Beyond the mirror surface, in the hidden space beneath Lake Starbind, Aldrich stood atop the Mirror Lake in a simple windbreaker, curiously observing the colorless surroundings. When he heard a voice nearby, he turned his gaze toward it and quietly spoke to the familiar girl before him.
“Ever since I gave you that statue, I’ve been wondering when you’d use it to call on me for help. I even imagined a few situations where you might find yourself in trouble—like getting discovered by the Serenity Bureau or the Church somewhere, and they come after you. Or maybe you’d provoke the head of some petty cult or a senior member of a major one, get surrounded by a few Black Earth... or one or two White Ash-rank individuals. I was confident that in those situations, I could easily help you out.”
Aldrich said this to Dorothy, then raised his brow and continued.
“What I didn’t expect was that when you actually called me, you were up against two Crimsons. And not just anyone—they were senior members of the Eight-Spired Nest… That’s impressive. Just a year ago you were still provoking Black Earths as a mere Apprentice. Now you’re facing down two Crimsons at once? Seems I really underestimated you back then...”
He murmured in admiration, gazing at Dorothy as she floated serenely in the mysterious space, shrouded in an aura of mystique. Recalling the time in Igwynt a year ago, when she wasn’t even a Beyonder yet, his heart, weathered by a century of trials, was filled with awe.
“What’s the matter? Regretting it now, Headmaster?”
Dorothy replied with a smile, and Aldrich answered calmly.
“Not regret exactly… just feeling a bit short-changed. The price for going up against two Crimsons shouldn’t have been that low. It’s a lesson for me too: never make promises lightly, even to a newly inducted little Apprentice. Who knew you’d stir up such a storm within a year…? The Queen of the Night Sky’s temple, the Deep Web Queen’s Witch Regent—how’d you end up tied to divine secrets like that in just one year?”
Spreading his hands, Aldrich spoke with confusion and curiosity, to which Dorothy replied with a smile.
“That’s a long story—and involves a lot of content laced with cognitive poison. You sure you want to hear it?”“Haha, no thanks. Secrets of the Queen of the Night Sky are beyond what these old bones can handle. But given your ties with Her, your rapid development this past year makes a certain kind of sense.”
Aldrich smiled as he responded to Dorothy. He had glimpsed the new statue in the Mirror Moon Cathedral and was already suspecting some deeper connection between Dorothy and the Mirror Moon faith.
“Alright, now those people may really start acting out, just as you predicted. Send me out—to the cathedral. I need to begin my preparations.”
He requested, and Dorothy prepared to send Aldrich out of the hidden space. As she did, she asked.
“Then I’ll leave that side to you. If they really make a move, how long can you hold them off?”
“Not for long. First, I’m still not fully recovered—my available spirituality is limited. Second, per the White Craftsmen’s Guild neutrality rules, I must act without revealing my identity, so my options are limited. As we agreed before, I’ll help you, but I won’t openly oppose a major faction. Don’t expect me to defeat them for you.”
Aldrich answered solemnly. Dorothy nodded in understanding.
“That’s fine. All I need is a little time—just a bit of time.”
With that, she waved her hand, using the ring’s authority to teleport Aldrich from the hidden space to the cathedral.
Afterward, Dorothy remained behind, waiting for the right moment to head into the chapel and begin her next ritual.
…
In the present world, within the central cathedral of Lake Starbind, in a dark corner, Gossmore and Boade were examining the current state of the cathedral. After confirming the unusual changes, they were both clearly shocked.
“The replacement is complete… but it’s not the Deep Web Queen’s temple… then whose temple is this? Which being has claimed this place?”
Boade asked frankly as he looked at the stunned Gossmore. She answered gravely.
“I don’t know… The ritual was quite basic, so we couldn’t probe too deep. But we can confirm the Deep Web Queen hasn’t taken over. The replacement ritual just now… should have succeeded.
“But why!? Everything in the ritual was flawless. I represented the Queen perfectly. The nun’s incantation was flawless too… The whole thing should have gone smoothly. Why did this happen?!”
Gossmore murmured, her voice trembling with frustration and fury. Seeing this, Boade sternly interjected.
“Now’s not the time to dwell on that. The key question is—what do we do now? The temple has been claimed by another god. Should we retreat? But if we just leave… how will we explain ourselves to the Nest?”
His words made Gossmore hesitate. After a moment of inner struggle, she made a decision and spoke.
“Wait a moment.”
She closed her eyes in silence, seemingly meditating or praying. Seconds later, she let out a pained sound.
“Ugh…”
Holding her head, Gossmore opened her eyes, now streaked with tears of blood. Boade gasped at the sight.
“What happened? Did you receive a revelation?”
“Hah… hah… yes…”
Gossmore panted painfully, wiping away the blood before continuing.
“The moon-bitch’s temple was just replaced… There’s still time to take it back. We must act now—seize control of the entire temple. If we wait past tonight, it’ll be too late…”
She spoke between breaths. Boade frowned and replied.
“Seize the entire temple now? But that nun and her guard are still here. If we act now, we’ll be in open conflict with them. The aftermath…”
“We can’t afford to worry about the aftermath! If the revelation points this way, what’s left to hesitate about? We still have a chance—we must act! This is the Deep Web Queen’s will!”
Gossmore snapped, her voice sharp. Hearing her words, Boade paused briefly, then slowly nodded.
“Very well… Let’s go.”
With that, Gossmore and Boade both dissolved into a mist of blood, dispersing into the air.
…
Beneath the hanging full moon, at the heart of Lake Starbind within its central cathedral, after sending off the local nuns who had come for the ritual rehearsal, Vania did not follow them back to Glamorne. Instead, she remained at the cathedral, conversing with the guards from the Pilgrimage Delegation stationed there.
“Sister Vania, your rehearsal just now went incredibly well. I didn’t expect it to be that polished in such a short time. Were you really not familiar with rituals before?”
Standing on the wide platform in front of the chapel, Gaspard addressed the nearby Vania, who responded with a smile.
“You flatter me. I truly did work in the Historical Scripture Department before and had very little exposure to rituals. This time’s success is mostly thanks to Sister Gray’s training.”
“Ah, Sister Gray… Speaking of which, I feel like in many ways she’s a bit…”
As they walked across the broad platform, Vania and Gaspard continued their conversation. Unbeknownst to them, invisible blood mist was silently spreading through the air around them, creeping ever closer—yet no one on-site noticed anything amiss.
Just as the mist was about to reach Vania, a sudden, inexplicable gust of wind swept across the cathedral’s plaza. The Pilgrimage Delegation guards and Vania instinctively shielded their faces from the wind, and the approaching blood mist was blown apart, unable to reach its target.
“What’s going on…? This wind—?”
“There’s something wrong with this wind! Possibly a mystical phenomenon! Protect Sister Vania!”
Realizing the anomaly, Gaspard shouted a warning. The guards quickly gathered around Vania, forming a protective formation.
Then, in the distance above, two clusters of dark red blood mist rapidly condensed in midair, forming into humanoid shapes—one male and one female. Their faces were shrouded in shadow, their backs bore wings, and they floated in the pitch-black night sky.
“Enemies!”
Gaspard shouted the moment he saw them. The guards immediately drew their standard-issue Church rifles and fired toward the two figures in the air.
A flurry of gunfire erupted. Under the muzzle flashes, bullets rained upward toward the floating figures—but the rounds passed straight through them. A closer look revealed that their bodies were not fully solid but dense masses of blood mist.
“What’s with that wind? There shouldn’t be an Aeromancer here.”
Boade, ignoring the bullets passing through him, spoke in confusion. Gossmore, beside him, answered at once.
“They’ve made a move. The Pritt vigilance faction that’s been meddling with us this whole time—they’re finally acting. Take control of the cathedral and force them into the open!”
Boade, still partially mist, nodded. With a sweep of his hand, several blood-red spears formed before him and hurled down at the guards. Gaspard reacted quickly, drawing his blade and slashing forward through the air. A wall of searing flame erupted in front of him, shooting upward to block the incoming blood spears.
But Boade simply gestured again, and the spears curved as if alive, avoiding the firewall and continuing their assault. The guards dropped their rifles, drew swords, and expertly cut down the spears midair. They shattered like ice into a rain of fragments.
The enemy attack deflected, the knights of the guard barely had time to breathe before something unexpected happened: those blood spear shards, scattered in midair, suddenly sprouted sharp barbs like sea urchins. The spikes expanded outward at high speed and struck the guards before they could react.
The tiny crimson spikes pierced flesh—extremely thin and seemingly incapable of causing much harm. Yet the moment they struck, an indescribable, piercing pain surged through every victim.
“AAAGHHH!”
It was agony like the knights had never felt before. What began as mosquito-sized wounds quickly spread waves of pain throughout their entire bodies, forcing them to drop their weapons and writhe on the ground in torment. If not for an Ascetic monk using his Commandment to stabilize their minds, most of them might have passed out from the pain.
“Aaagh… Sister Vania… run!”
Kneeling on one leg, Gaspard shouted hoarsely through gritted teeth, clutching his sword for support. The agony was so intense he could no longer maintain the firewall. Yet Vania, unharmed thanks to the others’ protection, did not flee. She looked at the suffering knights and said with concern.
“Please endure a little longer. I’ll ease your pain.”
She began channeling her power to cast a group healing spell to lessen their agony. Seeing this, Boade formed a slender blood spear in the air and launched it directly at Vania. With no firewall in place, the spear needed not even to veer.
But just as it neared Vania, another surprise occurred—a thunderous boom echoed out as a stone wall suddenly rose from the floor of the cathedral platform, blocking the spear’s path. It shattered on impact, and the ensuing blood needles were stopped as well.
Seeing this, Gossmore and Boade faltered. Before they could react further, another gust of wind blasted out from the depths of the cathedral, so forceful that it blew their semi-mist bodies far from the cathedral.
“Those bastards… again! Damn it, where are they hiding?!”
Gossmore growled in fury after regaining her balance. Just as she and Boade prepared to return, a shocking sight met their eyes.
Dong… dong… dong…
From atop the cathedral, the heavy steel bells began to sway on their own, echoing powerful tones across the entire Lake Starbind. The chimes were followed by tremors—a deep quake rippled through the cathedral, its flooring shaking violently. Waves spread across the lake from the seismic force.
“What’s happening…?”
“The ground… it’s shaking!?”
The guards, regaining some composure thanks to Vania’s healing, stared in astonishment at the unfolding spectacle. But the most shocking sight was yet to come.
The tremors intensified. With a mighty roar, the cathedral—over forty meters tall, even more majestic than Tivian’s Hymn Cathedral—began to rise slowly into the air. No longer a lakeside structure, it ascended, floating in the sky. Even Gossmore and Boade, watching from afar, widened their eyes in disbelief.
“The Queen of the Night Sky’s cathedral… it’s flying?!”
“Are you kidding me?! What kind of power is this?!”
While everyone was in shock over the cathedral’s transformation, within one of its high towers stood Aldrich, clad in a gray windbreaker, hands behind his back. Overlooking the vast cathedral below, he spoke in a deep, aged voice.
“O Temple of the Night Sky… in the name of the Lord of Spiritual Form, I bestow upon you sentience and shaping. Arise in the form of a guardian, fulfill your duty, and expel the intruders...”
Aldrich made his declaration to the Mirror Moon Cathedral. Bathed in moonlight, the massive structure—now gradually becoming a golem—began to shift and transform.