Chapter 146: The Mortician's Damned Soul

"I'll... I'll just drink it up..."

"Oh? I thought you are more determined than ever?" Ron Samuel laughed.

'Who in their right mind would shove this thing up their ass? In the first place, why would people shove something up their ass anyway...' Calvin could only reveal a bitter smile for he didn't know what to say. The atmosphere in the room quickly turned strange.

Calvin knew that he had to do something to disperse this strange atmosphere and since he had no fear of the demon in the vial in the first place, he quickly opened it up and gulped it down.

In an instant, Calvin felt his throat freeze.

It was as if he had swallowed a block of ice instead of a fragment of a demon's soul.

"The name of the demon whose soul fragment you swallowed is Valefor..."

"Valefor is a demon who governs and ice. Right now, you must be feeling as if you have swallowed an ice block, right?"

"Endure it..."

"Endure that sensation..."

"Close your eyes."

"Ignore it."

"Pretend that it does not exist.

"Take a deep breath."

"Imagine yourself diving into an incomparably deep ocean."

"Yes, imagine it getting darker as you dive deeper into this ocean."

Ron Samuel had walked over beside Calvin and was whispering these words into his ears.

Eventually, he took a piece of paper with unrecognizable words scribbled on its surface.

Then, he slapped the piece of paper on Calvin's back, before he softly chanted.

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

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

"You are the most benevolent!"

A foul wind stirred up from within the room. This vile wind carried with it a biting chill as it circulated around the protected room.

Ron Samuel knew that he couldn't let his guard down.

What Calvin swallowed might only be the tiniest fragment of Valefor's soul, but Valefor was still a noteworthy demon that Ron Samuel couldn't possibly underestimate.

Crushing the prepared herbs and spiritual ingredients that he had beforehand inside his palm, Ron Samuel continued with his chant.

"For the Goddess loved the world so much, that she established the mightiest temple known to man..."

"Her blessings are abundant, and so does her compassion..."

"The mightiest temple exists nowhere but in man!"

Ron Samuel pointed at Calvin with both of his index and middle finger stuck together and the chilling wind howled.

It intensified.

The demon was in defiance against the strength of the Goddess, but it was futile. The divine might of the Goddess fully suppressed the fragment of Valefor's soul, and it was impossible for it to leave its vessel anymore.

Ron Samuel huffed and puffed as he tried to catch his breath.

"Sigh..."

Eventually, he let out a sigh.

Then, he sat down in one of the chairs in the room and took a cigarette out of his pocket.

Ron Samuel was never a smoker, yet at this moment, he was compelled to consume one.

For today was a crucial day in Calvin's life.

Calvin found himself standing on a battlefield.

Screams filled with all sorts of emotions rang out around him. Yet, amidst the chaotic cacophony of sounds, a faint voice could distinctively be heard, and it sent a mind-numbing chill down Calvin's spine who quickly turned around and found nothing.

"What was that?" Calvin audibly whispered.

Suddenly, an earthquake occurred.

The screams on the battlefield stopped and the warriors risking their life against their enemies disappeared like smoke.

Calvin blinked once and the scenery around him changed.

This time, he found himself staring at the bloodied figure of a woman.

The woman had half of his body severed by something sharp.

She was currently crawling her way over to Calvin with a resentful look on her face amidst her gritted teeth.

"You..."

"You did not deserve to live."

"Why did you have to live, while I die?"

"Answer me, Calvin..."

"Why are you alive?"

"Hey, answer me..."

"Why?"

"Kekeke...hehehe..."

Laughter...

The woman gave off a child's laughter.

Mischievous, yet hollow. The laughter reverberated throughout the darkness of the nothingness where Calvin found himself standing.

Calvin's expression was now starkly different, laced with both the intention to tease, amusement, and some measure of indifference. Smiling faintly, Calvin stared at the woman.

'A Mid-Tier Demon... I really didn't know that the church had fallen this low... To think that they would bother sealing up a Mid-Tier Demon for the fragments of its soul...' Calvin shook his head and stared at the woman in front of him, 'I guess it's time for me to try and use this Emperor's Commandment that 'She' gave to me...'

He lifted his arm and pointed at the woman.

Boom!

As soon as completed these series of actions, a golden light visible to the naked eye erupted from Calvin's body. At the same time, a majestic and domineering voice boomed through the dark, "By the Emperor's Command, all shall obey!"

Swoosh!

A sudden storm swept up as a powerful shockwave visible to the eyes manifested with Calvin at its centre. As the storm started billowing, the expression on the woman's face changed as her body twitched out of terror.

Fear...

Do Demons feel fear?

Perhaps... Because right at this moment, the woman stopped whatever she was doing as she stared with constricted pupils at Calvin who had unleashed his Emperor's Commandment for the very first time.

The fear that she was feeling was something that emanated from the deepest parts of her soul.

The darkness's fear of the light.

And the demons' fear of the gods.

The demon's reaction was a manifestation of its primal instincts when faced with a qualitatively oppressive force.

That's right...

Against the divine, all demons would disperse.

And against the holder of the Emperor's Commandment, all shall obey!

"T-T-The Emperor's Commandment! You... W-W-W-Why do you have that?!" The woman on the ground madly howled as she crumbled into dust and transformed into a vortex made up of innumerable strands of blackened evil qi.

Calvin smiled.

Calvin knew a lot related to the world of Las Felipinas, but to be honest, he had no idea that the Emperor's Commandment existed if not for the fact that he had befriended a demon whom he met in the deepest prison of the Spiral Abyss.

Back then, after he had just saved the world, he had been framed up by the people whom he trusted the most and was sent to the depths of the Spiral Abyss.

The demons of the Spiral Abyss were far worse than any church could handle.

Everyone expected Calvin to die, but he unexpectedly befriended all of the demons on the same floor as him in the Spiral Abyss by showing them that he had the guts to fight them to death.

In essence, demons respected strength the most, while resilience the second.

When they saw how defiant Calvin was of his fate, they decided to spare him on account of him telling them about the recent events upstairs.

This was when Calvin caught ahold of the information that the Goddess of Compassion and Light wielded the strongest Commandment out of all commandments, the Emperor's Commandment.

It turned out that the knowledge about the Emperor's Commandment wasn't so hidden in the ranks of demons.

In fact, some demons even use the Emperor's Commandment as a way to scare their children by saying something along the lines of...

"Don't you dare come out in the morning, or the wielder of the Emperor's Commandment will eat you up!"

"You better be good, or else I will call the holder of the Emperor's Commandment to lock you up in the Spiral Abyss!"

"He's making a list, and he's checking it twice. You better be nice, or he'll come and get ya."

Calvin could still remember that he was almost beaten up for lying by saying that the Emperor's Commandment didn't exist. He was only spared by those terrifying demons after he swore an oath with his Origin as a stake and saying that he had never heard of the Emperor's Commandment before in his entire life.

It was only until he did all of these did the demons forgave him.

Remembering all of these, Calvin suddenly felt all melancholic.

In all honesty, not all demons were bad.

Similar to how one couldn't possibly generalize an entire race due to a few douchebags.

Images of the time that he spent in the Spiral Abyss until the Spiral Abyss's eventual destruction upon the arrival of the invaders flashed across Calvin's mind.

"Baal... Astaroth... I really hope that we will meet each other again..."

"Who knows what will you guys do if you saw me carrying this Emperor's Commandment that you are so terrified of?"

"Hahaha, but I really want to express my gratitude to the two of you."

"After all, both of you are the reason why I am wielding this power at this moment, and I will never forget what happened back then!"

"Once I am powerful enough, I will give the two of you the freedom that you deserved and wanted for so long." Calvin audibly whispered.

He was probably the only one here in this world that knew that Baal and Astaroth were wrongly accused. They were unjustly imprisoned for the crimes that they hadn't committed.

Calvin continued his melancholic trip while the demon, Valefor was already about to pass out from the fear that he was experiencing.

'T-T-This guy...'

'Why is he casually mentioning the names of my Great Demon Ancestors? Why is he addressing them as if they were friends?'

'Just who...'

'Just who is this man...?'

Valefor sized up the man in front of him and he saw that he was indeed wearing the golden robes embroidered with the holy sigil of the Goddess of Compassion and Light as well as the universal sign of justice and the holy presence of the divine dragon and the nirvanic phoenix.

These golden robes were the ultimate evidence that Calvin was indeed the holder of the Emperor's Commandment!

The Goddess of Compassion and Light was the enemy of evil-attributed beings that roam the lands, she was the natural nemesis of all things evil, and likewise— the holder of her commandment wielded so much power that he would be able to deal with a Mid-Tier Demon like Valefor almost effortlessly.

"AAAHHH!!!"

Valefor let out a wild howl.

He desperately charged towards the sky, wanting to break free from the presence of the holder of the Emperor's Commandment, but it was futile.

A massive palm made out of divine light manifested up above him and slapped him back onto the ground.

Boom!

A loud explosion occurred.

"I wield the authority of the Compassionate Light, there is no escape from my presence."

Calvin indifferently declared.

"But seeing as you govern over ice, you must be somehow connected to the bloodline of the Great Demon Astaroth. Granted, Astaroth governs over Fire, but you're still a demon similar to him so the two of you must be connected in blood."

Valefor's lifeless eyes suddenly surged in life. He felt weak all over after he was slapped by that palm made out of divine might.

He was ready to give up and meet his ancestors in the afterlife when he suddenly heard Calvin's words. He raised his head, but he only dared to look at Calvin's feet as he repeatedly nodded his head and replied.

"Yes, yes, yes... That's right, you are absolutely correct, honourable holder of the Emperor's Commandment, I am indeed related to the Ancestor Great Demon Astaroth."

Calvin nodded in satisfaction.

"All right, seeing that you are connected to Astaroth. I will give you a chance. It must've been hard for this fragment of your soul to ascend to such heights as a fragment, right? I'll find a way to spare you if you are able to pass my test." Calvin gave a mysterious smile.

"I thank the honourable sir for his benevolence." Valefor expressed his gratitude.

"So are you willing to go under the test?" Calvin asked.

"Yes, yes, yes... I will do anything so long as the honourable sir spares my life!"

Valefor abandoned his shame and pushed his forehead onto the floor.

"Hehehe..." Calvin gave a burst of faint laughter, "All right, since you are so agreeable. We will now commence the test."

He took a piece of paper out of a mysterious notebook and hurled it over to Valefor.

As the paper was flying through the air, it suddenly exploded into a burst of flames, and in the very next moment.

The appearance of a ghastly demon manifested.

"H-H-Honourable sir, you..." Valefor gasped.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"That is the test..."

"Devour the demon standing in front of you and you will pass." Calvin chuckled.

"But honourable sir, this demon... He's of a higher tier than me!" Valefor was on the verge of crying. He was just a Mid-Tier Demon, but the demon that Calvin hurled at him was a High-Tier Demon!

It was basically impossible for him to survive against such a thing!

Especially when he was this weak.

Soon, screams reverberated throughout the darkness.

Valefor stood no chance at all against the Mortician's Damned Soul that Calvin had nurtured in his notebook nine months ago.

Before the last vestiges of Valefor's consciousness disappeared, the smile on Calvin's face gave him all the hint that Calvin had never planned on sparing him in the first place.

Calvin was just toying with him...