As Anton drove his car, he checked the time, sighed, and realized that despite his complications, the world had to keep moving forward without stopping. Something curious but very burdensome.
When he arrived at the church, he turned off the car's engine and got out. Upon entering the main building, Anton looked at the altar in the grand hall, illuminated by both natural light and numerous candles surrounding it. As he walked towards the altar, he took off the black gloves covering his hands.
He still believed that spending so much time in this place was a big headache, not to mention that over time he felt even more involved with the feelings of others. When he reached the altar, Anton looked at the statues, sighed deeply, closed his eyes, and began to pray.
But for some reason, every time he came to this church, things happened suddenly. So, as he was preparing to pray, his cell phone started ringing. Upon hearing the ringtone, Anton, without hesitation, walked into a private room, where he answered the call.
"It's a surprise that one of my three main mentors is calling me. Is something wrong, master?" Anton has had three main mentors in his doctrine in this life. The first is Gabriele Amorth, who taught him about general exorcism topics, being one of the great exorcists of the Vatican and the chief exorcist under the Pope.
When Gabriele Amorth heard the sarcastic words of his brilliant student, he sighed and said, "Anton, I've heard that you've been doing a lot of work lately."
Anton was a bit surprised. "How does the Pope's own exorcist know about my little jobs in this part of the world?"
"Haha, you'd be surprised about the news surrounding you and your performance."
Vatican City.
In a room filled with shelves of thick and ancient books, a priest with a robust build and an emotionless expression looked out at the scenery through one of the thick windows while smiling as he listened to the voice of a boy he had been instructing since he was five.
"The reports you've sent about your work to the Association of Light also go through the Vatican. After all, despite our differences, we still have to keep track of their work."
When Anton heard this, he smiled, remembering the times when he was trained for over ten hours, and four of them were spent with Gabriele Amorth, who was his instructor in exorcism simulations. But due to Gabriele Amorth's age, he didn't have the strength to keep facing evil spirits, and there has been much talk about his well-deserved retirement.
"I heard you're not doing so well. How big are the problems?" Gabriele asked with his deep voice.
Anton thought about it and said, "Well, it may sound serious, but it's not that bad."
"Well, consider taking it easy."
"Let me see, when are you finally considering retiring from exorcisms?" Anton asked with a slight smile.
"It's not the right time..."
"You know I can take over." Anton wanted to be left alone, but he also didn't intend to seek his mentor's abandonment of what he loved most. "Did you call me just to ask me this?"
"Of course not." Gabriele, who had called Anton, didn't do it for these useless things from his point of view. "I want you to supervise Priest Esquivel, who has just finished his training. I heard that Rafael's progress is perfect, and they are about to give him his license as an exorcist priest. So, I thought it would be convenient for you to have a new assistant, given that the workload is increasing in your area."
"Is that priest going to perform his first exorcism?" Anton didn't refuse immediately but wanted to know the general situation.
"Exactly. Because that priest is young, I thought you should supervise his first exorcism."
This is not within the scope of my responsibilities, right? Gabriele, you should know my purpose; I don't do this for myself but to stop all evil at once."
"If you want to eliminate evil at once, then you should have more assistants."
"I work better alone; you know that the levels I handle are higher than the common ones, and many could die."
Gabriele began to feel annoyed by the stubborn Anton. Even though he was one of the best ShadowBanes in the last fifty years, his solitary work would eventually consume him a lot. That's why Sebastian found a fiancée for his son; only then could he preserve his mental state.
"Anton, I'm getting old; if I don't do it now... But I trust you. By the way, Priest Esquivel should be arriving at the place where you operate."
Upon hearing the words from the mobile phone, Anton, at this moment, seemed to start feeling that someone had entered the church. He continued answering the phone and left the room towards the altar in the hallway.
As soon as he left, Anton saw a priest in training dressed in a priest's robe, carrying a backpack, and walking cautiously amid the rows of benches on both sides of the church.
"What a damn headache... Well, just this once, I don't want you to fill me with inexperienced youths, or they'll start dropping like flies when they get involved in my work," said Anton as he hung up the call directly.
Indeed, he's busy. After getting information about the mafia, he would start seeking justice for Smith's death, so things could get out of control and much more.
After hanging up the call, Gabriele, who was smiling to know that his tricks had worked, froze when he found out that Anton had hung up the call.
"That kid, doesn't he respect his mentor?"
Meanwhile, Anton was surprised that Priest Esquivel was so young. After all, it's not common to see such young men in this line of work. However, Anton didn't need to understand why this guy wanted to be an exorcist for now. After all, many had their own story, like Rafael, who wanted to avenge his family.