God is merciful, and the rising sun shines upon us from the heavens; He protects us from our enemies and defeats the evil schemes of the devil; We earnestly pray to God to command the devil to retreat far away; By the power of the Lord God, to drive Satan and his roaming the world; To cast all evil spirits into hell!

Todd held the scripture aloft with one hand and made the sign of the cross with the other, placing it on the head of the cursed person while loudly reciting exorcism prayers.

"I thought there was something different, but it turns out there's nothing different..." The young priest murmured as he listened to the prayer, but the next second, the strange noise in the room startled him so much that he swallowed the rest of his sentence.

The brown linen covering the bed gradually swelled up in the abdomen of the cursed person.

"God Father! What is that?!"

The sheriff's low gasp drew a glare from Huggins across the street. The Slavic man put his index finger to his lips, gesturing for silence.

As the linen rose higher and higher, the outline of the bulge became clearer and clearer, and the eye sockets, nose, and mouth gradually emerged, revealing the shape of a face.

"demon!"

The old knight, now retired from the battlefield, growled as he reached for his waist, only to discover with alarm that his weapon was not with him.

The sheriff's facial muscles twitched, his teeth chattered, and although he was standing next to the candle, his head kept shrinking back.

Just then, two streams of reddish-brown liquid, like blood, flowed down from the bulging eye sockets, soaking the burlap and staining the pure white cross.

"ah!!!"

Unable to bear the pressure of fear any longer, the sheriff scrambled and fled backwards.

As if startled, the bulge instantly rose several tens of centimeters, floating in mid-air and emitting a shrill shriek like a ghost's wail.

The young priest stared in horror at the evil spirit before him, then turned angrily to the coward who had abandoned everyone and fled, shouting, "You bastard! You ruined the ritual! The devil is going berserk!"

As if to confirm Moore Rupert's words, with a sharp roar, the linen slammed against the ceiling, and with a shattering sound, it slowly drifted down, leaving only emptiness inside.

The room fell into a deathly silence, but almost everyone knew that something terrible was about to happen.

A loud bang.

The wooden beams above everyone's heads exploded, and blood gushed down like a waterfall.

With a somber expression, Todd put down his scripture, pulled the cross from his chest with one hand, and waved the holy water bottle at his waist with the other, loudly proclaiming: "The Lord has entrusted the redeemed souls to me, placing them in heavenly bliss. I pray here, O God of peace! Press Satan under our feet, so that he may no longer poison humanity or harm the believers!"

However, prayers and holy water had no effect whatsoever.

Blood seeped from the pristine white cross, and demon heads appeared on the dark walls. Dishes and furniture in the room exploded one by one, and the demons' roars grew louder and louder, as if they were about to shatter eardrums and pierce the soul.

Anyone in the room could see the despairing reality.

The exorcism failed...

Huggins and Jerry rushed to Todd's side, flanking him and shielding him from the flying debris and splinters from the explosion. The latter even lifted a stone platform weighing several hundred pounds and carried it across his shoulder.

Todd continued reciting the prayer, then used his X-ray vision to glance at Jerry and was surprised to find that the parasite residing in the adrenal gland was rhythmically spitting out liquid.

The others reacted in different ways.

The sheriff and the old knight ran to the front door of the hut, intending to tear off the cross on the back of the door and escape as soon as possible, but were blocked by the young clergyman.

Father Rupert spread his arms wide, gripping the doorframe tightly, glaring at the two men before him, and roared, "The devil has been unleashed! Innocent people are outside! Do you know what will happen if you open the door? Do you want to save yourselves with other people's lives?!"

The old knight hesitated, a look of uncertainty crossing his face; the sheriff, however, paid no heed, raised his fist, and punched the priest in the cheek.

Despite being struck hard, Moore Rupert swayed but did not retreat. He regained his footing, blood slowly trickling from the corner of his mouth, but his eyes held a resolute determination to sacrifice himself.

Todd, in the center of the room, first said something to Huggins, then gestured to the two people beside him to move the craftsman to the doorway, while he himself dropped everything he was holding and opened his arms to the roof.

Heavenly Father, please offer my life before the throne of the Most High God, and ask the Lord to show mercy, release your anger, capture the dragon and the ancient serpent, and destroy the devil and Satan!

Bright, blazing flames, to the horrified gaze of the others, burned down the monk's ankles, up to his waist, and finally to his arms.

"My God!" Father Rupert, making the sign of the cross, wept. "Fellow Catholic Todd is saving our souls with his life!"

The boy, now completely engulfed in flames, grabbed an unseen figure in the air and held it tightly, refusing to let go. The demon's howl rang out again, and the monk's voice came from within the karmic flames.

"In the name of the Supreme Being, I command you! Demon! Go back to hell!"

The wooden cabin was quickly engulfed in flames. The suffocating black smoke and the scorching heat forced the other six men to take the unconscious craftsman, open the door, and rush into the fearful and uneasy crowd outside.

Little Jerry let out a mournful roar, wanting to rush back into the fire, but was stopped by Hudgens.

"Don't be impulsive! Todd just told me he'll be fine."

The man whispered this in the tall young man's ear.

Upon hearing of Todd's selfless exorcism, all the villagers in Qianmu Village, along with the onlookers, spontaneously formed a fire brigade. They used buckets to draw water from the well, water tanks to collect rainwater, and even damp bed sheets to try their best to extinguish the fire.

Finally, after burning for a full thirty minutes, the fire gradually subsided.

Amidst the billowing white smoke and the charred ruins, people spotted a figure.

The first person to find Todd cried out with trembling lips, "God has appeared! A miracle! This is a miracle!"

The monk stood unharmed in the innermost storage room. Although his entire body was covered in soot, there was no sign of charring in the place where he stood or in the surrounding area.

Devout people arrived one after another, each stunned by the scene before them. It's unclear who started it, but more and more people knelt down towards the monks, their prayers and praises filling the air.

Soon, a sacred title was uttered by every believer.

"The Son of God, protected by the Father."