Chapter 3 – Exorcising False
Gods
The statue brings me back inside
the basilica and to the front of the altar. With a single wave of its hand, a
hidden door on the floor moves aside to reveal a staircase that leads into the
darkness. It then points down and I follow its instructions. As I descend
further and further down the seemingly never-ending staircase, I think that it
actually won’t end until I reach the bottom where there’s nothing but dead
grass and dirt. There doesn’t seem to be anything here to build a legacy on
other than it being a secret place.
A light suddenly appears in the
dark and approaches me and I’m surprised to see that the source of the light is
the statue of Christ with a lion and unicorn behind him. My legs can’t help but
feel weak as I fall to my knees at this glorious sight.
“My Lord,” I say.
“It is, I, Braxton. I am glad that
you recognize Me after serving that false version of Myself,” the statue says.
Hearing this makes me unsure of
what to say or do. Is this a false Christ in front of me or were my original assumptions
about the living broken statue, correct?
The statue continues by saying, “I
understand and I will not rub your face into your failures like that false Christ
did. Instead, I will only allow you to save your empire and
serve me as the king you are meant to be.”
“So…I was never wrong? Going back
and forth between thinking I was and was not is too jarring for me.”
“I know it is, but I know that you’ll
come through. Remove all traces of falsehood from your mind and come back to Me,
King Braxton. The fact that you’re constantly fought over by me and demonic
forces is proof of your infinite worth. Bring the world under the grasp of the
British Empire and make it holy.”
I’m at the crossroads again and don’t
know what to do. Do I go back to the Christ that affirms everything I believe
or do I stay with the one that seems to be correcting me for my mistakes? You
know what? Today’s events have reminded me that I should rely on God more than
myself, so while on my knees, I pray to God to give me the right answer and
direct my actions and thoughts according to His will. This action sends a
shockwave of light from me that lights up the entire area and reveals the Christ
in front of me as an imposter. It now has only half of Christ’s face and its feeble,
hollow body is only half covered by a golden cape. The rest of it wears a black
crown on its head and its back has only one set of shriveled wings on it.
“You traitor! How dare you distrust
your god!” the pathetic-looking thing says, “I’ll give you one more opportunity.
Accept my help and your legacy will be great.”
“It’s funny that you mention that I’m
a traitor. So far, in the span of a day, I’ve fundamentally betrayed everything
I’ve stood for, everyone who’s helped me, and even the ‘god’ I worshipped, but if
God says to do so, then I’ll gladly take the title of traitor.”
Enraged by my answer, the false Christ
yells while flying at me. Taking out my spear, I pierce its hollow heart and
can feel a hole that I didn’t know I had in my chest fill as the false Christ
is banished along with its unicorn and lion and the area around me comes to life with green grass. Behind me,
the once-broken statue of Christ appears in a restored state to me and takes
off its veil to reveal the gentle, merciful, and smiling face of my Lord.
I kneel on both knees and say, “My
Lord. What are Your orders?”
“Use the land before you to grow
the community of exorcists to cleanse the world of demons. I will change this
world according to your needs to have farmlands, rivers, lakes, mountains, and
expand its lengths if need be,” the Lord says.
“How will I go about growing the
community?”
“Besides you, I have blessed many people
with the abilities of an exorcist who will be drawn to coming here, some of
whom are almost here. Also, a child of an exorcist will inherit their parent’s
blessing, so your ranks will grow in that way as well.”
“I understand. Thank You for
everything.”
“As for the final order that I have
for you, for now, continue growing closer to Me, My good servant.”
The statue of Christ disappears
into the sun of this underground sky leaving me with a feeling of hopefulness
in his heart. In the same sky, I see five people walking down the many stairs
from the entrance. One is a priest, a farmer with a cow and dog, a soldier, a
nun, and a woman all of whom wear the garbs and masks of an exorcist like me.
They are all surprised to see that I, of all people, have been chosen as an
exorcist and the leader of them and have many questions all of which I am glad
to answer. In this new beginning given to me by God, my past is buried and
gone, but my future is bright and looking to be a hopeful one because a traitor
to his God like me was able to be brought back and called a good servant.
The End
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