Hosanna in the Highest

Crunch, crunch.

Leading the children along on a courage test that was hardly a courage test at all, the young adults' group sang hymns as they walked.

The trail was dark, yes, but it was an ordinary mountain path, their numbers were many, and there were even grown-ups among them.

And with the hymns rising in chorus on top of all that, there wasn't a single crack in their hearts where fear could have taken root.

And so they felt safe. And so they grew careless.

And so—

There it stood.

Something had gone wrong, and not one of them stopped to give it a second thought.

A young woman at the very back of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the line, mouthing along with the chorus, felt something wrong and turned her head.

Her friend, who had been following right behind her until moments ago, had stopped—and was standing far off in the distance.

"Ju-yeong?"

Calling out to Oh Ju-yeong, the woman adjusted her grip on her lantern, a strange unease prickling at her.

Then she walked slowly toward her, and the orange glow of the cheap lantern climbed up from the dirt—over Ju-yeong's feet, her knees, her chest.

It was when the light reached her face.

"...Ju-yeong?"

The muscles of her face had gone slack. Her shoulders and arms hung loose, like a marionette with its strings cut. Her knees were slightly bent—but strangest of all were Ju-yeong's pupils.

There was no white left in her eyes. Abnormally dilated, they filled them to the brim.

"What—?"

One of the young adults turned around. The lantern light aimed at Ju-yeong trembled unsteadily, and the children too fell silent mid-hymn and stared at her.

A heartbeat later—

THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD—!

Suddenly Ju-yeong lunged, both hands reaching out in front of her.

"KYAAAAAH!"

A piercing scream split the mountain air.

Flap-flap-flap!

Birds bursting up into the night sky lent the darkness a fresh edge of menace.

Kang Hyeong-seok, in the passenger seat, threw his door open at once, and Shin Yo-sep scrambled out of the car with the same motion.

Both their gazes were pinned on the same spot.

"You heard it?"

"Yeah."

The place the scream had come from—the place the children had gone for their courage test.

"Damn it. Damn it."

Gritting his teeth, Shin Yo-sep pulled out his phone—and in that same instant, Kang Hyeong-seok saw the fear dug deep into his face.

Somehow, he found himself thinking that the demon was not the only cause of that terror.

Beep, beep, beep.

Shin Yo-sep was fumbling with the phone, fingers shaking, when the screen suddenly changed—an incoming call, without warning.

Click.

"Yes, Sister."

The voice on the line came so urgently it was frightening, and it hardened Shin Yo-sep's face all the more.

Watching him from the side, Kang Hyeong-seok's eyes narrowed.

Where demons were concerned, Shin Yo-sep was always afraid, always tense.

But this felt like something beyond even that.

"...Understood."

Shin Yo-sep spoke as though sighing, then, body trembling faintly, forced out the question.

"Who is the Bumaja—the possessed one? Don't tell me it's a child?"

And Kang Hyeong-seok understood what had frightened him so.

He remembered Shin Yo-sep smiling at the children at the orphanage, and his own heart tightened before he could help it.

"One of the young adults. ...Understood."

Shin Yo-sep hung up.

Then his shoulders sagged, and a silence settled over them so heavy that even Kang Hyeong-seok could hardly bring himself to speak.

Who could have? Who could bring themselves to say it—that thank God it wasn't a child?

"Shin Yo-sep."

Kang Hyeong-seok laid a hand on his shoulder and spoke. Shin Yo-sep flinched hard, then turned his gaze to him.

"What."

"Get a grip."

"I know."

Neither of them had laid eyes on it yet. But there was no doubt now: someone had gone ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠terribly wrong.

And they were the only ones who could help.

"Can you do it?"

"If not me, who else?"

Good. Kang Hyeong-seok genuinely thought so.

Because Shin Yo-sep, drenched in fear until a moment ago, now had the look of a man crushing that fear flat through sheer will.

"Let's grab the gear first. You too—get whatever you need ready, and fast."

Kang Hyeong-seok gave a grave nod and began hauling the bags and Shin Yo-sep's things out of the car.

That was when they saw it—far in the distance, lantern light swinging in a frantic blur.

"Ju-yeong! Ju-yeooong!"

The young adults were running toward them, the Bumaja caught and held down between them.

"Pastor! Pastor!"

"Ju-yeong, snap out of it. Ju-yeong!"

Slap! Slap!

The girl slapping Ju-yeong's cheeks wore a face smeared with blood.

Ju-yeong had struck her—that was where the blood had come from—yet even now her worry was all for Ju-yeong, while the boys gripping her arms and legs gasped for breath, faces dumb with terror.

"WAAAAAAH."

"Mommy! Mommyyy!"

With the younger children's wailing mixed in, it looked for all the world like a battlefield.

Just as even the air itself was settling into something no one could think straight in, the pastor came sprinting out of the retreat hall.

"Wh-what is this! What happened!"

Word had already reached him.

But knowing a thing in your head and seeing it with your eyes were two entirely different worlds.

"Dear God—what in the..."

The pastor recoiled at the sight of Ju-yeong, and the young adults—drenched in sweat and tears just like the children—spat their words out in a rush.

"J-Ju-yeong. Something's wrong with Ju-yeong."

"Shouldn't we call an ambulance?"

"You said she'd be fine!"

One of the young adults shrieked it like a convulsion breaking loose, and the words flew in heavy and landed square on the pastor's heart.

"I—that, uh—"

"You said it yourself, Pastor! You said she'd be fine! You said all of it was nothing but groundless rumors!"

"No. I—it was never certain, so—so I—!"

The pastor, his face gone past white into a ghastly shade of blue, forced down a dry swallow.

"...Let's get everyone inside first. Ju-yeong goes in first—the deacons, where are the deacons?"

"They're coming up behind us with the children!"

"I'll get word to the bus driver, so let's start getting the younger ones ready to send home."

"Shall I go pack up the luggage?"

"Yes, yes. Calm the children down first, quickly—and get word to the deacons as well!"

Then—

"Pastor!"

A woman's voice, urgent and sharp, came lunging in close.

It was the deaconess who had stayed behind with the children.

And of all people, she was the first one running toward them.

Don't tell me something else had happened.

At the thought, the pastor's eyes shook violently.

"I've—I've already contacted the ones who can help, you see?"

"Wh-what?"

"Get Ju-yeong inside first! We'll talk after!"

The pastor's eyes begged for an explanation, but the deaconess, as though there were no time in the world for one, shoved him onward by the back.

So the young adults carried Ju-yeong into the building—and it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was then—

Not far away—

Shin Yo-sep, dressed now in his cassock, was bringing his prayer to a close, a silver crucifix clutched in one hand.

Prayer finished, Shin Yo-sep opened his eyes, calm and still, and fixed his gaze on the building.

"Let's go."

At Kang Hyeong-seok's word, Shin Yo-sep started walking.

Watching his back as he went ahead, Kang Hyeong-seok gave a silent nod.

There was no hesitation in his stride—

As if a will as unshakable as his faith filled him to the very brim.

Bang!

Oh Ju-yeong was brought into an empty room and laid down on a folding cot by the young adults.

It was the pastor's own personal camping bed—but this was no time to fuss over whose it was.

"Uuuh! Uuuuuh!"

Ju-yeong thrashed with violent strength, spilling out a voice pitched low and heavy like a man's—and everyone in the room froze as one.

Hair hanging in wild tangles.

Eyes rolled upward, pupils slick and gleaming.

This was not the Ju-yeong they knew.

It felt as though something had taken Ju-yeong's skin and pulled it on over itself.

There had been rumors, yes—that one of the students was possessed by a demon.

Now that rumor stood before them made flesh—and the fact that it was someone they knew made the horror crawl over their skin.

"...Who was it you said you contacted?"

At the pastor's question, the deaconess swallowed hard.

But the words would not come.

"Who did you call? Surely you didn't bring in a shaman, did you? Deaconess?"

"N-no, of course not."

His eyes warped with anxiety, the pastor scrubbed a hand down his face and forced his voice out.

"If you've called in some strange people, that is truly unacceptable. So please tell me. Who on earth did you call?"

"...Well, it's just—"

"Or better yet, we call an ambulance first! How am I supposed to trust people even you can't properly describe!"

Just as the deaconess's face began to stiffen with dismay—

Thud. Thud.

Fast footsteps came bearing down on them.

The eyes of the pastor, the deaconess, and the young adults all swung toward the sound—and then hardened at what they saw Shin Yo-sep wearing.

Because it was the garb of a Catholic priest.

"...Deaconess?"

"Th-they're people you can trust. They were even close with the pastor before you."

"No—no, how could you—"

Just as the pastor's face turned to open betrayal, Shin Yo-sep brushed past the deaconess and planted himself in front of Ju-yeong.

"Come out."

When Shin Yo-sep spoke low, his voice carried a deep resonance—and weight.

The young adults, still gripping Ju-yeong's arms and legs, glanced warily at the pastor—and then—

"Please, go inside!"

The deaconess's voice broke through the stiffening air.

"Deaconess!"

"Just a moment, Pastor. Just a moment."

The deaconess clung to him, face desperate.

"What are we supposed to do about Ju-yeong! We can't take her back to the church like this!"

"Haah..."

The pastor looked at her, and her gaze slid to Kang Hyeong-seok.

It was the kind of situation that set the mind racing toward madness.

And all the while, the Bumaja desperately needed someone's help.

"Right now, I don't believe it matters who follows which faith."

Kang Hyeong-seok said it low, as if to press down the seething air.

"Th-that—!"

The pastor tried to get words out, but the deaconess seized his wrist at once.

"Please consider that it was God's guidance which brought us all together here."

Kang Hyeong-seok said again, and the pastor's face, jaw clenched tight, trembled.

Then, looking at Ju-yeong—whose complexion was draining whiter by the second—he nodded, with great difficulty.

"Can you do it?"

"Yes."

Kang Hyeong-seok answered with finality, as if to end the pointless wrangling once and for all—and then—

"...Then what should we do."

The pastor wrung the words out, and Kang Hyeong-seok, with a face full of thanks, gestured toward one side of the hallway.

"We ask for your prayers."

"Whew!"

"The rest of you as well."

It was right after Kang Hyeong-seok's gaze swung to the young adults too—

Shin Yo-sep shot him a look of gratitude, and the young adults let go of Ju-yeong's arms and legs.

And so the preparations for the rite of exorcism began.