Chapter 11: Sanctum

After God's death, every type of church disappeared and was replaced with sanctum.

The Fallen's sanctum and Angel's sanctum. People would worship the archangels in the sanctums and it's also there one will get a baptism to awaken an element to be considered as a real Awakener.

Dante did not immediately head to the sanctuary as he made a small detour into one of many stores selling new technology. After the angel's arrival and the change their takeover brought, former technology has become useless, most of them. Smartphones could not survive inside the dungeons as they would break easily no matter how sturdy they are built, so a new type of smartphone was born, a SmartWatch, a silver bracelet made of a special metal housing a smart chip. By taping on this, a small window will pop up and you can navigate through the many options, just like on a smartphone, you can connect to the internet and do everything a smartphone can do, you can choose to show what the other party will see, so there is no need to be concerned with someone spying on you from behind.

And above everything else, because it's loaded with your genetic information so that it can show your status, a pretty convenient function.

After buying a Smartwatch and a pair of earbuds which cost him 7000 UD, Dante finally headed to the sanctum. Using the GPS on the smartwatch he was able easily located the sanctum which was located in the north district of the Sunset city.

A big building painted white stood before him. The moment Dante took a step forward, heading into the sanctum he was met with the ringing sound of prayers akin to madness.

In front of the gate that led to the sanctum were crowds of people that had gathered to try and win over the hearts of the lord of this place so that they could become Awakeners with an element.

Desperation could be felt by most of those present. Worn-out clothes and dark grime covered their bodies; a dreadful stench pricked Dante's nose. They hadn't bathed for days on end.

It was a world where the value of life became an amusing joke.

Life was nothing but an endless misery for those without power, wealth, and authority.

Dante only glanced at them once and that's all.

He had neither the obligation nor willingness to care about others' lives. It's meaningless to try something for those whose sole purpose is to live underneath someone as they willingly refused to fight and will always stay a slave.

Passing by the people gathered in front of the gates, he headed towards the gate that led to the sanctum.

A humongous black gate that seemed to reach over 20 meters.

Just by looking at the majestic door with blurry carvings, he could feel the overwhelming pressure pouring out.

Dante moved his feet towards the gate without hesitation.

There wasn't anyone guarding or confirming identities at the entrance.

There was no reason to.

It would be no different from a rabbit protecting the entrance of a tiger's den.

What kind of insane Awakener would make a fuss at the sanctuary owned by one of the strongest beings in the current world? Humanity's savior.

No one would dare to do that.

[Master, I will go into a dormant state to not be detected by the special existence within the sanctum. I will come out once there's no danger.]

Nemesis announced forcing him to come to a momentary stop before resuming.

''I understand.''

He then passed through the gate that blazed with intense purple light. He was momentarily dazed because he was surrounded by nothing but darkness along with the feeling of floating...

"...''

...the scene of the cosmos unfolded.

Uncountable stars sparkled in the black darkness.

From the information gathered those weren't real stars but elements, people call this 'the First touch' before you will be teleported into one of the many gates to see the priest that would initiate your baptism. If you don't experience this then you can't awaken an element. The more stars you see the greater your potential will be.

Dante was teleported before a purple ancient-looking door after experiencing a mind-blowing First touch.

He touched the door and he was immediately sucked in by the purple light emanating from the door, disappearing.

°°°°°°

[You've come.]

After getting absorbed by the purple light, a beautiful voice echoed out in his head.

Religious symbols and glamorous murals were nowhere to be seen in the empty sanctuary.

Inside, a brilliantly shining white-haired woman was floating. She was dressed in a black nun outfit that clung tightly to her hourglass figure.

Dante lifted his head and the moment he did his heterochromia eyes met a pair of devilish red eyes.

''!"

His body trembled and he felt all the bones inside him being crushed, the pressure tried to force him onto his knees but he stubbornly refused to do so and after what seemed to be an eternity for him however in reality only one second passed, the pressure trying to crush him disappeared letting him gasping for air.

''Hah! hah!"

''Not bad. You can be useful to the Lord. I have been waiting for your arrival Oh! cursed child.''

The High priest, the one nicknamed the Black Witch stopped floating and stood before him.

Dante didn't pay any heed to the way she called because at the moment he was concerned about something.

'She is strong. She is fucking strong.'

He could feel it, her senses were ringing the alarm bell at him not to try anything before this woman, or else he would die without knowing when. The difference in strength between them is too, she was the first person he met outside that gave him a natural sense of helplessness due to the gap in strength, it was as if he was standing in the front of an abysmal hole depriving of his will, still, he could not lose here.

Taking a deep breath to regain total control over every cell inside his body, Dante lifted his head, and once again his heterochromia eyes met those devilish red eyes, this time he was perfectly calm as he declared.

''I'm here now. Can we start already?"