The child, with veins visible in a dark blue hue, stepped out of the house. His eyes glowed red, and his expression was that of an angry beast. He slowly approached the rune of Jingo, drawn by the eastern exorcist. Everyone could hear the child’s dreadful laughter.

Cold sweat formed on Mitchell’s forehead as dread washed over him. He yelled at the sergeant, urging him to evacuate everyone. The sergeant, seeing Mitchell’s reaction, tried to calm him down.

“What are you talking about, boy? Let me remind you who's in charge here!” the sergeant said, offended by Mitchell’s tone.

“You don’t get it, Sarge! A portal is about to open. Get out of here, hurry!”

“What do you mean, kid? A portal? I believe in possessions, but I don’t believe in such a phenomenon!” the sergeant argued.

Mitchell turned to Lucia and Gary. “If you want to leave, get out of here now!”

Lucia, sensing the urgency in Mitchell’s words, believed him and spoke to the sergeant. “Sarge, we have to listen to Mitchell. We don’t know what kind of crazy things might happen!”

Gary stayed silent, paralyzed by fear. He was about to run when the sergeant scolded him, “If any of you runs, I will shoot you myself!”

“Listen, Sarge, as the exorcist in the group, I’m telling you, based on my experience, several phantasms possess that child!” Mitchell insisted. “If you don’t believe me, please inform the others and proceed to evacuate the non-combatants in the village.”

Hearing this, Sergeant Erick nodded and replied, “Good!” Then he looked at Lucia and Gary. “Evacuate the civilians. The rest of you, stay here!”

Lucia, Gary, and five other mercenaries immediately started evacuating the village. Sergeant Erick and the rest, including Mitchell, stayed behind.

The parents of the child were frozen in fear at the sight of their son. The sergeant tried to remove them, but Mitchell advised against it. “Sarge, we may want the safety of the parents, but we can’t remove them. Severing the child’s connection to this world could result in the possession being complete and the child losing his soul!”

Mitchell looked at the two eastern exorcists and said, “You two, I need your help!”

Pateel replied, “What do you require us to do?”

Maureej, however, shook his head and replied, “I do not wish to cooperate with the likes of you, Abler!”

Pateel, hearing this, responded to Maureej, “What do you mean? Maureej, even if this man has troubled you, we need his help!”

Maureej shook his head and left. Pateel did not follow him. He looked at Mitchell and asked, “What can I do to help?”

Mitchell looked at Pateel and asked, “What are your specialties?”

Pateel replied, “I am an herbalist, specializing in stabilizing the mood of my patients in distress.”

“I see…” Mitchell said. “How many days have you attended to the child?”

“Four days, sir!” Pateel replied.

“What kind of medicine did you give to the child?” Mitchell asked.

“Chalyseum, from the plant Kartimine,” Pateel answered.

Upon hearing this, Mitchell was horrified. He knew that while Kartimine-based medicine could stabilize the mood of the possessed, it could also act as a poison in large quantities. Mitchell sighed, and the sergeant interrupted their conversation.

“Those eastern quacks know nothing about their craft. Just as I suspected, they’ve made things worse here!”

Mitchell protested, “Sarge, stabilizing the child was the only option they had. The runes helped contain the malicious phantasms, but the herbs aided in the process…”

Stolen novel; please report.

The sergeant scoffed and replied, “Those easterners know nothing. Look at the mess they've created!”

Pateel apologized to the sergeant and replied, “I am sorry, Sergeant. I take full responsibility for my actions!”

“That’s enough!” Mitchell yelled. “We need to do something about the child. The more we argue here, the more we endanger his soul!”

“What do you suggest we do, exorcist?” Sergeant Erick replied.

“You!” Mitchell pointed to Pateel. “We need you to stabilize the field in front of the runes!”

Before Pateel could act, cracks on the invisible field containing the malicious forces of the phantasms became more visible.

“It’s bad. The field may break soon!” Pateel warned.

Light leaked through the cracks in the invisible field, a sign that it was already giving way. The malicious stare of the possessed child stoked the fear of the mercenaries. Many wished to retreat, only to be scolded by the sergeant.

“We are here to fix this mess. I don’t want any of you to run just because you see ghosts in front of your faces!” the sergeant barked at his men.

“Yes, sir!” the remaining mercenaries said.

Meanwhile, Lucia, Gary, and the five other mercenaries were evacuating most of the villagers. The villagers obeyed and began leaving with no provisions taken.

“This will only be temporary!” Lucia addressed the villagers, instructing them to evacuate and assuring them that they could return as soon as the problem was solved.

Gary didn’t say a thing and followed what Lucia had ordered. Unable to stop himself, he collapsed to his knees with his hands shaking in fear. “What gives? I didn’t sign up for this!” Gary thought. “Just send me to war, not this kind of mess!”

Lucia was busy attending to the villagers when she noticed Gary in fear. She approached him and said, “What happened? Get up! Don’t be such a—”

Before she could finish talking, she noticed Gary almost breaking down in fear. She let go of his collar and apologized. Gary replied and yelled, “I didn’t sign up for this!”

All of a sudden, the clouds covered the sky. Lightning flashed and thunder roared afterward.

Lucia herself felt the sense of dread as the otherworldly portal began to open. Lightning flashed successively, creating a sense of fear among the men and women in the village.

Mitchell, with the help of Pateel, tried their best to contain the barrier, buying time. Mitchell didn’t plan to use his ability, the pure flame, not in front of the sergeant and the others.

Pateel painted runes and symbols, creating another layer of the barrier to contain the possessed child. While the spirits of the phantasms attempted to break through, otherworldly groans and moans sounded.

“Are you just going to watch, Sarge?!” Mitchell yelled.

“What do you want us to do?” Sergeant Erick asked.

“You may not like it, but trust me, we need to help each other!” Mitchell suggested.

Seeing Pateel, Sergeant Erick couldn’t help but get disgusted with the idea of working with him. However, his sense of duty told him that he must do as Mitchell recommended to save the village.

“I may not like the idea, but I have to do what I must!” Sergeant Erick said. He continued, “Go and do what Mitchell wanted you to do!”

“Yes, sir!” the remaining mercenaries replied.

With the help of the sergeant and the other mercenaries, stabilizing the barrier was possible. The phantasms inside the child let out a loud roar, dreadful and terrifying, scaring some of the mercenaries.

“Steadfast, men! We have contained the phantasms. Don’t let your fears get to you!” the sergeant said to his men.

Mitchell and Pateel were relieved to see the barrier stabilized. A smile was visible on Mitchell’s face.

“Mr. Exorcist… It’s not time to celebrate yet!” Pateel warned Mitchell.

“I know…” Mitchell agreed. “At least the first phase of my plan is done!”

All of a sudden, the smile on Mitchell's face faded as the child disappeared from the rune of Jingo. Pateel, looking at the child before him, was horrified and retreated. “Lord Jingo, keep us safe!”

Pateel suddenly screamed in pain, and the invisible barrier shattered. The entire village was engulfed in darkness and lightning strikes became severe. Hearing Pateel’s screams, Mitchell only saw his unconscious body on the ground.

The sergeant pointed his rifle at the child closing in on them. “We cannot allow such an abomination to exist!” he shouted.

"What do you think you’re doing, Sarge?!” Mitchell exclaimed, seeing Sergeant Erick pointing his weapon at the child.

“Kid, I am sorry if I have to sacrifice your life… We cannot allow these beings to take over our world. Or take over your body. You’ll thank me sooner!” The sergeant pointed his rifle at the child’s forehead.

A loud gunshot echoed in the village as the sergeant pulled the trigger of his rifle. “That should have ended it!” The sergeant sighed but was surprised when he could not move his rifle.

The child barely dodged the shot and grabbed the muzzle of the rifle with his left hand. A malicious smile was on the child’s face as he slowly cracked the rifle’s barrel.

“Silly humans, submit to our control!” A dreadful voice echoed above the village.

Lightning became intense and the cold wind blew hard. The sergeant’s face was filled with frustration and fear upon seeing what the child did to his weapon. Trying to reach for his revolver, he was suddenly pushed away by an unknown force.

The sergeant lay unconscious afterward, causing fear to the hearts of his men. One by one, the possessed child came to the mercenaries, taking them out of action.

Mitchell was out of choices. Maybe using the ‘pure flame’ was his only option. No other solution he could think of could solve the problem. A gently warm flame began to cover his right hand