Chapter 614 : Expert

At dusk in Glamorne, the golden light of the setting sun bathed the vast surface of Lake Starbind in rippling waves of orange and gold.

At the massive cathedral that had suddenly emerged in the center of the lake, knights and Holy Guard soldiers of the Radiance Church were still searching and investigating. With the relic tour delegation leading the operation, the local church and Serenity Bureau had fully secured the cathedral and its surrounding waters. Any boats attempting to approach were driven away. Many curious civilians who rowed over to investigate were turned back at a distance.

Now, the cathedral on the lake had become officially restricted territory. Once word spread that boats were being repelled, the curiosity among the people of Glamorne only grew stronger. Rumors of every kind spread rapidly throughout the city. Countless ordinary citizens engaged in heated discussion over the mysterious cathedral’s origin and why the authorities had moved so quickly to seize control.

Because the cathedral had appeared right as Sister Vania arrived in Glamorne, one of the most widely circulated theories among the public was that Sister Vania herself had caused its appearance. That it was a divine miracle granted by the Holy Mother. Vania, as the Holy Mother’s messenger on earth, had manifested her presence in Glamorne—and the cathedral was a blessing sent through her.

It was an exaggerated theory, yet it became the most widely accepted narrative in the city, connecting the two hottest topics in Glamorne—Vania and the mysterious cathedral—into a single story, one that captured the public’s belief.

While the city buzzed with speculation, on a remote lakeside far from the city center, rustling sounds filled a stretch of uninhabited forest. In the dusk-tinted woods, faint shadows flitted rapidly through the trees.

Countless bats were flying through the deserted woods, all converging on a single spot. In the dim light, the bats gathered and reformed into two humanoid silhouettes—Boade and Gossmore, the two high-ranking members of the Eight-Spired Nest.

Once the figures of the Priest of Fangs and the Witch Regent were fully formed again, both turned to look out at the lake. Their expressions were grave, and Gossmore, in particular, wore a furious scowl.

“That damned Church nun… She dares to seize our site and turn what should belong to the Queen of the Deep Web into a pen for her flock. Haven’t they stolen enough? Now they’re still encroaching like it’s their right. Disgusting!”

Grinding her teeth, Gossmore growled with rage as she recalled the conversation she had eavesdropped on in the lake cathedral. Her fists clenched so tightly that blood trickled from her palms.

“I swear, I’d love to capture that damned nun and slowly torture her to death—teach her whose territory she’s trespassing on…”

“Calm down, Gossmore!” Boade said sternly.

“Think about what you said earlier. Now is not the time to move against that nun. Neither we nor the entire Nest can afford for the Church to become deeply involved in Pritt’s situation. That nun cannot be allowed to suffer any harm in Glamorne!”

Gossmore exhaled sharply at Boade’s words, then snapped coldly.

“Hmph, I know. I’m just venting. I’ve always hated those zealots—but I never thought they could disgust me this much.”

She turned her gaze toward Boade and spoke again.

“So what the hell is going on now? Why did that moon-bitch’s temple suddenly rise out of the lake? And right in front of those damn zealots? Don’t you dare tell me this is just a coincidence, Boade.”

“Of course not. The temple of the Queen of the Night Sky appearing now is no natural occurrence. This isn’t a scheduled mechanism of the temple. Otherwise, the locals wouldn’t have been so shocked. Someone deliberately triggered it. The question is: who?”

Boade’s tone was serious as she began her analysis.

“First off, while the Radiance nun looks suspicious, I don’t think she’s the culprit. If the Radiance Church truly knew the secret of the lake, they’d have sent specialists—not just a touring relic delegation. We’ve been monitoring that nun and her entourage the entire time, and it’s obvious they didn’t know the temple existed. This was just as unexpected for them. So the ones who activated the temple are not from the Church.”

“That leaves our biggest suspects: the same people who’ve been opposing us in the shadows—like the ones who fought the Night Demon in Tivian. That black dog’s faction, likely the Vigilant faction within Pritt’s upper echelons. They probably know the lake’s secret. They may have arrived here in secret and started investigating—possibly even beating us to the punch, and we didn’t even realize it…”

Boade continued seriously, and Gossmore frowned as she replied.

“That’s impossible. We’ve been locking down the lake every night. How could they investigate without us noticing? And they’re ahead of us now?”

Gossmore’s confusion was genuine. She had long suspected that others were eyeing Lake Starbind, but she had always assumed their side had the lead. She couldn’t understand how someone else had managed to locate the temple first, given how thoroughly they had locked the area down.

“…We don’t know yet,” Boade admitted.

“One possibility is that the lake’s secret isn’t on the surface of the lake at all. It’s somewhere else—somewhere we didn’t monitor. Another possibility… is that they have a Shadow Beyonder. A Crimson-rank Shadow with outstanding concealment skills. Someone capable of bypassing our surveillance and conducting a secret investigation. Someone who succeeded faster than us.”

Boade’s face was grim as she delivered her analysis. Gossmore scoffed.

“Heh. So we did underestimate them. To get this far, they must have some real skill. We got complacent.”

She then added after a brief pause.

“But here’s another question. If they figured out how to surface the temple—why do it now? Why reveal the temple publicly instead of claiming it for themselves? Weren’t they planning to monopolize it?”

After a moment of thought, Boade responded slowly.

“Perhaps… they truly didn’t want the temple. The ancient secrets tied to this land are unknown to the current Despenser regime. The Vigilants may have only found this site because we came here. They might not even understand the temple’s importance or how to use it. All they knew was that we were targeting it—and so they exposed it, to make things difficult for us.

“Even if they do understand its value, they may have chosen to give it up. To unlock a temple-grade ritual site’s full power, it has to be unsealed and brought into the real world. Doing so would inevitably alert us. Maybe they judged their strength insufficient to hold it against us—and chose not to fight.

“That means their goal was simply to prevent us from obtaining it. They waited until the Radiance nun’s arrival, used the opportunity of her tour to surface the temple, and ensured it was exposed to the Church and everyone else. As long as it doesn’t fall into our hands, and our plans are disrupted, they’ve already won.”

𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Boade continued his analysis, and as she listened, Gossmore’s expression darkened further. With a dangerous air about her, she muttered coldly.

“So that’s it… if just denying us the temple counts as success for them, then congratulations—they’ve succeeded in pissing me off. If I ever catch the one who came up with this idea, I’ll make sure they stay alive long enough to watch me rip every tendon from their body.”

Gossmore spoke with icy venom. Although the task of locating the temple was primarily Boade’s responsibility, her own assignment here was to provide last-line support—particularly in terms of battle readiness. Her presence was meant to ensure that if the temple emerged, it would fall under their control and be properly used for their ritual.

Now that the temple had surfaced, the situation was far beyond what Gossmore had anticipated. With Vania’s relic tour party occupying the site, Gossmore found herself unable to act—and that left her fuming.

“Those Radiance zealots are occupying our temple and are preparing to convert it into one of theirs. If they complete their sanctification ritual, we’ll lose everything! You’d better come up with something fast, Boade!”

Gossmore demanded with frustration. Boade responded in an understandably troubled tone.

“It’s not so easy. This is a complicated situation... We can’t wait for the Radiance experts from Tivian to arrive and carry out their conversion. We have to take control of the temple and begin the ritual before then. But doing so would undoubtedly create conflict with that nun. If anything happens to her and it draws direct intervention from Holy Mount, even a successful ritual wouldn’t be worth it. So we have to interfere without harming her… or even letting her realize anything is amiss.”

“Not harming that zealot nun is fine—we can just tie her up and dump her somewhere. But without her noticing? That’s impossible. A sanctification ritual isn’t a minor rite—it takes time and has a large footprint. It’s not something you can sneak by while she and her team, even if they’re just White Ash, are standing around watching. They’re still Lantern. No way we can pull it off right under their noses unless they all go blind—or we put them all under hypnosis.”

Gossmore waved dismissively as she spoke. Boade, however, answered with a more measured tone.

“Binding that nun directly is just as risky. Who knows what kind of emergency safeguards Holy Mount may have given her? If we engage in a direct conflict, things could spiral out of control—and still draw Holy Mount’s intervention. We can’t do that unless there’s absolutely no alternative.

“As for hypnosis… that nun’s team includes White Ash followers of the Ascetic Path. Our Blood Shade-style hypnosis is more decorative than effective—it’s hard to affect anyone protected by that Path. The likelihood of being caught is high. I don’t recommend it.”

Boade’s calm reasoning only made Gossmore more irritable. She growled.

“So we can’t do this, and we can’t do that. What can we do, then?!”

“There is something…”

Boade said, his voice carrying a hint of intrigue. Gossmore narrowed her eyes.

“…You actually have something? What is it? Spit it out.”

Gossmore asked with skepticism. Boade, smiling faintly, continued:

“Do you recall what that nun said? She wants to carry out the conversion ritual to turn the temple into a Holy Mother cathedral. But she doesn’t know the proper method—so she contacted Tivian to request an expert.”

“An expert…”

Gossmore’s eyes widened slightly. Then, as if something clicked, a smile crept across her lips.

“…Ah. I see. That might actually work…”

…

Time flew by. Night passed quickly, and with the dawn’s sunlight once again shining down upon Lake Starbind, the mysterious cathedral that had risen the day before still stood tall at the lake’s center, basking in the morning glow.

On the cathedral’s premises, members of the Glamorne Serenity Bureau and Church-affiliated Beyonders were moving about. Under the direction of the relic tour party, they had begun a full exploration of the mysterious structure. Due to the unexpected appearance of the temple, their previous tour itinerary had been suspended, and the team had decided to remain in Glamorne for now.

“Sister Vania, as per your request, my team kept watch at the cathedral overnight. We didn’t observe any abnormal activity. Aside from its sudden appearance, the temple hasn’t shown any other mystical behavior.”

In a side corridor of the sanctuary, Sister Vania walked alongside her escort squad’s captain, Gaspare. After hearing his report, Vania nodded and replied.

“Thank you, Brother Gaspard. If this cathedral hasn’t displayed any further mystical activity, that’s the best outcome. It either means the mystical force within has dissipated—or it’s stabilized. That bodes well for the next phase of our work.

“Last night, I contacted the Hymn Cathedral and explained the situation. Archbishop Francesco approved my request and has dispatched a specialist in handling foreign and heretical ritual grounds. She’ll be taking over the investigation here. If necessary, she’ll be able to carry out the Sanctification Ritual herself.”