NOVPUBThe atmosphere in the hall was so tense that it could almost be cut through.
Caius was sitting in his high seat, coldly watching the candidates in the distance.
The deep grey heavy-armored priest beside him held his breath, as if the air in the entire hall had been frozen.
In less than a minute, a ruffian took the lead and submitted his disrespectful act towards the Goddess of Destiny to Grand Priest Caius.
"Grand Priest Caius, I have completed it."
The submitter presented the shattered Statue of Goddess of Destiny, with a confident smile on his face.
However.
Caius just glanced at him coldly.
And shook his head.
"Just destruction, the level of insult is too low."
The color of the ruffian’s face changed abruptly, he wanted to say something to defend himself.
But seeing Caius make a gesture, the deep gray heavy-armored priest beside him immediately stepped forward, firmly grabbed his arm, and dragged him towards the deep passage of the hall.
The ruffian’s face was filled with fear and disbelief, he shouted: "I am loyal to the Rebirth Church! I have not betrayed!"
No one responded, his shout echoed in the empty hall until it disappeared.
The other candidates who saw this scene felt a chill.
"Such perfunctory works cannot prove your loyalty to me well, and once there is not enough loyalty, there will be serious suspicion of the Church of the Goddess of Destiny, we will detain and observe."
After Caius finished speaking, he fell silent again, propping his chin with one hand.
Some ruffians immediately began nervously correcting their works, fearing that they too would be disqualified.
At this time, some people at the stage started to understand.
Caius wouldn’t let anyone who passed the written test go to the Hegemony Branch, regardless of whether the candidate actually had any suspicion of the Church of Goddess of Destiny.
Eating up everyone in the scene, that was his real goal.
Originally thought that no one would submit their work immediately.
But in less than ten seconds.
A tall woman wearing silver skirt armor stood up and walked directly to Caius on the high platform.
She placed a cubic stone with clear facets on the table.
"..."
This made Caius stunning for a while.
He didn’t expect Sikder, the most suspicious, to be so straightforward.
She simply restored the Statue of the Goddess of Fate to the most common stone material.
A stone block, unknown whether she used a special magic or purely skilled to create it.
"Decisive and quick, I’ll consider it as you pass."
After thinking for a while, Caius placed this stone block on the left side of the table.
He didn’t discard the candidates’ works like before, but accepted it, which was a proof of qualification.
The suspicion that Sikder may be an undercover of the Church of the Goddess of Fate has now become deeper.
But if she really is an undercover, he is more interested in recruiting her to play with her, to let her experience what it is like to be unable to escape and extreme desperation. 𝖓𝔬𝔳𝖕𝖚𝖇.𝖈𝔬𝔪
Quite a few people in the audience looked up slightly.
In their view, this silver skirt armored woman’s work could be either qualified or unqualified.
But maybe it is because of her firm and decisive attitude that made Caius decide to let her pass.
Sikder returned to her original seat immediately afterwards, her expression was as cold as ever, crossing her arms and closing her eyes to rest, waiting for the announcement of the final review content in more than twenty minutes.
Time went by every second.
Next, some ruffians gradually finished their works and stepped forward to submit.
The renowned "Fire Tongue" Rador among this group slowly walked up, his red hair was scattered in the wind, looking like burning flames. He placed his completed Statue of Goddess of Destiny in front of Caius, burning it with fire until it was charred black, becoming an ugly charred corpse that was brutally abused and barely resembles a human.
Caius stared at it for a while, nodded, placed this work on the table, and signaled him to step down.
The imitator of the Bishop of Destruction, Rador, smiled confidently and looked back. Apparently, he also thought his work met the requirements.
However, the next few submitters were not so lucky.
Their works were deemed unqualified by Caius, who directly threw them into the garbage heap, and the submitters were taken away by the deep grey heavy-armored priests, causing panic among the candidates in the audience every time.
Almost every submitter cried out "I am loyal to the Rebirth Church! Why?" non-stop when they were grabbed by the deep grey heavy-armored priests.
But Caius seemed careless about it, he simply looked at the next applicant quietly.
Not until [Meat Slag] Graf stepped up with a solemn demeanor, his massive figure making the entire stage seem narrow.
He put down the disassembled statue of the Goddess of Destiny, much like he normally handled humans. Caius could even see tiny traces of blood on it.
Caius was silent for a moment. "This piece... isn’t bad."
Afterward,
Several villains who were favoured during the written test review submitted good answers. [Poison Stinger] Walter carved the statue of the Goddess of Destiny into a human figure who died bleakly due to forbidden live modification. [Blood Throat] Ji Ya applied Music Rhythm Magic to the statue of the Goddess of Destiny, turning her into an evil deity struggling and howling in hell.
[Eye Collector] Toles, who submitted his work after them, slowly approached and gave his modified Statue of Goddess of Destiny to Caius.
The eyes of the statue had been removed, and numerous small holes were dug on its body, filled with beast eyes resembling living organisms from an unknown origin. Unknown which magic was used, all the eyeballs would simultaneously rotate and meet Caius’ look when he gazed at the statue.
Even Caius felt a little nauseous, placing it on the table as a qualified work.
As the examinees submitted their works sequentially, those who made no progress became more nervous because of these "art pieces".
The sound of the gears of the large clock above the door did not stop, and each rotation represented the passage of the remaining time.
"There are the last ten minutes."
Caius’ voice sounded, cold and emotionless,
"Failure to complete on time is directly regarded as a follower of the Church of the Goddess of Destiny."
His words blew like a cold wind, lowering the temperature in the hall.
Surely such punishment and threats were highly deterrent to other examinees who had not yet submitted their works, causing them to engross more in their work.
Some of the examinees looked back at the clock, eyes revealing tension and unease, while others remained calm, seemingly confident that their works would gain Caius’ recognition.
The final reviewers who have already passed qualification sat in place, their faces expressionless.
They just waited for the end of the final time, the arrival of the final exam.
The number of working candidates was reducing, the crisp sound from the tools and the statue could hardly drown out the sound of the clock gears.
Caius sat in the main seat, leaning slightly and propping his chin with his hand.
Although he didn’t focus on any examinee.
There was only left that young man called Rocky among the remaining candidates that he was concerned about.
He felt that a person who can produce such an examination paper would have almost no suspicion of being a clergy of the Church of the Goddess of Destiny.
But this re-examination is necessary to identify every person’s identity.
Even if his written test results are excellent, once they prove guardedly as to the stand and loyalty, they must be destroyed so that no one else can use them.
Finally, in Caius’ anticipation,
Lanci finished his work, his eyes showing a bit of satisfaction, and a hint of fatigue. He stood up and walked towards Caius.
He presented his work in front of Caius.
It was a reshaped statue of the Goddess of Destiny.
Caius slightly raised his head, looked at Lanci, and then turned to his work.
Then his gaze seemed to be fixed on the figure of the Goddess of Destiny, becoming silent for a good while.
Meanwhile, due to the too unusual silence caused by Caius who failed to evaluate for a long time, the examinees gradually turned their attention to Lanci’s work.
The young man who was submitting maintained a very calm demeanor.
But his work puzzled Caius.
The Goddess of Destiny, whom he carved, changed a little in posture, was reshaped into a new action, and was extremely delicate.
As if sculpted by a world-class craftsman, the posture of the goddess was vivid, warm as if it would move the next second.
When other candidates saw Lanci’s work, they couldn’t help but be amazed by its artistry.
If they were all amateurs, this guy was absolutely professional in professionalism. They had never seen such a level of sculptor before. Even the greed was revealed in their eyes, greatly suppressing the impulse to snatch the statue. This masterpiece must be worth a fortune!
But they soon noticed the problem with this modified statue.
Their expression also became akin to Caius.
The goddess statue, which was always filled with divinity and tranquility, even raised an arrogant smile at her corner of her mouth. The pose became a repelling gesture with the palm facing inwards, with the index and middle fingers held high forming a V shape.
There is quite a sense of contempt for all the villains present in the hall.
Nominally, anyone who could mold the Goddess of Destiny into such a shining, beautiful and moving figure should be directly judged as unqualified.
However, Caius found a type of bimodality in this guy --
He felt a little unsure whether Rocky was praising the goddess or defaming the goddess?
