Knight and Wand

Chapter 12 Exorcism
After lying quietly on the earth slope, Leon and Azerien endured their rapid breathing. They were almost out of breath after running so much. Fortunately, they could no longer hear Lohak's crazy roar around them. They seemed to have lost themselves in the dense forest where time and space were disordered.

If Lohak was simply mentally bewildered, Lion and Azerien might still be able to find a way to subdue him.

However, seeing the opponent's terrifying strength that was enough to split a thick tree trunk with a single sword, as well as his strange state of recovery of broken limbs, they knew that this was definitely not a force they could resist head-on.

"Lohak, why did he suddenly become like this?" Azerien swallowed with lingering fear.

".He is possessed by a demon."

Leon put his hands on his waist and panted heavily, "Huhu. Huhu. I don't know the specific reason, but you must not be possessed like him. I really can't run anymore. If you are possessed by him later, remember to give me a quick knife to kill you."

".I'll try my best."

The corners of Azerien's mouth twitched stiffly, but he really couldn't curl his lips for his partner's little joke. He recalled Lohak's horrible face covered in blood and tears, and felt a chill down his spine.

Strictly controlling his wandering thoughts, Azerien clasped his hands together and began to silently pray to the great Holy Sun. His faith became even more devout after experiencing the danger.

Leon turned over and collapsed on the ground, his chest and lungs felt as if they were burning, dry and painful. The continuous encounters and escapes left him without even the strength to get up.

"Be thankful, the one controlling the child should be the Demon of Wrath. If it was the Demon of Lust or the Demon of Pride, you might not be able to escape." The girl said teasingly.

"Are there different types of demons?" Leon sighed.

"Of course. But this is not the time to talk about this. You don't have much time to waste. The longer you stay in this area, the more likely your spirit will be corroded by the spiritual demons. Besides, that kid named Lohak is just an ordinary person. If time goes on for too long, he will really be beyond help." The girl's voice reminded.

"So what can we do to make Lohak regain consciousness?"

Leon stood up and looked around. There were still many eerie shadows of trees. It was obvious that he could not go back to the stream that he had finally encountered after a long time of confusion. It was a pity that he had spent so much time drawing the magic circle according to the girl's instructions.
"Oh, we got rid of Lohak, but wouldn't it be hard for me to find him again if he got lost in the forest?"

"No need to look for it. I will let the demon come to us on its own initiative." The girl's voice continued: "Do you remember the circle of rune formation I taught you to draw before?"

"I kind of remember it, but didn't you say that it was just a ritual to gather wandering souls and capture the dead? It can also be used to expel demons?"

"As long as the formation is slightly modified, the original ritual of gathering the dead can also be used to attract beings that crave souls. The devil is one of them. Fortunately, it is an angry devil. It should not be difficult to trick him into the trap. However, the original plan to simulate the earth's spiritual power must be changed. It is not attractive to the devil."

The girl pondered for a moment, and soon came up with a plan to deal with it. She instructed Leon: "Next, I will teach you how to carve the exorcism formation and the complete spell. Once the ceremony begins, since you don't know how to use magic and elements, I must use my own spirit to drive the chaotic energy here as the core and bait of the ceremony.

By then, I won't have the energy to guide you to repeat the spell aloud. You must memorize every pronunciation of the spell in advance. Do you understand?"

"I understand." Leon nodded in response. He thought his memory was not bad.

"Don't think it's too easy, haven't you noticed that I'm not speaking the language you're familiar with?
Come to think of it, you haven’t been speaking Feru either, which really surprises me. Is there a language in this world that I haven’t heard of? Is it a newly born language?”

As she spoke, she couldn't help but mutter in her thoughts, her voice becoming smaller and smaller.

Leon was stunned when he heard this, because he instinctively used his native language when talking to himself, so at this moment he suddenly realized that he had been talking to the girl in Chinese.

"Let's get back to the point. My spell requires chanting in the ancient language of Lorelit. Otherwise, it won't work if you translate it into Feru or your unfamiliar language and then recite it aloud. You must recite the original pronunciation of the spell word for word.

Alas, I wouldn’t have to go through so much trouble if I did it myself, but I have no choice. Listen carefully. Take this opportunity to rest and recover your strength. I will read it to you a few more times. You must remember it.”

"Go ahead and I'll listen carefully."

Leon nodded and perked up, showing the same attitude he had when facing those torturous listening tests, and listened quietly to the magic spells taught by the other party.

This time, he was no longer focused on understanding the meaning of the other person's words. Instead, he listened attentively to the girl's pleasant tone while actually reading aloud in real life.

Although this spell, called "Old Lorelit Language", was not particularly long and read briskly and concisely, Leon listened carefully and found that the seemingly simple and clear paragraphs, even the words that seemed to be similar at first glance, actually had five or six tiny and rapid changes in tone.

Although the girl's recitation sounded as beautiful as singing a poem, when Leon read it out himself, his mouth stuttered as if it was tied with a rope.

"It's okay to recite it a little slowly. As long as the pause time between words does not exceed three breaths, the spell will still be formed. But you can't recite it wrong. If you make a mistake, you must start over, and we don't have many chances to start over." The girl instructed patiently.

Time passed little by little, and as his strength gradually recovered, Leon also almost memorized the two spells, one for activating the summoning formation, and the other for activating the exorcism formation.

The girl's voice was still carefully instructing Leon on how to operate and arrange the ritual, and then explained how to take Lohak's consciousness back from the devil.

Lohak's soul has not been completely devoured by the devil yet. Before the situation becomes irreversible, they have to rearrange the modified soul-summoning formation and replace the formation core originally used to lure the undead with a pseudo-soul that simulates the emotions and desires of intelligent life, but with mental fluctuations dozens of times more intense.

"According to what you said, will it attract more and more terrifying spirit world demons?" Leon asked doubtfully. "Don't worry, the simulated soul is a fake made of magic power after all, and it will not produce a projection in the spirit world like a real soul, so it will only deceive the angry demon that has appeared in the spirit field."

"All it takes is for the ritual to draw the demon-possessed Lohak into the formation?"

"This is the first step. When the angry demon controls the child and enters the range of the formation, you must cooperate with me to complete the final step."

The girl paused before continuing, "It can be regarded as borrowing the characteristic of the spirit-like field to isolate the laws of life and death. I will first activate the soul-repelling rune to completely extract the soul of the child Lohak from his body. Without the support of a complete life, the demon body attached to the soul will be exposed. At that time, you can..."

Leon was shocked. "Wait, take the soul out of the body? Excuse me, if the soul is taken out, won't Lohak die?"

"Generally speaking, yes."

The girl replied as a matter of course.

"what?"

"Don't worry. If it were in the real world outside, the child's soul would fall into the Dead Sea immediately after being extracted. However, this is a spiritual field that is isolated from reality. It can be said that we are using this environment. Even if a life dies here, the soul cannot dissipate.

All you need to do is chant the spell to activate the exorcism formation, complete the ritual, and banish the angry demon back to the spirit world. When the dust settles, I will help you stuff Lohak's soul back into his body. Anyway, the repelling rune only extracts the soul and will not harm Lohak's body."

It took Leon a long time to finally understand the process of this method.

Under the guidance of the girl's voice, he had to first arrange the "Spirit Summoning Formation" and the "Exorcism Formation" to form a set of connected magic rituals.

Then, she will cast a spell to create a "pseudo-soul" in the formation to lure the angry demon possessing Lohak into this magical ritual.

Then the girl's voice activated the "Soul Repelling Rune" in the summoning formation through his spell, and stripped Lohak's soul out of his body.

Finally, Leon must quickly and promptly chant a spell over the exposed demon and initiate an exorcism ritual to drive the demon back to the spirit world.

"What do you think? It's not too late to change your mind. The risk in this process is not small at all. Once the soul-summoning ritual is initiated, it will not only attract the demon, but also the undead wandering around. But before the demon is tricked into the formation, we cannot release the soul-repelling rune in advance to imprison the undead that break in, otherwise our efforts will fail.

If what you attract in advance are just the zombies of wild beasts, you may be able to deal with them, but if they are more powerful undead
I'm telling you, even if you give up saving him, no one will say anything bad about you. After all, if it weren't for the spell you and I cast that day, the child wouldn't be alive today, and you don't owe him anything."

The girl explained the risks behind the decision to him one last time: "The basic materials have been prepared. It would be wise to make a guide as soon as possible and escape back to reality from this area."

Don't owe anything.
Leon weighed the possible consequences of saving Lohak and scratched his head in distress, feeling a little confused.

He originally thought that he was probably unwilling to owe his companions. After all, that day, Lohak and Azerien did not abandon him and run away alone. Instead, they took the risk of carrying him, an unconscious burden.

But when he thought about it carefully, it was just as the girl's voice in his heart said, he had saved Lohak's life before, and he didn't owe him anything.

So why didn't he just abandon Lohak? Was it because he was a good person at heart?

Leon did not deny the kind part of his character, but that was only the moral sense that an ordinary person should have. He was not kind enough to show altruism and give up his own life.

So what is the reason for still being willing to take risks?

After thinking for a long time, his confusion gradually dissipated.

"Let's put it this way. It was my idea to flee north, but I don't think I am responsible for Azerien's current predicament, because Azerien agreed to this proposal after careful consideration. We are accomplices in our current situation."

Leon said with relief: "But Lohak is different. He just follows and believes in my decision. I do think I am responsible for his current situation. You said that a soul devoured by demons is a more miserable fate than being unable to sleep after death. Then I have an even greater responsibility to redeem my mistakes. Otherwise, if someone's soul is doomed because of my decision, then even if I get out alive, I will not be able to sleep well for the rest of my life."

He stood up and patted Azerien, who had been resting with his eyes closed and praying, and said, "I'm going to save Lohak. It's very risky. I might die."

Azerien opened his eyes in confusion. He couldn't hear the conversation going on in Leon's mind, so he was confused.

However, after understanding what the other party said, Azerien frowned.

"Since we started our escape, what has been the least risky thing we have encountered along the way?"

He took Leon's outstretched hand and stood up with his weak and sore legs. "I can't get out of this place by myself. Besides, the descendants of the Flarel family will never abandon their friends."

(End of this chapter)