Anton, alone in the room with a freshly deceased corpse, put on the black gloves he always carried with him and began examining the surroundings. He found drawings of spirals, signs of violence, and evidence that suggested the man's condition was not normal. He also noticed a message written on a sheet: "You will die in seven days."
A curse that kills in seven days was something Anton had never heard of before, so he took out his cellphone and dialed the association's central office: "Connect me to the reception in Japan. I am Guardian Anton ShadowBane, verification code 238-797-7-8."
After a not-so-long wait, a voice asked, "Central office of the Light Association in Japan, how may I assist you, Guardian?"
"I'm reporting a murder by a dark entity on Continental grounds in Osaka. I want you to handle the necessary procedures to act as soon as possible within this hotel," Anton said while inspecting some other things in the room.
The receptionist asked, "What type of dark entity is it?"
"Incorporeal, I suspect it's a vengeful spirit," Anton said after considering it for a while.
"A support team will be sent to the Continental as soon as possible. If you feel unfit to complete the job, we can also send a new exorcist."
Anton shook his head and said, "I can handle it. I just need you to take care of the paperwork with Continental and send me an identity to operate in this country."
"Orders received, sir. Yoshio will attend to you in a few hours."
"Understood..."
Anton turned his attention back to what was in front of him and noticed that the TV was on, but nothing was playing. He could see a VCR where a video cassette should be, but there was nothing.
At this point, the dark and unpleasant energy he had been feeling diminished, indicating that it had moved away. "Don't you want to play?" Anton furrowed his brows because this curse-type dark entity was one of the most challenging to eliminate due to how elusive it is. One literally had to be a detective to deal with this type of dark entity, so he needed special help. He just hoped Yoshio was an expert in that field, or he would have problems.
"I've asked the other people, but all of them have denied interacting with the deceased... What happened was that he went to visit his family a week ago. Could he have been affected there?" Akira returned and looked at Anton silently inside the room.
This kind of thing, according to her father's words, commanded a lot of respect. Now that she was involved in such a situation, she couldn't deny that she felt reassured that Anton had detected the problem as soon as possible.
There was once a Continental hotel where everyone living there refused the assistance of the exorcists. A month later, the building burned down, but the strangest thing was that after a few hours of the fire being extinguished, nothing was burned except for the people. Since that day, the Light Association has received the most attention, as long as they haven't gotten involved in any high-mesa business. This way, they worked in two different worlds, and both powerful organizations remained at peace.
"I'll take care of investigating that place. Just gather all the information you know, and the Light Association will take care of the case. For now, there's nothing else in the vicinity, so everyone can rest assured. It would be even better if no one finds out about this until it's under control."
Anton removed the glove from his right hand and activated his Divine Hand ability. He walked towards the person who died and placed his hand on the man's forehead. In a few seconds, the darkness around the man's eyes disappeared to the naked eye, and Anton, who had made sure to cleanse the evil that killed him, stepped back.
Akira, who was standing beside him, observed Anton's seriousness in handling these matters, and she was genuinely surprised that everything was so professional. She was following the Continental protocol by leaving this problem in the hands of an exorcist, and after seeing what happened, she had no doubts.
After finishing with the room, Anton walked through all the grounds he was allowed to explore and silently left a hidden but very present blood cross. "Do we necessarily have to believe in Christianity to be protected?" A Japanese man asked his companion, who was watching Anton's work,.
Turning around, Anton looked at the man and said, "Any religion with a thought in your consciousness has power. The power and protection lie in the beliefs of each person."
The man was surprised that Anton spoke Japanese, so he asked, "What if I don't believe in any religion?"
"Oh, believe me, everyone, when facing darkness, always thinks of something... Maybe you don't have it in mind now, but surely in difficult situations, you'll trust in your belief to be helped."
Anton's words were calm but very sincere. Both men fell silent because it was true.
"I'm done with this. Once a man named Yoshio from the Light Association arrives, let me know. I'll be in my room," Anton said, a bit exhausted from the journey.
"Understood."
Anton had to create a detailed report on the situation, so after collecting all possible evidence, he would correlate it with the data from this place. Using the Eye of God, he could find connections on the internet linking this case with many others.