Since she didn't want to come into contact with the subsequent troops from the Church, Miss Dorothy directly took Naifnis and re-entered the World of False History after briefly explaining some information and saying goodbye to Awei and Vanya.
Within the World of False History, Miss Dorothy, still blessed by Viagetta, fully controlled the phenomena within the World of False History using the Judge of Heaven's divinity she had absorbed, performing a high-speed movement that instantly transported her and Naifnis a great distance away before exiting the World of False History from there.
In the desert at night, the figures of Miss Dorothy and Naifnis appeared on a towering sand dune in a flash. Then, Naifnis scanned the surroundings with a somewhat bewildered look and asked Miss Dorothy beside her.
"Miss Dorothy, where are we now?"
"This is the border between Buserite and Adus. We can enter Adus from here and find a place to rest," Miss Dorothy said frankly to Naifnis, who stood beside her. Naifnis was stunned after hearing Miss Dorothy's words and then spoke again directly.
"The border between Buserite and Adus? How did we get so far away in an instant?" Naifnis said in surprise. If she remembered correctly, they were just near Bastis, which was the central heartland of Buserite. This place was about ten days away from the border of Buserite, which was very far. How did she suddenly end up here? Did Miss Dorothy gain some powerful new ability?
Recalling the scene when Miss Dorothy entered that magnificent illusory ancient city earlier, she couldn't help but think this in her heart, and Miss Dorothy beside her also answered directly.
"It was just a further borrowing of the 'enlightenment' power from the ruins left on this land. This is not a power that can be used casually. Now, taking advantage of the last bit of opportunity, I used it to make the journey easier."
Miss Dorothy said to Naifnis. After Naifnis nodded thoughtfully, she continued to speak.
"I see... Is this perhaps the power possessed by the ancient sage of the First Dynasty that Miss Dorothy you mentioned before? Since Miss Dorothy you have already met her, do you know anything about how to break my family's curse?" Naifnis asked Miss Dorothy with some anticipation. Miss Dorothy thought for a moment and then answered.
"About this question... I can only say there are some clues. To undo the bell, you need the person who tied it. To completely lift your family's curse... we must directly face that Prince of Tomb Sands, Hafdar. Although he is a powerful undead, we are not who we were in the past. I already know some clues about how to deal with him. When the time is right, perhaps we can go directly to him."
"Really... Phew... That's great..." Listening to Miss Dorothy's words, Naifnis couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief, saying thankfully. For her, the best news about the family curse was having hope and clues. Seeing Naifnis's relieved expression, Miss Dorothy paused slightly and then spoke again.
"Speaking of which, Senior Nefelnis, if I remember correctly, you said your North Wu bloodline comes from your grandmother?"
"Yes, that's right! My Grandpa is a Prit, and my Grandma was someone Grandpa met and brought back during his time in North Wu," Naifnis nodded in affirmation to Miss Dorothy's words, and Miss Dorothy continued to ask.
"Then, have you ever met your grandmother? Do you have any impression of her?"
"About that... Hmm... According to my parents, my grandmother passed away before I was born, even earlier than my Grandpa's death. So I've never met her. I've only seen her portrait hanging in our old house, a portrait of her when she was young. She was a standard North Wu beauty, and my North Wu features and my father's are inherited from her," Naifnis said, recalling for a moment and then responding directly to Miss Dorothy. After listening to Naifnis's words, Miss Dorothy continued to ask.
"What about your father? Your father and that old butler in your family should have a deeper impression of your grandmother, right?"
"Dad and Nu Nuo Te Grandpa... They definitely know more about my grandmother. If Miss Dorothy you want to know more, I can ask them... However, Miss Dorothy, why are you so interested in my grandmother? Could this be related to our family's curse?" Naifnis asked Miss Dorothy curiously, and Miss Dorothy replied thoughtfully.
"There might be a deep connection, but this can only be confirmed after a more in-depth understanding. In short, if you have time later, ask your butler and your father about various aspects of your grandmother's situation, the more detailed the better..."
"Oh..." Listening to Miss Dorothy's words, Naifnis nodded with a confused look. Meanwhile, Miss Dorothy looked at the night sky outside and fell into contemplation.
'According to Viagetta... Naifnis should be her descendant from seven thousand years later. In other words, Naifnis carries the bloodline of the First Dynasty's highest priest. The source of this bloodline should be her North Wu grandmother...
'So the question now is, according to Nu Nuo Te's earlier statement, Naifnis's grandmother was brought back by Naifnis's Grandpa from an extremely dangerous adventure. During that adventure, Naifnis's Grandpa was severely injured, and his entire team was wiped out. He brought back three things from this adventure: Naifnis's grandmother, Hafdar's curse, and the Golden Scepter to resist the curse.
'That is to say, Naifnis's grandmother, the scepter, and Hafdar have a very strong connection. Perhaps the Golden Scepter, this powerful 'enlightenment' item, was inherited from her family line. If that's the case, wouldn't it mean that Hafdar is targeting the descendants of his former colleagues? Why would he do that? Since he believes in the Judge of Heaven, shouldn't he respect the lineage of the Judge of Heaven's priests? What exactly is he doing?'
Miss Dorothy thought to herself, but after only a moment of deep thought, she stopped and turned to Naifnis, saying.
"Let's go, Senior Nefelnis. Everyone is tired. Let's go to a city in Adus and rest for the night."
"Okay..."
Then, Miss Dorothy took out the magnetic flying carpet, sat on it with Naifnis, and controlled it to slowly take off, then quickly flew towards Adus.
During the flight in the air, Miss Dorothy felt the weak trace of Viagetta's blessing on her completely disappear. From this moment on, she finally lost control of the World of False History, unless she returned in the Golden form.
...
Since Miss Dorothy had already calculated the landing point in the present world based on the map in her memory during the teleportation in the World of False History, she quickly found a border city after flying over the Adus border with Naifnis and found a good enough hotel to stay in.
In her room, Miss Dorothy sat on the chair by the window, looking at the desert night outside and letting out a long sigh of relief. In the recent period, she had experienced a series of events, from the initial capture operation targeting Amyaba, to the final direct confrontation with the 'Cup' Pope Unina relying on divinity and ancient power. These developments were all unexpected for her. After a period of continuous tension, she could finally stop and rest for a while, catching her breath.
The capture operation targeting Amyaba, fighting the plague with Amyaba, encountering Unina, escaping from Unina, confronting Unina... In this series of events, although Miss Dorothy spent more than half a year doing research with Vanya in the World of False History during the first half, the most thrilling encounters with Unina happened in the latter half, which was enough to keep Miss Dorothy tense.
Although there were so many unexpected situations, she finally survived...
After a long sigh of relief, Miss Dorothy began to eat the fresh grapes brought to the room while looking out the window and contemplating, analyzing and summarizing the gains from this recent series of encounters.
First is Miss Dorothy's biggest gain this time, the divinity of the Judge of Heaven. After experiencing the power of divinity, Miss Dorothy finally felt a trace of the gap between mortals and gods. This gap is difficult to bridge, almost insurmountable. After experiencing the power of divinity, Miss Dorothy could finally glimpse the power of gods.
'This is the power of a god... It is far beyond ordinary Extraordinaries, it is a power that involves the essence, rules, and concepts of the world. Those who possess divinity are indeed 'gods in formation'. This is a power that mortals can hardly look up to...'
Miss Dorothy thought in her heart. From Viagetta, she also obtained some occult knowledge. Those who reach Golden and freely possess divinity can also be called Free Divine Beings. In Viagetta's era, such beings had a more resounding title, called "Demigods."
Corresponding to demigods, other divine beings are mostly "God-Chosen" and "Apostles."
God-Chosen are special important figures active in the mortal realm within a true god's worship system. These figures usually have a physique that can be close to divinity, and are naturally and closely connected to the god they believe in. The god can grant power and descend will to these figures through this connection.
Simply put, God-Chosen are vessels for the god's power and will. Gods can rely on God-Chosen to act conveniently in the present world. God-Chosen are to some extent born into a system. God-Chosen are naturally able to contain the power of divinity, and the higher the level of the God-Chosen, the stronger their adaptability to divinity. However, for a God-Chosen to truly bear the divinity they can manifest, they usually have to wait until the Crimson Tier or above. In different belief systems, God-Chosen have different titles, but without exception, they are some of the highest-ranking people in that system.
Compared to God-Chosen who are mortal vessels, Apostles are often a kind of derivative of the god themselves. They are often the result of a god's own divinity radiating outwards. They are usually children who inherited divinity from the god, creations endowed with divinity by the god, or creatures that obtained permanent divinity from the god.
Unlike mortal God-Chosen who only temporarily obtain a god's divinity through prayer at specific times, the divinity of Apostles is permanent, and they are generally not mortals. Compared to God-Chosen, they have eternal life and reside in the inner world. With the same amount of divinity, Apostles are stronger than God-Chosen and closer to gods, but their function as a vessel for a god is much weaker. Gods often turn some highly favored and excellent God-Chosen into Apostles so that they can completely escape the constraints of lifespan and stay by their side.
And the so-called demigods are not the same kind of beings as God-Chosen and Apostles at all. Although they are all divine beings, the divinity held by demigods is free divinity, not specifically granted by a certain god. There is a dependent relationship between God-Chosen and Apostles and gods, but demigods do not have this. Compared to God-Chosen and Apostles, demigods can use their divinity more freely and easily without being restricted by gods.
According to Viagetta, the so-called demigods are immature gods in the process of formation, and are very different from Apostles and God-Chosen. Among the three types of divine beings, this is the only one that is evolving towards becoming a god. In the past, demigods were usually formed by Apostles who miraculously survived the disaster of a god's fall, or some were formed by high-level Extraordinary beings who collected the divinity of a fallen god through various means, or nascent young gods naturally formed on vacant divine thrones can also be called demigods; they are all candidates for godhood.
According to Viagetta, if Miss Dorothy becomes Golden, she will directly become a demigod by virtue of the Judge of Heaven's divinity, surpassing ordinary Golden, and will directly initiate the process of ascending to the 'enlightenment' divine throne...
'So, my top priority now is to try my best to complete the promotion ritual. As long as I can become Golden, I will be able to directly surpass most Golden, and even if I encounter Unina again, I won't be afraid of her...
'The Golden ritual of the Path of Pure Reason requires me to know a secret history of six current or former pure-colored main gods, confirm their status, and at least witness a part of their true form... As expected, it is indeed a troublesome task that involves all spiritual domains...
'Thinking about it, these tasks are not easy to do. First, for the 'Cup', I must go find the Cup Mother or Fertility, find a secret history of one of them, know what state she is in, and even see a part of her true form.
'In terms of safety, although finding Fertility is more suitable, the Fertility Goddess seems to have fallen, and the entire worship system is now completely gone. Not to mention where to find the secret history, witnessing the true form is an impossible task... Unless she left some corpse in some unknown place, but this possibility is too small. In the end, I feel like I still have to find the Cup Mother, but the danger is incredibly high.'
Miss Dorothy thought to herself. After confronting Unina, she had absolutely no desire to have any form of contact with the Cup Mother's power again.
'And for the'Stone', I can only resort to the old method, going to the Craftsmen's Guild... But the problem is that the god the Craftsmen's Guild believes in is the order construct core, not the Stone Prince. Do they know the Stone Prince's secret history and how to see him? Even if they do... how much will it cost? Although I have a lot of money now, I estimate I can't afford a bill for such divine secrets...
'Then there's the 'Light'... The Shining Light Church's faith is suppressed by the Church, and it is very difficult to obtain the Save the World's secret history. However, fortunately, Vanya is now a high-ranking official in the Church and has contact with the Redemption Faction, so obtaining the Save the World's secret history is not completely without hope...'
"But the key is to meet the Radiant Savior, which is impossible even with the help of the Redemption Faction. This is a privilege that only the Pope can grasp within the Church. Even Amanda, the head of the Redemption Faction, cannot meet the Radiant Savior. The hope of glimpsing the Radiant Savior will probably ultimately fall upon the Savior Descends Faction. I don't know if their claim of contact with the Radiant Savior is true...
'As for the'Shadow'... Tsk... How should I put it? Based on the unclear connection between me and the Mirror Moon Goddess, this is probably the easiest part of the ritual to accomplish... Provided I can find a way to contact the Mirror Moon Goddess again and ask her to make a move again...' Miss Dorothy thought to herself like this, feeling most at ease when talking about the "Shadow" part of this ritual.
'Next is'Silence'... To be honest, I have the least information about'Silence' right now. I don't know anything about the King of the Underworld. I've had relatively few dealings with the Netherworld Coffin Society, and the information I know is too scarce. The others are difficult or dangerous, but this one is completely baffling. I don't know if I can get any clues from the Shaman in the New World.
'Finally, there is 'enlightenment', where I belong... I already know some of the secret history about the Judge of Heaven, it's just that I don't know how to accomplish the point of witnessing His true form. I wonder if this time I can be self-sufficient like before...'
Miss Dorothy slowly analyzed in her heart and gradually formulated the general direction of her future promotion plan. For "Cup," she planned to first look for information on the Fertility Goddess. If that didn't work, she would risk starting with the Placenta side. For "Stone," she would ask Beverly later to see what she said. For "Light," both the Church and the Savior Sect needed to collect information simultaneously. For "Shadow," she would try to communicate with the Mirror Moon Goddess again. For "Silence," she could only consult her friends in the New World. For "enlightenment," she would experiment more herself.
After planning the general direction of her future actions, Miss Dorothy focused her attention on some important information she had obtained this time, especially the information about the Judge of Heaven that she learned from Vejita.
It can now be confirmed that the former Lord of 'enlightenment', the Judge of Heaven, should have truly fallen. Before His fall, He seemed to have foreseen my arrival. Everything that happened tonight might have been within His expectations... Although it feels a bit like being calculated, I don't feel much malice at the moment...
'So now the question is, why did the Judge of Heaven, who was so powerful and could predict the future, eventually fall? What exactly is the 'fall' that He has always been wary of... Does this so-called 'fall' still exist in the gods of today?'
Miss Dorothy thought to herself like this. Speaking of the fall, she thought of the current Fetal Garment Cult and some other cults in the'Stone','Shadow', and'Silence' domains. Do these cults have any relationship with the so-called fall?
'According to Vejita, the so-called fall is an influence that even gods are wary of and difficult to avoid. Even though the Judge of Heaven was so powerful, He eventually fell in an unclear and inexplicable manner. Even if I eventually become the second Judge of Heaven, will I also face the same predicament He encountered back then?
'Finally... there is my so-called'system'. According to Vejita, this is also a divinity, but it is another kind of divinity similar to 'enlightenment' besides the Judge of Heaven. What does this mean? Could it be that there are other gods of 'enlightenment' besides the Judge of Heaven? The Judge of Heaven is a god of the Second Era. Could it be that in the mysterious First Era, there was a true first generation god of 'enlightenment'? And why is the system's divinity said to be similar to 'enlightenment' divinity, rather than being directly equal? Is there a qualitative difference between the system's divinity and the Judge of Heaven's divinity?'
All sorts of doubts plagued Miss Dorothy's heart. At this moment, besides making all sorts of wild guesses, she couldn't come up with any definite answers. Helpless, she could only slightly rein in her thoughts and return from various conjectures to more realistic issues.
After taking a deep breath, Miss Dorothy decided to sort out the changes in her own Spirituality status during this series of events.
Although the situation she encountered this time was unprecedented, because Miss Dorothy mainly participated in the battle with Unina and had the Spirituality support of the Holy Domain, her Spirituality consumption was not much. She mainly used some materialized Spirit threads when jointly resisting Amuyaba with Awei, and also struck a few lightning bolts in an attempt to save Vanya from Unina.
In total, Miss Dorothy consumed 4 points of "Cup" and 6 points of "Stone". Miss Dorothy learned a lot about the secret history of the First Dynasty and the Judge of Heaven from Vejita, and the Golden promotion ritual contained a large amount of "enlightenment". Miss Dorothy also learned a lot of "Light" and a certain amount of "Cup" from Awei's account of the Church rebellion and Unina's words.
Putting it all together, Miss Dorothy's Spirituality status is now as follows.
40 Cup, 8 Stone, 19 Shadow, 25 Light, 18 Silence, 100 enlightenment.
Not bad, because the quality of the lost information described by Vejita and the Golden Ceremony of the Heavenly Mandate Saint was too high, and the amount of Spirituality that could be extracted was excessive, Miss Dorothy's "enlightenment" has now reached the overflowing level of one hundred points. This is a jump of more than fifty points in one go, and now the "enlightenment" standard in Miss Dorothy's promotion requirements has been met.
"It's the same as before, the standard for 'enlightenment' is met first... The others also need to be slowly worked on..." Miss Dorothy couldn't help but murmur, then looking at the few lower Spirituality levels in her accumulation, she couldn't help but slightly furrow her brows and think to herself.
'Now, the reserves of some Spirituality are dangerous again. It seems I need to replenish them well after I go back... Using Spirituality in combat like this is very consuming. I wonder if it's possible for me, as a Scarlet, to make my divinity play a role now?'
Touching her chest, Miss Dorothy pondered like this in her heart. Then, with this question, after stretching, she swayed and went to bed to rest.
...
Central region of the Main Continent, northern region of Iweig, central area of the Protectorate States.
In the central region of the Main Continent are the loyal Protectorate States dedicated to guarding the Shining Light Church. The area where the Protectorate States are located is a plain. In the center of this plain, named Grace Plain, the most important core holy land of the Shining Light Church is located.
Under the clear blue sky is an endless, lush green, flat grassland. If one stands on the grassland and looks out, the plain here meets the sky, vast and boundless, until after looking around, one sees that magnificent giant.
That is a mountain, a high mountain, a gigantic peak almost entirely composed of white rock, extremely steep, rising from the plain and piercing the sky.
On the flat and empty plain, this high mountain, like a sharp sword, abruptly rises from the ground, entering the clouds at an angle of almost ninety degrees. If viewed from a distance, it doesn't look like a mountain, but rather like a huge white rock pillar supporting the sky and the earth, which is very strange but also spectacular.
This is the most important core holy land of the Shining Light Church, the largest transnational organization in this world, and also its headquarters, Holy Mountain.
On the lush green plain where even hills are rarely seen, Holy Mountain stands like a pillar of heaven and a sharp sword between heaven and earth, its peak piercing the clouds and obscured by mist. At the foot of the mountain is a magnificent and vast city built around the huge peak. A continuous, extra-long city wall surrounds the entire peak. Inside are large areas of white building complexes built at the foot of the mountain, with countless holy giant statues standing among them, and countless Churches echoing with deep bell sounds.
This is the Holy City, Holy Angel City, a city of faith formed by the large number of various clergy gathered at the foot of Holy Mountain, and also the administrative center of the Shining Light Church, this complex, bloated, and huge organization. From Holy Angel City below, many intricately carved stone-paved walkways extend onto the body of Holy Mountain, winding and spiraling along the extremely steep mountain wall all the way to the top of Holy Mountain.
At the top of Holy Mountain is the extremely grand Holy Mountain Cathedral, a huge Church comparable to a town, which is the power center of the Shining Light Church.
At the top of Holy Mountain, in a certain exquisite small garden with beautiful scenery, Amanda, dressed in simple clothes, was sitting in the pavilion, frowning and looking at the report in front of her with a very solemn expression. Beside her was the flickering virtual image of Awei, sometimes visible and sometimes not.
"Unina... Dotina... Didn't... didn't die... How did she escape the Holy See's purifying flame back then... You didn't make a mistake, did you..."
With an extremely solemn expression, Amanda stared at the report in front of her and murmured. Although she tried her best to suppress her emotions, a clear sense of disbelief could still be heard from her tone.
"When I first saw her true face, I was also very surprised and even doubted whether I had made a mistake... But judging from her subsequent performance, I confirmed that she was the chief of the great sins from four hundred years ago. She was able to successfully escape from the Holy See's hands, likely with the help of the evil god, the Cup Mother... The current Unina has become a favored one of the Cup Mother and the most important figure in the Fetal Garment Cult. It can now be almost confirmed that the recent integration tendency of the Fetal Garment Cult might be related to her..."
Awei reported all the information she knew with concentration. Hearing Unina's name, the expression on Amanda's face changed from solemn to complex. After a long silence, not knowing what she was thinking, she finally sighed and spoke.
"Truly... things are unpredictable... I never thought I would have dealings with her again in this life..." Rubbing her temples, Amanda seemed to be recalling something while speaking. At this time, Awei spoke and directly asked Amanda.
"Captain, what should we do now?"
"What to do? This kind of thing... is not something we can decide on our own. Help me contact all the other Cardinals. An emergency Cardinal Council needs to be convened..." Amanda glanced at Awei beside her and said seriously. Awei paused slightly before continuing to speak.
"Captain, I know that this kind of matter needs to be decided by the Cardinal Council... But do we really need to share Unina's complete information with the other Cardinals? Unina's former identity is a big problem. Given Captain Klama's attitude towards you now, if they obtain Unina's information..."
Awei seemed to be suggesting something, but Amanda slanted her eyes at Awei and then spoke directly and sternly again.
"Now is not the time to worry about these things. Immediately send a message to all other Cardinal contact points. The Cardinal Council must be convened immediately!"
"Yes! Captain!"
Seeing Amanda's reaction, Awei did not dare to delay, no longer made any suggestions, but instead turned to the side and swiped in the air. Immediately, lines of text and images appeared before Awei's eyes.
Most of these images were symbols of various kinds. Below these symbols were annotations. Some symbols had two lines, some only one.
The first symbol looked like a sun wheel shining in all directions, with dense beams of light shooting out in all directions, the downward beams being longer than the others, making the sun wheel look like a scepter. On the first line of annotation below the symbol, it was written "Court of the Pope", and on the second line of annotation, no text was written, but a more abstract and simplified sun wheel pattern was also drawn.
The second symbol looked like a circle of rice ears wrapped around a simplified sun wheel, with a winged staff wrapped with a white snake in the very center. On the first line of annotation below the symbol, it was written "Court of Salvation", and on the second line of annotation, it was written "Saint Amanda".
The third symbol, in the center of a simplified sun wheel pattern, had an equilateral triangle and a vertical sharp sword piercing through it. On the first line of annotation, it was written "Court of Holy War", and on the second line, it was written "Saint Hilbert".
The fourth symbol, in the center of a simplified sun wheel pattern, had a string of iron chains and a law book and hammer locked by iron chains. On the first annotation, it was written "Court of Tribunal", and on the second annotation, it was written "Saint Klama".
The fifth symbol, in the center of a simplified sun wheel pattern, had a series of magic circle gears and building pillars. On the first annotation, it was written "Court of Foundation", and on the second annotation, it was written "Saint Alberto".
The sixth symbol, in the center of a simplified sun wheel pattern, had layers of thorns. On the first annotation, it was written "Court of Discipline", and on the second annotation, it was written "Saint Marco".
The seventh symbol, in the center of a simplified sun pattern, had a more simplified crescent moon. On the first annotation, it was written "Court of Secret Supervision", and on the second annotation, it was written "Saint Atrice".
The eighth symbol, in the center of a simplified sun pattern, had layers of scriptures unfolded. On the first annotation, it was written "Court of Scriptures", and on the second annotation, no name was written on it.