Gabriel and Felix were disgusted by the sight as they stepped aside. But Sir Dolorem stood in front of Sylvester as a shield.

"Sir Dolorem, step aside. Let me try light magic on him." He ordered quickly and raised his right palm towards the oncoming man.

"Hehehe..."

As soon as the naked man reached a few meters from him, Sylvester sent a beam of light from his palm and drowned the man in it. He kept chanting and let the man screech in anger and fall to his knees, rubbing his eyes.

"Aaargh!..."

'This is not good...' Sylvester muttered upon making observations that his light and chant were not affecting the man as they would if he was indeed possessed. The man was supposed to start releasing steam from his body and writhe because the demon would literally be forcefully taken out of the body and burned.

But here, the man just fell down and covered his eyes as if it was not the holiness or the chant affecting him but the brightness itself.

"Thank you! It would have been a disaster if he had bitten someone." Soon, the people Archpriest called Demon Watch came and tied the naked man with multiple ropes like a cocoon. "You must be the new Priests. I am Sir Holand Smith, the Chief Lawman of the Town."

"Who is he, Sir Holand?" Sylvester inquired.

The tall, burly, gray-haired man easily picked up the naked man and put him on his shoulder. "This used to be one of the best carpenters in the town, but sadly the demons have possessed him. His condition keeps deteriorating, so we are preparing a shed for him outside. But he ran away while transporting him."

'This man is not possessed. I'm one hundred percent sure.' Sylvester had already made up his mind.

"Bring him to a secure location where I can perform some demon exorcism rituals for him. I'm sure the Town's Chief will appreciate his own son not being the test subject."

Sir Holand looked at the body on his shoulder and contemplated. But it didn't take him long to decide since he would put him outside in the shed anyway. "Follow me then, Priests."

Sylvester, however, could feel a hint of animosity from every citizen he met, well, except little Shane. 'What happened to the people here?'

Sir Dolorem felt something was going on, too, as he was receptive to danger due to his years of work as an inquisitor. So he walked beside Sylvester and whispered to his ears. "Priest, do not let any of them stand behind you."

He nodded immediately. "I understand, Sir Dolorem. Also, I need you to check the monastery. I have a feeling things are not as they seem there. Tell Gabriel to try and get close to Archpriest Aiden Silvereye.

Gabriel was a religious, good-looking man with a gentle speaking style that eventually made people drop their guard. So he was the best negotiator among them, and even better when speaking with other clergy.

As for Felix, Sylvester decided to keep him by his side as he was a strong man, useful if he got ambushed by someone. He did not ignore the possibility that the whole town could be after his life for the bounty as well. Hundred Thousand Gold Graces was a lot of money, after all.

Soon, they arrived at a complex of buildings made of stones. At one glance, it was clear that this was some sort of guardhouse, as there were cells inside with metal bars.

Sir Holand took them to one of the rooms with full metal gates and then strapped the naked man to the wooden table in the middle. "This is the best I can provide, Priests. You may conduct your business here. No one from outside can overhear you. If you need anything else, please inform me--I too wish this misery leaves us alone."

Sylvester nodded and got to work by first putting his toolbag on the table. He then put a cloth mask on his face and passed three more to his team. Then, he cleaned his hands with an alcoholic solution he had made and got to work.

Sir Holand was amused by Sylvester's actions and somewhat felt they were ridiculous, but he didn't speak and kept watching from a distant corner.

"Hold him tight--what's his name, by the way?" Sylvester questioned.

"Billy." A reply came.Sylvester nodded and used one hand to use light magic as a torch, and with the other, he pulled the eyelids to check them. Billy was constantly trying to fight, however, but only his low hums were audible since the mouth was gagged up.

'Eyes seem dilated... reddened too.'

He then put his palm on the man's chest and felt the rising heartbeat. But, he was not a doctor or a healer, so he could not go too in-depth and just tried to use his modern knowledge of the human body and mind.

'What is causing this? Is this some sort of seizure? But this man was running.'

"Let's start with the ritual." Sylvester started, as he still needed to show Sir Holand that exorcism was not working, and there must be another reason for this.

Taking his command, Gabriel and Felix started moving as they were trained for this. Sir Dolorem simply stood behind and kept a watch for any danger.

They first removed the table from the room and put Bill on the floor. Then they used golden chalk and drew an intricate rune scheme with hundreds of characters and shapes with symmetrical lines.

Afterwards, Gabriel and Felix returned to the circle's edge and took out their books to start chanting the exorcism ritual. Meanwhile, Sylvester did the rest of the work. First, he put a precious leaf of the Soul Tree on Bill's forehead and poured one drop of water from the Holy Land on his hands and feet. Then finally, he placed five light crystals at the corners of the rune scheme.

"Try not to look directly towards the light, Sir Holand." He warned and stepped back to take up his own book. But simultaneously, one palm was aimed at Bill's body. "At three."

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

Woosh!

As soon as the three started to chant the ritual vocally, a bright halo appeared behind Sylvester's head, making him appear like a god. At the same time, his palm sent the rays of bright holy light on Bill, also activating the Light Crystals that illuminated the rune circle so much that nothing was visible.

The chants were no different from Sylvester's hymns, but they had magic and were never meant to be sung for useless reasons.

Sir Holand's eyes fell out as he only looked at Sylvester. He rubbed his eyes multiple times, but the scene didn't change. The young man who seemed like a god stayed there, chanting with his soothing voice.

'Is he even a human?'

It was common for people to question this since Sylvester's blonde hair and golden eyes do make him look otherworldly when using the halo. Not that they were wrong, he was indeed otherworldly.

Sylvester watched the rune circle and sighed internally. He could feel Bill not being affected by the light in the slightest. There was not an ounce of a demon in him. So he decided to end this little show and get to the actual work.

"...Lumen hic stat pedibus tuis clypeus gentilium. Abite ergo tenebras daemoniorum mundi...discede discede discede..."

They ended their chant and let the lights die down slowly. The room had gotten warm as well, but not in an unpleasant way, but rather like the warmth of a hug from a loved one.

'I... am I in the embrace of God?' Sir Holand questioned himself.

Sylvester knelt beside Billy and looked at his eyes again. But, again, there was no difference other than the pupil looking less dilated."Sir Holand, I don't think this is happening due to demon possessions. There is something deeper and more problematic at play. I have a request to make to clear my doubts."

Sir Holand thumped his chest. "Just say it, my lord."

'My lord? What happ... Oh! Understandable...'

"Do you have anyone else in town currently tied up in their home and possessed? We wish to conduct this same ritual on each of them. That will prove whether the people are possessed or just sick with some rare disease."

"Disease? What kind of disease can make a man go mad like this?" Sir Holand frowned.

Sylvester honestly didn't know, as it was too early to guess. "Many--it could be some strange chemicals in your water supply, some strange insects having taken home in your food chain. There are countless reasons, Sir. That is why I must first check all possessed. In fact, it would greatly help if you could bring me someone who recently got possessed and can still speak."

Sir Holand rubbed his clean-shaven chin and tried to think. "There are currently eight new cases in the town, and the most recent one is the Chief's son and another woman, a mother of two. She started acting strangely yesterday."

"Then let's go see the woman. The faster, the better. As for Bill, please lock the gate and keep a guard here at all times. Tell the guard not to entertain Bill no matter what." Sylvester quickly ordered and packed his bag.

Soon they were on the way to the little house on the other end of the town. It appeared to be a simple artisan district due to various closed shops around.

The midnight moons were also peeking at them, so they were more careful since dark creatures go wild at this time. Sir Holand was kept at the front as the man knocked on the house doors and spoke with the man of the house.

Soon, the man, with a tired face, looked at Sylvester and the rest in hope. It was visible on his face how distraught and frustrated he was. Anyone would be by life changing for the worse so suddenly.

"Please help us, priests."

Sylvester nodded and walked into the house. At first glance, he noticed pure destruction everywhere. The tables, the chairs, the showpieces shattered around. Two young kids, likely ten or twelve, were cleaning it off with tearful eyes.

In no time, Sylvester, with the husband's permission, tied the woman to the floor with hooks Felix placed with earth elemental magic.

"Don't do this, please." The woman cried, pleading with her husband.

Sylvester tied her mouth with a cloth as well. "Don't worry. It does not hurt. Just close your eyes, and you will feel a soothing warmth."

Soon, they finished the ritual, mesmerizing the kids and the woman's husband with his light and halo. But, the result was the same. There was no demon in her.

However, shockingly she appeared to be calmer now and even thanked Sylvester. "I feel so... relaxed."

,m But Sylvester knew it was temporary due to the light magic. So he faced the woman's husband. "Let's sit and talk. I want to know all the symptoms you noticed in your wife."

In no time, the man revealed everything from the first thing he noticed. "She tries to stay isolated, gets irritated, forgets things, sees things that don't exist, and gets scared of random things and sometimes stutters too much--and even forgets who she is sometimes."

Sylvester rubbed his temples in frustration because what he was guessing was impossible. 'How can it happen to so many at once? It's impossible.'

___________________

GT = 1 bonus chapter.

Super Gift = 1 Bonus chapter.

Stones = Bonus Chapter.

APE TOGETHER STRONG!