Donnel woke up not in his shabby apartment but in a dimly lit room filled with dusty books and fabric.
He was really surprised. Someone was interested enough to kidnap him and bring him to a godforsaken place.
Although his situation seemed dangerous, he didn't feel a rush to escape or even to take off his handcuffs. He was certain that his life was far from immediate danger since he couldn't find any torture devices nearby.
As he glanced at the door handle, it slowly opened, revealing the butler who had offered him a ride. Glancing behind him, Donnel noticed a long corridor. He muttered, "You were late. It's been nine hundred twenty-six seconds since I woke up!"
The butler gave him an awkward smile and sat beside him before replying, "You seem to have a remarkable memory. I doubt you would forget my face!"
"Isn't that a given?" Donnel pressed, his gaze landing on the butler's hand, which was carrying a piece of fabric.
"Now, I must know why you bothered to take someone like me?" he added, his voice filled with doubt.
The butler slightly chuckled and pulled out a round crystal ball emitting cold smoke. He showed it to Donnel, and it caught his attention.
"This is lumen, a material form of spiritual essence taken from a spirit," the butler explained, caressing it with his hand. He stood up and continued, "I want you to devour it!"
Donnel couldn't help but laugh. "Spirit? Who are you, stupidly delusional?" he said mockingly.
The butler did not take him seriously and said, "You are a professor in spiritualism, am I right?"
The butler's questions left him silent. It dawned on him that the butler knew him to some extent. "Yes..." he replied.
"Then, you're familiar with Realmacophy, a state of the reality being divided into seven realms, known as the Seven Realms of Reality," the butler muttered, placing the lumen on his hips.
Donnel remained silent while glaring at the lumen. After a few seconds, he broke his silence and asked, "Are you some sort of cult?"
Silence lingered after his question. The butler gave him a cold stare before saying, "We prefer to be called Evangelists, since we are followers of Ñevangeline, but you nearly got it."
Donnel put aside his beliefs and asked, "What are you planning after I eat this?"
The butler smiled in understanding and said, "Nothing in particular."
Donnel felt the lie behind his smile, and it made him feel uneasy. Now he realized that those guys did not even need any device to put someone in danger. Their existence alone was dangerous.
The butler grabbed his face and forced him to open his mouth. Donnel tried to kick him, but strangely, his legs remained stiff. The butler slowly put the glowing object inside his mouth before forcing him to swallow it by pouring water down his throat.
As Donnel swallowed the lumen, the butler laughed menacingly, saying, "Congratulations, vessel, be one with the spirit! I am Robert Von Elcross, the maestro of the moon."
He continued laughing, which made Donnel feel sick. Robert saw the unpleasant look on Donnel's face and exclaimed, "I know it! You're still clueless!"
He bowed his head and continued, "Allow me to enlighten you. Everyone living inside the realms of reality is a spiritual being, including humans. We're just trapped in a physical body, unable to exert our freedom."
"That's okay, since some spiritual beings wanted those restrictions, and we could exchange our bodies for that freedom. That lumen you just ate serves as a catalyst for spiritual ascension," he added, tapping Donnel's shoulder.
Donnel couldn't help but feel pity for Robert. Even the pain in his muscles couldn't stop him from smiling. He glared into Robert's eyes and murmured, "Look at you... you're lower than a man."
Robert didn't like the sharpness of his words, so he slapped Donnel in the face. Donnel's cheeks turned bright red from the slap. Beneath his bowed head, covered with his long silver hair, his eyes shone briefly.
The pain throughout his body had already disappeared, but the feeling of being slapped on his cheek remained.
Robert left the room upset. The feeling of being humiliated tasted strange to him. He didn't understand why he felt bothered by those words, and he doubted he would ever understand.
Back inside the dimly lit room, Donnel finally made up his mind. Now that he understood their intentions, he realized they could be useful.
Indeed, he was intrigued by everything he witnessed. The mere fact that they had kidnapped him and forced him to swallow a foreign object raised his wariness.
He didn't need to rely on Robert to understand his situation, and he didn't want to waste his life just to let anyone take over his body.
Now that he was already involved with the cult, he wanted to gather as much information as possible. That was his goal, as his life depended on it. He knew it wasn't easy, but for some reason, he felt a little thrilled, as if he were more alive than ever.
While Donnel was preoccupied with his thoughts, Robert was outside looking at his pocket watch. "Seven days," he whispered.
He knew it would take seven days for them to become completely corrupted and turn into healthy vessels. Yet somehow, he felt it was too long.
Feeding them another lumen would definitely kill them, so that wasn't an option. Whether he liked it or not, he had to proceed with the ritual of introduction as any evangelist would do.
For his faith and power, he needed to create more vessels, bringing chaos into the world. At least now he had five new victims locked in the building behind him.
"Faith to Ñevangeline! Blood and freedom!" he exclaimed.
His words traveled around the compound and were greeted by much louder cheers.
The followers gathered around Robert as they shouted, "Hail to the true God! Hail to the Savior!"
The cheers became music to his ears. They made him feel calm and confident.
As the cheers grew louder, Robert smirked and declared, "The seven-day feast now begins! The introduction will commence!"