Chapter 65: S#11. Exosister (4)
by fnovelpia
Watching Summer fly through the air as if hit by a locomotive, Reiko thought.
This is bad. Things went wrong before we could even start the main ritual.
Naomi had turned into a muscled demon. She looked like a child fed steroids instead of baby food.
“Muscles… muscles…!”
With each step Naomi took, the floor sank.
The couple screamed shrilly. They were about to be killed by their own daughter.
Reiko hurriedly pulled out a talisman. She needed to slap it onto Naomi’s forehead.
But getting close would mean getting killed. Was there no better way to approach?
While she was contemplating, Naomi moved. She darted towards Reiko and grabbed her slender neck.
“Gah…”
“Got you, you rat!!”
Naomi lifted Reiko with the hand around her neck.
Reiko’s feet left the ground. She struggled, but it was pointless.
The grip around her throat was tight. Her vision started to fade.
At that moment, an axe flew out from the broken wall where Summer had crashed.
Spinning rapidly, it curved through the air like a boomerang.
The axe blade plunged into Naomi’s shoulder, causing her to drop Reiko.
“Who the hell did that…!!”
Naomi roared in fury. Veins bulged and throbbed on her forehead.
Summer emerged from the broken wall, dust rising behind him like the sulfurous flames of hell.
He spat blood-tinged saliva.
Walking into the chaotic house, he spoke to the couple.
“I’m sorry, but I have to send your daughter to hell.”
I clenched my fists and approached Naomi.
It was time to start the exorcism (physical).
“Demon. How about giving me back the axe in your shoulder? It was a gift.”
“You persistent b*tch…!!!”
Naomi stomped the ground.
Bang bang bang bang bang—her muscular legs cracked the floor. The house shook as if hit by an earthquake.
I charged at her.
The demon, rushing like an enraged bull, reached out.
A heavy punch hit my face.
Crack.
My brain felt like it would eject from my skull.
But this time, I didn’t fly. I stood firm.
Naomi sneered.
“Haha, foolish human! It would have been less painful if you had passed out! I’ll rip your guts apart!!!”
“No… now it’s my turn.”
I swung my fist. It was a punch imbued with my soul.
The loud impact resonated. It landed squarely on the demon’s face.
Naomi flew to the end of the hallway, crashing into a large cross.
As she fell awkwardly, she vomited a stream of green liquid.
Using the obscured view to her advantage, she charged again.
This time, it was a barrage of attacks. A flurry of punches came at lightning speed.
I swung back, landing punches on Naomi’s face.
Her muscular arms crossed in an X. Brutal, breathless blows followed.
Half in an out-of-body state, we exchanged punches. Pounding, crushing, grinding, and pulverizing each other’s bodies.
An uncontrollable frenzy.
The wind pressure and shockwaves swept through the hallway. All the crosses hanging on the walls shattered.
The house looked as if it had been hit by a bomb.
Thinking it was the final blow, I landed a roundhouse kick to Naomi’s abdomen.
My foot sank deep. It felt like kicking a rock. My ankle hurt.
“Heh… let me show you the hell drill!”
Naomi raised her hands.
Her wrists spun. Her fingertips were sharp.
Both hands transformed into a rapidly rotating bio-drill.
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Naomi drove the drills into my temples.
“Aaaaargh……!!”
Overwhelmed by the excruciating pain of my cranium being destroyed, I collapsed to my knees.
Naomi looked down at me with blazing eyes.
“I’m going to split your head open and suck your brains out~!!”
“Grrrr… Stop…”
“Struggle all you want! What can you do on your knees!?”
“The reason I’m on my knees…”
…was to gain momentum.
I straightened my legs and rocketed upward like a missile.
With a powerful uppercut, I struck Naomi’s chin.
Naomi flew up and her head got stuck in the ceiling, like an upside-down sprout.
The hand axe embedded in Naomi’s shoulder fell into my hand.
Three seconds later, Naomi also fell to the floor.
Thud. The impact of her fall shook the hallway. Broken crosses fell from the walls.
I placed the axe blade against Naomi’s neck.
Naomi spat sticky blood and spoke.
“Human… why… don’t you finish me off…?”
“I’m not the one to finish you.”
I turned to look behind me.
Reiko was standing there. She had already prepared the ritual to send the demon back to hell.
“Before the demon regains its strength, let’s hurry and complete the ritual.”
Reiko said as she pulled out a red string and tied Naomi’s body with it.
On the shattered floor, she drew a pattern resembling a magic circle. She looked like a witch.
The couple anxiously glanced back and forth between their wrecked daughter and the ruined house. They still held the pieces of paper as Reiko had instructed.
“Now, Naomi will regain her consciousness.”
Naomi’s eyes, which had been all white, regained their pupils.
The pastor and his wife were surprised.
“Naomi…!”
“Sweetie, are you conscious?”
Naomi, who had been possessed by the demon, regained her senses.
She looked at her parents.
But her reaction was different from what they expected.
“This is all your fault…!”
Naomi said.
Her pupils vanished again. She reverted back to the demon.
The pastor, looking bewildered as if he’d been scammed, demanded an explanation from Reiko.
“What’s going on…?!”
“It seems Naomi is rejecting it. It’s as if she’s given herself over to the demon.”
“Given herself to the demon… How is that possible…?!”
The wife, beside him, collapsed to the floor.
“It’s all our fault…!”
She wailed.
“We were too harsh on Naomi… We starved her if she couldn’t recite the Bible… We locked her in the closet for minor mistakes until she repented…!
We even stopped her from hanging out with boys!!”
“Honey, it was the right thing to do! What’s the use of self-recrimination now? Aren’t you ashamed before the Lord’s cross?!”
The crosses hanging in the hallway were already reduced to dust.
The pastor pleaded with Reiko to restore Naomi somehow.
Reiko asked impassively,
“When a turtle withdraws into its shell, what do you do to get it out? Do you break the shell with a hammer?”
“That would kill it. I’d wait for it to come out on its own.”
“Exactly. But we don’t have the luxury of time, so try to persuade your daughter to come out of her shell.”
The wife approached her daughter.
She looked down at Naomi, who was lying on the pattern, bound with the red string.
“Naomi… can you hear me?”
“Get lost, b*tch! I’ll tear off your boobs!!!”
“Naomi, Naomi…! Snap out of it!!”
The wife cried as she slapped Naomi’s cheeks.
“Come home now, sweetie…”
“Mom…”
Naomi looked at her mother.
“…Why did you make my life so miserable?”
“Na… Naomi…”
“You forced me to go to Bible camp, you b*tch! You f*cking whore!!”
The red thread snapped.
“You believe in God so much, yet why can’t you believe in your only daughter! Why, whyyyyy!!”
Naomi’s body swelled even more. The whites of her eyes turned red.
She was no longer human or demon, but pure rage itself.
The fragments of crosses scattered on the hallway floor began to levitate. It was a poltergeist phenomenon straight out of a horror movie.
I couldn’t just watch. I pulled out my axe and charged.
Naomi waved her hand, and an invisible force slammed me against the wall. Now she was using telekinesis too.
Damn it.
A red whirlwind swept through the house. Standing on two feet was a struggle.
In the midst of this hellish storm, Naomi’s voice rang coldly.
“I’ve never been proud that you were my parents! I’ve always resented you!”
“Naomi…”
“Now I’ll show you the taste of hell! I’ll make you pay for strangling my life!!”
The pastor, barely standing against the wall, shouted.
“I did it out of love for you!”
The red whirlwind grew fiercer. But the pastor didn’t lower his voice.
“You’re my only daughter! I didn’t want you to go astray!”
The pastor suddenly ripped off his clothes.
The robe with the cross tore apart, revealing his body.
Reiko and I were shocked.
His body was covered in black tattoos, the kind you’d see on gang members.
Why did a clergyman have such tattoos…?
“When I was young, I was a prisoner. Your mother was a prison guard. We met there.”
“……”
“I didn’t want my daughter to walk the wrong path like I did! Naomi, I prayed you would repent and be saved like I was! I wanted to show you the happiness of being led by the Lord!”
Tears of blood flowed from Naomi’s red eyes.
The whirlwind whipped stronger. The house turned into a red hell.
“…I hated praying.”
“……”
“Not even once, not a single time. Could you pray for your daughter instead of God?”
The pastor’s face twisted in shock at his daughter’s words.
He slowly moved forward. The fierce whirlwind scratched his entire body.
His robe shredded completely, leaving him in only his underwear.
Even his hair, if he had any left, flew off like cherry blossoms.
Bald and battered, the pastor didn’t stop.
“…I’m sorry…!”
He grabbed Naomi’s hand.
The wife approached and held her hand too.
“Daughter… I won’t confine you to faith anymore. Please forgive me.”
“Naomi, we won’t force you to go to Bible camp again… I’m sorry.”
The family held hands.
The red whirlwind subsided. Naomi’s body gradually shrank.
“I will pray for you, not for God…”
The pastor said.
The couple hugged their daughter tightly and opened their hands.
The two pieces of paper they had been holding flew away.
The same word was written on the white sheets.
‘Naomi’
Their reason for living.
They wept sincerely with remorse.
As their tears touched Naomi’s face, her hideous scars vanished.
Her swollen muscles deflated, returning her to the small girl’s body.
The reunited family embraced and cried their hearts out.
We didn’t want to disturb the family.
Reiko and I quietly left the house.
My ankle hurt a little.
It must have been injured while fighting demon-possessed Naomi.
As I limped, Reiko asked worriedly.
“Is your leg okay, Summer?”
“It’s nothing. It’ll heal quickly with some spit.”
We crossed the yard.
In the serene night breeze, Reiko’s hair fluttered softly.
“Reiko, what were your parents like?”
“Well, it’s been so long since I last saw them that I barely remember. What about your parents, Summer?”
“I’m not sure either. We were pretty distant.”
“That’s better than being forgotten. You can always overcome that.”
“Really?”
“Not running away is important.”
As we stepped out of the yard, someone from the street approached us.
It was a girl.
Her hair was tangled with leaves, and her clothes were dirty and tattered.
Her face was so covered in mud that we didn’t recognize her at first.
When we realized who she was, Reiko and I froze.
The girl was Naomi.
“Na-Naomi?”
“Do you… know me?”
“But how… Naomi is inside the house…”
I couldn’t get my words out properly.
We had just seen Naomi return to normal and embrace her repentant parents.
How was she standing here now?
Reiko composed herself and asked.
“Na-Naomi. How did you get here?”
“I got off the Bible camp bus first, but I got lost and stranded in the forest. I’ve been wandering for over four days and finally managed to find my way…”
It was unbelievable.
Then who was the Naomi inside the house…?
Just then, the pastor’s house shook.
The roof blew off, and something shot out.
It was a black demon, with the pastor and his wife held under each arm.
“”Aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!””
The couple screamed.
The demon laughed greedily and flapped its wings.
It soared high into the night sky, carrying the couple far away.
…Apparently, the one we believed to be Naomi was the demon itself.
We watched in stunned silence as the demon flew away.
“……”
The pastor and his wife, caught by the demon, became smaller and smaller until they disappeared into the stars.
The real Naomi was speechless.
After being lost in the forest and finally returning home, the first thing she saw was her parents being taken by a demon.
Reiko and I instinctively took a few steps back, then turned and bolted away.
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