Way of the Knights

Chapter 496 - Cleansing Chapel

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"That'll be 17,000 Merit Points in total." A man informed kindly after calculating the total cost of the items Raven requested. 

Raven nodded and placed his badge on the scanner. It lit up for one second before it was returned to him, the items were paid that way and he was free to store them now. 

After he retrieved his badge, Raven placed all of the items he bought inside his spatial ring and walked away from the Merit Exchange Market since he had no other business here. 

He already brought everything he needed and more, while also making sure to keep some merit points with him in case od emergency. He had 9,620 Merit Points left for himself, this should be enough for emergencies. 

The materials he bought just now were the ones he needed to create more avatars. The 4th Stage of Myriad Incarnations Scripture allows him to create 18 more avatars, with the 9 he already has, this will certainly make his life easier. It would be like having 27 minds working together or in units to research and analyze anything he prioritizes. Each of his Avatars is as intelligent as he is, they might not posses the same strength as the original has but considering Raven's true strength, his avatars is as strong as regular cultivators, and that's almost cheating. 

On the contrary though, Raven has no plans on returning to the base just yet. 

After leaving the Merit Exchange Market, Raven went towards north and ended up in one of the Cleansing Chapels. 

This was another matter that piqued Raven's interest since they toured Tartarus. There's just something intriguing about these chapels, which he can't put a finger on. Ever since seeing these buildings, he wondered what's their use and why are they called 'Cleansing Chapels'. And since Raven is here, he might as figure that out now. 

The chapel wasn't that large, there's also a few people who're visiting this place just like Raven. It seems to be made out of simple bricks, but Raven could tell that these are no ordinary materials. As he went closer to it, Raven involuntarily activated his ocular technique and started inspecting the place more closely. 

What he saw was somewhat surprising. In his vision, the chapel was a stark contrast to the general theme of his surroundings. It was surrounded by white halo of light, which could also be interpreted as a sign of Purity. This was surprising since Tartarus itself is infested by residual devilish will left by the Devil Emperor ages ago. This will is represent a dark and ominous maroon fog ever-present in this place. Therefore, seeing something radiating cleanliness and purity in a place like this really piqued Raven's interest. 

He eventually arrived at the gates of the chapel. There he saw several posters hanging, it was recruitment notices, saying that the Cleansing Chapel is recruiting potential 'Cleansers', as for what Cleansers do, Raven has no idea...yet. 

With his curiosity piqued, Raven tore off one of the posters and took it with him. He then pushed the gates open and stepped inside the perimeter of the chapel. 

Raven felt some senses sweeping towards his direction. They didn't come with ill intentions so he let them pass his body. Looking down at the poster, he followed the directions drawn on to it leading towards the back entrance of the chapel. 

He eventually arrived then and saw a closed door. He knocked a few times and waited for someone to open it. After a few seconds someone opened the door and received him. 

"Hello there Freshie, since you're holding a poster and went specifically at this place, I am safe to assume that you wanted to know more about this job and possibly join us right?"

"Correct." Raven answered, he gave out a salute and introduced himself: "My name is Vendrick Valorheart, you can simply call me Raven. Senior Sister is?"

"Monica…" The woman smiled and returned the gesture. "Monica Sylvester, a Cleanser and Senior Outer Disciples. Nice to meet you Raven."

"Nice to meet you too."

"Come, let's go inside. I'll tell you more about us Cleansers and give you a tour of the Chapel." Monica smiled and gestured Raven to come inside. 

Raven simply nodded and followed her. 

Once they entered, Raven was met with a rather humble interior of the chapel. The floor was marbled, the walls are seemingly made out of bricks and the ceiling is wooden. There is a faint smell of flowers and medicine inside, a start contrast of what the outside smells like. 

The chapel seems to radiate a calm and relaxing feeling to anyone who enters it. The temperature inside was warm, the kind that seeps through one's soul. It was very comfortable. 

"The Cleansing Chapels are a very recent addition to Tartarus." Monica stated as she started introducing Raven to the facility. "The oldest chapel built so far is merely a decade old, compared to the other facilities nearby and all over Tartarus, it's nothing much."

"The idea of the Cleansing Chapels were introduced by Senior Brother Theodore - the 8th Fire Keeper." Monica said as she looked at Raven with a smile. "Oh, right. Flame Keeper is a title given to the people who guards and worships the Flame of Olympus. As for what the Flame of Olympus is, you'll know it when time comes."

"Anyway, where are again? Oh right!" Monica chuckled, "Senior Brother Theodore is said to be 'pampered by the Flames of Olympus' therefore it gave him a unique seed of flame, which is called the Cleansing Flame. And with the Cleansing Flame as the foundation, he brought the idea of Cleansing Chapels to life."

The two arrived further inside the chapel where Raven got to see what the Cleansing Chapel really does. 

He saw several beds occupied by injured people. Most of them are resting whilst covered with bandages, some were being attended to by the people who wore the same jacket as Monica. 

Raven guessed that these people must be the other Cleansers. These people wore black jackets with a symbol of a white flame sewn on the back. They're also wearing face masks, white cap, fingerless gloves and boots on top of their sect uniforms. 

He witnessed the Cleansers doing their job, they hovered their hands on a particular area of their patient's body. As their eyes were closed, they chanted some words and their hands will glow brightly as white flames covered it. 

As they hovered their hands on their patients, black tendrils of smoke will come out of the patients body, which will then disperse through the air and disappear. 

"As you can probably guess by now, these people are Cleansers just like me. The flame that you see them use is the Cleansing Flame which was given to Senior Brother Theodore." Monica explained. 

"The Cleansing Flame has unique properties. While its temperature is weaker compared to other flames out there, this flame purifies evil completely."

"I trust that you are familiar with the different kind of devils out there so I'll make this simple." Monica stated, "The Devils are born from the Devil Emperor himself. Each of them is connected to him, each carries its powerful will and is completely loyal to him. If, under the unfortunate event of, you or your other Unit Members had clashed with a more powerful devil and had your lives nearly taken away from you, there is a great chance that you will be poisoned by the Devil Emperor's will."

"You've heard our history I assume, and thus you can tell how powerful the Devil Emperor truly is. It's will was enough to completely change this landscape, so much so that not even a single strand of grass dared to exist in this place."

"Poisoned by the powerful will of the Devil Emperor, its almost certain that you will be converted into a Devil yourself. Trust me, I've seen it happening once, and it's never been a pretty sight. It's very heartbreaking too." Monica said with a melancholic tone. 

"The will of the Devil Emperor will turn you mad, so much so that you won't recognize anyone anymore. You will kill everyone that the will is telling to kill, and no matter how fight back, you have no hopes of ever winning to that."

"Most of the disciples who are tasked to clear the Devil Emperor's Pagoda suffers from this. One day, you will see your fellow disciples, driven mad and insane by the Devil Emperor's powerful will. You will be forced to kill them, and it never feels good when you do that."

As if suddenly awoken from her stupor, Monica shook and flashed a smile at Raven. 

"Oh my, look at me. Being all dramatic and all. Sorry about that." She said, "Anyways, casualties cannot be avoided. Like I said, when you nearly died from fighting a powerful devil, its almost certain that you will ne poisoned by the will of the Devil Emperor."

"From then on, it us - the Cleansers, who will take it from there.. Through the help of the Cleansing Flame, we can 'exorcise' the poisonous will out of someone's body and save them from the awful fate of turning into a mindless slave."