Chapter 531 : Perception

Western Addus, a desert region.

At dawn, sunlight spilled from the distant horizon, bathing the desolate land in its pale glow. In a desert haunted by the dead, a lone rider pressed forward—Khurashi rode his horse at a steady pace, moving between barren earth and the presence of death.

After narrowly escaping capture in Dorsa, Khurashi had immediately headed to a hidden base outside the city. There, he retrieved a horse and rode nonstop toward Karnak. After a night of trekking and crossing a vast undead-surveillance zone, he finally approached his destination. By sunrise, he had arrived at the forward outpost outside Karnak.

“Halt! Identify yourself!”

From within the trench lines of the forward outpost, a Savior’s Advent Sect soldier shouted upon spotting someone approaching from the undead perimeter. The soldier raised his rifle and aimed at the approaching figure—Khurashi, who quickly raised his hands and shouted.

“Don’t shoot! I’m one of you!”

Seeing the frontline fortifications, Khurashi dismounted and raised his hands. After a basic search by the sentries, he was brought to the officer in charge of the post. There, Khurashi presented his credentials. Once confirmed, the officer didn’t delay—he immediately let Khurashi through. Khurashi then mounted a fresh horse and continued on toward Karnak.

And as Khurashi moved through the outpost, everything his eyes saw—the layout and defensive setup—was seen just as clearly by Dorothy, far away.

“Oof… Finally reached the outpost. That means Karnak can’t be far now…”

At the edge of the undead surveillance zone stood a camel caravan camp. Figures in North Ufigan robes busied themselves throughout the encampment. Several camels lay resting. At the center stood a tent. Inside, Dorothy, recently awake, sat cross-legged on a carpet in a robe. She yawned mid-sentence as she muttered sleepily, took a sip of Addus-style tea from a low table, and bit into a flatbread.

Once Dorothy learned there were spies in Dorsa communicating with Karnak, she immediately realized it was an opportunity—a chance to plant her surveillance directly inside Karnak. To locate the spy, she first had Adan publicly announce a military operation, baiting the spy to transmit intel. Then she had Nephthys summon Soulwhisker, the wild spirit, to help intercept the message spirit.

Dorothy had previously deduced that the spies likely used messenger ghosts traveling via the Ethereal Realm to transmit information. So she had Soulwhisker lie in wait within the Ethereal Realm, ready to intercept the messenger spirit. Unlike the Dreamscape, the Ethereal Realm had a one-to-one coordinate mapping with the material world—it wasn’t chaotic—so any soul entering the realm from Dorsa would spawn near Soulwhisker.

Thanks to its long-range soul-scenting ability, a single Soulwhisker could monitor a vast region of the Ethereal Realm, which would normally require dozens of spirits. Using too many might alert the enemy; using one Soulwhisker avoided suspicion.

Regular souls entering the Ethereal Realm would typically descend directly into the Nether River, flowing downward with countless others. But messenger spirits would move laterally, heading toward a mapped location. So all Soulwhisker needed to do was sniff out which spirit wasn’t going downward—and pursue and devour it. A normal soul had no chance against a wild spirit.

Once the messenger was destroyed, the spy would likely resort to radio transmission. And Dorothy, leveraging her Thunder Summoner powers along with Misaka Mikoto’s electromaster model, could detect electromagnetic waves to pinpoint the location of any radio station—thus tracking the spy’s hiding place.

Using subterfuge, Dorothy managed to plant a Marionette Mark on the highest-ranking spy—disguised among the scratches left during the staged arrest—and let him return to Karnak. From then on, he became her unwilling scout.

Without an information channel, Dorothy’s optimal marionette control range was about 20 kilometers—that’s for full command efficiency. Past that, control deteriorated.

At around 22 km, she could no longer issue complex instructions, but she could still receive sensory input. Only after 30 km would sensory data vanish entirely. Beyond 50 km, even positional data would disappear unless the marionette reentered that range. Past 100 km, the connection would fully sever without external spiritual reinforcement.

The undead surveillance zone around Karnak had a radius of 25 km, so as Khurashi entered the zone, Dorothy could no longer control him, but she could still receive his senses.

And so, as Dorothy ate her breakfast, she watched Khurashi press onward. After leaving the forward outpost, he urged his new horse faster, and soon reached the gates of Karnak.

Karnak was a small border city in western Addus, smaller even than Dorsa. Located before the Seven-Forked Mountain Range, at the intersection of plains and hills, it had once been a mining hub. In peacetime, ore from the Longblade Mountains would be transported here before continuing to Dorsa. Many miners and their families lived here, along with associated industries.

But ever since the Addus civil war began, mining operations had ceased. What Dorothy saw through Khurashi’s eyes was a tightly guarded, eerily quiet town. No tall buildings were visible, and at the city gates, guards from the Savior’s Advent Sect kept watch. The streets within appeared empty of soldiers.

In the backdrop stood the towering mountain range, the Seven-Forked Mountains. Within them lay the Dead Eagle Valley, resting place of Rachman, not far from the city.

Sipping her tea, Dorothy observed as Khurashi completed his entry inspection and entered the city. He was led to a modest-sized building—what appeared to be the former municipal hall of Karnak.

Inside the city hall, Khurashi underwent another round of screening: identification, mental assessment, mystical detection, and more. During this process, Dorothy temporarily severed her marionette link to avoid detection, then reconnected it after the scan passed.

Once cleared, Khurashi was allowed deeper into the building. He passed through multiple security layers before reaching a spacious office. There, mounted on the wall, was a large military map, a detailed layout of Karnak and its surrounding areas, including city defenses and forward outposts.

Standing before the map were two individuals. One, a North Ufigan military officer, burly, fierce-looking, with a thick beard and a Pure Sunburst insignia on his chest—Commander Shihab.

The other, a slightly overweight white man from the Central Continent, dressed in a suit, sporting neatly trimmed yellow moustaches—Mr. Mohn.

“Commander Shihab, Mr. Mohn… I’m sorry. The Dorsa safehouse was compromised. We’ve lost our means to monitor Adan. This was my failure.”

Upon seeing the two figures standing beneath the map, Khurashi bowed respectfully and spoke with deep apology. Meanwhile, far away, Dorothy instantly memorized the large map Khurashi had glanced at on the wall, then began assessing the two individuals standing before him. According to Khurashi, one was named Shihab, the other Mohn.

Shihab—Dorothy was familiar with the name. He was the highest-ranking commander of the Savior’s Advent Sect in Karnak and currently the most influential sect leader in all of Addus, leading the armed forces stationed in Karnak. As for Mohn, Dorothy surmised he was affiliated with the Nether Coffin Order, likely its top figure within Karnak.

“What the hell?! Dorsa’s outpost is gone! Do you even realize what time it is?!”

Shihab barked angrily in response to Khurashi’s report. Mohn, standing beside him, spoke slowly and with a calm but grim expression.

“How did Adan find you…? Where exactly was the leak?”

“I don’t know… Last night, not long after we received your reply, someone came knocking. They were well-prepared. I barely escaped. I have no idea where things went wrong. It might have something to do with my messenger disappearing in the Ethereal Realm. Perhaps… perhaps they captured it and extracted some sort of information from it.”

Khurashi spoke honestly about what he knew and suspected. Hearing his words, Shihab frowned, then turned to look at Mohn.

“The Ethereal Realm… You people should be experts there. How could you screw up in your own backyard?”

Mohn fell silent. After pacing for a few steps, he responded in a severe tone.

“Based on our earlier intelligence, Adan should have had very limited influence in the Ethereal Realm. With the forces at his disposal, he shouldn’t have been able to interfere with our messengers. Until now, our spirits have completed many missions without issue… So for something to suddenly happen, it’s likely that Adan received reinforcement from a Silence-path Beyonder…”

“Reinforcement… You mean that consultant Shadi sent? He’s a Silence Beyonder?”

“Highly likely. And probably a White Ash rank Silence Beyonder. Maybe a mercenary hired specifically to deal with us. Seems Shadi can’t hold back anymore—he’s pouring resources into Dorsa and preparing for an all-out assault. He’s probably in the final stages of internal purging.”

Mohn laid out his assessment of the situation. Upon hearing that Shadi might be rallying forces for a decisive strike, and even hiring undead specialists, Shihab’s expression turned anxious. He looked at Mohn and snapped irritably.

“That traitor Shadi’s planning a big move… And what about you? How’s your progress? Haven’t opened the Sepulcher yet? You said it would be done soon! It’s been ages and still nothing?!”

“Plans never keep up with reality. Something went wrong in Kankdal. Robert collapsed unexpectedly, and the Ritual Book still hasn’t shown up… I thought the Baruch royal family and Falano’s agents would secure Kankdal by now, but turns out they were just a bunch of fools and lapdogs.”

Mohn replied through clenched teeth, suppressing his frustration. Hearing this, Shihab’s irritation only grew.

“I don’t care! If Shadi’s about to go all-in, and we still haven’t opened the Sepulcher, we’re screwed! Open it—any way you can! I’ll give you however much explosive you need!”

“I’ve already told you, this isn’t a matter of explosives! The previous chambers could be blasted open, yes, but the Sepulcher can only be opened via ritual. No amount of explosives will work!”

Mohn raised his voice slightly as he responded sternly. Shihab, however, sneered with disdain.

“Explosives don’t work? Hah! I don’t buy it. Wasn’t the Relic Vault absurdly solid too? One pack didn’t crack it, you said we needed some key. I didn’t believe your nonsense, and when we used three charges, it blew open just fine. And the Divine Relic you needed for the ritual was inside that room! If I hadn’t blown it out, Adan’s troops would’ve been at our doorstep! And you’re still saying explosives don’t work?!”

Shihab’s voice rose as he spoke, filled with barely restrained rage. Mohn’s fury flickered visibly across his face, though he quickly reined it in and continued, grinding his teeth.

“It’s not the same! The Relic Vault and the Sepulcher are built from completely different materials. The Sepulcher is made from Netherfrost Stone—even ten charges won’t budge it!”

“Then use twenty!”

“Twenty?! Are you insane?! That much explosive going off in the crypt could collapse the entire underground chamber! Even if it cracks the door, the whole mountain might bury the Sepulcher. There’d be no way to dig it out again in time! Use your damn brain, you lunatic!”

Mohn could no longer contain his temper and exploded with anger. But Shihab shrugged it off with utter indifference and replied coldly.

“I don’t care! You’ve dragged this on long enough. If you can’t open that Sepulcher in two days, I’ll do it my way!”

“You lunatic… If you do that—even if you open it, you’ll throw Rachman’s undead into complete chaos! We’ll all die! The plan was to control Rachman, not unleash him into a berserk massacre!”

Mohn shouted, furious, as Shihab’s eyes took on a glint of madness. But Shihab just grinned and said,

“An uncontrollable Rahman? Heh, so what? As long as he follows his instincts and punishes the thief of his nation, Shadi, as long as he destroys Shadi’s Addus and avenges Lord Muhtar, that’s all I care about.”