At night, on the edge of the Bastis oasis, within the encampment of the Church delegation, Vania stood inside her spacious tent, facing the translucent projection of a nun. Hearing the other party’s earlier words, she couldn’t help but part her lips slightly in hesitation.
“Move to another place...? That… doesn’t feel right. I’ve only just arrived here and haven’t even saved many people yet. Leaving now… doesn’t sit well with me.”
After a brief moment of thought, Vania replied to Ivy, who responded again.
“Are you sure you can handle the situation here? The root of the problem in Busalet lies in a product conjured by southern cultists. Even the heretics who have been entrenched here for years have no solution to it. Are you confident you can manage it?”
“In your current situation, if this plague isn’t resolved, you won’t be able to complete your advancement ritual. Are you sure you want to waste time here? If you change locations sooner, you might be able to complete your advancement faster.”
With a faint smile, Ivy said this, her tone laced with just a hint of persuasion. Hearing her words, Vania paused briefly, then her expression turned serious.
“Sister Ivy, what you said… does make some sense. If I wanted a smooth advancement, perhaps I shouldn’t be wasting time entangled in this difficult plague and should switch locations… But then, why did I come to Busalet in the first place—was it for advancement, or for relief?”
Vania’s voice carried a trace of uncertainty. At her question, Ivy raised an eyebrow slightly before replying.
“That’s a good question. But based on the original mission, you came here to carry out relief in order to complete your advancement ritual.”
“Yes… on the surface, this relief mission in Busalet was for advancement. But what is the purpose of my advancement? Isn’t it to shoulder greater responsibility and extend relief to more people with greater power? Relief exists for the sake of advancement, but advancement itself exists for the sake of better relief. In the end, what I truly need is relief—advancement is merely a means. I can’t abandon my purpose just because the means are difficult… That would be putting the cart before the horse.”
As she spoke, Ivy nodded with a maintained smile, a faint gleam flickering in her expression.
“So I’ve decided, Sister Ivy—I can’t abandon Busalet so quickly. I want to stay and try a few more things. Even if I can’t solve this plague completely, I should at least do everything in my power…”
With determined eyes, Vania met Ivy’s gaze. Hearing her conviction, Ivy slowly replied.
“Everything in your power… So that’s how you see it. If that’s the case, then stay and see how far you can go. If you ever choose to give up, just let me know.”
With that, Ivy’s figure distorted slightly and vanished completely. Watching her disappear, Vania remained silent for a long while before a quiet thought surfaced in her heart.
“Sister Ivy… was she testing me as well? I wonder if my answer just now was satisfactory to her…”
Not long after Vania and Ivy’s conversation ended, outside Vania’s tent—in a quiet corner of the camp—a pair of eyes silently observed the tent from the shadows.
The owner of those eyes was a Church spy stationed in Busalet, a woman named Faith. Sitting calmly on the grass, her gaze fixed on the distant tent, her thoughts undiscernable.
…
“That Sister Ivy… what exactly was she testing?”
Inside another, smaller tent within the Church’s camp, Dorothy sat quietly. Not long ago, she had finished extracting information from Arima, and now she had also learned of the exchange between Vania and Ivy inside the main tent. This led her into a brief period of contemplation.
“So my earlier suspicions were correct—the Redemption Faction has indeed sensed something… That conversation from Ivy had strong undertones of testing. But was she testing Vania herself—or the power behind her? Hard to say. It could be one or the other… or both.”
Dorothy brooded over this for a while, then began to consider whether she should reach out and make contact.
“If the test is only at this level… then perhaps I should refrain from taking any unnecessary action for now. Judging by the Redemption Faction’s attitude, they’re in no hurry. If they’re not rushing, neither should I. I’ll wait until a real opportunity arises.
“Right now, my top priority still lies within that city…”
With that thought, Dorothy stood up and gently lifted the flap of her tent, gazing into the distance. What she saw beyond the veil of night was the faint, hazy silhouette of the ancient city.
…
As the moon set and the sun rose, the night receded.
Soon, after a fleeting night passed, the Bastis oasis greeted the dawn of a new day. On the distant desert horizon, the rising sun cast its morning light over the oasis and the ancient city. Bathed in this light, the diplomatic camp by the oasis lake stirred awake; smoke from cooking fires rose from the many tents, and the sounds of morning prayers filled the air.
Opposite the delegation’s encampment, the ancient city of Bastis also awakened. Weary guards continued their vigil atop the city walls, watching the distant camp, while behind the walls, countless Bastis citizens began their daily routines.
In the dusty yellow-toned cityscape, flat-roofed buildings of varying height formed a haphazard arrangement. On the uneven streets, lines of robed citizens marched in queues, nearly every main thoroughfare showing the same sight. They all moved toward a single destination: the central district of the city.
There, an open plaza stretched out. Along its edges stood a few slender towers, and to the north, a tall cathedral loomed. Though this cathedral bore some resemblance to a Radiance Church structure, its style was markedly different—lacking the sharp, spired silhouettes typical of Radiance churches and instead favoring rounded domes and curved forms, reflecting a more North Ufigan aesthetic.
This was the temple of the Savior’s Advent Sect, erected within their controlled territory to worship the Radiant Savior. Commonly referred to as the “Sanctuary of Radiant Salvation,” it served as a place for prayer and confession for the sect’s believers. However, the Sanctuary in Bastis looked different now. All the original symbols of the Radiant Savior had been destroyed and replaced with a strange circular emblem, composed of intertwined worm-like segments forming a ring. The robed clergy of the Savior’s Advent Sect were nowhere to be seen—replaced by black-skinned warriors clad in patches of leather armor, and veiled attendant monks dressed in brightly colored robes.
At this early hour, citizens from all corners of Bastis continuously poured into the plaza in front of the church. Weak and light-footed, they were arranged into formations and led by monks to kneel in prayer before the wide-open temple doors. After a brief prayer, they stood and left, making way for the next group. Those who had prayed visibly seemed more invigorated, their spirits and vitality noticeably lifted.
Inside the open temple doors was the sanctuary. Where once stood the Radiant Savior’s altar, there now loomed a massive statue.
This statue was unlike any statue found on the main continent. It was no refined work of art, but a crude totem woven entirely from thick grass ropes. The overall shape was that of a bird with outstretched wings. Yet, because the ropes were so thick, it resembled a mass of long, entangled maggots. The bird seemed built from writhing worms.
“A bird’s form... suggesting a plague that spreads swiftly like flight. The worm-like body—representing filth and corruption... Is that the intended symbolism behind this totem?”
Hidden among the crowd, Dorothy—through the eyes of her corpse marionette—gazed into the church and silently reflected.
She recognized it. It was the totem of the Plauge Vulture, one of the three Afterbirth deities.
“Lord of Longevity, Filth-Bearing Elder Deity, and the Plague Vulture...” Compared to ‘Bird,’ this deity leans even more into insectoid traits. Among the three siblings, this one seems to exert the most influence over social structures. That makes it... rather troublesome.”
While surveying the plaza and its religious activities under Longevity Church control, Dorothy sighed mentally. Once her observations were complete, she maneuvered her marionette to leave the square and head elsewhere.
On a deserted street in a secluded part of Bastis, Dorothy’s marionette walked in silence. Clouds of mosquitoes buzzed overhead, their droning constant. Scattered along the roadsides were the rotting corpses of animals—and even humans. Left uncollected, their bodies decayed heavily, releasing an overwhelming stench.
Insects of all kinds swarmed through the flesh, while scavenger birds descended to peck greedily at the remains. Each corpse was surrounded by a ring of thick rope, seemingly arranged as small ritual sites. No one in the city made any effort to manage these putrid scenes.
Dorothy muted the scent feedback from the marionette and continued toward the northern part of the city. Along the way, her spiritual vision picked up numerous mosquitoes emitting high levels of spirituality—likely used as surveillance. Carefully avoiding these spiritual insects, she slipped past the Longevity Church’s gaze.
With no Crimson-rank presiding over Bastis, breaking through their surveillance proved easy. Eventually, she reached her destination: a charred, ruined building in the north of the city.
The structure had clearly suffered a fire. Its walls were entirely blackened, and some parts had collapsed—rendering it uninhabitable. Seeing the dilapidated structure, Dorothy paused briefly, then sent her marionette inside while no one was watching.
Through the rubble and debris, she moved swiftly, navigating the hollow ruins until she found a staircase leading downward into a pitch-black basement.
Without hesitation, she commanded the marionette to descend. The stairs led to a small, dark, partially collapsed room. Carrying a gas lamp, the marionette explored further. At last, in a hidden corner, it uncovered a heavy, discarded bookshelf against a wall. Dorothy had the marionette push it aside, revealing a hidden staircase descending even deeper into the earth.
Dorothy had the marionette slip inside, then close the bookshelf behind them. Descending the stairs, the marionette finally arrived at a vast, subterranean chamber.
There, Dorothy lit wall-mounted kerosene lamps one by one, illuminating the space. As the light grew stronger, the full scope of the underground archive came into view.
Supported by thick stone pillars, the large basement was lined with stone-carved bookshelves filled with scrolls, books, and stacks of papers. At its center stood a long stone table surrounded by dusty wooden chairs. Papers were scattered atop it, covered with dense handwritten notes.
“Found it…” Dorothy murmured inwardly through her marionette’s eyes.
This was the underground archive of Bastis, once part of the city’s library. When the Santo Dynasty collapsed, the upper levels of the library were consumed by fire. Though the building was reduced to a ruin, this underground section survived. It had once been where King Santik, founder of the Santo Dynasty, ordered the compilation of the ‘History of Busalet’. The traces on the table hinted at the feverish activity that once occurred here.
After the Savior’s Advent Sect took over Bastis, this archive was rediscovered by its prominent member, Jemal, who used it as a base for secret research. Dorothy learned of its existence from her subordinate Arima—and today, she sent a marionette to retrieve it.
The marionette wandered the archive slowly, observing its surroundings. Eventually, within one of the many storage rooms, it found a particularly distinct area. Unlike the rest of the dusty archive, this room was tidy, its chairs nearly spotless.
On the large table sat rows of jars and bottles filled with liquids of various colors. Some contained strange creatures, severed limbs, or organs suspended in solution. Test tubes, beakers, petri dishes, various chemistry and biology tools were scattered about. A large crucible rested nearby, dark charcoal beneath it.
This was clearly Jemal’s laboratory—her private research space. On one corner of the table sat a pile of books and densely written notes. It appeared to be Jemal’s own research documentation.
Seeing the notes, Dorothy had her marionette approach and begin reading.