I did it mostly for the enjoyment of destroying the egos of both the royals and peasants. Besides, why are you thanking me now? We still have a lot of work to do.”

“Oh, that’s right, but still, thank you.”

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Heh, I hope this doesn’t get to my head.

“Alright, now I have to go. I can’t keep my princess waiting.”

I go to Marina’s home for dinner and see her house for the first time. It’s an impressive place with the front and back of the outside looking like an entire garden with many different kinds of flowers, fruits, and vegetables on display. The inside is just as impressive with many pieces of old Catholic art. It’s all decorated in different shades of blue, which explains to me why her exorcist outfit is blue. All of Marina’s family is at the dinner table with Magnus here to “help keep me under control”. Now, where’s my seat? There are ten seats and all of them are taken except for the one next to her dad. She can’t seriously want me to sit next to-

“Hurry up Alessio! We were just about to say grace before eating! Take a seat next to my dad,” she says.

Her dad looks just as disgusted as I feel to sit next to him. I can’t help but feel awkward even while saying grace and trying not to think about sitting next to him. After saying grace, I try to eat as fast as I can so I can leave the table. My rush to eat is stopped by my realization of eating at a table where everyone has to wear their mask to the side since we can’t take these things off because they’re tied to our souls. Remembering that everything here is in the spiritual realm also makes me think why I need to eat and if this chicken that I’m eating is spiritual chicken. How does this even work? Is part of this place spiritual or just most of it?

Marina’s dad then slightly elbows me then whispers, “My daughter says that we should learn to get together now rather than later and as the head of our house, I have to follow her orders. Don’t make this hard for us and let me give you a hint. Don’t hold hands, kiss, or sleep in the same room anymore until after marriage. It’s considered a sin of lust.”

This guy irritates me so much.

“Is it considered a sin to shower together? Because we did that too.”

“Alessio!” Marina says.

Oops. Didn’t mean to challenge him by admitting to that. Now everyone is awkwardly looking at me except for Magnus who is burying his face in his hands.

“I mean she was the one who started it.”

“Marina!” her dad says, “Is that true?!”

“Father, let me explain. I don’t know what I was thinking when it happened.”

The exorcists of her family take their weapons out of themselves as they stand up.

“I’ve already confessed and done penance for this just in case it’s a sin, but if you want to fight, I’ll gladly humor you,” I say while drawing my sword.

“No!” Marina says in the loudest voice I’ve ever heard her use, “We are all eating dinner as a family and we will learn how to get along as a family! Now, sit, eat, and calm down!”

Everyone sits down and eats to my surprise.

“Good job,” I whisper to Marina only to be met with a backhand.

“We’ll talk later,” she sternly says.

My eyes automatically look at Marina’s dad who seems to be proud of what she did. I guess I’m beginning to see why God chose Marina to help change the exorcists. If this is what change looks like, then I can live with it. Like I said before, I didn’t expect any thanks for doing this. I didn’t even expect the wheels of change to begin so soon. I know that this isn’t over yet and that the exorcists and I still have to do a lot to make meaningful changes, but with the first marriage between a peasant and a royal happening just around the corner, I’d say that we’re truly blessed and the challenges that we went through to get here were worth it. A beautiful future lays ahead of us and I gladly embrace the coming challenges because of the many gifts God has given me and will give me.

 

The End

Exorcism of the Hollow: Culling the Church: Chapter 2 – Demons in the Church Walls

Chapter 2 – Demons in the Church Walls

To my surprise, we aren’t able to find a place to rest in the city. Instead, Magnus, Marina, and I have to find a place out in the forest since mostly everyone is afraid of us. The storm that I created is still raging here and Magnus and Marina are not happy, to say the least despite our victory.

As we rest on the floor of a decrepit building at an abandoned farm, I say, “So, what’s our next move?” They both look at me funny. “What?”

“I still can’t believe the power you were blessed with. What are you going to do next? Pull weapons out of your head and hand instead of just your chest?” Magnus says.

“That can happen?”

“If your virtue is strong in all three areas of mind, heart, and sense, and not just one, you can, though it’s exceptionally rare. Rarer than exorcists being given the blessings of an Ombra.”

“And I thought that I was a little special.”

“Exorcists have been given the blessings of an Ombra though these people have become important figures in the exorcist’s invisible history,” Marina says.

“I guess I will be important then.”

“The exorcists, Ombra, and demons will have their eyes set on you and you will be in more danger than you’ve ever been in before. I’m afraid and it doesn’t help that I’m soaked while the flames on you guys keep you dry.”

“Come over here then,” I say with open arms.

“No, I’ll get burned!”

“You won’t get burned. Trust me.”

Marina slowly enters my arms and sits on my lap. She isn’t burned by my flames and is dried and warmed up instead.

That is until Magnus says, “Um. Can you two cuddle somewhere more privately?”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Marina says while trying to get up.

I hold her in my arms then say, “Are you jealous, Magnus?”

“No.”

“It’s not a sin for bros to cuddle together.”

“I’m not your bro and even if I were, I wouldn’t be cuddling with you and her at the same time.”

“Suit yourself.”

“Alessio! Please take this situation more seriously,” Marina says.

“Don’t worry. I believe that we’re doing the right thing. We’ll get through this. Let’s rest for now and come up with a plan by tomorrow morning.”

“Okay. Are you sure you’re comfortable sleeping like this?”

“With you? Of course I am.”

“Pfft,” Magnus says before closing his eyes.

He’s jealous that he doesn’t have his own girlfriend to cuddle with. I can tell. After resting for a bit, I wake up with a bit of a backache because of how I’m resting, but it’s worth it. Magnus and Marina wake up after me and we start to plan our next move.

To begin with, I say that, “We should start with the situation of the royalty and peasants. One lives in luxury while the other begrudgingly accepts their role in life. Plus, we have to deal with Marina’s family and her being disowned by them.”

“I’d rather not deal with them,” Marina says.

“Why’s that? Don’t you want to talk to them and convince them they’re wrong? Don’t you want…don’t you want to…marry me?”

“I do. I really do and you were probably right that I didn’t need my parent’s approval to do so. I just don’t want to see them now after they disowned me and want me dead for loving you.”

“So does that mean…”

“We’ll get married after this is done. What are our other options?”

“I could contact my Ombra connections within the city. They want reforms within the exorcists as well and could be a powerful ally,” Magnus says.

“I see. Could they help us with the traditionalist versus modernist situation? That’s another mess we have to deal with,” I ask.

“Tch, if we could make any meaningful difference in that, then we could also deal with the political situation in the world and solve the mess of factions within the Church as a whole. I wouldn’t bother with it until the end since it’s such a mess.”

“I’m going to assume that the situation is the same with the infiltration of demonic influence.”

“That mainly has to do with individual people, so yes. This is all a mess, so I think the best course of action for us is to ask the Ombra for help,” Marina suggests.

“Then that’s what we’ll do,” I say before stretching out since I’m still a bit sore even after already stretching, “You know where we should start, Magnus?”

“Yes, the closest Ombra I know are actually out outside the city. You seem to be feeling the negative effects of last night. What’s it like being a princess’s makeshift bed?”

“He should be honored to be my bed. I am royalty after all,” Marina jokes.

“This again, sure. It’s worth it as long as she doesn’t drool in her sleep.”

“I do not drool in my sleep!”

“And it’s even worse if she snores!” Marina tries punching me in the gut, but I catch it. “Ha! That’s not going to work on me anymore-”

Okay, I should’ve expected that follow up slap in the face.

“If you two clowns are done your comedy routine, we should-”

The sounds of screaming catch our eyes and we move fast to the source. We’re surprised to find demons chasing civilians. Jumping into action, we protect the civilians and banish the demons before anyone is hurt.

I ask Marina, “Are there ever demons here?”

“No, there shouldn’t be or at least demons that won’t attack us,” Marina answers.

“It’s those people that came here. The authorities are saying that they stirred up the demons because the council of exorcists was defeated by them,” one of the citizens says.

“I heard that we can’t even escape. People from the city say that the stairs put people in a trance that makes them walk back down. All this on top of the storm down here is proof that God is punishing us,” another says.

“We’ll get through this. Don’t you worry,” I say.

“Will we? This is the first time I’ve heard of this happening.”

“Is it?” I ask Marina.

“As far as I know it is. No one has really tried to assault the home of the exorcists other than its own civilians from within during a few civil wars.”

“Whatever the case is. We’ll get you to safety.”

I look at Magnus and he nods before saying, “Follow me.”

Magnus leads us through the forest while we keep an eye out for demons.

“What are Ombras and an exorcist like you doing here?” one of the citizens asks.

“We’re here to help,” Marina says.

“I thought most of the exorcists were protecting the inner city people. I never thought they would send out help out here.”

“We’re here on our own initiative.”

“You’d risk excommunication to be out here?”

“The higher-ups won’t notice since there’s so much chaos in the city.”

“Makes sense. Thank you for being here. You’re not like the other exorcists who ignore us and think we’re fine on our own.”

“You don’t have any exorcists to help you out here?” I ask.

“No, and hardly any of us join them. We make their food, give them their water, and they leave us alone. It’s been like this since this place was created as part of the original contract between God and the first exorcist. I guess the generational demons that made the first exorcist look down on the poor from his position of royalty has passed on to his successors.”

Explosions catch our attention and we move to find several Ombra using their elemental magic to fight off demons. As soon as they see us, they throw their magical attacks our way before disappearing.

“Why did they attack us?” one of the civilians asks.

“Maybe they don’t want us getting in their way? The Ombra can be a prideful bunch,” I suggest.

They obviously know who we are.

Magnus looks at me then says, “Yes, we can be, but we can also be reasonable if given a good reason.”

“I won’t argue with that. Let’s try talking to them.”

We follow the Ombra to what looks to be an unearthed secret base. Going into it, we find blood and slash marks all across the floors, ceiling, and walls along with parts of it that were burned, smashed in, and affected by various other Ombra elemental powers.

“I think you should stay outside while we investigate this place,” I say to the civilians who agree since they are visibly terrified.

It looks like a big battle took place here, but there are no bodies anywhere and no one seems to be around. There’s no sign of anyone until we hear the sound of someone screaming and fighting. Rushing to it, we find one of the Ombra that we saw before. Magnus runs to aid them only for them to be taken into the darkness by white hands with holes in its arms.

“Careful!” I say as I pull Magnus back.

Something is crawling in the darkness. I can’t see it and God hasn’t allowed Magnus’ nor I’s Ombra blessing to produce fire. It looks like we’ll have to do this on our own. That is until we go further into the base to find another Ombra. They look like the other one that we saw before, but why weren’t they with their friend? Their face is also obscured by the darkness.

“Thanks be to God you’re alright! What’s going on here?” Magnus says as he approaches the Ombra.

“Wait!” I say while pulling Magnus back.

The Ombra lungs forward as they almost catch Magnus with their claws and reveal their hollowed out face and their true identity as a demon before being lifted up into the darkness. We then cover each other’s backs and watch the darkness for any movement. Neither Magnus’ nor I’s Ombra blessings have activated yet still, which makes this more difficult. Maybe this demon can affect it. That would explain why the last two died.

“The rest of the Ombra have died here. Your kind has been abandoned by God,” the demon whispers from the darkness.

“That’s not true! The Ombra are more powerful and blessed than the exorcists!”

“I’ll be honest with you. You’ve seen how I used the body of that Ombra. Once I kill them, I eat them and am able to transform my body to look like theirs. Take a look at this man and see if you recognize him.”

The demon slowly reveals itself out of the darkness. It wears the body of a man with many medals, crosses, and holy objects on his body just like the leader of the exorcists.

Magnus gasps in response before quickly composing himself then saying, “You wretched creature! Get it!”

I do as Magnus says as quickly strike the demon, but don’t seem to cut it deep enough to slice its body in two.

“You didn’t strike hard enough!” Magnus says.

“I could’ve sworn I did! Who was that?” I say.

“My mentor and…and…”

“The leader of the Ombra,” the demon says, “I’ve killed every single one in their own home. After what you three did, their faith in themselves was shaken since there were some among the exorcists that you fought, and instead of humbling themselves, some lost faith while others doubled down on their pride. The prideful were easier to overcome than the cowards since there is no place for God in a prideful soul.”

That’s not entirely true.

“You’re a liar! The Ombra are humble!”

“And yet, they can never stop putting themselves above others just like you do. It’s what kept them from collaborating with the exorcists and what put them in their current state. If they were like you and had a few exorcists to protect them or even a few blessed weapons made for them for when they were powerless, then they wouldn’t have been so easily killed, but no, their prideful idea that God would give them what they wanted when they wanted it made them make stupid mistakes.”

“You’ll pay for what you’ve said and done!”

“Are you going to stop me? Even now, you are powerless and not blessed at all. As a kind gesture, I will show you the extent of my power that God has allowed me.”

We hear the sound of people running to us and see the civilians that we told to stay outside now in front of us with hollowed holes in their bodies.

“We have to be careful guys!” I say before slashing the bodies away.

Somehow, I still didn’t make a deep enough cut. Even as the bodies go into the darkness, I see their heads hardly hang onto the bodies. What’s going on here? Is there more than one demon since there was more than one body? That could be the case, but it doesn’t seem like that.

“Watch out!” Marina says while slashing away two approaching hollowed out Ombras that try sneaking up on us.

“Thanks!” I say before going back to thinking about what to do.

“Give up now and I’ll allow you to help me without being one of my puppets,” the demon says.

So there is one demon, but where is it controlling the bodies from? They keep getting pulled back so it literally must be like a puppeteer controlling a puppet. The bodies must be connected to the demon somehow. Where are you hiding at?

“I won’t give up! I’ll beat you with my fists if I have to! I’ll-”

There it is! It’s on the ceiling directly above us! The center of it is a mouth with tentacles that reach out into the darkness. I cut the demon in half just in time as I look to the side to see that it almost attacked Magnus with one of its Ombra puppets. It could’ve also fallen on us and eaten us whole if I didn’t act fast. The puppets fall apart as the demon fades into nothing and the darkness lifts a bit in here.

“Are you okay, Magnus?” I ask.

“…yeah. I’m fine,” he says while walking away.

Marina and I follow him as he wanders through the base while feeling his hand across the walls before flipping the switches to turn some of the power on that brightens some of the base up. Nothing is left of this place but ruined machines, burned books, and blood and cloth on the floor.

“Magnus…” I say while not knowing what to say next.

“That demon spoke the truth mixed in with the lies. The Ombra were destroyed by their own pride and my own almost got me killed if you didn’t save me,” he admits.

“Don’t get too down on yourself. You still need to carry on their legacy.”

“Right…or at least what’s left of it.”

We leave the base empty handed with no one left to help us and nothing left to show for our efforts. The sound of a stampede then gets our attention as we watch hordes of demons come out from the forest. I look to Magnus who is upset at the fact that his Ombra blessing still isn’t working.

“It’s okay, Magnus. Marina and I can handle this…maybe,” I say.

He seems to be frustrated until he seems to have reached a revelation. Putting his hands together, he looks like he’s going to pray, which isn’t a bad tactic for him since prayers are also good against demons.

“It’s okay. If God wants me to pray, I’ll pray. If God wants me to fight, I’ll fight. Whatever God wills, let it be done unto me. Not because I want it to, but because He wants it to.”

An invisible force from Magnus slightly pushes Marina and I back while pushing the demons back even further. His Ombra outfit changes to something darker with dark blue lines on it as an armor of flames appears on him that’s designed with a fiery blue cross on it. His mask then changes to one with eyes on it. Instead, it has a pointy blue cross. The storm around us intensifies as Magnus raises his hands and quickly puts them down as the lightning strikes the demons around us. Is he controlling the storm now? What kind of Ombra blessing is this?

The winds start picking up and the trees transform themselves into spears and monsters that impale and fight the demons. In addition, the rain seemingly becomes holy and melts whatever demons it touches. Once the legion of demons before us disappears, the storm ends and the sky clears. Magnus then clenches his fists then disappears into thin air. Soon after, explosions happen in the distance and I think I can even see him appear in different places in the sky to make those explosions happen as the ground shakes. Before I’m able to wonder what’s happening, Magnus appears before us still with his fists clenched.

“Magnus?” I say. He unclenches his fists then looks at us. “What was that?”

“An Ombra blessing known as the Weapon of God. It’s when an Ombra completely gives their soul over to God and you can see the results of a soul in tune with God’s will.”

“That was amazing! I’ve never seen a Weapon of God. I thought it was just a metaphorical thing,” Marina says.

“It’s a very real thing as you can see. The demon was right about the Ombra because we failed to be Weapons of God, but it was wrong about me. I will carry on the Ombra legacy and bring honor to our dishonored name.”

“Now that the base and the leaders here are dead, does that make you the Ombra’s leader and in turn my boss since I’m an Ombra as well?” I ask.

“Heh, you could say that.”

“Okay, ‘boss’. Where to now?”

“We should visit Marina’s family or at least see what the peasants want before we hear the royal’s side so we can start fixing that problem.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Don’t say it like that. You make it sound like an insult.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, sir.”

“Okay, the novelty of this has already worn off. Stop referring to me as your superior.”

“But it’s only right, sir.”

“Tch.”

“Come on you two. I want to get this over with,” Marina says.

“Yes, sorry about that,” I say.

I never dreamed that I would have a girlfriend who was a princess and exorcist and that I would have to fight for her against her family, but I also never dreamed of the things that have happened over the course of these past couple of days. It wouldn’t surprise me if things got crazier from here.