18 In the Mouth of Evil

"Cover my left side, Rafael!" Anton said as he lit a flashlight and descended the stairs slowly.

Rafael, who was extremely nervous, nodded as his focus fixed on Anton's left side, while Anton kept an eye on the right. Meanwhile, Brad took charge of watching the rear in case of an ambush. He didn't mind being a human shield for the priests; he believed it was the price to pay for witnessing their work.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

As Anton descended the wooden steps step by step, the sound of the creaking wood was eerie, something that had never happened before. This cold and lifeless basement seemed to have turned into a speaker with an amplifier effect for the steps of the three descending individuals.

If an ordinary person looked into the dark space and heard the creaking wood approaching, they might die of fear. But Anton didn't care; he continued advancing in silence.

Under Anton's uniform, behind his large black trench coat, was a vest where he had everything he needed for an exorcism. Since he didn't have anything magical to hold his belongings, they all wore vests where they placed the most essential items for an exorcism.

By reciting prayers from the Grimoire, one could verbally confront entities seeking to harm them. Bullets were in the shotgun's stock holster, and he also had a row of bullets on his vest, providing him with a generous supply of well-distributed ammunition.

In addition to the bullets, he carried six test tube bottles filled with holy water and three silver crosses.

"I finally understand why basements in movies are the most suitable for scares."

Rafael looked at Brad and said, "Focus on your job!"

After finishing descending the stairs, Anton walked to the switch and turned on the lights by pressing the switch button. With more visibility now, he could feel that this place was very conducive to causing them a lot more trouble.

Although Anton had never feared anything before, what he was feeling now was somewhat curious. In the dim light, this small basement was filled with debris, including wooden furniture and a bed that was old, cracked, and covered in cobwebs.

Anton could see clothes scattered everywhere and much dust, as if this family didn't have time to take care of this place.

According to the rules of an exorcism, this might be nothing, but Anton was not a normal person; his perception of the supernatural was unmatched. Combined with the cold atmosphere and the knowledge that there was something evil here, the visual factor of something being wrong doubled, so everyone remained alert.

Of course, even though Anton was nervous, it was just his excitement—his heart beating with the thrill of eliminating something else in this world.

"This is my job, my hell, my punishment, and a new opportunity." Anton thought this every time he ventured into the darkness.

In his opinion, resentment filled the basement like a thick fog. It was a pity that, despite the evil being as thick as the fog around him, nothing had happened yet.

"Don't waste my time, you damn impure pest!" Anton lowered the shotgun, defiantly staring into the darkness as if whatever was there didn't affect him at all.

"Present yourself to me!"

Although Anton wasn't different from any other exorcist, he knew the amount of faith he carried on his shoulders and could use it in each of his actions as he pleased. That's why he trusted every move he made because he knew exactly when and how to attack.

As for the mark that this resentful spirit left on the Perron family, Anton would ensure to erase it from the root, regardless of anything else. At least, if, for some reason, he couldn't eliminate all the evil, the Perron family could escape without being pursued by the same malevolence.

"All right, if you don't come out, I'll force you out, you cursed pest!" Anton raised his shotgun again, removed the bullets in the chamber, and replaced them with different bullets from his vest.

In any exorcism scenario, holy water played a fundamental role not only for them but also for the undead, demons, and little fields.

Crack!

While loading the weapon, Anton looked into the darkness again. When he finished preparations, he took a bottle of holy water from his chest, removed the cork, and said, "I gave you a chance." He threw the holy water forward in a horizontal arc.

As the holy water was still in the air, all the resentment at the back moved like a thick and intelligent mist in its direction to avoid being touched by the holy water.

"Come out this instant!" Anton shouted, repeating the process, but now, with a different bottle of holy water, he threw it forward in another direction.

As before, the thick resentment dispersed to the sides, and gradually, the dense fog began to thin.

"In the name of the living, make yourself known!!!" Since there was still no movement, Anton continued moving to the right and repeated the same process.

"Manifest yourself, entity of darkness!!!" With each invocation, Anton poured holy water onto the floor, slowly creating a perimeter.

Crack!

At that moment, Anton turned in the direction where the changes had come from and aimed his shotgun. Rafael, who also felt something different, aimed in the same direction.

"You..." Anton could see a robust woman wearing an old Polish-style skirt. She simply sat on the floor, seeming scared, but she held a blood-stained knife while only showing her back.

"She forced me to do it." A rough voice that was not malicious echoed in the now-silent place.

"She forces me to do it!"

Rafael, understanding that she was not a threat, raised his hand to signal Brad not to shoot and let Anton handle the situation.

Anton, looking at this entity coldly, took a bottle from his chest while aiming his shotgun at the spirit. If he guessed correctly, the woman in front of him was the one who tragically died in this very basement, so she wasn't his target, as there wasn't much malice in her.

"Talk to me; tell me where she is," Anton said calmly. However, as soon as his words were heard, the robust woman trembled without stopping. It was evident that this woman was afraid of Bathsheba to the point where her own invocation scared her.

"No!"

"I don't want to!"

Suddenly, the figure of the robust woman became increasingly shaky, and a sound resembling that of a wild beast emanated from her body.

"No!"

After the roar, the figure of the robust woman, which had started to fade, disappeared in an instant.

Crack!!!

At the same time, Anton sighed with description, and in a moment, the hand holding the glass bottle of holy water burst, causing the water that had reached his hand to fall to the ground. Without moving his shotgun, Anton let go of it and, invoking the hand of God in his right hand, attacked towards his non-visible side.

The blood cross formed in his palm; blood dripped from his hand and attacked the black figure that had formed. His swift reaction surprised the others; no one could compare to him in terms of strength due to his continuous enhancements.

The robust woman, who had disappeared before, projected herself to Anton's right side with a knife in her hand. She slashed the knife, cutting Anton's face. Ignoring the pain, Anton's right hand held the ghost's neck.

Rrrroooaaarrr!!!!

The surroundings stirred, the air lifted the dust, and as soon as Anton's hand touched the ghost's aura, everything around trembled, and the robust woman disappeared without a trace.

Brad, who had definitely seen supernatural things, was as pale as paper and murmured, "In the name of Jesus..."

"Focus!" Anton said it coldly, ignoring the blood dripping from his cheek. The sharp look in Anton's eyes wasn't distracted by this; he knew the capabilities of Priest Anton, so he didn't worry about a bit of blood.

At that moment, Anton also ignored the blood dripping from his hand and took a bottle of holy water, throwing it where a large amount of resentment was forming. Lifting the shotgun and squeezing the trigger directly, Anton shot.

Bang!!!

When Anton fired, the bullet, different from the others, collided with the dark mist, and fiery salt pieces ignited the place.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Rafael and Brad also fired in the same direction, causing a series of thunderous shots.

When everyone in the room upstairs heard the shots, they were surprised. First, there was a shot in the basement, and then there was a strange roar.

"Ahhhhhh!!!!"

As the sound of a beast-like howl escaped from society, the sound of strings tightening was also heard, and the temperature of the entire basement dropped at an extremely rapid rate.

"Fire!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

But among the shots, Anton saw a figure floating in the air in the direction they were aiming. The woman wore a ragged white nightgown and had disheveled hair.

Rrrr!

Anton, seeing her approaching, frowned but didn't avoid the hit because if either of his two companions were hit, they would be seriously injured, so he protected himself.

Boom!

Anton, who was hit from his side, flew and crashed into the wall.