Chapter 720: Purification - God's Servant! (3/4)

Chapter 720: Purification—Servant of God! (3/4)

Philochena returned to the bedroom from the window ledge and said, "Bishop Delon wanted to come see you, but I told him you were sleeping and asked him not to disturb you."

"Oh, alright."

Karen walked two steps forward before he fully registered what Philochena meant.

"Did I do something wrong?" Philochena asked.

"Where is Bishop Delon?"

"After finishing up in the early hours of the morning, he headed back with all the official clerics from the Array Department."

"Tsk..." Karen walked over to the telephone and dialed the Guman residence, with his maternal grandmother answering the call.

"Hello."

"Grandmother, is Grandfather home? I'm looking for him. Last night I fell asleep, so I couldn't..."

"As soon as your grandfather got back, he took Richard to the Church Hospital, and he hasn't returned yet."

Karen: "..."

"Don't worry, Richard is fine. Your uncle knows what he is doing; he managed to pin things right at the critical threshold of that little bug's capability, which can stimulate its potential to the greatest extent."

"Alright."

Looking at it from this perspective, at least his grandmother was completely impartial when it came to educational methods.

"Tell Alfred to come see me."

"Yes, sir."

Very quickly, Alfred walked in.

"Is everything ready?"

"Master, everything is prepared. The security personnel have all been deployed to the outer perimeter. Except for Old Anderson and a few others from the Allen family, all other clansmen and servants have been moved out of the manor. The array Bishop Delon stayed up all night to arrange has been successfully activated and will conceal any subsequent disturbances within the manor.

The divine artifact invocation altar has also been set up, just waiting for us to activate it so that they can grant us access on their end.

Additionally, Neo has arrived. He contacted me of his own accord because he couldn't sneak in after the manor's array underwent its trial run."

"Then, let us begin."

Karen stepped out of the castle and arrived at the entrance of the performance hall. The manor, which had always been bustling, seemed quite deserted today.

"Hey, hey, hey."

A familiar voice echoed as Neo leaned his torso out from the roof of the performance hall, cursing, "I thought you'd start in the early hours of the morning, but you actually dragged it out for this long. I'm practically catching a cold up here."

Karen looked up at him and smiled faintly. "Apologies, I overslept."

"This is a major milestone in your life, how can you be so half-hearted about it?" Neo leapt down from the roof, walked up to Karen, and reached out to brush away non-existent dust on Karen's shoulder, speaking with deep sincerity, "Karen, you have to remember, from this day forth, you are a grown adult, no longer a child."

Muri and the others standing around found these words a bit grating to the ear, but when they saw that even Mr. Alfred maintained an entirely normal expression, they all remained silent.

"Alright, let's go inside."

Karen led the group into the performance hall. The original layout inside had not been altered, except for the addition of an altar to invoke the divine artifact.

Neo pointed at the two coffins and asked, "Aren't you going to awaken those two first?"

"I could awaken them, but I currently possess no spiritual energy within my body. Once I become a Servant of God, it should be sufficient."

If anyone else had said this, it would probably be considered an empty boast, but no one present felt Karen was exaggerating, because truly no one had ever seen anyone require a divine artifact to supply holy water during their purification into a Servant of God.

In the very center, a chair had been placed, and Karen sat down.

"Meow."

Purr hopped onto Karen's lap, her tail swaying gently.

The others, except for Wick who was responsible for operating the invocation altar, stood on the outer perimeter.

Alfred had already set up his easel long ago, holding a paintbrush in his right hand while continuously directing Ventura and the others with his left hand to adjust their positions so that the arrangement of figures in the painting would be more symmetrical.

Everyone cooperated and adjusted their positions and postures accordingly.

Because if "getting onto the mural" had once been just a grand phrase used to motivate people, at this moment, everyone present knew very well in their hearts that the scene right now would truly be passed down to the world upon a mural.

"Kevin, you go over there. Don't lie down here, go lie down next to the Master's chair so you can be part of the painting."

As an evil god, Alfred believed it was qualified to be in the painting.

Kevin shook its head violently. It had absolutely no desire to go to the central area; the last time Karen was purified here, the aura of the God of Light appeared and scared it so badly it foamed at the mouth and almost fainted.

This time, the golden retriever only wanted to hide far away.

"Go."

"Woof!" (Not going!)

"Hurry up and go!"

"Woof!" (Not going!)

"The harp of the Goddess Mils will appear on the altar next to the Master."

"Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof!"

The large golden retriever dashed over and sat right next to Karen's chair, facing the altar.

Neo could not help but urge, "I say, can we begin? Once things are wrapped up here, I still have to head back to York City. If we delay any further, I'm going to miss the market closing time."

Karen spoke, "Begin."

"Begin!" Alfred made a gesture to Wick.

Wick immediately activated the invocation altar, and soon, a cluster of dark clouds appeared above, sinking inward to form a hollow void. The phantom of a harp slowly emerged, and the figure of a woman appeared beside it, speaking:

"Loya has already entreated me. Please rest assured, I will fully cooperate with Minister Karen, and I will certainly keep today's matters a secret."

Karen nodded to the woman in gratitude.

Kevin was already staring blankly, infatuated.

The woman's gaze fell upon the golden retriever, her brow furrowing slightly, not in disgust, but rather because that intense sense of familiarity caused her to sink into deep thought.

However, she quickly adjusted her mindset, manipulating the harp to let streams of divine power flow forth like white mist, enveloping the surroundings.

The sheer volume of divine aura flowing out at this moment had already far exceeded the holy water brought by countless water tank trucks.

Karen leaned his neck back slightly, closed his eyes, and began to enter the state, seeking the echo of faith within his own heart, sensing the summons of the God of Order.

This step, to the current him, was simply too easy, because deep within his soul stood a massive statue of Order.

As Karen entered the state, the statue within his soul slowly raised its head and looked upward, as if perceiving something.

Everything was completely tranquil; the divine aura did not even seem to be consumed, and Karen just sat there without any reaction, coming across as even quieter than the devotee with the poorest aptitude purifying into a Servant of God.

Because this body of Karen's... was simply too clean, so clean that it did not need to undergo any purification whatsoever.

Yet the true hurricane was about to arrive.

Purr leaped onto Karen's shoulder, and at the very tip of her tail, a crystal-clear finger manifested, pressing against the center of Karen's brow.

"Boom!"

Suddenly,

A piercing, blinding white light burst forth.

A sacred, inviolable majesty enveloped the surroundings, a presence belonging to the Lord God, a remnant aura of the former overlord of the previous epoch, the aura of Light!

Kevin, being the closest, stiffened instantly, his eyes rolling back as he collapsed onto the ground, his limbs twitching involuntarily while white foam began to spill from his canine maw.

The harp spirit vanished entirely, retreating into the depths of the divine artifact's phantom projection, daring not to face this crushing pressure for fear of being shattered into oblivion.

None of the others in the vicinity could withstand the weight of this aura; suppressed by a pressure that struck at their very souls, they fell to their knees one after another.

Though they were faithful of Order, they surrendered their dignity before the majesty of Light.

Alfred, however, felt no internal conflict whatsoever; he had long since adjusted the height of his easel, removed the stand, and was already kneeling to paint.

He did not believe that kneeling briefly now meant anything, considering that the God of Order had once followed the God of Light before eventually rising to stand on His own.

Only Neo remained standing, for this radiant pressure brought him no distinct sense of oppression, but rather a profoundly intense feeling of familiarity.

This was Light... this was the purest essence of Light in the world!

Neo folded his hands together, eschewing the crossed-arm gesture of the Order faith in favor of the ritual posture of a Light believer.

Yet,

Though this radiance endured and the sacred aura did not fade, the voice of the Light consciousness that had spoken the previous time failed to manifest.

What Karen needed was for that voice of Light to summon the power of the rules of Order, allowing him to receive the most exceptional grace during his purification into a divine servant, becoming the most unique existence of all.

Karen waited, and the colossal statue deep within his soul waited as well.

Still, the voice he anticipated remained elusive, failing to sound.

"Meow~"

Purr already sensed the exhaustion, nearly unable to hold on any longer.

Was this to be a failure?

Although he would successfully become a divine servant, it was entirely different from what he desired, especially after making such thorough preparations.

Was the very first step of his new beginning destined to start as a mere ordinary divine servant?

No,

Such an outcome could never be permitted.

Anxiety amplified as the monumental statue within the depths of Karen's soul began to radiate frustration and discontent.

At this stage, Karen had successfully isolated the distance between himself and the statue; as long as his consciousness did not actively enter the realm of his soul, he was completely safe, but this did not mean he had severed his connection to the Hunger.

For instance, when Karen grew anxious now, the statue's agitation would transmit and reverberate, causing both sides to resonate with the emotion and... slip slightly out of control.

Karen opened his eyes;

At that exact moment, the kneeling crowd caught a faint glimpse of a mysterious, dark phantom rising behind him.

Karen parted his lips, and the dark silhouette behind him mirrored the gesture, unleashing a voice of supreme majesty that resonated alongside Karen's own, like a rolling thunderclap shaking the entire auditorium: