Upon hearing Rafael's words, everyone moved to prepare themselves. Following the rules meant accepting everything the priests said without objection; there was no opposition to the priests' decisions because they understood very well what was meant.
"Very well, let's begin with the preparations. Listen carefully, and pay attention. Anyone could get hurt, so it's not worth staying in this place if you have nothing to do with what will happen here." Anton had to be very serious with his words about this; he didn't want to force anyone, but he could make them aware.
"We'll be fine, Priest Anton. With you, we won't have to worry much," said Brad, who wanted to witness firsthand what would happen in this place.
Anton looked at Rafael and said, "Start by cleaning the surroundings and sealing the place, including the tree outside."
"Yes, Priest Anton!" Rafael then walked to one of the backpacks to take out the incense, and after lighting it, he left the house to establish a boundary between this place and the outside.
The traditional exorcism method of the church has always been the same: confession, prayer, followed by using holy water to suppress the evil spirit in the affected person's body, and finally, reciting the scriptures of the representing religion.
This seems to be the case on the surface, but in fact, the correct approach is to use the power of any religion to torture the evil spirit, much like torturing a prisoner and asking for their true name to send them back into the darkness.
Because evil spirits cannot lie about their true names, those unable to withstand the dual torture of holy water and crosses may speak up to stop the pain.
The true name represents the essence, existence, and origin of the evil spirit. If its true name is exposed, even priests with less experience can exorcise as easily as breathing.
Of course, the premise of this torture also depends on the priest's own faith. If their faith is not powerful enough, it gives the evil spirit the opportunity to harm them and eventually cause unnecessary deaths.
Every religion in the world has its own way of warding off darkness. After all, faith is all that matters, and every religion is a cult that gathers believers, so the power of faith is more than enough to ward off any evil in the world.
The Light Association is exactly like Anton; they all believe in an existence beyond the universe that is sustained by various factors, and so on. The god Anton believes in is self-sufficient, so it will never belong to anything, and in the minds of those who want to see it this way, there is a God.
But everyone can fall for evil. Every exorcist priest, shaman, witch, or any other profession involving a piece of belief can fall. As the saying goes, if you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss will also gaze into you, and before you know it, you'll be so combined with that abyss of evil that you'll lose a sense of where you belong.
Reciting the devil's true name is also similar to invoking. The priest will naturally be eroded by the dark power attached to the evil spirit's true name. Therefore, the power, character, and faith of the priest must become stronger to resist the erosion of evil.
This is how traditional exorcism works, but Anton, as an exorcist priest following the teachings of the Light Association, had a special way of doing things. Knowing the amount of faith points he had, he inevitably relied more on that point count to perform an exorcism and summon special abilities like his light sword, the hand of God, or something as simple as saying a prayer.
Prepared for anything that could happen in any of his jobs, Anton opened the first backpack, and when the zipper was fully open, numerous shiny things appeared inside. There were crosses, bottles of holy water, rosaries, and woolen bags with powder, among many other things.
Although Es and Lorraine had witnessed exorcisms, they couldn't help but look in confusion because there were so many things in Anton's backpack. He obviously seemed younger than other more experienced priests.
And if Ed, along with Lorraine, who were amazed by the things Anton was pulling out, didn't notice, Rafael discovered the expressions of the rest of the people.
Drew saw Anton opening all the bags and unconsciously asked, "Uh, Priest Anton, do you normally need so many things to exorcise spirits?"
Anton pulled out silver crosses without any markings, a silver cup, and a strange figure made of an unknown black material. Taking the smaller crosses, he handed them to someone to distribute and said, "Exorcism is something dangerous, and by nature, if we can't stop it, we must make sure it doesn't leave this place for others to come and finish the job. So, everything you see here is necessary."
After addressing this question, Anton, noticing that Rafael had not returned, approached someone else. "Ed, use the silver crosses to surround the entire house, placing ten in each corner."
Ed nodded and then gave a pat to the boy beside him, who was secretly recording all this. "Let's go, Drew."
With tasks at hand, Ed left with his assistant, Drew, who wanted to keep watching. As he imagined, this had nothing to do with conventional exorcisms.
Seeing Ed leave, Anton continued searching under the watchful eyes of everyone. Brad, who didn't miss a thing Anton was doing, asked, "Priest Anton, what are those silver crosses for?"
Anton didn't even look up and replied, "As I said, nothing should escape from this house when the work begins... They usually get aggressive, so nothing should escape from this house."
"Oh, I see..."
These words were spoken clearly and openly, so Brad was left utterly confused and looked at Anton without saying another word. Lorraine was nervous on the side, clearly understanding Anton's point better than anyone. In understandable terms, if he can't exorcise the spirit in this house, no one should leave. If something possesses a person and it's something that can't be exorcised, then death is something that must be done without asking for consent.
"With those crosses on your bodies, even though it won't completely expel the evil spirit, it will make them suffer, and you'll know when something is trying to harm you. Depending on the abnormalities around you and the person, that will be the level of threat you face," Anton said as he began to carry a silver cup with holy water.
Everyone at this moment wore a cross, even the children who stayed close to their mother, Carolyn. They had more chances of being attacked, so he had to ensure they were at least protected to the best of their abilities.
Finally, Anton started creating a safe zone in the house, and the best spot was the sofa. Roger's family would stay within that area because they were the targets. This way, they would have a higher chance of not getting hurt.
"We hope none of you will be possessed by an evil spirit. I make no promises, but I'll do everything possible to prevent you from being harmed," Anton murmured with a strictly serious voice.
This strict and professionally composed demeanor gave everyone, except Ed and Lorraine, a strong sense of security.
"Alright, let's go hunt evil spirits," Anton murmured as he pulled a shotgun from its case, its silver appearance visible to the naked eye.
"Isn't he going to hunt the dead?" Brad was stunned to see that shotgun.
Anton looked at Brad and said, "I have a special method for it; maybe it runs in the blood."