CHRIS held the sword grip along with Sonia.
“Come on! Repeat this incantation after me.”
“O-Okay!”
“Ye kingdoms of earth, kneel before God. The Lord shall guide thee, wherein—”
“Ye kingdoms of earth, kneel before God. The Lord shall guide thee... Forget it. I can’t remember all this in one go...” Sonia muttered.
She couldn’t memorize that after hearing it only once... Reminded just how poor her memory skills were, she could feel her gusto deflate almost instantly.
“Then we’ll just have to smite him! We’ll slay the demon! We can’t let this curse defeat us! Go at it with an indomitable attitude!” Chris declared. His words of encouragement boosted Sonia’s spirits once more, and she gave a heartfelt nod in response. She crouched down, tightening her muscles.
“Do you know what demons fear most?” Chris asked.
Thrown off by the sudden question, Sonia said, “No,” with her head craned back as she awkwardly shook her head.
“There are two things. For one, they are afraid of us discovering who and what they truly are. I have already revealed his identity by calling out his true name. A painting on display here in Clare Castle gave me the hint I needed.”
“The one of the bearded archangel?” Sonia asked.
“Right. That alone should have halved his power. And the other thing they fear is...”
Chris’ hands tightened over hers clasped around the sword grip. They held the blade before the root of evil as they pushed forward. Chris hoped Sonia would take courage from his hands around hers.
“...indomitable courage! The will to push aside all temptation! A strong heart without any openings for a demon to weasel through! We won’t lose! Let’s do this, Duchess Sonia!”
“Yeah!” Sonia answered with a smile before facing forward to fix her eyes on the demon.
✦ ✦ ✦
I won’t lose! I have Sir Chris with me! As long as I have him, I can’t possibly lose.
I won’t crumble under the vast fortune I must shoulder alone. I’ll have to deal with all of the temptation, schemes, trickery—all of the greed and hatred that it entails. But I won’t lose!
“I won’t submit to anything! I will defeat you, for causing my family so much misery!”
“You, defeat me? Don’t make me laugh! You haven’t even realized you wouldn’t be here if not for your ancestors’ boons! If not for them, Clare, you are nothing more than a whore! You’d be no different from the peasants crawling upon the earth!”
Sonia’s shoulders trembled in shock from Baphomet’s malicious claim.
“Don’t lend him your ears. It’s a demon’s job to deceive human hearts and drive people insane,” Chris comforted Sonia as he glared daggers at Baphomet.
“Then we shouldn’t offer him any assistance, should we?”
“Exactly! Let’s utterly ignore anything he says!”
“Don’t be ridiculous! How DARE you make a fool of a Great Demon such as I! I won’t let you get away with this! I shall rain countless calamities upon you both!” Baphomet cried.
“AH!”
Even more calamities than before? Is he going to do something to Matthew and the others?
Baphomet’s lips curled into a smile at the sight of Sonia’s face wrought in fear. The sinister smile unique to demons looked pleased that she was playing right into his hands. But then...
“Well, well!” Chris bellowed merrily. “You’ve got a bunch of disasters in store for us? I take it that means you’re going to let us continue living on this earth! It’s the exact opposite of your proclamation that you’d kill us!” He chuckled. Baphomet began to tremble, almost as if he had been struck by his own words.
“Sir Chris...” Sonia said, smiling up at Chris, who was supporting the sword from behind.
“Clare wench that you are, what about you? Aren’t you miserable? Aren’t you sad? Your family has already died, leaving you alone in the world! If you followed me, I could let you see the souls of your family again. Simply relinquish your body to me! Don’t you want to see your family?” Baphomet enticed.
Why did demons offer such sweet words of temptation? Because they were masters at drawing out desires tucked away in the dark recesses of the human heart.
I want to see my family. I’d love to return to those happy days when we were all together. I wish Mother and Father could smother me with hugs and kisses. I’d love to fight, laugh, and cry over stupid little things with my brothers. And then I’d want to hear them say, “Sonia, I love you.” But...!
“I know those days will never come back! And I know it’s your fault for taking them from me! Baphomet! I don’t trust your deals!” Sonia denounced.
She took a deep breath before throwing a dazzling smile at Baphomet.
“Right now, I only believe what Sir Chris says!”
“...What...?” Baphomet said.
Having heard the whole exchange, Chris also opened his eyes wide in surprise. He looked down at the back of Sonia’s head and broke out into a big smile.
“HA HA HA! Baphomet! You’re out of luck! She’s rejected you!” Chris said with a laugh. Growing serious, he raised the point of the sword at the demon. “Now return to the bowels of Hell!”
The moment those words left Chris’ mouth, light engulfed both his body as well as Sonia’s.
“Behold the power of God’s protective magic!” Chris roared.
The two swung a large arc at Baphomet. Emitting a clear ringing sound, a semicircle of light burst out, shooting straight and true. The moment it struck him, the radiance of the light increased as if unleashing an explosive reaction.
“UWWAAAUGHHHHH!” Baphomet screamed so terribly it shook the entire chapel.
The light covered everything in its blinding brightness, even drowning out the demon’s screams. Sonia shielded her eyes with her hand as she desperately tried to see through the light.
What she beheld was Ferns’ last moments...