East Coast of Pritt, Tivian.
In No. 17 of Green Shade Town on the northern outskirts of Tivian, Dorothy, dressed in comfortable homewear, sat peacefully on the sofa. While sipping tea, she analyzed the information she had recently received from Vania, who was far away at Holy Mount. Her expression was filled with keen interest.
“Salvation for a hundred thousand people... So that’s the final ritual of the Redemption Path for advancing to the Crimson rank? It really is quite a challenge. In a way, it reminds me of Adèle’s advancement ritual—the Dance for the Others. Both require influencing countless people. That one uses a dance, this one uses salvation…”
After another sip of tea, Dorothy continued pondering. She had been waiting a long time for Vania to complete her advancement ritual, and now it had reached the final step: all that remained was for Vania to relieve one hundred thousand people and she would formally become a true Crimson-rank Beyonder.
“That number—one hundred thousand—sounds large, but with enough support behind her, it really isn’t too difficult. She just needs to go to regions suffering from large-scale disasters and personally perform widespread relief. Before long, the ritual could be completed. And there are plenty of such troubled regions in this world. With the Church’s support, it won’t be hard for Vania to complete the ritual in those places.
“But what’s curious is that Saint Amanda specifically selected North Ufiga for the ritual. That’s interesting…”
Dorothy touched her chin in thought. From the arrangements made by that Redemption Faction saint, she sensed something deeper.
“There are many places where Vania could perform this ritual—some of them even more deeply influenced by the Radiance Church and more accessible to Redemption Faction operations. Yet Amanda still chose North Ufiga. That makes it even more suspicious. Her reasoning that Vania has a good reputation in Addus is valid, but it still feels like there were better options than North Ufiga. Could it be that Amanda sensed something unusual about Vania?”
“Lanterns possess powerful detection capabilities—especially those at the Gold rank. Even though I made ample preparations before sending Vania to Holy Mount—leaving behind only the holy scripture that functions as a Literary Sea Logbook communication copy, removing the Marionette Mark from her body, cleansing all residual spirituality, and only using low-frequency information channels to communicate, while also avoiding any contact during her visits to important places or meetings with key personnel…
“Even with that level of concealment… it’s still not enough to fully hide everything when facing a Gold-rank Lantern at close range. It seems now… Amanda must’ve discovered something.”
Dorothy’s brow furrowed slightly as she contemplated, attempting to interpret the living saint’s intentions.
“Amanda likely detected residual traces of my power on Vania, and from there inferred a secret connection to an external, unregistered society. She may have recognized that those traces relate to Revelation, and the only known organization openly associated with Revelation spirituality is the Heaven’s Arbiter Sect. By combining this with the events of the Thunder Judgment in Yadith and the Kankdal incident, she may have concluded that Vania is secretly connected to that group. That would explain why she sent Vania to North Ufiga—to facilitate a potential contact opportunity.
“Amanda has partly seen through Vania’s secrets, yet she didn’t expose them—instead, she continues supporting her promotion. On one hand, Vania holds significant political value for Amanda at this time. On the other, Amanda may want to use Vania as a bridge to initiate contact with the Heaven’s Arbiter Sect. Sending Vania to North Ufiga might be a deliberate step to create that opportunity.
“According to the intel I received earlier from Samson, political infighting among the Church’s upper echelons has worsened since the Pontiff’s ascension and prolonged absence. Some factions have even begun engaging with external societies… Amanda may be entertaining the same idea.”
As she ran through her deductions, Dorothy's furrowed brows gradually relaxed. If her speculation was correct, then although Vania’s secret was partially exposed, Amanda’s current attitude suggested that Vania was still safe. As long as her superior in the Redemption Faction continued to protect her, it was unlikely anything would happen to her within the Church.
“Looks like I’ll need to be ready to deal with the Redemption Faction directly once I arrive in North Ufiga…”
Dorothy murmured softly to herself while sitting on the sofa. Then another thought occurred to her: she was going to North Ufiga for her own investigation anyway. If she handled her relationship with the Redemption Faction well, she might even be able to borrow their strength.
“Vania’s ritual requires her to relieve a hundred thousand people in a disaster-stricken area. Isn’t Busalet perfect for that? The Redemption Faction will definitely provide her with sufficient armed support. If I play my cards right… I might even be able to ‘freeload’ some of their forces for my own purposes.”
Dorothy calculated inwardly. After some time, she temporarily concluded her analysis of the message Vania had sent and turned her attention to more immediate matters.
Her gaze shifted to the table before her. Several books and documents of various covers, thicknesses, and conditions—some new, some old—were arranged across the tea table.
These were the mystical texts she had recently ordered from Beverly. Once they arrived, she bought them outright. Dorothy planned to use them to replenish her spirituality in preparation for her journey to North Ufiga. Based on what types of spirituality she was lacking, she had focused her purchases on areas important for real combat utility.
After scanning the table briefly, Dorothy picked up one of the older-looking mystical texts and began to read it carefully.
The title was “The City of Mountain Furnaces: Volume I”. The text contained historical and cultural records of the dwarves from before the current era.
According to the unknown author, this mystical text was translated from archaeological documents of the Third Epoch Empire, meaning it was a Fourth Epoch work based on research from the Third Epoch into the Second Epoch—essentially, a “meta-archaeological” study.
It detailed a dwarven city called Guho Debho, unearthed by imperial archaeologists during the Third Epoch in what is now the northern part of the main continent.
The city, carved into the Great Snowy Mountains, was a massive underground stronghold. The original Third Epoch authors had carefully documented the excavation—from discovery, to initial exploration, to the deeper digs and the difficulties encountered.
The first wave of Third Epoch archaeologists learned that Guho Debho was one of the major cities of the dwarven kingdom in the Second Epoch. Its main purpose had been to extract the rich mineral deposits deep underground. The mountain’s interior housed palaces, temples, and residences, while beneath it lay ever-deeper mine tunnels. This volume focused primarily on the exploration records of the mountain’s interior.
“Records of Second Epoch dwarven archaeology… Interesting. From previous knowledge, the Second Epoch was an age where many intelligent species coexisted. Dwarves were one of the most prominent. So, it seems their main range was in the northern main continent. According to the author, other intelligent civilizations also left ruins on the main continent.
That means the Second Epoch featured more than just the dwarves. In contrast, the main human civilization of the Second Epoch appears to be the First Dynasty of North Ufiga. Its name, the ‘First Dynasty,’ was coined by Third Epoch imperial archaeologists—implying it was the first true kingdom founded by humans, and the first powerful human regime. It rose in North Ufiga alongside the other intelligent civilizations of the Second Epoch.”
While pondering, Dorothy nearly finished reading the entire archaeological text. Once done, she extracted the spirituality from it, gaining 5 points of Stone and 2 points of Revelation.
She then put the first mystical text aside and picked up a second ancient book. Its binding was very similar to the first, though it was thinner.
Upon opening it, Dorothy found that it was indeed the continuation of the previous volume—titled “The City of Mountain Furnaces: Volume II.”
“The City of Mountain Furnaces: Volume II” continued directly from the previous volume, focusing on how the Third Epoch archaeological expedition, after nearly completing their exploration of the mountain interior of the dwarven city, began delving into the mining zones deeper within the mountain.
According to this volume, the team slowly discovered a path leading into the mining district. After a lengthy period of preparation, they resumed their deep exploration of the ancient city, descending further into the mines.
The archaeological document described the dwarven mining zone beneath the city as extremely complex. A maze of crisscrossing tunnels stretched deep underground—one misstep could easily result in getting lost, or even trigger a minor collapse.
Throughout the expedition, the most common findings were traces of dwarven mining activity. However, as they delved deeper, they also uncovered numerous scattered weapons and pieces of armor—tools meant for battle and conflict. The deeper they went, the greater the concentration of weaponry. In certain massive caverns, they even found tens of thousands of discarded weapons and armors. The walls of these caverns were covered in marks left by blades, blunt instruments, and even explosions—clear signs that these vast spaces had once been the sites of intense battles.
The imperial archaeologists conducted detailed research and analysis of these ancient underground battlefields. They discovered that the size of the weapons and armor was smaller than standard human proportions—clearly designed for dwarves. These findings suggested that the dwarves had fought brutal battles against some unknown enemy within their own subterranean tunnels, leaving behind this violent history.
The archaeological team confirmed these battlefields were of dwarven origin. Yet, strangely, they found not a single dwarf skeleton among the ruins. Not only were the dwarven corpses missing—the bodies of their mysterious enemies were also completely absent. Aside from discarded gear and signs of fierce combat, nothing else remained. This left the Third Epoch imperial archaeologists deeply puzzled. The mystical text ended abruptly with these unanswered questions.
“So the dwarves’ underground mines showed signs of intense warfare? Who were they fighting? And why were the battles concentrated in the mining zones? Did their enemies come from beneath…?
“This middle volume raises far more questions than the first. Judging from the title, there seems to be a final volume still missing. Near the end of this one, the archaeological team mentioned they planned to delve even deeper into the mines. Maybe the final volume documents what they found?”
Dorothy contemplated silently, then began rifling through the rest of the mystical texts on the table, hoping to locate the third volume of The City of Mountain Furnaces. Unfortunately, she couldn't find it. The batch of texts Beverly had sold her didn’t include the final volume. With no other choice, Dorothy extracted the spirituality from the middle volume and moved on to another text.
Since this volume was shorter in content, it granted Dorothy 3 points of Stone and 1 point of Revelation.
After setting down Volume II, she picked up another mystical text. This one had a deep green cover and was loosely bound—thin and worn. Its title was “A Field Study of the Voodoo Forest Civilization”. Like the previous texts, this too was a Fourth Epoch work based on Third Epoch archaeological findings. The original author was also a scholar from the imperial era.
The archaeological expedition documented in this volume took place in a vast rainforest area in what is now the South Ufiga region—an area choked with miasma and dense, tangled vegetation. Today, this very region was known for being home to the Filth Coven. Dorothy had seen mention of a similar place in one of the mystical texts “gifted” to her by Luer, the Crimson Eucharist leader at Igwynt.
According to the Third Epoch author, this rainforest once housed an ancient, nonhuman intelligent civilization dating back to the Second Epoch. This civilization revered nature and life, worshiping a deity known as the Mother of Earth, said to be incarnated in a towering World Tree. The people of this civilization were referred to as Elves.