North Ufiga, Addus.
Within Addus, across the boundless Gobi Desert, a train spewed thick smoke as it roared forward without pause, the thunderous noise echoing across the wastelands.
On this train, mottled rust and broken scrapes were visible everywhere. Stains and dust coated it from the engine to the last car, making it clear this was an old train that had long been operating in Addus’ harsh environment.
On the train’s carriages, most were freight cars. In these open-topped wagons sat clusters of people dressed in coarse, yellow-gray uniforms crudely stitched together. Their firearms rested beside them as they sat with eyes closed, resting, waiting for the steel behemoth beneath them to carry them to distant lands. They all looked like soldiers.
Toward the front of the train were several passenger cars. Inside a private compartment in one of them sat Dorothy, robed in long garments, gazing out the window at the desolate landscape swiftly retreating behind. Opposite her sat Nephthys, dressed in a similar manner.
“Didn’t expect we’d be back in Addus so soon. This barren look… it’s really unpleasant to see,” Nephthys sighed as she looked out at the bleak view. Dorothy slowly responded.
“This climate is simply how it is—nothing can be done. But perhaps drought and sand weren’t always the face of Addus. A long time ago, it may have been much more humid—at least enough to easily trigger thunder strikes.”
Gazing at the almost cloudless sky and sensing how difficult it would be for a thunder strike to occur, Dorothy spoke while pulling out a book and flipping through its pages. Nephthys, after listening to Dorothy’s words, spoke thoughtfully.
“More suitable for thunder strikes... Miss Dorothy, you’re suggesting that under the rule of the Heaven’s Arbiter in the Second Epoch, North Ufiga’s environment might’ve been entirely different?”
“Heh, it’s just my guess. There’s no proof for now. After all, the Second Epoch was seven thousand years ago,” Dorothy chuckled and replied as she flipped another page.Meanwhile, Nephthys scratched her body uncomfortably after a moment of thought and frowned as she continued.
“Ugh… I’m getting itchy. I really want to take a bath. This train isn’t like the one we rode before—no bathing facilities at all…”
“This is a freight train converted for troop transport. Naturally, it can’t compare to a luxury train like the Desert Arrow. Having our own compartment is already quite a privilege. Think about those soldiers cramped in the back—you’ll feel much better,” Dorothy replied while continuing to read. Nephthys, hearing her words, stopped complaining about the train’s conditions and instead asked.
“By the way, Miss Dorothy, where are we now? When will we reach our destination?”
“We’ve been out of Mont for two days. According to the schedule, we should reach Dorsa tonight. You’ll be able to find a place to bathe there. But our final destination is Karnak. There’s no direct train there—we’ll have to follow a camel caravan. That part of the journey might be even more uncomfortable, so you’d better get used to it.”
Dorothy spoke while looking at Nephthys, whose expression immediately darkened upon hearing that they’d be losing the train.
“Ah... under this blazing sun, we’re not even going to have a vehicle? Please no…” she said despairingly, looking at the scorching sun through the window.
Seeing Nephthys’ grumbling, Dorothy waved her hand and said.
“Senior Nephthys, your grandfather once galloped across North Ufiga. Why are you whining at just this little hardship? Go back to your compartment and reread his notes. Adjust your mindset so you don’t start complaining again when we set off.”
“…Alright.”
Nephthys stood up at Dorothy’s words and stepped out, slightly swaying as she opened the door. Once she had left, Dorothy let out a long sigh and murmured while gazing out the window.
“We’re finally getting close… I wonder what the situation at the Rachman Royal Mausoleum is like…”
“It’s within territory held by the Savior’s Advent Sect and may already be targeted by the Nether Coffin Order. I doubt the situation’s looking good…”
Ever since realizing that the Nether Coffin Order might also be eyeing the treasures within the Rachman Royal Mausoleum, Dorothy had immediately decided to end her recuperation in Kankdal and return to Addus to investigate the tomb’s condition directly.
Due to the still-unstable political state in Addus, transportation between Kankdal and Addus was restricted. Dorothy had spent considerable effort, seizing the chance while Robert was being extradited and the situation in Kankdal was in chaos, to forge an official order from the Kankdal government. She tricked a crew into operating a train and rode it all the way from Kankdal to one of Addus’ major cities, Mont. During this period, she also contacted Shadi via her Literary Sea Logbook.
Dorothy, using her identity as a member of the Heaven’s Arbiter Sect, told Shadi that the cabal had obtained the exact location of the Rachman Royal Mausoleum—the founding king of the Baruch Dynasty. According to certain legends, the tomb might contain precious treasures from the First Dynasty. She hoped to request Shadi’s assistance in excavating it. Dorothy promised she would only take a small portion of the tomb’s items and allow Shadi to take the rest of the treasure.
Dorothy knew that Shadi had just driven the Baruch royal family out of Addus. As they fled, the royals had taken or destroyed nearly all the wealth accumulated over a century. The core of Addus’ economy—its mining and limited industry—had been heavily damaged. Many mines were destroyed by royal demolition teams during their retreat, and the few factories met a similar fate. After taking control of Addus, Shadi inherited a desolate, impoverished nation. The economy was dire, resources were critically scarce, and even maintaining a standing army was already a significant strain.
After Addus fully restored peace and officially declared a break with the heretics, it found itself in urgent need of foreign trade to import grain and ease its domestic material shortages. There was also a need to repair the mining and industrial sectors destroyed by war. However, this required a vast amount of funding, and all of Addus’ accumulated wealth and foreign currency had been taken away by the Baruch royal family. Without money, all of these things were extremely difficult to achieve. Therefore, Shadi was certainly troubled by the lack of funds. The items inside the Rachman Royal Mausoleum might just help relieve his current situation. Thus, Dorothy concluded that Shadi would likely accept her request for help.
And as expected, shortly after Dorothy contacted Shadi, he quickly responded with a willingness to help. However, upon hearing the exact location of the Rachman Royal Mausoleum, he became momentarily troubled.
The reason was simple: the tomb was located in a valley called Dead Eagle Valley, and the nearest Addus city to it was Karnak. That city was currently under the control of a diehard armed faction loyal to the Savior’s Advent Sect.
This armed group was the most deeply infiltrated faction within the Addus Revolutionary Army by the Savior’s Advent Sect—one of the few where nearly every officer and soldier was a sect member. It was the most loyal and powerful local force of the Savior’s Advent Sect in Addus.
The commander of this group was named Shihab, a fanatical and shrewd individual who had earned the deep trust of Muhtar. After Muhtar’s death, he remained extremely wary of Shadi. Shadi’s attempts to lure him to Yadith with lucrative titles and high positions failed completely. Shihab stayed stationed with his troops in Karnak, mobilized his forces, fortified defenses, and attempted to unite other sect-leaning revolutionaries. However, thanks to Shadi’s divide-and-conquer tactics and deception, he failed to gather many allies.
When Shadi initiated internal purges, local officers who had been lured to Yadith were arrested in waves. Sect-leaning militias that were left leaderless were quickly scattered and reorganized. A few sect-leaning units that remained vigilant were suddenly ambushed and wiped out on the same day.
Thanks to Shadi’s decisive actions, sect-leaning forces within the Addus Revolutionary Army were swiftly eliminated. Within just a month, they had been nearly wiped out. At this point, Shihab, entrenched in Karnak, publicly declared his opposition to Shadi and proclaimed himself Muhtar’s successor. The disorganized remnants of the sect’s forces quickly rallied to Karnak and joined his banner, making it the final bastion of the Savior’s Advent Sect in Addus.
From Shadi’s explanation, Dorothy learned that Addus’ internal purges had entered their final stage. Among the remaining sect forces, only Karnak posed a real threat—the rest had already lost momentum. To eliminate this final internal threat, Shadi had begun deploying more troops to Dorsa, the city closest to Karnak—and also the destination of Dorothy’s current train ride.
After arriving in Mont, Dorothy received Shadi’s backing and was granted the title of Special Consultant to the Addus Revolutionary Army. She assigned her corpse marionette, Ed, to play this role, with Nephthys as his assistant. Shadi personally issued a telegraph order to Mont’s Revolutionary Army commander, instructing them to treat the special consultant with high honor. Thus, under the commander’s arrangements, Dorothy and Nephthys boarded the troop transport heading to Dorsa, which was now approaching its destination.
“According to Shadi, Dorsa had now gathered nearly 40,000 Revolutionary Army troops loyal to him, led by capable commanders. They held significant advantage over the sect forces in Karnak. Just yesterday, they had launched an offensive toward Karnak’s frontlines. Barring any surprises, the surrounding positions should be fully cleared by today, completing the encirclement of Karnak.
“If so, even if Karnak City itself does not fall, the surrounding region will be under Shadi’s control. It will be much easier for me to reach Dead Eagle Valley. With Shadi’s forces as backup, even if I run into members of the Nether Coffin Order, I’ll have much more confidence.”
So Dorothy thought to herself, then looked toward the sky, where the sun was slowly sinking in the west, silently awaiting the train’s final stop.
…
Dorsa, located in western Addus, was the largest city in the region. The Wood Wither River, originating from Central Ufiga, flowed through it, granting the region the resources needed for city-building. It served as the hub of the western region, where all roads converged. It was also one of the few cities in Addus equipped with railways.
By nightfall, the blazing sun had dipped below the horizon, and a moon rose from the east with howling cold winds. The riverside city lit up sparsely. Though the glow could not compare to that of Kankdal or cities on the main continent, from high above it remained the only visible light across the surrounding vast lands.
Inside the Dorsa train station, the platforms were brightly lit. A middle-aged man in a Central Continent military officer’s uniform stood with his hands behind his back, flanked by guards, staring intently toward the dark end of the tracks.
As rumbling echoed from the darkness, the tracks began to tremble. Amid the rhythmic churning of metal, a steam-belching, smoke-spitting steel behemoth emerged and slowly rolled toward the platform.
When the train engine appeared, the officer and his guards focused their eyes. The train gradually decelerated and finally halted by the platform. Soldiers in the freight cars leaped down in squads. Station receptionists moved forward to guide them out of the station. In an instant, the once-quiet platform bustled with activity.
The officer, seeing that the reception was proceeding smoothly, turned his gaze toward one of the passenger cars. There, the carriage door opened. Two guards stepped out and stood on either side. Then, a white man with a high nose, deep eyes, clad in a trench coat and wearing a fedora, stepped down. Following him was a veiled young woman in robes, carrying a suitcase—likely of North Ufiga descent.
“Hello, are you Mr. Nei by any chance?”
Speaking in imperfect Falanoan, the middle-aged officer extended his hand to the man. The latter gave a faint smile, shook hands, and replied fluently in North Ufigan.
“Yes, Mr. Adan. By order of the General, I am here to offer my assistance.”
The man called Nei addressed Adan. Slightly surprised by Nei’s fluency, Adan switched to his more comfortable North Ufigan and replied.
“Ha, I didn’t expect your North Ufigan to be so good, Mr. Nei. Looks like communication won’t be a problem. We’re understaffed in all areas—you’ve come at the perfect time. You haven’t had dinner, have you, Consultant? Please join me. It’s a tense period, so I hope you won’t mind a modest meal.”
With a gesture, Adan invited him. Nei nodded and followed him out of the station.
On the way, Adan began briefing Nei on the current situation in Dorsa. Nei listened attentively and finally asked.
“Hmm, I’ve got a general sense of Dorsa’s state. But Mr. Adan, I’m curious—how are the troops that were sent to clear Karnak’s outer defenses faring? Was the enemy’s resistance fierce?”
“Uh…” Adan hesitated, his expression darkening slightly. After a pause, he spoke.
“To be frank, Mr. Nei… the troops we sent to clear Karnak’s outskirts were ambushed by Karnak’s forces and suffered heavy losses. They’re currently in retreat.”
“What... ambushed? Heavy losses? Weren’t your forces supposed to have overwhelming superiority over the Karnak defenders? And they dared to launch a counterattack? Even managed to repel your troops and cause serious casualties?”
Nei asked in astonishment, and Adan answered bitterly.
“Yes, our forces did have overwhelming superiority, and the assault should have gone smoothly. But no one expected the Karnak defenders to suddenly receive reinforcements!”
“Reinforcements? Were they heretical supporters from abroad?” Dorothy, speaking through Nei, asked in surprise. Adan, pale with panic, answered.
“No, not Savior’s Advent cultists! Not even humans! Dead men! Undead! An entire army of the dead that appeared out of nowhere! Thousands upon thousands of corpses and skeletons, immune to bullets! They charged us, wielding guns! My forces couldn’t hold them off at all!”