Chapter 635 : Rank

Eastern Coast of the Kingdom of Pritt, Tivian.

During the daylight hours in Tivian, a light drizzle fell steadily from the overcast sky. The massive city lay shrouded in a veil of rainy mist. Damp, gray streets were lined with silent passersby holding umbrellas, and the entire city had a cool and somber atmosphere.

In a street corner of the northern district, inside a modestly sized but elegantly decorated restaurant, Dorothy sat leisurely in a black long coat and a narrow-brimmed round hat, slowly sipping a cup of black tea. Across from her sat a young man in a shirt and vest, eating a piece of fried cod—it was Gregor.

“I originally thought your academic journey would just last a few months and that you’d be back soon. I didn’t expect you’d be gone for over half a year. Honestly, I was really worried about you being abroad all by yourself. If it weren’t for the steady stream of telegrams you kept sending back, I don’t know how anxious I would’ve gotten,” Gregor said as he ate.

Dorothy calmly set down her teacup upon hearing this and responded with a smile.

“At first, we really did plan to come back in three or four months, but, well, with long trips like this, all sorts of unexpected things come up—bad weather canceling a ferry, stumbling across interesting sights and changing the route on a whim… After enough of those, the whole journey just got gradually stretched out.”

“Unexpected things, huh… Heh… Speaking of which, not long after you left, I read in the paper about a shipwreck. The destination matched yours, and I was worried sick. Thankfully, I received your telegram shortly afterward,” Gregor continued.

Dorothy, recalling the event, nodded and answered.

“The shipwreck—are you talking about the Shimmering Pearl? That time, we were on a different vessel, so we weren’t on the one that sank. But even if we had been, it wouldn’t have mattered. Didn’t the papers say nearly all passengers were rescued by a passing church vessel? It would’ve been fine.”

Dorothy answered casually, and Gregor took a sip of water before replying.

“Hmm… right, I think the paper said the church fleet was on a pilgrimage. Oh, that’s it! I think Sister Vania Chafferon was among that fleet. Later, the pilgrims were captured by island natives on the Conquest Sea, and it was Sister Vania who moved their hearts and resolved the crisis. A lot of people say that was the beginning of her path as a saint.”

Gregor spoke with a hint of cheerful admiration. Dorothy tilted her head slightly and responded.

“Gregor, you seem pretty interested in that nun’s affairs…”

“Of course! Sister Vania is a source of pride for Pritt—she’s been all over the headlines this year. Whenever she shows up in the news, people all over Tivian are talking about her. Unless Miss Adèle has a new performance, hardly anyone can overshadow Sister Vania’s popularity. I even planned to go catch a glimpse of her when she returned to Tivian recently… but work kept me too busy.

“Oh right, I think some of the cities Sister Vania visited were also places you went to, right? Did you happen to meet her during your travels? Is she really as beautiful as she looks in the newspaper photos?”

Gregor asked straightforwardly, to which Dorothy replied.

“No, I didn’t. My schedule in each city was pretty packed, so I didn’t have time for much else. But now that she’s back in Tivian, maybe I’ll get the chance to see her someday.”

“I see… So, Dorothy, how did you find your trip overall? You visited quite a few countries in these past six months, didn’t you? I haven’t even been abroad once.”

Gregor said as he speared another piece of fish with his fork. Dorothy replied.

“It was a great experience. The food abroad is delicious, and the culture and scenery in many places were wonderful—especially the people. I enjoyed interacting with the locals through a translator, experiencing their culture. They often gave me local specialty gifts, which made me feel a bit embarrassed to accept. But no matter where I went, I always learned something. I even made a few local ‘friends’ along the way. They were a great ‘help’ to me.”

Dorothy spoke with a faintly meaningful smile, and Gregor nodded repeatedly as he listened.

“As long as you gained something from it, that’s good. For someone your age, getting such a chance to broaden your horizons is rare. Unlike your brother here—I haven’t even stepped foot outside the country since I was born.”

Gregor spoke with a touch of self-mockery, and Dorothy responded gently.

“Now that you mention it, I haven’t seen you in over half a year. How have you been lately? From what you said earlier, work sounds pretty busy?”

“Me? Yeah, I’ve been a bit busy lately, but things are settling down now. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, Dorothy—your big brother is getting promoted~”

Gregor said with a proud grin curling at the corner of his mouth. Dorothy blinked in surprise at his words.

“Promoted? But you’ve only been at the Tivian headquarters for half a year, right? Already getting a promotion?” she asked with astonishment.

Gregor smiled and continued.

“That’s right. My original supervisor got reassigned, so I was promoted to take over her position. Dorothy, listen—your brother is now a department-level manager at HQ, and the youngest one at that! For someone my age to make it to this position—it’s a once-in-decades occurrence. Lots of people are calling me a genius.”

Adjusting his collar with a smug expression, Gregor proudly spoke, and Dorothy, resting her chin on her hand, commented.

“A once-in-decades young manager? Impressive…”

As she said that, Dorothy lightly clapped her hands.

…

After over half a year, Dorothy had finally reunited with her older brother. Once they finished the welcome dinner—Gregor’s treat—she said her farewells to him once more.

After parting ways, Dorothy strolled along the rain-drenched streets of Tivian under her small umbrella, walking slowly as she waited. Not long after, a carriage driven by a corpse marionette coachman pulled up in front of her. Controlling the marionette to open the carriage door, she stepped inside.

After shutting the door, Dorothy directed the corpse marionette to return to its position and begin driving forward. Sitting in the carriage, she gazed out the rain-streaked window at the misty streets, her mind drifting into thought.

“Finally... after all this time, I’ve at last met with Gregor. At first, I was worried that after becoming Crimson, I wouldn’t be able to return to Tivian easily, and wouldn’t know how to explain it to my brother. But things took a surprising turn—Vania was appointed as the acting Archbishop of Pritt…”

That was what Dorothy thought to herself. For quite some time earlier, she had been fretting over how she would explain herself to Gregor after her promotion to Crimson. She had even planned to switch her “study” location again, transferring to another city near Tivian. But just after becoming Crimson, the unexpected happened.

In the battle against Gossmore, the previous Archbishop of Pritt, Francesco, was severely injured and urgently sent to Holy Mount. Dorothy had assumed that, given the emergency, a successor would be dispatched swiftly. But instead, no successor arrived—and Vania, against all expectations, was appointed acting Archbishop and temporarily placed in charge of Tivian’s “Layered Vision”.

“The Church clearly has so many Crimsons. They should’ve been able to easily send someone to succeed the post in Tivian… and yet, not only did they not send a single person, they instead appointed Vania—a White Ash—to temporarily act as Archbishop of Pritt. What a bizarre move…

“The only plausible explanation for this absurd decision is internal Church politics. It must be that a disagreement arose among Holy Mount’s high-ranking clergy regarding the Pritt situation. Vania’s appointment is probably a temporary compromise. Feels like the internal division within the Church is getting worse and worse… Let’s hope it doesn’t escalate into something major.

“But no matter what, Vania becoming acting Archbishop of Pritt works out perfectly for me. Not only does it allow me to return to Tivian, it also lets me gain a clearer understanding of this so-called ‘Layered Vision’.”

So thought Dorothy. Not long ago, Vania had officially received Holy Mount’s appointment at the Hymn Cathedral, becoming acting Archbishop of Pritt. Since then, she took over and began conducting the major ritual held there—the Layered Vision.

That’s right. The Layered Vision is a ritual—a powerful detection ritual. One of the aspects of the Lantern is insight and faith, and the Layered Vision is a ritual based on faith to achieve insight.

The power of the Radiance Trinity originates from the faith of billions of followers across the world. That vast power of belief is gathered and transmitted through countless churches across the world that serve as nodes. In other words, all the faith of Radiance believers in Tivian is, in an unseen way, gathered into the Hymn Cathedral, and from there transmitted into the inner realm.

With the permission of the Trinity, not all of that faith flows into the inner realm. A small portion flows into the church itself, becoming the foundation for the local church’s mystical system. Fueled by this continual stream of belief, city churches of the Radiance Church possess many powerful capabilities—among them is the Layered Vision.

Once a Crimson-rank Lantern Beyonder links with the church’s mystical system, the Layered Vision activates. Within the entire city and its surrounding areas, any other Crimson-rank Beyonder can be detected almost instantly.

It’s extremely difficult for a Beyonder to conceal themselves from the Layered Vision using Shadow powers. Even a Crimson-rank master of Shadow, if they try to confront the Layered Vision directly, will find their Shadow spirituality quickly depleted—because what they’re up against is essentially the collective foundation of an entire city’s faith.

Though the Layered Vision has tremendous detection capabilities, it does have one structural flaw: it can only target a limited number of individuals at once. In theory, no Beyonder can evade detection in a city with a functioning Layered Vision. However, if the number of Beyonders exceeds the maximum targeting capacity, the ritual cannot lock onto them all. Once the limit is reached, it can only switch targets by releasing previous ones.

This targeting limit is relatively small. In a major city like Tivian, the number of official White Ash-rank Beyonders alone easily exceeds that cap. So, as a practical compromise, city churches worldwide have configured their Layered Visions to target only Crimsons and above.

Compared to Apprentice, Black Earth, and White Ash, Crimson-rank Beyonders are much rarer. And to the Church, a single Crimson-rank poses a far greater threat than ten or more White Ashes. It’s far more worthwhile to monitor one Crimson than dozens of low-rank Beyonders. That’s why the Layered Vision became a tool specifically for detecting high-rank Beyonders.

The Layered Vision is, in essence, a ritual. It requires a Crimson-rank Lantern as the officiant to function. If no such individual is available, a divine-grade Lantern relic can substitute. This is how Vania was able to take charge of Tivian’s Layered Vision: as the bearer of the Sacred Remain Scripture, she is currently the only one within Pritt qualified to oversee the ritual.

“The insight of the Lantern, built upon the faith of thousands—what a tyrannical tool. In a way, the Layered Vision is a symbol of the Radiance Church’s faith-based hegemony. No other faction could gather enough belief to pull this off. Only Radiance could develop something like the Layered Vision.

“Still, now that I’ve reached Crimson-rank, this power can’t completely restrain me. And it’s not just thanks to Vania…”

As she thought this, Dorothy shifted her gaze to her hand, looking at the silver ring with a crescent moon motif that she had worn for years.

The Concealment Ring—it had long been one of Dorothy’s most frequently used mystical items. It had helped her evade countless forms of mystical detection. But after the battle at Lake Starbind, the familiar ring emitted a strange silver gleam—and only after a while did Dorothy realize that the ring had changed.

The Lunar Eclipse Ring—that was the new name revealed under Dorothy’s appraisal skill. Its functions remained largely the same, but with some notable upgrades.

Like before, it consumed Shadow spirituality to hide Dorothy’s mystical presence during detection rituals. However, its Shadow consumption was only half that of the original ring—meaning Dorothy could endure longer with less spiritual strain. In addition, it had a new minor function: Rank Concealment.

In short, while wearing the Lunar Eclipse Ring, Dorothy gained the ability to conceal her rank. As long as she didn’t use Crimson-rank powers, she wouldn’t be detected as Crimson by any mystical scanning. Even when facing the Layered Vision, so long as she didn’t use anything beyond the scope of White Ash, she would remain undetectable. She had even tested this with Vania’s cooperation.

In other words, with this ring, even in a city where another Archbishop wields the Layered Vision, Dorothy can still move freely as long as she avoids revealing her rank.

“This upgrade from the Concealment Ring… clearly the handiwork of Mirror Moon. Was this a gift left for me? It seems She knew exactly what I’d be concerned about after advancing…”

Staring at the ring in her hand, Dorothy thought to herself. She slowly lowered her hand again and continued riding in peace.

“My top priority now is to replenish the spirituality I’ve lost. But Tivian’s current state makes that a bit concerning. With no Crimson-rank Archbishop present, our mystical defenses are weakened. There’s a real chance something may stir… Let’s just hope the transition period passes smoothly and a new Archbishop is appointed without trouble.”