Under the night sky of Tivian, countless pedestrians and carriages moved along the streets under the glow of street lamps. In the shadows by the roadside, a pitch-black carriage was currently parked. Inside the carriage, Dorothy sat, dressed in a shirt, a fitted plaid skirt, and black leather ankle boots, carefully receiving intelligence relayed from a distant corpse marionette.
“I didn’t expect... this personality modification from the Bewitching Dreams Path to be so overwhelming… It can even reach the point of replacing common sense. The effect is unexpectedly excellent…”
Dorothy reflected internally. At the moment, she was testing her new ability on the Bewitching Dreams Path—from psychological profiling to personality modification.
Using the large collection of letters exchanged with the Wolfblood Society’s contact as a medium, Dorothy successfully completed a psychological profile on the mysterious contact. Then, with the information obtained from the profile, combined with her powerful information-gathering skills, she located the contact’s whereabouts and confirmed his identity with barely any expenditure of mystical power.
Warren Hunt—that was the confirmed target. Publicly, he held the identity of a manager of a carriage company; secretly, he was the embedded Wolfblood Society operative in Tivian. He was the one who had been corresponding with Vania throughout the past year.
After visiting nearly every hospital, graveyard, slaughterhouse, and red-light district in Tivian, Dorothy finally found Warren through scattered clues. She immediately dispatched a corpse marionette to make contact and, using the new ability unlocked through the completed profile—cognitive modification—she directly distorted Warren’s perception of what information was important. Things of vital importance were made to seem trivial, while inconsequential details became “classified,” allowing her to easily extract any intel she wanted.
As long as Dorothy completes a psychological profile of a person, their worldview and values become like clay in her hands—malleable with little effort. She can alter them drastically, just like now with Warren. Even though he was a White Ash-rank Beyonder, she could toy with him effortlessly, and he wouldn’t even realize it afterward—he wouldn’t suspect anything was wrong.
“Though this test of cognitive modification was very successful, I have to acknowledge that part of its strength came from the rank suppression effect. If I were facing someone of the same rank—say, a Crimson-rank—the effect might not be so overwhelming. Moreover, cognitive modification requires a psychological profile first, and Crimson-rank cultists are notoriously well-hidden. Profiling them is extremely difficult.
“This ability may be powerful, but it comes with many limitations. I must use it wisely, not rely on it excessively.”
“According to that werewolf, the Wolfblood Society is absolutely determined to seize the Crimson Holy Mother. Even a Crimson-rank has been mobilized—the scale is far greater than any past operation.
“From what I’ve gathered so far, the Wolfblood Society remains cautious. Warren doesn’t know their full plan—his role is simply to transmit intelligence gathered from Vania. But on the actual day of the operation, Warren will participate directly, so at the very least I’ll be able to learn the date of their action.”
Dorothy considered this deeply. If she wanted to investigate the Wolfblood Society’s overall plan, she would have to search for their presence in Tivian’s outskirts. That was clearly difficult. And even if she succeeded, using a corpse marionette to spy on a Crimson-rank Chalice cultist was highly dangerous.
Thus, Dorothy had no intention of pursuing that werewolf in advance. She had no reason to waste precious spirituality acting as the Church’s scapegoat, handling a Crimson-rank werewolf alone. All she could do was provide some limited assistance to the Tivian Church and the Serenity Bureau on the day of action.
“Tivian Church currently lacks any Crimson-rank combat power. If a Crimson-rank threat appears under these conditions, their only option will be to rely on Crimson-rank officials from the Pritt Kingdom.
“In Pritt’s secret police and major military-political systems, high-ranking officials are typically Crimson-rank. At least two are stationed in Tivian long-term. The range of Layered Vision in Tivian is quite broad. Since Layered Vision’s power comes from the faith of the city’s residents, Tivian’s five million citizens are all eyes of this Layered Vision. Every citizen who believes in the Radiance Church grants Vania a surveillance radius of several hundred meters centered on themselves. This makes Layered Vision spread outward from population centers, covering the entire urban area and nearby suburbs.
“So theoretically, as soon as that Crimson-rank Wolfblood elder nears the city limits, Vania will detect him. She can then immediately notify the official Crimson-rank personnel of the Pritt Kingdom for support.
“Though the Serenity Bureau is completely incompetent against the Eight-Spired Nest, they still exert deterrent force against other societies. A Crimson-rank Wind Elementalist is extremely fast. The Wolfblood elder would be intercepted before he even reaches the cathedral district…
“Therefore, on the day of action, the Wolfblood Society will either send only White Ash-rank agents to infiltrate and steal the book, or they’ll find a way to create an opening that allows the Crimson-rank elder to break through the Wind Elementalists’ interception. Which path they choose—only time will tell.”
Dorothy analyzed calmly. Now that she had a general understanding of the situation, her plan was to continue collecting intelligence while awaiting the enemy’s move. In the meantime, she needed to make some combat preparations—namely, to replenish her spirituality.
To restore her much-needed spirituality, Dorothy agreed to accompany Adèle in person once again, in exchange for two mystical texts from her collection.
One of these mystical texts was titled Dance of Petal Steps, a pure dance manual filled with illustrations of various mystical dances—some for public performance, some offered to deities, some to woo lovers… It was said to be part of the Abundance Church’s tradition. This was a dance manual Adèle had used back when she was still part of the ballet society. Dorothy extracted 2 Chalice and 2 Revelation spirituality from this mystical text.
The other text was a fragmentary hymn written in the Falano language, praising a goddess.
This goddess was revered as the Goddess of Love and Beauty, the Goddess of Flowers and Dance. The verses praised Her unmatched beauty and described Her as the guardian of all beautiful things. She was also called the Goddess of Love and Romance, the one who brought together all those who boldly pursued love. People prayed to Her to seek their true love. The hymn also declared Her the Goddess of Dance—able to perform the most dazzling and mesmerizing dances—and Goddess of Flowers, making blossoms bloom wherever She went, creating vast seas of intoxicating blooms.
From this mystical text, Dorothy extracted 4 points of Chalice and 3 points of Revelation.
“These two mystical texts must have been left to Adèle by her teacher… If I remember correctly, Adèle and her teacher were both from Falano, and this hymn written in Falano… Could the Flower Goddess and Beauty Goddess it praises be one of the deities of the Desire Path?
“The tone of this hymn is completely different from the three currently worshipped in the Afterbirth Faith. It could be from the Third Epoch—a subordinate deity under the Goddess of Abundance. Perhaps she’s one of the four: the Sailor, the Hunter, the Herbalist, or the Dancer. Likely the Dancer…
“Just like the Wind Knight’s faith is tied to Pritt… could the Beauty Goddess’s faith have once flourished in the land of Falano?”
Dorothy pondered. Soon after, she shifted her focus back to spirituality and mystical texts. The texts she had read weren’t just from Adèle. Some of them had been sent over by Warren in the past few days, to hasten Vania’s corruption…
This mystical text was titled Secret History of the Muddy Stream. It recorded all the atrocities committed by the Church during the Muddy Stream War, including—but not limited to—large-scale inquisitions, mass burnings at the stake, wrongful imprisonment of countless innocents, and open massacres of villages practicing heretical faiths… Each incident was a blood-soaked tragedy, portraying the Church as more demonic than demons themselves. Any neutral reader would likely be filled with intense disgust toward the Church.
“This mystical text... was clearly prepared by the Wolfblood Society to slander the Church in front of Vania. Even without factoring in any cognitive poison, it would still disgust anyone who read it. But this text was written by the Abyssal Church. How much of it is exaggerated or embellished is hard to say. Even if everything in it is true and the Radiance Church truly is despicable—what makes the Abyssal Church any better? I’ve seen your ethics and conduct firsthand. In large-scale wars, you’re even more brutally violent...”
So thought Dorothy, silently judging the text in her mind as she began extracting spirituality from it. She obtained 2 points of Lantern, 1 of Chalice, and 1 of Revelation.
After that, Dorothy’s updated spirituality count was at 8 Chalice, 4 Stone, 14 Shadow, 8 Lantern, 11 Silence, and 8 Revelation.
“Whew… It’s not a huge boost, but better than nothing. Especially gaining more Chalice—that’s critical. That 1 point from before was terrifying...
“Well then, now it’s just a matter of waiting for those Wolfblood bastards to make their move. It shouldn’t take too long.”
Letting out a long breath, Dorothy spoke to herself and turned to gaze out the carriage window at the streets beneath the night sky.
…
Tivian, outskirts by day.
Under a gloomy sky, a light drizzle fell steadily, and the air carried a faint chill.
In the misty rain, atop a small hill, several figures stood. They all wore black rain cloaks and stared into the distance, where the massive city loomed faintly behind the curtain of rain.
Among them, the foremost figure was taller and broader than the others, nearly two meters in height. His burly frame stood out even under the wide, pitch-black cloak. Beneath the hood, a savage face was faintly visible.
It was the face of a dark-skinned man, thick with muscle and menace. His eyes glowed with ferocity, and both sides of his cheeks were covered in dense red tattoos—all abstract wolf-shaped totems. His entire presence exuded a constant, dangerous tension, as if he might attack at any moment.
“Elder Duval, there’s new intel from the Severed Limb Altar—this time from Max. The contact line Smith left behind finally agreed to cooperate.”
At this moment, a subordinate in a rain cloak stepped up beside the tall figure and reported respectfully. The figure known as Duval slowly turned his head and replied in a deep, heavy voice:
“What’s the situation?”
“The intel about Sister White Prayer has already been inscribed by the Severed Limb Altar. According to the content, Francesco is indeed no longer at the Hymn Cathedral, and to this day, Holy Mount has yet to dispatch a new archbishop—apparently due to political struggles at the saint level. The current overseer of the Hymn Cathedral is just that young nun named Chafferon. Though she’s well-known, she’s only White Ash-rank and can only rely on a holy relic to maintain Layered Vision.
“Also, the Sister of White Prayer has drawn us a full map of the Hymn Cathedral’s district, with the location of the restricted book vault clearly marked. We now have everything we wanted.”
The Wolfblood Society subordinate reported respectfully. Duval paused briefly, then spoke again.
“Have you verified the authenticity of the intel?”
“We’ve already cross-referenced it with the intel collected earlier by Mr. Sander. It aligns almost perfectly. For two sets of intel from entirely different sources to match so precisely—its accuracy is nearly confirmed.”
The subordinate added respectfully. Duval exhaled slightly, then began walking slowly toward the other side of the hilltop, where another figure stood alone in a black rain cloak, separated from the Wolfblood group.
“Didn’t expect… the intel you gave this time was actually accurate. No petty tricks… It seems your side really is sincere about cooperating this time.”
Duval addressed the solitary figure. That person turned around, revealing a dark-skinned, slightly chubby man. Upon seeing Duval, he smiled and bowed slightly.
“But of course, esteemed Elder. This time, we truly hope the three branches of the Afterbirth Faith can let go of old grievances and unite again. Naturally, we wouldn’t be playing tricks like before.”
“Hmph, you weren’t like this in the past…”
“Well, times change, don’t they? After all, your Gluttonous Wolf King and our Plague Lord were born from the same womb. We are all siblings—of one blood. Friction between brothers is normal, but when it comes to matters of true importance, we must stand together. We are all family, all children of the same Great Mother, are we not?”
Still smiling, the man—named Sander—spoke to Duval. Hearing this, Duval didn’t continue the conversation and instead said coldly.
“No more small talk. Now that all the intel is confirmed, we move tomorrow. If you want to show sincerity, then come along.”
“Yes, sir…” Sander bowed again.
As Duval turned to leave, Sander quickly called out.
“Please wait, Elder. Since you trust my intel now, I can brief you on the next phase.”
“Next phase? What else does that damn pest nest of yours want you to do?”
Duval turned back to face him. Sander, holding a small box, replied.
“Nothing much. Just a gift for you, Elder Duval. According to Chief Karua, this is both compensation for past offenses and a form of insurance for this operation.”
As he spoke, Duval opened the lid of the box. Inside was a small, slick, slimy, grotesque worm—squirming and twisting.