Calvin: "Where Are They?"

One day earlier.

Radiant Holy See, dusk.

Calvin was not in a good mood.

The words spoken by that Child of Curse this morning still lingered in his mind.

As one born alongside the radiance, as the Son of the Priest, Calvin's life should have been glorious and smooth.

Born into a Holy See family, he had received the title "Child of Radiance" during his first prayer. At only sixteen, he had already reached the threshold of a Second-tier Sorcerer. In this Border City, he should have been the standout of the new generation.

He had known Candidate Saintess Luojia long before that Child of Curse.

In the past days, he often presented himself as the Saintess's childhood sweetheart. Though Luojia was not particularly familiar with him, he had still placed himself in that role.

This had brought him much glory and convenience, and many people respected him.

Until that Child of Curse was recommended by Luojia and came to the great Radiant Holy See.

People's attention was gradually stolen by that outsider.

It had also been his first prayer, yet he had received a title.

Every day, he studied in the library, pretending to work hard. He was as hypocritical as that irritating smile of his.

And he had even affected Calvin.

He was clearly just a Child of Curse.

But Calvin knew these humiliating days were about to end. His father had already found several small Heresy Strongholds for him. Tonight, he would lead his father's Holy Knights to wipe out those evil cultists.

On this Night of the Red Moon, he would become famous throughout this Border City. Great radiance was about to descend upon the world!

The Holy Knights were necessary.

According to the Goddess's rules, he had to personally destroy Esoteric Cultists in order to gain Faith Points.

But he could not eliminate so many Esoteric Cultists on his own.

That was where the Holy Knights came in. They would deal with the high-ranking cultists Calvin could not handle, leaving only the weak believers for him to slaughter.

This plan was foolproof.

This was the foundation of his family.

By then, becoming a Second-tier Sorcerer at sixteen would surely make even Your Excellency Luojia look at him in a new light.

Thinking of all this, a faint smile appeared on his lips.

The sun slowly sank. The setting sun dyed the mountains blood-red, and layers upon layers of fiery clouds spread across the sky, covering half the heavens.

The blood moon was about to be born from the brightest red Blood Cloud.

Dusk gradually closed in, and the bells of a church rang in the distance.

Calvin had already finished today's lessons.

He rose and dressed himself. The Sacred Robe crafted by a master artisan, the ruby-inlaid staff, and the Blood-red Cloak trailing along the ground made him solemn and holy, like an apostle of the gods.

"Lord Calvin, are you ready?"

"I'm here." He pushed open the door, a solemn and dazzling smile on his face, utterly unlike the gloomy expression he had worn in his room. "All of you blessed by the radiance, I bless you."

He bent at the waist, lowered his head, placed his left hand over his chest, and performed an impeccable blessing salute.

The moment Calvin appeared, half the Holy See's believers were captivated by his bearing.

That attire, that presence—he was every inch a Saint born to be one.

The Border City was not large. Many believers who loved excitement had long heard that the Son of the Priest would personally hunt witches tonight, and they had all come to witness this Saint's splendor.

Everyone held great expectations for Calvin.

Calvin's sharp eyes noticed Luojia conducting mass before the statue, and a satisfied smile appeared on his lips.

She really can't let go of me.

Luojia wore a pure white robe today. She knelt quietly before the statue, while the warm breeze brushed through her moonlight-like hair.

She was deeply devout during mass and had not noticed what was happening around her at all.

Calvin walked straight up in front of her and dropped to one knee. "Honored lady, this humble person is deeply honored that you have come to see this humble person off."

Interrupted during her mass, Luojia opened her eyes with slight confusion, tilted her head, and nearly blurted out, "Who are you?"

She was genuinely bewildered.

Luojia had merely come to pray, hoping Ansu could pass the following Saint Trial.

But she was still polite, so she only said awkwardly, "Hello."

"Tonight's honor is offered to you, my Saintess."

Before everyone's eyes, Calvin swept out his robe. "I shall offer to you every honor I gain tonight. This is my promise. May Divine Radiance bless you!"

"So romantic."

"A Saint's promise."

"I'm so jealous."

"They're a match made in heaven."

Calvin's words stirred up quite a discussion among the crowd. Those gossip-loving Girls in particular chatted excitedly with their companions.

Luojia was still bewildered. She blinked her eyes. "Ah... then, thank you?"

After thinking for a long time, she finally remembered the flamboyant man in front of her. He seemed to be Father Luwen's son.

She then added, awkward but polite, "I-I'm looking forward to it?"

As though pumped full of adrenaline, Calvin stood up, gave another gentlemanly bow, and walked toward the Holy Knights.

The Holy Knights were fully equipped. There were thirteen knights in total, all Second-tier Saints of the Holy See under the Priest's administration.

"You needn't be so polite." The leader was an adult woman with brilliant gold long hair. She looked at Calvin with appreciation. "We will be colleagues from now on."

"You are my senior. Naturally, I should respect you." Calvin appeared humble, courteous, elegant, and composed, drawing frequent glances from the female believers nearby.

"Let us depart." Calvin bowed again to the believers around him. "Everyone, please await my triumphant return."

It was now eleven at night. Darkness had fully settled in, and the blood moon was at its peak.

Beneath the illumination of the blood-red night, they rode the Holy See's iron steeds out through the city gates.

They would begin by clearing the Heresy Stronghold closest to the city. Riding hard five kilometers east, they would find a river, and on the eastern side of that river was a cave. Calvin still remembered the location his father had given him.

The Holy See's hoofbeats shattered midnight's silence. They soon reached the river, followed it upstream, and found the cave.

Heat surged through Calvin. He could already see his brilliant future. He felt like a holy knight saving all living beings, here today to eradicate evil for his Saintess.

—Those Esoteric Cultists and that Child of Curse, he would slaughter every last one of them.

He dismounted at once, staff in hand, and charged into the cave first.

The cave was dark, but a bright future awaited within that darkness.

"Repent, you lowly bastards," Calvin sneered inwardly.

He finally reached the very center of the cave and saw the enormous altar. He drew out his staff and was about to cast Holy Light Magic.

But halfway through the spell, he stopped abruptly.

"?"

The surroundings were terrifyingly silent. Only Calvin's puzzled voice echoed through the empty cave.

"Where are they?"

The update will be on time. The next chapter will be released together with it, so I won't wait until eight this time to avoid disrupting everyone's mood.

Also, there were some data issues in the previous two chapters, and Yudi has revised them.

Please forgive any errors in the data. Yudi wrote while feverish and dizzy, so my mind was not clear.

Relatives came over during the Spring Festival, and the virus infected Yudi's whole family, hahaha hehehe. I'm in great spirits.