Inside the testing facility, every single candidate for the selection was present.
Be it the normal ones without special abilities or the ones with special abilities.
That's why the facility felt a bit more packed than usual.
But despite being this packed, there was an eerie silence blanketing the surroundings.
The fear of the unknown, mixed with spine-chilling rumors about a heretic inquisitor, really set the mood.
A rather murky and heart-racing mood.
Woosh!
An oppressive pressure descended upon every single person present in the facility.
Clank! Clank!
Heavy metallic footsteps echoed, grabbing everyone's attention to the corner of the room.
SCRRRRCH!
A man, clad in heavy, white metallic armor from head to toe, entered the facility in measured steps.
He had an overwhelming amount of turquoise aura flowing behind him, which was why there was this mountainous pressure on everyone.
His sheer presence made everyone clatter.
'Holy fuck!' Raven mumbled, clenching his teeth, and a maniacal grin adorned his face.
Sweat broke out on his forehead.
The grin was an involuntary reaction to seeing what this knight was dragging behind it.
The thing that was producing such a harsh scraping noise.
It was a sword.
Or maybe even a spear.
'What the fuck is that!?'
The knight was already like 200 cm tall, but that sword.
It was twice as big as him.
He wondered if that thing was even practical.
The blade on that thing alone was as big as a normal sword wielded by people.
And the handle was bigger than the blade.
Damn!
They really were crazy.
The knight stepped in front of them and drifted his gaze upon everyone.
Even the gaze was oppressive.
"I am an Inquisitor appointed by the Holy State, and my rank is Lord."
His voice was heavy and deep, and hearing it felt like he had barbed wires coiling his throat.
"You should address me as Lord Inquisitor."
A direct order.
His entire face was covered by the helmet, but his eyes were visible through a slit.
They were as serious as they came.
"I was officially appointed by the revered Cardinals to be the leader of this new order."
"Today would be the last phase of the screening test, as designed by His Eminence, Cardinal Mark Alfaro."
Everyone already knew about the last phase, since that was listed in the paper provided.
It was going to be an interview.
"The interview phase can veto your entire test score, so beware."
After that, he scanned the room again, as if looking for someone.
"You!" He looked straight towards a black-haired individual in the crowd.
Raven was taken aback as he noticed his gaze piercing into him.
He pointed his fingers towards himself and asked, "Me?"
"Follow me," He said, as he easily shifted his massive sword to another hand, "You will be the first."
"As you wish, Lord Inquisitor."
He wasn't brave or foolish enough to complain about this.
All he could do was obey his command.
He had a faint suspicion about this decision, but he had no way of being completely sure.
Pevon looked at him with a pitiful gaze, as if he were saying his final goodbyes to someone dying.
Raven wanted to say something back, but he couldn't.
He mechanically followed Lord Inquisitor to a room adjacent to the facility, lifting up the oppressive pressure they were feeling.
The facility was silent, despite no one to supervise them.
The revered Cardinals were nowhere near as scary or forgiving as Lord Inquisitor.
Despite being weaker than they were, he had a greater impact on them.
Which was understandable, since Cardinals were the faces of the church.
They were not only powerful but also influential, and were celebrated as heroes.
They represented the Church to the public.
But on the other hand, the inquisitors were the ones doing the dirty work for the church.
Heretic purges, crusades, accursed slaying, and so on.
The inquisitors were the shadow that the Church cast.
They had no image to maintain, no social norm applied to them, and even common sense wasn't so common to them.
They really did what they wanted.
And since they were very protected by the Church, they often got away with many things.
This is why they were so scary.
They were powerful and had no restraints.
And the criteria for becoming one also made most of them psychopathic.
…
Inside a dimly lit room, made up of nothing but stones and lit with torches, there were two wooden chairs.
There wasn't even a table in between.
On one of the chairs sat Raven, looking in front of him in complete silence.
And in front of him, sitting, was the towering Lord Inquisitor, his massive sword right next to him.
It wasn't even fitting vertically in the room.
Raven wondered how the chair was even supporting the weight of his armor.
"I, Raven Marlowe, pay my respects to Lord Inquisitor."
"Do you have any idea why I called you out first?" His grating voice pierced his eardrums.
"Did her Eminence, Cardinal Eve Marlowe, ask you to?" He had this gnawing feeling that this would be the case.
"Correct!" He affirmed, "She asked me to punish you for your impudence."
Gulp!
'Why does he sound so angry?'
"Since you are her eminence's brother, you would be selected in the Order, whether I allow you or not."
Was he against nepotism?
Would he like to hear the fact that Raven was in the same boat?
He wanted to say this, but couldn't.
"Your punishment would be rather simple."
Raven could only pray that this would not be something crazy.
He hated pain.
"You and your team would be part of the first mission issued for the Arbiter Order."
Damn!
'I am sorry, Pevon, and the rest.' He secretly prayed for them, since his punishment affected them too.
"I understand, Lord Inquisitor," Raven didn't let any of his emotion show.
"Now," Suddenly, the ambience and mood of the room changed.
It got heavier.
"Let's begin the interview."