Chapter 136: Return of the Emperor


    The ritual was something that Calvin had never seen before.


    When he entered the room, he discovered that the room was empty other than a circle at the centre of the room drawn by a substance that looked suspiciously simr to blood.


    In the middle of the centre were three pirs of seven stones stacked upon each other with a bridge connecting the tip of the three stones at the centre and another huge rock on top of it all.


    In front of this strange statue were herbs, spices, a tree bark, and a crystallized ball that Calvin couldn''t recognize as well as some other ingredients that Calvin''s already strained eyes couldn''t see due to how dark the ce was.


    But judging from the grim look on James Branzu''s face as he ced all of these peculiar items in front of the statue, they must be incredibly expensive for them to hurt James like this.


    "Stretch out your arm..."


    Ron Samuel stood behind the statue with both of his hands raised into the air.


    James Branzu noticed that Calvin had arrived and he gestured to Bruce.


    Bruce received themand and he walked over to Calvin and asked him to stretch his arm out.


    "Which arm?"


    "Are you serious...?" Bruce promptly replied.


    Calvin lightly chuckled.


    There was no need to ask for which arm he needed to stretch out in the first ce since he only had a single functioning arm.


    He stretched his left arm out and Bruce took out a ceremonial knife. The knife was incredibly small, yet sharp. The runes carved on the de made it look fashionable and cool, but the moment its sharp de made contact with Calvin''s arm...


    Calvin had to suppress the yell that threatened toe out of his mouth.


    ''What the hell is wrong with that knife?!'' He eximed to himself as a sharp hiss came from his throat.


    Blood dripped onto the ground and Bruce collected it with his palm.


    Then, he walked over and poured the blood onto the crystallized ball in front of the statue.


    Ron Samuel made a sidelong nce at Bruce and gestured for him to go to the sidelines.


    Bruce obedientlyplied.


    "Come here, Calvin..."


    Ron Samuel turned his attention to Calvin.


    Calvin came over and he was made to sit in front of the strange statue.


    "Whatever happens next is your responsibility... Since we suspect that you still have some traces of possession in your body, you might be instantly annihted the moment you entered the Goddess''s abode..."


    "Does that mean that if I wasn''t annihted the moment I entered the Goddess''s abode, I can be considered as having passed the trial?"


    "I wish it''s that easy..." Ron Samuel gave a bitter smile.


    "Can you tell me more about the trial? I would really appreciate it." Calvin asked.


    "Hahaha... To be honest, those who passed their trials do not have any recollection of it. I have no idea why, but this might be the Goddess''s way of preventing information leaks. If I knew something, then I would''ve told you already. I apologize, but I am also helpless. I can''t do anything other than wait for your good news..." Ron Samuel replied.


    But Calvin noticed something strange in his narrative.


    "If those that passed the trials do not have any memories of it, then how did they know that they passed? What if they just got expelled by the Goddess and pretended that they passed?" Calvin asked with a frown on his face.


    "That is impossible..."


    "And why is that?"


    "It''s because once the trial has started... It''s either you live or you die..."


    "If you managed to wake up after the trial has started, then that means you passed the trial. What''s more, there''s also definitive evidence that a person had indeed passed the trial." Ron Samuel smiled.


    "What is it?" Calvin asked in curiosity.


    "They''ve awakened their supernatural abilities."


    "Supernatural abilities? You mean that they''ve truly be one of the Cavaliers?"


    "Yes, that''s right... This trial is also known as the Profession Bestowing Ritual and it involves a promise. As for what kind of a promise is it, you''ll understand it soon enough..." The smile on Ron Samuel''s lips became cryptic which greatly annoyed Calvin.


    But since it looked like Ron Samuel had no intentions to talk about it at all.


    He had no other choice but to close his mouth and wait for the Profession Bestowing Ritual tomence.


    "It''s about time that we start..." Ron Samuel softly whispered.


    But in this room ever so silent, his whispers rang simr to fireworks at dawn.


    James Branzu''s figure stiffened, while Bruce clenched his fists out of nervousness.


    Nevertheless, they summoned their faiths and tried their best to maintain theirposure.


    At the same time, Ron Samuel opened his mouth and chanted.


    "Oh, Goddess of All-Epassing Light..."


    "The Magister of Light and the Commander of Compassion..."


    "You are the most benevolent!"


    The moment Ron Samuel uttered the final syble of the chant, the crystallized ball in front of the statue started to glow.


    "Oh, Mother of Compassion... I invoke thy name..."


    This time, the crystallized ball started floating in the air and it became simr to that of an airless vacuum, sucking all the other precious ingredients gathered around it as if it was the manifestation of gluttony.


    "Witness the devotion of thy servants! Heed our prayers, and forgive our trespasses!"


    "Show us the path to thy abode, for we shall receive the benediction of your grace..."


    "You are the most benevolent!"


    Ron Samuel pointed at Calvin''s forehead with his index finger and when the final syble of the prayer came out of his throat.


    Calvin''s vision immediately swam.


    He found himself being surrounded by a kaleidoscope of colours. The sensation of free-floating overcame his body as the various smells and aromas of herbs assaulted his nose.


    Euphoria soon took over Calvin''s mind, before he suddenly descended into a dizzying abyss until finally...


    He woke up.


    But he found himself sitting in front of someone else.


    In this dark space where no one elseeven Calvin existed... One figure was seated right in front of the illusory Calvin.


    "T-The Goddess?"


    Calvin uttered, though he had no mouth. He could hear his voice, though he was in a vacuum.


    He looked down to his body and he found nothing other than a kaleidoscope of colours.


    In this emptiness, he was nothing but the void...


    Yet this figure in front of him had a corporeal appearance.


    Light purple hair tied into twin-tails that reached waist height and a braid running on the side of her bangs. Her eyes were of dark amethyst, while her eyebrows were stern and arched. Her skin, fair and light while her outfit consisted of a white sleeveless dress with a dark blue skirt.


    The brilliant gradient of her golden purple overcoat was made even more gorgeous by mysterious trinkets and runes inscribed in its hem.


    Although her sky blue sleeves and the hem of her skirt were ruffled, it didn''t make her look out of ce.


    Instead, it gave her a more passionate look and vour.


    "You are in the presence of the Goddess of Compassion and Light..."


    "Wee, Calvin Vinueva..."


    "I''ve been waiting for you for quite a long time."


    The Goddess, despite being alive even before the beginning of the world spoke in words and proseparable to that of today''s generation of people. A smile was stered across her lips as she waved her hand and summoned a table made out of a kaleidoscope of colours.


    Then, she stared at Calvin who started to slowly walk towards her direction.


    Walking without a physical body felt incredibly strange to Calvin.


    Even without a corporeal body, he felt himself sweating as he desperately tried to bnce his way towards the wooden chair that somewhat existed in this dark space.


    Standing in front of the wooden chair, Calvin slowly sat down his imaginary buttocks and when he felt the wood made contact with his non-existent ass, he heaved a sigh of relief.


    "Good job. You''ve done well... I apologize for theck of physical body, but I cannot manifest any more power than I am already manifesting, lest I destroy your physical body and turn you into a meat paste along with a shower of ketchup made out of the blood."


    "What...?" Calvin mumbled out of astonishment and confusion. He couldn''t imagine that the Goddess was this talkative.


    "What''s wrong? Don''t you already know a lot about me already?"


    "Why do you have to act as if I''m a stranger when you wrote almost all of my carefully hidden secrets in that damned relic of a notebook of yours? We''re both alone here anyway and no one can possibly eavesdrop on us, so why not drop the act?"


    "Let''s get familiar, shall we?"


    The Goddess of Compassion and Light stared right at Calvin and smiled.


    But Calvin was even more confused.


    "Uhmm..." He nervously whispered, "I''m sorry but I have no recollection of writing secrets on a notebook? This is the first time that I am meeting you, madame Goddess, so I do not know what to do..." Calvin didn''t dare to look at any part of the Goddess''s body.


    He was far too afraid that he might be struck by thunder to death if he dared to look at a Goddess''s raw body.


    "Oh?"


    But the Goddess''s reaction caught Calvin''s attention.


    The Goddess of Compassion and Light raised an eyebrow and stared right at Calvin.


    Particrly at the area between his eyebrows.


    "I see..."


    "So that''s the case..."


    "Hahaha..."


    The Goddess put down his teacup on the table and said, "So that is the reason why you are acting like this..."


    "Very well, then... Since you clearly had no intention of hiding the use of that ancient art from me then you surely want me to undo it for you, right? You nned this from the start, am I correct?"


    "You purposely sealed your memories to prevent the Cavaliers from getting any conclusive evidence against you through the use of Spiritualistic Ritual, yet you didn''t bother hiding any traces of that ancient art since you wanted me to detect it once you inevitably came to me when the time for you to undergo the Profession Bestowal Ritual arrived..."


    "In short, you nned on making me remove the seal on your memories so that the real you can return at the opportune moment..."


    "Hahaha... This is indeed a brilliant n." The Goddess of Compassion and Light licked her lips and stared at Calvin with interest, "Very well."


    "Since you wanted to attract my attention that much, then I will hear what you want to say... What''s more, I''m also curious as to why you know so much about me and my dirty little secrets..." The smile on the Goddess''s face wasn''t waning.


    She raised her arm and pressed a finger in between Calvin''s eyebrows.


    "Now, awaken..."


    "Wake up, Calvin Vinueva!"


    A burst of bright light inundated the dark space.


    The appearance of this light followed the appearance of a kaleidoscope of colours that soon formed into archaic runes whichpleted the puzzle on the piece of paper that had been stuck on Calvin''s forehead all this while.


    The piece of paper manifested its physical form for a brief moment before it shattered into innumerable light crystals that soon disappeared into nothingness.


    "Hehe..."


    "Finally..."


    "I''m back!"