Glamorne, within the concealed dimension hidden beneath Lake Starbind.
Beneath the vast dome of an immense colorless cathedral’s sanctuary, Dorothy stood still, gazing at the towering, complete statue of the Mirror Moon Goddess before her. As she looked at the finely carved face—one that resembled her own by nearly seventy percent—she couldn’t help but open her mouth slightly in astonishment, frozen in place. After a long moment of daze, Dorothy finally gave a small shake of her head and slowly spoke.
“Mom… just who were you, really…”
Dorothy had long harbored doubts about the hidden secrets within her family. From her and Gregor’s names—unusual among traditional Pritt naming customs—to her uncommon hair color, and most notably, the heirloom ring on her hand that not only bore the Mirror Moon’s holy symbol but also concealed spirituality... All of it pointed toward an extraordinary truth lurking beneath the seemingly ordinary Mayschoss family, a family that should’ve been nothing more than humble hunters from a small countryside village.
Dorothy herself retained little memory of her lineage, but based on what Gregor had said and the relic she still carried, the family’s unusual background likely came from her mother. Dorothy had inherited both her hair color and the ring from her, and most likely, a similar appearance as well.
Now, standing before this statue of the Mirror Moon Goddess that resembled her so closely… what did that imply about her mother? What was her relationship with the Mirror Moon faith, the once-active Mirror Moon Church in Pritt, and even the Mirror Moon Goddess herself?
Staring into the massive statue’s face, Dorothy felt her mind grow muddled. After taking a moment to calm herself, she finally managed to refocus.
“Even if Mom’s connection to the Mirror Moon faith is worth investigating… now’s not the time. My first priority should be preparing the ritual…”
With this in mind, Dorothy silently stepped forward to the center of the colorless sanctuary. There, she opened her magic box and retrieved several simple ritual tools.
To advance to the Crimson rank, Dorothy needed to complete three successive rituals. This was the first among them—a preliminary ceremony symbolizing the exchange ritual. It would allow her to determine whether this temple was suitable for hosting the full ritual and met the necessary conditions.
After a while, she slowly opened her eyes. Compared to when she had closed them, there was now a trace of solemnity within her gaze. It was clear that the results of her ritual verification weren’t very promising.
“It seems… in its current state, this temple does not meet the requirements for conducting a major ritual…”
Sitting in front of the ritual array, Dorothy furrowed her brow in thought. The preliminary ritual had allowed her to assess the temple’s capability to perform an exchange, and unfortunately, it had failed. More precisely, this temple, in its current form, could not perform the exchange.
“Many functions of a temple must exist in the present world to be active—just like Yadith’s Temple of Revelation Runes. Although many critical functions are hidden in a concealed space, the operational parts of the temple still remain in the real world. If those areas are replaced, it renders the temple dysfunctional…
“But this Mirror Moon Cathedral is different. All its functions were sealed into a hidden dimension, leaving no trace in the present world. Yet the divine functionality of a temple cannot be realized in this kind of space. This whole structure must return to the real world before any proper ritual can be held.”
Rising slowly from the front of the ritual array, Dorothy looked up at the massive statue of the Mirror Moon Goddess. It was clear now: if she wished to complete all her rituals, she had to find a way to return the entire temple to the real world.
“So just solving a mystery isn’t enough to finish all the rituals, huh…”
Dorothy sighed internally, then temporarily set aside the issue of the ritual and shifted her focus elsewhere.
She raised her right hand. On it, a crescent-shaped ring was faintly glowing with a soft luminescence—the same glow that had appeared when she stood before the invisible gate in the real world.
From the moment that light emerged, Dorothy had sensed that something within her Concealment Ring had changed. That sensation had only intensified after entering this Mirror Moon Cathedral.
She wasn’t entirely sure what the change entailed, but thankfully she had her Appraisal skill. Using it, she performed another identification of the ring—and compared to before, a new detail was now revealed.
Concealment Signet: A trusted relic of the High Court of the Moonlit Garden. Can consume Shadow spirituality to block any form of mystical detection. Also serves as an official credential of the Moonlit Garden. When paired with divine oracles of the Night, it can command subordinate institutions of the Moonlit Garden within the Empire, as well as mobilize military forces and invoke various prohibitions. Typically worn during the Dual-Emperor era of the Empire by Moonlit Garden envoys or other key personnel.
“Concealment… Signet?”
Staring at the ring in her hand after using Appraisal, Dorothy fell into a moment of deep contemplation.
Dorothy’s Appraisal skill could only discern the more surface-level, immediately usable functions of a mystical item. It couldn’t reveal the item’s true essence or any hidden abilities that could only be activated under specific conditions. For example, when she had previously appraised the Heart-Devouring Cane-Sword, all she uncovered were its basic functions—such as physical revival. The weapon’s true nature as a bio-weapon wasn’t mentioned at all; Dorothy had figured that out through her own experimentation.
A similar case occurred when Dorothy appraised the black jade fragment. Although the mystical text Withered Wing had informed her that the fragment was part of the Moon Crown and that the assembled pieces possessed other capabilities, the Appraisal skill didn’t reveal any of this. It merely told her that the black jade fragment had some specific use to her in its current state—its essence and hidden potential remained concealed unless triggered under the right circumstances. Only then would her Appraisal results update. That was precisely what had happened now. Clearly, something about this colorless cathedral had activated one of the concealed capabilities within her ring, and from that, Dorothy had obtained an intriguing and important piece of information.
“So… this ring’s primary function is as a signet, a credential? A token belonging to some emissary or high-ranking official of the so-called Moonlit Garden… Is that the formal name of the Mirror Moon faith?
“Based on the new information revealed through Appraisal, the Moonlit Garden doesn’t seem to be a mere religious sect or church organization—it’s more like a governmental bureau within a state. The text even mentions the Empire. That must mean it was a key department within the official government of the Third Epoch Empire. The Mirror Moon faith held such status back then? It was directly integrated into the Empire’s ruling system, even with numerous subordinate institutions and the authority to command military forces…
“And this so-called Dual-Emperor Era… what’s that about? Does it refer to two emperors ruling at the same time? Wasn’t the emperor of the Empire supposed to be the King of Light alone? How did two emperors come into the picture? Wouldn’t that risk internal division?”
Contemplating the new revelations from Appraisal, Dorothy found herself mulling over the phrase “Dual-Emperor Era.” It reminded her of that reproduction painting she had retrieved from the Crimson-rank Muhtar of the Savior’s Advent Sect. That painting had depicted a man resembling the King of Light, along with a boy and a girl. After reading the latest appraisal result, she found herself wondering anew about the meaning behind that artwork.
Shaking her head slightly, Dorothy cleared her thoughts and chose not to dwell on these deeper mysteries for now. Instead, she focused on the pressing problem at hand: figuring out how to bring the entire cathedral into the present world to complete her ritual. And it was obvious that the key lay with the ring on her hand.
“If this ring grants me authority over many restrictions tied to institutions under the Moonlit Garden… then perhaps the restrictions within this cathedral are no exception?”
That thought surfaced in Dorothy’s mind as she extended her ring-bearing hand, closed her eyes, and used her mind to link with the ring, attempting to sense the cathedral—and even the entire space—through it.
As she reached out with her senses, Dorothy discovered that her ring was invisibly linking to the cathedral, entering a more active, awakened state. Observing the further-activated ring, she used Appraisal once more to examine its functions, decoding the various controls and operations the ring now allowed her to perform on the cathedral.
After reviewing all the available operations, Dorothy attempted to push the ring’s activation even further. However, the result was negative—within this cathedral, the ring had already reached its maximum state of activation.
Realizing she could not extract any more information for now, Dorothy slowly opened her eyes, her expression heavy as she sank into thought.
From the data she had uncovered, it was clear that this cathedral—and the hidden dimension it resided in—possessed numerous capabilities: concealment, support for grand rituals, formidable self-defense mechanisms, and more… It was structurally similar to the Temple of Revelation Runes she had previously entered. Both were centered around temple functions but integrated a complex system of layered utilities.
However, compared to the Temple of Revelation Runes, Dorothy’s control over this Mirror Moon Cathedral was clearly lacking—because she was still missing something.
Right now, Dorothy could use her mother’s ring to control and adjust parts of the cathedral and its surrounding hidden realm, but the degree of control was limited. To fully govern the cathedral and all its functions, the ring alone—as a token of an envoy—wasn’t enough. It also required a divine decree from the Moonlit Garden. Only with both could she attain full authority. Presently, Dorothy possessed the credential but not the divine mandate, severely limiting what she could do with the cathedral’s functions.
“Compared to the Temple of Revelation Runes—established in the Second Epoch and worn by more than seven thousand years—the Mirror Moon Cathedral, built in the late Third Epoch, had only around two thousand years of history. Time had not eroded it nearly as severely. Even without maintenance, most of its functions had remained intact, and its preservation was far better than that of the Temple of Revelation Runes.
“Unfortunately, while the structure is in better condition, my level of authority here is much lower… I can’t hope to wield control here the way I did at the Temple. This ring alone simply isn’t enough to activate everything. But fortunately, among the functions I can access is the one I need most…”
With this thought, Dorothy concluded that while the majority of the cathedral’s functionalities—especially the self-defense systems—were beyond her reach, she did have access to some of the ritual support and spatial adjustment features. Chief among these was the crucial function of transitioning the cathedral into the present world.
According to the information she had just uncovered, the cathedral had been designed from the very beginning to phase between the inner realm and the present world via the mirror-like surface of Lake Starbind. Most of the time, it remained in the hidden dimension, but at certain lunar phases, clergy or affiliated individuals could use a key to pass through concealed gates on the lake and enter the temple.
Then, during a full moon, the entire cathedral would automatically shift to the surface of the lake in the real world to receive the public and hold ceremonies and festivals. During this time, the cathedral would be open to common believers, who could row boats through the hidden barriers around it to attend the rituals.
Now that Dorothy possessed the ring, she could use its rare authority to forcibly activate the spatial function and bring the cathedral into the real world—without needing to wait for the full moon. Once that transition was complete, she would unlock access to the majority of the temple’s ritual capabilities, enabling the exchange ritual and the two subsequent ones.
However, the current problem was this: while Dorothy could indeed move the cathedral to the real world, the Eight-Spired Nest was presently combing through Lake Starbind in search of it. The moment the cathedral reappeared in the real world, it would undoubtedly be discovered by them.