Chapter 22

Hamel was dying.

If a little more time had passed, his heart would have stopped and he would have died.

But in the instant before death, a warm light enveloped his body.

Hamel realized that, at the same moment Antonio performed the Solemn Exorcism, the violent energy raging in his body had vanished.

A blue flame rose from his body.

His heart began to beat quietly, but clearly.

The cloying malice washed away, leaving a strange, unfamiliar energy.

It was so cold and violent it felt as if it would freeze all the blood inside him.

Even as he breathed out, white vapor puffed forth and frost formed on the floor.

What on earth was happening to his body?

It was at that moment, as Hamel wondered.

“Seems that’s all you can do.”

Before he knew it, David was standing beside Antonio.

‘No.’

A sinister premonition rose.

No, if he couldn’t stop it, that feeling would become reality.

He was the boy he had saved, the one who had entered the order looking up to him.

Antonio had already been someone special to Hamel.

‘Run away…’

Contrary to his intent, no groan escaped his frozen throat.

He had no strength to stop David, not even to twitch a finger.

While he watched them helplessly, it happened.

“How unpleasant.”

David murmured low and spun his staff with a flick.

The next moment, with a horrible sound, Antonio’s two eyeballs were ripped out.

The golden pupils that had shone yellow were soaked in blood and stained red.

‘…Ah.’

And the moment he saw that.

-Click.

He heard something snap in his head.

He felt something.

He hadn’t been aware of it until now, but this had been inside Hamel for a long time.

It was the violence buried deep within him, the anger he’d harbored at an unfair world, and the blasphemous doubt about the gods who governed it.

What burst out, severing all the chains that had bound him until now, was…

…something utterly unexpected.

Hamel unconsciously knit his brows.

‘Is this… relief?’

It was a clear exhilaration, a distinct freedom.

A thrill swept his body so intense he couldn’t understand how he’d borne this discomfort until now.

“…”

Antonio’s scream came faintly from afar.

But for some reason.

He didn’t feel the same turmoil as before.

“Hah.”

He slowly exhaled the air filling his lungs.

Hamel lifted his head and looked at a man.

He disliked the man, who held his head high in arrogance and pride.

What was his name again?

Did it matter?

What mattered was that gaze.

Eyes full of conviction that everything stood beneath him.

No one could make that expression in front of him.

-Stride.

Hamel rose lightly and took a step.

He took a few more steps, for the man who wouldn’t notice easily.

Boredom crept in; an urge rose to tear the man’s throat apart.

Only then did the man notice him and babble something with a look of surprise.

“You’re… truly tenacious. My one and only younger brother.”

The chunk of iron in his hand annoyed him.

He tossed it with a flick; the man flinched and dodged in terror.

The sight was ridiculous and it amused him.

Curious what the man would do, he watched—as the man suddenly began pulling corpses from his pockets.

The bodies that fell to the floor lunged at Hamel.

‘So slow.’

Even playing with a child would have felt more urgent than this.

Hamel approached the man, breaking the corpses as if twisting off the limbs of dolls.

And when he smashed the final figure, Hamel finally got what he wanted.

“Ah. Damn.”

Fear clouded the man’s muttering eyes.

A scent of frustration, despair, and fear.

Watching the man finally comprehend reality, Hamel smiled faintly.

“…”

What ugly sight would he show next?

He found himself looking forward to it.

And then… well.

Should he strip the skin or pull off the limbs?

Or perhaps gouge out those arrogant eyes first—that wouldn’t be bad either.

‘And then…’

Suddenly Hamel saw Antonio, bent on the floor, groping at the ground.

-Startle.

His shoulders trembled.

‘And then what…?’

A sharp pain throbbed in his head.

It felt like a brutal hangover.

-Sway.

Hamel’s legs wavered and his body rocked side to side.

And David didn’t miss it.

-Clang.

He smashed the window directly behind him and jumped through.

Even as David fled, Hamel paid him no mind.

To be precise, he hadn’t even fully registered that David had run away.

‘…What?’

He could only stare in horror at his own actions.

It wasn’t that his memory had been erased.

He could no longer feel the malice in his body.

He knew because it was his body.

‘This… is me.’

Hamel even felt that this version of himself was closer to his true nature.

That realization terrified him beyond bearing.

Moreover, that other self was trying to consume his body.

Indeed, until moments ago Hamel’s consciousness had nearly been swallowed.

If he hadn’t felt such dissonance witnessing Antonio’s mutilation, he wouldn’t have left even this sliver of a gap.

‘This is, this is… not right.’

The commonsense and morals he’d built and nurtured were collapsing in an instant.

His reverence for the gods and the merciful voice within him seemed to wither and scatter.

That other self had a power Hamel could not resist.

He could not allow such a being loose in the world.

Staggering, Hamel crawled toward his talisman stuck in the floor.

He felt as if the consciousness he’d seized might slip away at any moment.

Even now that presence was trying to take his body.

There was only one way.

‘End it.’

Hamel calmly drew his sword.

He clenched the hilt tightly.

He wasn’t without fear, but there wasn’t much time.

His hesitation was brief.

-Slash.

Hamel drove the sword into his own abdomen.

A pain like a searing branding iron entering his body made his head swim.

But the very pain helped him regain his focus.

If he relaxed even slightly, that other self would seize his body.

Blood began to flow from his body.

The Azure Flame that heals the body did not flare.

Of course—it hadn’t been invoked through prayer.

How much time had passed?

‘…Not yet?’

Hamel felt his body growing cold and struggled to keep his mind from fading.

It was more painful and took longer than he had thought.

It might have been quicker to stab his throat, he thought.

He found himself regretting it.

-Creak.

A strange sound came from the wound in his abdomen where the sword had been driven.

Hamel looked at his belly in disbelief.

-Slither.

The symbols etched on the sword—that is, the strokes accumulated from slaying demons—were being sucked into his body.

What on earth was happening?

It was at that moment, as Hamel wondered.

“…Ah.”

The personality that had been raging to seize control of his body had begun to quiet.

Not certain, but it was probably the influence of the symbols.

Could it be that the malice stored in his sword and talisman was being absorbed into his body and acting like a lock?

It was pure speculation, but for now he had to rely on this phenomenon.

‘Just a little more…’

Hamel’s body greedily consumed even the malice of mid-grade demons and hungrily sought the energies of higher-grade demons.

The more malice he absorbed, the clearer his mind became and the more control he regained over his body.

When he finally swallowed the super-class symbol—

-Clank.

Hamel realized the inner presence had fallen completely silent.

---

‘…Am I alive again?’

Hamel pulled the sword from his abdomen and hurled it away, then summoned the Azure Flame.

Blue flames rose from the torn, pierced places on his body.

Looking around, he took in the grisly scene of the room.

The senior priest’s corpse had long since grown cold.

In the end, they could not save him.

Ono, too, lay impaled on the shadow, dead as he had been struck down.

“Ah…”

Only Antonio remained alive, groaning.

Hamel staggered to his feet and made his way to Antonio.

Perhaps due to blood loss, his gait lacked balance.

After bumping into things here and there, he managed to lay a hand on Antonio’s shoulder.

-Flinch.

Antonio’s body jolted as if sprung when Hamel’s hand touched his shoulder.

He stretched his blood-soaked hand into the air and gropingly spoke.

“W-who’s there?”

“…”

Hamel kept his mouth tightly shut.

He should calm and comfort him, but the horrific sight made it hard for him to speak.

Perhaps it was the warmth he felt from the hand.

Or was it the tremor born of guilt?

“Um… are you Mr. Hamel?”

Antonio realized he was Hamel.

“…Yes.”

Hamel finally nodded, then paused.

Antonio couldn’t see, after all.

“You’re alive, you’re alive. Of course—you couldn’t possibly be dead, Mr. Hamel.”

Antonio smiled brightly.

He then asked anxiously.

“Right. Is the priest safe? Has Sir Daniel returned? What happened to the other Exorcist priests?”

“…”

There was no question about Hamel’s condition among them.

All his concern was for others, but Hamel could say nothing.

“…First, I’ll treat you.”

Hamel changed the subject, clasped his hands, and prayed fervently to God.

‘May the power granted to me be applied to Antonio.’

The Azure Flame’s power could regrow torn and severed limbs.

That power was limited solely to Hamel.

For others it only aided bodily recovery; it had never once reconstructed mutilated body parts.

But just because it had never happened didn’t mean it couldn’t in the future.

‘Just once, please. Ehuurshika.’

He wouldn’t mind never using the power again.

So please.

-Whoosh.

At the end of Hamel’s prayer, blue flames bloomed in Antonio’s eyes.

A warm energy spread outward.

The bleeding stopped and the mangled flesh was stitched together.

“Ah, Mr. Hamel. Thank you.”

“…”

But that was all.

Antonio thanked him, but the missing eyeballs did not return.

Antonio tilted his head, sensing something odd as Hamel remained silent.

“…Mr. Hamel?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Yes? What do you mean…”

Antonio looked taken aback, not at all expecting Hamel’s apology.

This made Hamel feel the guilt even more, and he spoke.

“I failed in my duty as the examiner who should have protected you. Instead, you helped me.”

If not for the Solemn Exorcism he had performed, Hamel’s heart would have fully stopped due to the malice rampaging through his body.

It wasn’t just this time.

On this exorcism mission he had been rescued by him multiple times.

From the start, this mission had been a trap meant to use and draw in Hamel.

All those who died here were victims swept up in his affairs.

He couldn’t bear to lift his head before them.

Hamel ground his teeth in self-loathing.

“The same goes for me, Mr. Hamel.”

Antonio answered with a smile.

Hamel stared at him blankly at that bright smile.

“You’ve saved me many times. I’ve learned a lot and come closer to the person I want to be.”

“But if you can’t see, you can’t be an Exorcist priest anymore…”

“It’ll be hard, of course. But thanks to this, I can stand proud before myself. I’ll continue to follow God’s word and walk the path He has arranged.”

There wasn’t a trace of regret on Antonio’s face as he spoke.

Like a clear, blue sky.

“So please don’t be sorry for me, and don’t pity me, Mr. Hamel. I haven’t given up on anything yet.”

Hamel realized.

Despite his young age, Antonio was already a far greater person.

Perhaps he had been so all along, even compared to Hamel, who had been consumed by revenge from the start.

“…Yes. I will.”

As Hamel slowly nodded, it happened.

-Thud!

The study door, half-maintained in shape, fell to the floor and kicked up dust.

And in front of it…

“I ran straight here… but it seems I’m too late.”

A knight wearing a helmet adorned with red decoration stood there.

“Sir Daniel!”

At that voice, Antonio brightened.

Hamel also sprang up, barely restraining his joy, and spoke evenly.

“You’re alive.”

“You too.”

Hamel and the knight exchanged a brief greeting and a small smile.

At that moment, a faint groan sounded from somewhere.

“You… bastards. I’m alive too…”

“…?”

The Exorcist priest they had thought dead—

Ono was struggling to move and, with a deathly pale face, was looking this way.