Behind the mirror, within the hidden space of Dazzle Star Lake, Aldrich, dressed in a simple windbreaker, stood upon the Mirror Lake, curiously examining the colorless space around him. When he heard the voice from beside him, he couldn't help but turn his gaze and speak softly to the familiar young woman before him.
"After I gave you that Stone statue, I kept wondering when you would use it to ask for my help. I had envisioned some scenarios where you might be in trouble, for example... you being discovered by the An Yin Bureau or the Church somewhere, and them coming to capture you. Or you provoking the head of some small cult or a cadre of a large cult, and being surrounded by several Black Earth... or one or two Chalk. I was confident that in those situations, I could easily help you solve the problem."
Aldrich said this to Dorothy, then raised an eyebrow and continued.
"What I didn't expect was that when you truly called me, you were actually facing two Scarlet, and high-ranking members of an organization like the Eight Point Nest... This is truly remarkable. A year ago, you were still just provoking Black Earth as an Apprentice. A year later, you can actually provoke two Scarlet at the same time. It seems I underestimated you too much back then..."
Aldrich murmured with emotion. He gazed at Dorothy, who was floating in the mysterious space before him, calm and composed as if blessed with various mysteries. He recalled when she was still in Igwinte a year ago, a girl who wasn't even an Extraordinary. For a moment, his heart, which had experienced centuries of ups and downs, couldn't help but be filled with emotion.
"What? Could it be that Mr. Principal, you regret it now?" Hearing Aldrich's words, Dorothy replied, and he slowly answered.
"It's not exactly regret, but I feel like I've lost out. The price for confronting two Scarlet shouldn't have been this low. This is also a lesson for me. Don't make promises casually, even if the other party was just a little girl who had just become an Apprentice at the time. Who knows what kind of scene she can stir up a year later... Look at this, it's the Night Sky Empress's temple and the Deep Web Queen's sorceress. You've only been an Extraordinary for a year, how did you get involved with divine secrets of this level?"
Spreading his hands, Aldrich said with confusion and doubt in his words, and Dorothy smiled and replied.
"Well, that's a long story, and it involves a lot of Spirit Sight content. Do you want to hear it?"
"Heh, that's not necessary. Regarding the secrets of the Night Sky Empress, my old bones don't have the guts to listen. However, given the level of your connection with Her, your significant changes over the past year are somewhat explained in a sense."
Aldrich said this to Dorothy with a smile. He had caught a glimpse of the statue in the Mirror Moon Church just now, and thus he vaguely guessed the connection between Dorothy and the Mirror Moon faith.
"Alright, now those people might really be as restless as you suspected. Send me out, send me to the Church, and I should also prepare myself."
Aldrich said this to Dorothy, and Dorothy then prepared to send Aldrich out of the hidden space, and then asked.
"Then I'll leave that side to you. If they really make a move, how long can you hold them off?"
"Not too long. First, my state has not fully recovered, and the Spirituality I can use is limited. Second, based on the neutral principle of the Craftsmen's Guild, I must act without exposing my identity, and my means are limited. This is what we agreed upon before. I can help you, but I cannot be openly hostile to major forces. Don't expect me to help you defeat them."
In a serious tone, Aldrich said this to Dorothy, and Dorothy nodded after hearing it,
"I understand this. All I need is time, just a little time."
Dorothy said this, and after finishing, she waved her hand, using the authority of the ring in her hand to send Aldrich out of the hidden space and into the Church.
Afterwards, Dorothy herself also began to wait for the right time, preparing to go to the chapel to begin her next ritual.
...
In the real world, within the lake-center Church of Dazzle Star Lake, in a dark corner, Gothsmore and Bo Ade were currently standing together, investigating the current state of the Church. They were both very surprised after confirming the abnormal state of the Church at this moment.
"The substitution has been completed... but it's not the Deep Web Queen's temple... Then whose temple is this? Which entity has occupied this place?"
Looking at the surprised Gothsmore before him, Bo Ade asked directly, but Gothsmore spoke solemnly.
"I don't know... This ritual is very simple, and deeper information cannot be clearly investigated. We can only confirm that the Deep Web Queen's influence has not occupied this place. The substitution ritual just now should have been successful."
"But why!? Every detail in the ritual was correct, I could act as the symbol of the Deep Web Queen, and the incantations the Sister chanted were not wrong in the slightest... The entire ritual should have been very smooth, why did this happen!" Gothsmore murmured, her voice trembling slightly, showing her unwillingness and anger at this moment. At this time, Bo Ade spoke again sternly.
"Now is not the time to dwell on these things. The key is what to do now? The entire temple has now been substituted under the name of another deity. How should we deal with this now? Do we need to withdraw? But if we just leave... how should we explain to the Nest?"
Bo Ade then asked Gothsmore, and Gothsmore couldn't help but hesitate for a moment after hearing these words. After hesitating for a while, she seemed to have made some kind of decision, and then said.
"Wait a moment."
Saying that, Gothsmore silently closed her eyes, and then seemed to be meditating or praying. After a few seconds, she let out a painful sound.
"Ugh..."
Clutching her head, Gothsmore opened her eyes with a painful expression. When she opened her eyes, two lines of bloody tears flowed from the corners of her eyes. Seeing Gothsmore's situation, Bo Ade couldn't help but blurt out.
"How is the situation? Did you get enlightenment?"
"Hoo... hoo... yes..." Gothsmore panted heavily, murmuring with a painful expression. Then, after wiping away the bloody tears from the corners of her eyes, she continued to speak.
"The Moon Bitch's temple has just been substituted... we... still have room to recover, we must act now and control the entire temple, otherwise, after tonight, it will be too late..." Gothsmore said breathlessly, and Bo Ade couldn't help but frown and reply after hearing her words.
"Control the entire temple directly now? But that Sister and her guards are still here. If we act now, it will be a direct conflict with them, and the consequences..."
"We can't worry about those consequences now! Since the enlightenment has this meaning, what else do we have to worry about! While there is still a chance to recover, we must act. This is the will of the Deep Web Queen!"
Gothsmore said sternly. Listening to her words, Bo Ade paused for a moment, then slowly said.
"Alright... let's go."
Saying that, Gothsmore and Bo Ade both transformed into a bloody mist and drifted into the air.
...
Under the high-hanging full moon, in the lake-center Church of Dazzle Star Lake, after sending away the other local Sisters who came to participate in the rehearsal, Vanya did not choose to return to Glamorgan with them, but stayed at the Church, communicating with the pilgrimage group guards stationed here.
"Sister Vanya, your ritual rehearsal just now went really well. I didn't expect you to do so well in such a short time. Were you really not good at ceremonies before?" Standing on the wide platform in front of the chapel, Gaspare said to Vanya beside him, and Vanya smiled and replied.
"You're too kind. I really just worked in the Historical Scripture Department before and didn't have much contact with ceremonies. I was able to do so well this time, thanks to Sister Gray's training."
"That Sister Gray... Speaking of which, I think he acted a bit... in many places."
Walking on the broad platform, Vanya and Gaspare continued their conversation. At this very moment, invisible blood mist was lurking in the air around them, silently spreading towards them, yet no one present noticed anything unusual.
Just as the invisible blood mist was about to touch Vanya, a sudden, inexplicable gust of wind swept through the area. This fierce wind roared across the Church's platform square, causing the pilgrimage guards and Vanya to instinctively cover their faces, while also scattering the approaching blood mist, preventing it from successfully nearing Vanya and the others.
"What's going on... this wind is..."
"This wind is unusual! It might be an Extraordinary product! Protect Sister Vanya!"
Realizing the anomaly in the wind, Gaspare was startled and shouted loudly. Following his command, the pilgrimage guards present quickly gathered around Vanya, braving the wind, and began close-range protection.
Then, they saw two masses of dark red blood mist rapidly condensing in the air not far away. Soon after, they formed into two humanoid figures, one male and one female, their faces indistinct, shrouded in shadow, with wings on their backs, suspended in the dark night sky.
"Enemies!"
Seeing this scene, Gaspare couldn't help but shout directly. Then, his subordinate guard knights successively pulled out the standard Church-issued long guns they carried, aimed at the two figures in the sky, and pulled their triggers.
Immediately, the sound of gunfire erupted. Under the spitting flames from the muzzles, countless bullets flew out, striking towards the two figures suspended in the sky. However, upon approaching, they caused no harm, instead passing directly through their bodies. Upon closer inspection, it could be seen that their bodies had not fully condensed into solid form, but were merely a dense gathering of blood mist.
"What's with that wind? There shouldn't be a Wind Art User here?" Bo Ade said in confusion, watching the guards firing below and ignoring the bullets passing through his body. Meanwhile, Gothsmore beside him immediately responded.
"They've made their move. Those Prit Vigilants who have been disturbing us here finally couldn't sit still and acted. Control the Church and force them out completely!"
The semi-blood-misted Bo Ade nodded. Then, he waved his hand, and in front of her, blood mist immediately condensed into several blood spears, stabbing directly and at high speed towards the guard detachment below. Seeing this, Gaspare immediately drew his blade and slashed forward through the air. Instantly, a wall of scorching flames rose from the ground in front of him, shooting into the sky and blocking the incoming blood spears.
Facing the obstruction of the flame wall, Bo Ade merely waved his hand lightly. The blood spears that had flown past all changed direction, as if alive, bypassed the fire wall and continued their attack towards the guard detachment. Seeing this, the members of the guard detachment all put down their firearms and drew their swords to meet the attack. As elites of the Church Army, they accurately struck the blood spears with their swords, and like ice, the blood spears shattered into countless fragments under the sharp blades.
The enemy's attack was neutralized. Just as the guard knights felt a moment of relief and prepared to counterattack, an unexpected situation occurred. The fragments of the blood spears that had shattered in mid-air suddenly grew countless sharp spikes, like sea urchins. These spikes rapidly spread in all directions, stabbing the guards while they were caught off guard. Fine needles penetrated their flesh, and the vast majority of the guards were affected in an instant.
These bright red fine spikes were extremely small, causing very limited apparent damage, and should not have caused excessive harm. But who knew that these extremely tiny wounds would erupt with an indescribable, agonizing pain!
"Ah ah ah ah!!"
The severe pain, which the guard knights had never experienced in their lives, quickly spread from the mosquito-sized stab wound to their entire bodies, causing everyone who was injured to drop their weapons amidst painful wails and roll around clutching their bodies. If not for the ascetics of the Saint Father's Path within the group using disciplines to maintain the guard knights' mental state, most people would likely have simply fainted from the pain.
"Ah ah... Sister Vanya... hurry and go!"
Gaspare, injured by the fine spikes, knelt on one knee in pain, crying out agonizingly with his hands propped on his sword. Due to the brain-splitting pain, he was unable to maintain the fire wall. Vanya, who had just been protected by everyone and remained unharmed, looked at the scene of wailing all around her. She did not choose to flee immediately but said with worry.
"Please hold on, everyone. I will alleviate your suffering."
Saying this, Vanya began to use her ability to perform group healing for the surrounding guard knights, seeking to alleviate their pain. Seeing this scene, Bo Ade, suspended in mid-air, condensed another thin blood spear in the air and controlled it to stab towards Vanya. This time, with no fire wall as an obstruction, the blood spear didn't even need to curve.
Just as the blood spear was stabbing towards Vanya, another unexpected situation occurred. With a roaring sound from all around, a Stone wall suddenly rose from the originally flat ground of the Church platform. The blood spear, unable to react in time, crashed directly into the Stone wall and instantly shattered completely. The subsequent fine blood spikes were also blocked by the wall.
Seeing this situation, Gothsmore and Bo Ade couldn't help but pause. Before they could be too surprised, another gust of fierce wind blew outwards from inside the Church. The wind was so strong that it blew them, who were semi-blood-misted, far away, sweeping them out of the Church's range in a single breath.
"Those guys... they've made their move again! Damn it, where are they hiding!"
Gothsmore, who had been blown far away, couldn't help but say through clenched teeth after stabilizing herself. Just as she and Bo Ade were preparing to fly back to the Church, they witnessed an astonishing scene.
"Dong... dong... dong..."
Bell chimes. The array of large bells made of heavy steel on top of the Church suddenly began to swing back and forth on their own, producing a series of deep bell sounds that spread throughout the entire Dazzle Star Lake. Accompanying the bell sounds was an earthquake. A rumbling earthquake suddenly occurred within the large Church in the center of the lake. The entire floor of the Church began to tremble violently. The vibrations transmitted to the water surface, creating expanding waves.
"This is... what's happening?"
"The ground... is shaking!?"
On the Church platform, the guard knights whose pain had slightly eased couldn't help but mutter in astonishment after seeing the surrounding anomalies. And what surprised them even more was yet to come.
The earthquake in the Church continued to intensify. Amidst a violent roaring sound, the colossal building, over forty meters tall and even more magnificent than the Tivian St. Yong Cathedral, actually began to slowly leave the water surface during the tremor, lifting off and suspending in the air. From a waterborne Church, it gradually became a floating Church. This phenomenon even caused Gothsmore and Bo Ade in the distance to widen their eyes.
"The Night Sky Empress's Church... it actually... flew up?"
"What a joke!? What kind of power is this!"
Just as everyone present was astonished by the changes in the Church, at this moment inside the Church, on top of a certain tall tower, Aldrich, wearing a gray trench coat, stood with his hands clasped behind his back, overlooking the large Church below, and spoke in a deep, aged voice.
"Oh, temple of the Night Sky... I, by the name of the Lord of Spirit Creation, build knowledge for you, give you form, manifest as a guardian, fulfill your duty, repel intrusion..."
Aldrich thus declared to the entire Mirror Moon Church. Subsequently, this giant Church, which was gradually being turned into a golem, began to transform under the moonlight.