Because the goddess was with him, the "corpses" hanging in the church were unusually quiet. There was none of the "chorus" Abner had heard the last time he passed through.
They even tried to turn their bodies so their "fronts" faced away from the goddess.
The Empress of Fear indeed... Abner muttered inwardly. He followed the familiar path, step by step, to the Black Altar deep within the church.
Looking behind and to the side of the altar, he saw, as expected, a handsome man sitting cross-legged, his hair as black as the night sky—Alvin Abraham.
But unlike last time, Abner, now a Dominator of Mysteries, could clearly see invisible tendrils extending from the statue of the Mother of Heaven on the altar, binding Alvin's body fast.
No wonder I couldn't move an inch after using the same method I'd used to control the Bone Dragon to achieve Spirit Synchronization with Alvin last time, even though I could briefly use his abilities... The goddess had him tied up tight!
After a few more inward grumbles, Abner turned to the goddess beside him.
The goddess understood. She nodded slightly, and without any visible movement from her, the invisible tendrils binding Alvin withdrew into the statue.
"You may begin," the goddess said softly.
Her voice was gentle. Those few words sounded like a serenade.
Already prepared, Abner wasted no time. He took out various materials and arranged them around the body of Alvin the Wanderer to aid the Alvin Resurrection Art he was about to perform.
"Alvin Resurrection Art" was the name Abner had given the Secret Art that his past selves had finally perfected through generations of effort.
Once that was done, Abner rested for over ten minutes, replenishing his spent Spirituality and bringing himself to peak condition.
Only then did