The Book

"How was your time in Spain?"

Upon hearing the voice of the person who had called him, Anton spoke with much more confidence and asked, "Elder, shouldn't you be asleep at this late hour?"

From the Vatican, Gabriel, who heard what sounded like a scolding from his student, the elder, had already begun to smile with narrowed eyes. "After hearing your story, I will go back to sleep. I am very curious to know how you managed."

Anton smiled, ran his hands through his neck, glanced at the night outside the window of the private plane they were traveling in, and said with a relaxed smile, "Mentor, may I ask you something before that?"

"How is the Vatican right now?"

Gabriel's expression changed; he sighed with fatigue as he thought about the situation. "Everything is a mess; many of the higher-ups are being confined, and many are stepping down from their respective positions."

Anton's expression changed from friendly to serious, and he said, "They should also consider that it's not wise to remove the heads of those elders; all of them have an important role that cannot be replaced quickly, so they must keep that in mind."

Gabriel understood this better than Anton; if for some reason those in control are removed from their work and a situation suddenly erupts that few know how to handle, not only the Vatican but also the whole world will be in trouble.

"Surely, it's just to show that they have done something; the disasters of an organization are not always leaked." Anton mused in a reflective tone.

"As for the demons, why are they so desperate recently to open the gate of hell and connect it to the human world?" Thinking about how strong demons are and what they want to do, Anton wanted to know if there was something more than just spreading evil in the world behind those goals.

Gabriel, being the Pope's exorcist, had much more knowledge, so he replied, "Because those demons once succeeded; at that time, the legions of the church fought against them, and some demons that managed to escape have been hunted down over time."

Anton remembered the demon he killed in South Korea; Rafael's family had been killed by a demon, and now knowing they were demons from the ancient holy war made sense.

"The demons in hell have legions; if they come to the world, they can have fun killing us like cockroaches. The deaths would be countless, and we might do little... Imagine an army of eighty legions, which would be around more than eight hundred thousand demons in the heart of a country; even countries consider using nuclear weapons regardless of the damage at that moment." Gabriel took off his glasses as his hands trembled.

Anton sighed with a certain degree of exhaustion and said, "I have faced powerful demons, but I still don't know what it's like to face one of those demons who lead hell fully incarnated; few can confront them head-on."

Gabriel knew of Anton's accomplishments because, in a way, he followed in his footsteps, but when he heard him so nonchalantly, he couldn't help but be surprised. Only the ShadowBane had that ability; very few would survive trying to confront a demon in hand-to-hand combat.

"I managed to close several portals that were about to open; do you understand the seriousness of that problem?" Anton had made his report, but if there were so many portals like these ones, then that means they are not taking the necessary precautions.

"We won't be able to stop all evil ourselves; someday the source will break." Gabriel said, sharing some of his knowledge.

"We will fight; we will lose, but we will fight... I hope to find some way to seal all evil in word and omission." Anton wanted to end this head-on, but fights certainly never go the way one wants.

Silence passed for a few seconds.

"Do you really believe there is a way?"

Anton was puzzled by this question, so he asked, "Is there a way?"

"There is a book..."

"A book?"

"One that was found by a commander of the special forces many years ago; the appearance of that book changed everything we knew about the world, and there may be a way to create a barrier before to stop the demons, all evil in a parallel world to ours." Said Gabriel, who had seen that black book.

"Who has that book?"

"The Vatican had it, but now, after years of finding so little of that book, it will pass into the hands of the Association of Light."

"I want to read it," Anton said, very interested.

"I think it will be in your church—that base you call a church." Gabriel, after saying that, ended the call directly.

Anton fell silent, thinking about that book, but now that he was on a much more comfortable flight, he decided to rest because there were still many hours of flight left.

Perhaps when they arrive, he'll delve deeper into it, but for now, he'll rest.