North Ufiga inland, in the capital city of AddusâYadith.
On the outskirts of Yadith, inside the Temple of Revelation Runes, Dorothy remains within a hidden dimension that seems separated from the real world by only a thin veil, consulting ancient knowledge long buried for millennia.
Because Dorothy is the first Revelation visitor in thousands of years, the templeâs library system, dormant for so long, has resumed operation at her request. Characters floating throughout this secret space shift and reassemble incessantly before her eyes, forming new passages that unveil the latter half of the Revelation Path.
Using Chalice for Revelation, Spiritual Thread Path: Threadweaver Shaman â Fate-Binding Spindle
Using Stone for Revelation, Roaring Fury Path: Thunder Summoner â Heaven Decree Envoy
Using Shadow for Revelation, Bewitching Dreams Path: Dream Voyager â Bizarre Author
Using Lantern for Revelation, Foresight Path: Prophecy Scholar â Light Gazer
Using Oneâs Body for Revelation, Pure Reason Path: Arcane Professor â Omni-Law Mentor
//e_win
In Dorothyâs eyes, the drifting text arranges itself into readable Universal Script. All five methods of advancing from White Ash to Crimson within the Revelation Path spread out before her. Staring at the dense passages, she finds herself briefly entranced. After skimming the entire document, she narrows her focus to the section she needs most: the advancement ritual for the Pure Reason Path.
âŠ
In the advancement ritual from White Ash-rank Arcane Professor to Crimson-rank Omni-Law Mentor, the Arcane Professor must fill 50 points of Revelation spiritualityâexcluding their inherent spirituality. Beyond that, each of the other five spiritual domains must reach two-fifths capacity, 20 points each.
Along with these spirituality requirements, the Arcane Professor must also acquire six ritual implements, each an artifact imbued with divine blessing by a different one of six deities in separate spiritual domains. These deities may be of any pure- or mixed-color deities, so long as each belongs to a distinct one of the six domains. Only by arranging six deity-blessed items can the ritual circle for ascending to Omni-Law Mentor be established, enabling a true transition to the higher Crimson-rank Beyonder.
âŠ
Standing in the distorted temple hall, Dorothy stares at the newly formed words floating before her, her expression involuntarily slipping into deep thought. Having finally obtained the ritual for Crimson advancement, her mind races with possibilities.
âOmni-Law Mentor⊠so thatâs the title of my next rank? As I suspected, the spirituality requirement isnât small at all. Needing 50 points of Revelation is manageableâI already have 42. Just a bit more to go. The tougher part is the 20 points each in the other five domains. As of now, I only barely satisfy Chalice and Shadow. Shadow is exactly 20 points; if I use it even slightly, itâll drop below the threshold. Given how often I tap into Shadow, itâs easy to deplete by accident.
âAnd as for the rest of the domains, none of them meet the requirement. Silence isnât too badâI donât use it much, and Iâm up to 14. I can hit 20 by reading a couple more books. But aside from Silence, things look bleak. Lantern and Stone are both still under 10. Filling them will take a lot of workâŠâ
Dorothy thinks this as she eyes the surrounding clusters of text. After evaluating her spiritual situation, she focuses on the specifics of the advancement ritual.
âLike earlier rituals, stepping into Crimson rank also requires items from all six spiritual domains. For Black Earth, you needed six mystical texts. For White Ash, six holy symbols. Now, at Crimson rank, itâs even stricterâyou need six items blessed by godsâŠ
âMystical texts and holy symbols were one thing. Theyâre not inherently rare, just tricky to track down. But âdeity-blessedâ items are on another level: these âgod-touchedâ artifacts mean a lot to every major sect that worships their respective deityâŠâ
She furrows her brow at the thought. A deity-blessed item is something granted through the personal prayers of a high-ranking religious official, imbued with divine grace. Unlike the commonly seen holy symbols, these artifacts have serious value for each sect. Though not on par with âgod-bestowed relicsâ or âsacred treasures,â theyâre still important enough to be heavily guardedâcertainly not something you can acquire by simply donating money.
âSix deity-blessed items from different spiritual domains⊠tsk, thatâs no small matter. In the Radiance Church, a divine-blessed artifact is valuable enough to warrant its own modest chapel for safekeeping. No ordinary means could ever obtain something like thatâŠ
âStill, at least the requirement isnât limited to purely aligned main gods. That means that if I manage to get artifacts blessed by a mixed-color deity, itâll still count toward the ritual. That definitely lowers the difficulty a bit. If it had demanded six Pure-Color Deities, that wouldâve been almost impossibleâŠâ
Such were Dorothyâs continued musings. She was relieved to see that not all the artifacts had to come from Pure-Color Deitiesâgiven how sparse their worship had become, acquiring purely aligned deity-blessed items would be unimaginably difficult. With mixed-color deities allowed, though still challenging, at least she had some avenues to pursue.
Six deity-blessed items; gathering that many would demand tremendous effort on Dorothyâs part. Even so, she already had one in her possessionâthe Deep Blue Heart, obtained from the Abyssal Church. That blue gem, which could summon the sea progeny Haimohois, was indeed a deity-blessed item of the Chalice domain!
âNot sure if it was the Mother of Chalice or the Abyssal Serpent who blessed this Deep Blue Heart, but as long as itâs definitely god-touched, thatâs good enough. One of the six tasks solved before I even properly startedâcanât thank the Abyssal Church enoughâŠâ
Recalling the Deep Blue Heart stored in her magic box, Dorothy thought back to how annoyed sheâd been when she first bumped into the Abyssal Church on her trip. Now, she just wanted to thank them for bringing out a deity-blessed artifact so she could snatch it.
âSo thatâs the Chalice artifact sorted. Still need five more. For the Stone domain, I can ask Beverly about the Craftsmenâs Guild to see if they have any deity-blessed items to rent. Dealing with those profiteers might be feasible if I have enough money, but renting a deity-blessed artifact must cost a fortune, and my wallet might not handle thatâŠ
âAs for the Shadow artifact, maybe the little fox can help. Sheâs a descendant of the Dream Knight faith and might know about a Dream Knight deity-blessed item. If that fails, Iâll have to rely on that Eight-Spired Nestâs Spider Queen. Lantern, however, is a real headacheâsure, the Church definitely has divine artifacts, but how to get my hands on one is another question. I canât just donate money like I did for a holy emblem. This time Iâll probably have to rely on Vaniaâs internal maneuvering. And thereâs no easy way to secure a Silence artifact either. Maybe Iâll luck out again and run into the Nether Coffin Order, then take something from themâŠ
âFinally, for Revelation⊠not sure if I can replicate the same trick I used to forge that holy emblem last timeâŠâ
Standing in the warped temple hall, Dorothy turned these ideas over in her mind. After many detours, she had at last obtained the Crimson advancement ritual. Now she had a clearer objective for her next steps, and it was time to withdraw.
âPhew⊠at least Iâve managed to secure the ritual. The main goal I came to Addus for is done. Nowâs the time to get out of here.
âI wonder how things are going on Vaniaâs side of the negotiations? If theyâre getting nowhere, so be itâjust declare no results and head back. World peace for a nation isnât something we can force if itâs clearly impossible. As long as sheâs safe, thatâs all that mattersâŠâ
So reflecting, Dorothy prepared to contact Vania through her information channel by praying to Aka, to check on how the negotiations were proceeding. Judging from the time, the second round should have reached its mid-session break by now.
Before long, Dorothy successfully got in touch with Vania. But the news she received took her aback.
âWhat? Youâre saying Muhtar already left?â
âYes⊠thatâs exactly it, Miss Dorothea. I only just found out. The Saviorâs Advent people vanished from the lounge, and the guards said they didnât stop to rest after the first half but left straight awayâŠâ
Inside the palaceâs negotiation hall, Vania in white attire sat at a large circular table, her face full of worry as she eyed a stack of documents. Not far from her, Shadiâthe revolutionary leaderâlooked gravely out into the night through the window, equally stunned by Muhtarâs departure.
âThey just walked out? What happened?â
Dorothy asked curiously, and Vaniaâstill in the negotiation hallâcontinued explaining telepathically.
âActually, nothing special happened. The negotiations went the same as beforeâour side and the Saviorâs Advent Sect have major differences with practically no room for consensus. Mr. Shadi remained silent, never clarifying his stance. The discussion was in a stalemate with no progress. I wanted to keep going, and so did Mr. Shadi, but Muhtar evidently grew impatient. Before the break, he was already showing signs of agitation. His tone grew increasingly harsh, and he began saying he had no intention of wasting more time on these fruitless talks.
âI suppose they got sick of this obviously dead-end negotiation and decided to leave midway. I only found out moments ago. I was about to inform you, Miss Dorothea, but you contacted me first.â
Hearing Vaniaâs explanation, Dorothyâs expression darkened. She then asked.
âHow long ago did they leave?â
âWell⊠we have a twenty-minute break. They walked out right after the first half ended, without stopping at all, so Iâd say itâs been about twenty minutesâŠâ
âTwenty minutesâŠâ
At that, Dorothy felt a jolt. The palaceâs negotiation hall wasnât far from her own location. Traveling by carriage, twenty minutes was more than enough time to get back. If Muhtar was indeed returning straight away, he should be arriving any moment.
Dorothy realized Muhtar would soon return to the Light-Prayer Cathedral, so she hastily directed the corpse marionettes monitoring the vicinity to scatter and told Nephthys, who was waiting nearby to assist her, to withdraw immediatelyâreducing the risk of detection.
As for Dorothy herself, she still hadnât worked out a way to leave this hidden realm on short notice and therefore could not depart just yet. Even so, she wasnât overly anxious. This hidden realm within the Light-Prayer Cathedral came from extremely powerful ancient forces and was well concealed; Muhtar had been living here all this time without ever finding it, so there was no reason to believe he could suddenly detect it now. And even if he did sense something, he still wouldnât be able to enter.
Nervous but determined, Dorothy searched for an exit in this stark, distorted space. Right in the middle of her search, she heard footsteps echoing outside the hall.
Following the sound, Dorothy looked toward the hallâs main entrance. Beyond two massive pillars of stone, Muhtar entered along with several clerics at his side, faces solemn and tinged with barely restrained anger.
Seeing Muhtarâwho seemed almost in the same monochrome style as the hidden dimension itselfâsuddenly appear, Dorothy felt a jolt of alarm, worrying he might look her way. Thankfully, after stepping inside, Muhtar went straight to the Saviorâs altar, knelt without turning around, and began praying, seemingly unable to perceive Dorothy within the overlapping hidden space. Dorothy breathed a deep sigh of relief at the sight.
âWhew⊠so people in the real world really canât glimpse this hidden realm, but someone inside can see the real world. Sure, itâs oddly styled and limited to this Temple of Revelation Runes, but still, itâs pretty amazingâŠâ
Watching the scene, Dorothy speculated on the initial relationship between this hidden realm and reality: that those in the outside world canât sense or interfere with the hidden realm, while those in the hidden realm can observe reality yet likewise canât affect it.
All things considered, Dorothy felt quite safe in her current position: she could see and hear Muhtar, but he had no awareness of her. Though he was a Crimson-rank Beyonder, the templeâs protection kept Dorothy relatively secure. Once she was sure of this, another thought struck her: maybe she could use this hidden realm to gather intelligence on Muhtar.
She didnât dare use corpse marionettes to spy on him, but now she was physically present in a place where Muhtar couldnât detect herâan ideal opportunity for reconnaissance.
Thus, Dorothy stood silently in the hidden hall, observing Muhtar as he prayed before the altar. After several minutes, she finally heard him begin murmuring in a low voice.
âO Lord⊠those heretics remain obstinate, believing they can dismiss all our efforts in Addus with a few words. Shadi has forsaken his debt of gratitude and refuses to fulfill his promise, forgetting the oath he once made to you. Negotiations⊠have grown pointless. Continuing on like this will only bring more humiliation.
âO Lord⊠to keep your radiance in Addus from fading once again, we must now adopt extraordinary measures. Yadith must be plunged once more into the crucible of war if it is truly to return to your embraceâŠâ
In reality, Muhtar prayed devoutly before the Saviorâs altar, while Dorothyâwithin the hidden realmâstood nearby, astonished by what he was saying.