Way of the Knights

Chapter 497 - Ritual

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"Come with me, I'll show you something." Monica told Raven as she started walking away from the other Cleansers doing their job. 

Raven silently followed her while he was immersed on his thoughts. 

What he learned just now was something unexpected. It turns out that people could be infected and turned into a devil too. In hind sight, he should've seen this coming. He himself possess a firm and powerful will that could potentially create suggestions or outright warp a person's mind. If he could do it, then it should be given that someone who's dubbed as a Devil Emperor should be able to do the same. 

'Which means that this disgusting maroon fog covering this entire place, should be the residual will of the Devil Emperor.' Raven deducted, 'A entity this strong which will lasts for eons. No wonder this sect was created, a thing like that should never be allowed to step outside its prison or else, Divine Realm would be plunged into peril.'

'It's only sealed, it's not dead.' Raven thought to himself, 'It's possible that its will continues to seep through the seal. I don't want to doubt the people who created this seal - which also happens to be the founders of the sect, but I entirely possible that I'm correct. A residual will, no matter even if its from a very powerful entity, should have at least diminished through time. But from what I can see, the will is still incredibly firm.'

'Right! Why didn't I realize this before?' Raven's eyes glowed as he felt the urge to slap his face. 'The Devil Race is created from by the Devil Emperor! Each of his minions carries his will! And since this Devil Emperor is so powerful, it means that no matter how much of his minions we killed, his will is destined to not be dispersed! In fact, it's possible that its releasing more and more as time passes! Fuck!'

Raven's deduction is baseless for now, and he truly is hoping that he will be proven wrong because if he's right, then the sect is in imminent danger. 

'Right, if I could notice this, then it's possible for the Elders to notice it too…hopefully. Let's have faith.' Raven sighed inwardly and decided to remove his thoughts for now. He's not strong enough to do anything for now so raising an alarming statement like this will only make things worse. 

Monica and Raven eventually arrived to another door, to which Monica opened using her badge. The moment they stepped inside, Raven was momentarily surprised by the bright light that greeted him out of nowhere. Once his vision adjusted, he looked ahead and saw an enormous kiln blazing with white flames. 

Raven was stunned. He felt several things which made him very confused. The sight of the white flames were comforting, it gave of an impression of safety, security and soul-seeping warmth. And even though it's contained within a large kiln, the flames didn't spread not weakened. In fact, it wasn't even moving erratically at all like most other flames, instead it was still. It's quiet, serene and very eye-catching. 

Monica clasped her hands in prayer, murmuring some chants that Raven couldn't understand. As for him, his interest was at its peak as soon as he saw this flame. 

'At first I thought that this cleansing flame is just a glorified Vivic Flames - the one which we used to nullify Death Laws in the bodies of those suicidal soldiers. However, it seems that I'm wrong. This flame is something else. If anything, I could tell that it purity is in a much higher level compared to Vivic Flames.'

"As you can probably guess by now, this is the Cleansing Flame that Senior Brother Theo cultivated from a seed." Monica introduced shortly after, "With his generosity, he left plumes of Cleansing Flames on each chapel around Tartarus since he's the only one who received the seed from the Flames of Olympus."

"Us cleansers could only harness the Cleansing Flames, which requires us to be in close proximity of it. That means, that we can't call for its might whenever we're outside of the sect. We could only treat patients here in the chapel." Monica sighed in defeat. "Taking the flames out of Tartarus isn't a good idea as well. The closer the flame is to the Devil Emperor's Pagoda, it's might weakens as if its met with its natural predator. Therefore, even though we wanted to be more useful, we couldn't."

"Which is also why that our numbers are incredibly few." Monica sadly stated, "At first, Senior Brother Theo was hopeful that the flames were capable of finally turning the tide around, but unfortunately it cannot. Up until now, he's still trying more ideas in order to not only boost the reputation of the Cleansing Chapel but also contribute to our cause. In the mean time however, we could only do our best."

Monica then faced Raven and asked him: "Now, with all of that being said. Are you still willing to test yourself and join our ranks?"

Raven didn't even hesitate for a single moment before saying: "Yeah. I'm more determined to join now actually."

Monica smiled at that, but she asked: "If you don't mind me asking, why?"

"I won't lie, I just find this occupation very interesting at first." Raven stated, "Not much has changed even now, only my interest is at its highest. I like the prospect of discovering more about the things that really piques my interests."

"Aish! I shouldn't have asked!" Monica said, mocking an angry expression but couldn't hide the amusement on her face. "If Senior Brother Theo was the one who asked, he would've kicked you out right at this instant!"

"But he's not here though. It's you, who's here. Not him." Raven replied with a smile of his own. 

"Aren't you a cheeky one?" Monica replied, finally getting rid of the faked anger on her face. "Whatever, we could use more hands anyway. But, don't you think that you're already one of us just yet! You still need to be tested."

"I'm ready." Raven replied with a serious face. 

"Well, you said it yourself. Don't blame me for what happens afterwards." Monica added, it's unknown whether she said this to discourage him and frighten him or just giving him a heads up of what's about to happen.

Monica then moved behind Raven and said: "Wear this and go into the kiln. Embrace the flame and commune with it. That's all you have to do."

She handed him a pure white robes which seems to be made out silk. She then pointed him towards the direction of the changing room and told him that she'd be waiting for him here. 

Raven complied and changed into the outfit that was given to him. Once he's done, he returned to where the kiln where and saw Monica nodding to him, a signal that he could begin. 

Taking a deep breath, Raven's face turned serious as he gently approached the flames. The moment he took as step forward, he felt an incredible heat sweeping through his body. He was surprised at first, thinking to himself that a mortal would've probably be left with several burn marks on their body if they were to be exposed to this temperature. 

Needless to say, it would take more that this to deter him from approaching the flames. Raven took several steps forward, feeling the temperature getting hotter and hotter as he approached the flames. 

Monica was a bit surprised when she saw the ease of Raven's approached. Back when she went through with this ritual, it took her more time and energy before she eventually arrived at the kiln. However, Raven took almost no time at all. His approach looked as casual as it could ever be, making it hard for her to believe that this guy is a Freshman. 

Raven eventually arrived at the kiln. Feeling the scalding temperature of the flames even greater than before. Needless to say, he's still fine. More importantly, he could hear faint whispers on his ears the closer he got to the flames. 

Eventually, Raven stepped in the kiln itself, causing Monica's eyes to shine. 

The moment he stepped in, the still and peaceful flames suddenly erupted greatly surprising Raven in the process. Raven was immediately swallowed by the flames, but even so he didn't panic - well maybe he did for a just a second but it went away swiftly since he could feel that this flame didn't have any ill intentions, which is very ironic considering the flames engulfed him from head to toe. 

Following Monica's instructions, Raven then sat down in the kiln, despite being swallowed by the white flames, and started his communion with it. He concentrated his focus and let go of all unnecessary thoughts on his mind. He focused on the whispers invading his senses and traced it back to its source, this lead to him entering a special state where he no longer have any awareness of his surroundings. 

Monica who's watching this process whispered to herself: "You're talented Junior Brother, that much I can tell.. Hopefully, you pass this and make a difference cause god knows we need it more than ever."