Item 498
In the ruins of Baruk Palace’s hall, Shadi stood quietly, watching Vania depart until she disappeared from sight. He then cast his gaze towards the vast sky above, observing the continuously rumbling lightning falling from it, and murmured with a slight frown.
“Setute… her words felt unclear, as if she mentioned something very important, but it also seemed she said nothing at all. Can you discern more from them?”
“Me? The certainties I can draw from her words are quite limited; I can only make some guesses based on her statements… As for the accuracy of these guesses… I can’t be sure…”
At Shadi’s side, Setute’s phantom gradually appeared. He was also gazing towards the direction where Vania had vanished, his haggard expression displaying seriousness.
“Guessing… what can you deduce? What do you think their current strength is like?”
Shadi continued to question Setute. As the leader of the Adus Revolutionary Army, his primary concern was undoubtedly the power of this mysterious organization. Only by understanding their strength could he establish a base for future communications with them.
“Their strength? I can’t judge much from it. Based on their performance today, they can utilize the city defense formations of the Enlightenment Mark Temple and control that nun with Spiritual Threads, which shows they’ve demonstrated capabilities from both the Thunder Mage and Puppet Master paths within the ‘Enlightenment’ pathway. This implies their congregation should have already reached a certain scale, at least being able to afford the extraordinary resources necessary to cultivate those two paths, and both are at least at the formation tier, something many average societies can’t achieve.
“So, in my view, their strength is absolutely not to be underestimated. Although they did not display the capability at the creation tier this time, it doesn’t mean they lack it… You need to be more cautious when dealing with them.”
Setute warned Shadi in this manner. As he listened to Setute’s words, Shadi nodded thoughtfully and then responded.
“Being able to support two paths at least to the white chalk advancement chain suggests a considerable likelihood of reaching the Red Tier. I will communicate with them carefully…”
“Yes… that cleric’s congregation can lead individuals back onto the ‘Enlightenment’ path after thousands of years, reigniting the faith in the divine master. It must possess a great many secrets, and using ambiguous language to avoid directly answering questions is a means to prevent important information from leaking. If you wish to learn more about their secrets in the future, you may need to gain their trust more profoundly.”
Setute continued in this vein, and as he listened to Setute, Shadi slightly tilted his head before continuing.
“From your words, you seem to hope that I maintain a good relationship with them and gain a deeper understanding of them? Then why don’t you directly interact with them yourself? They worship the ancient god, the Judge of Heaven, from seven thousand years ago, and you are a noble soul from the First Dynasty seven thousand years ago; you should have common ground with them, right?” Shadi spoke to Setute, clearly seeing that Setute yearned to engage with that congregation but, for some reason, did not want to personally appear, pushing himself to the forefront instead—this behavior made Shadi slightly puzzled.
Upon hearing Shadi’s words, Setute did not respond immediately; after a moment of silence, seemingly after pondering, he spoke again.
“I have my own considerations. Until I ascertain whether they are truly the congregation that venerates the divine master and whether they genuinely represent the divine master’s will, I will not present myself before them…”
“What if you confirm they are impostors pretending to be the Judge of Heaven?”
“If they are impostors simply using the name of the divine master for profit, then it doesn’t matter. However, if they blaspheme the divine master in the name of the divine master, I will make them face the consequences…”
“Then if they are indeed the Judge of Heaven’s agents, even preparing for the resurrection of the Judge of Heaven, shouldn’t you reveal yourself to communicate with them immediately?”
Shadi pressed on with his questioning, and upon hearing Shadi’s words, Setute’s expression shifted slightly. He didn’t reply immediately; after a moment of contemplation, he sighed softly before speaking.
“At that time, it will depend on the situation. I would also like to once again be under the grace of the divine master… But in a certain sense, before the true apostles of the divine master, I currently resemble one burdened with sins…”
……
After concluding his conversation with Shadi, Doro began the aftermath work for this battle within the Enlightenment Mark Temple. She was simultaneously controlling Vania to exit the palace while instructing Nephnis to attend to her, who was still in a state of unconsciousness. She continued using the city defense system to rain down lightning, punishing the Savior Faction’s armed forces scattered throughout Adis. After losing Muhetar’s support of commandments, these armed soldiers had reverted back to being ordinary people, facing Doro’s relentless rain of lightning with no means of resistance.
Upon witnessing their companions struck down by lightning, these members of the Savior Faction displayed the expected reaction of ordinary people when confronted with such terrifying thunder. They scattered and fled in panic under the relentless flashes and rumbles of thunder; having lost the protection of commandments, they fled in fear, a complete rout.
Finally, after defeating all the Savior Faction forces across Adis and seeing Shadi commanding his revolutionary army to restore order to the entire city and reassure the common citizens, Doro let out a long breath. Taking the opportunity, she used the methods obtained from the Enlightenment Mark Temple to emerge from hiding, returning to her original residence unnoticed.
Under Doro’s arrangements, the unconscious Vania was placed safely by Nephnis, while the stone box on her person had been taken by the Zombie Puppet and sent to Doro’s location. Doro stood on the balcony of her hotel room, watching the smoke-filled city before her while waiting for the Zombie Puppet’s hawk to arrive, delivering the stone box that originally belonged to Muhetar into Doro’s hands.
Upon receiving the stone box, Doro immediately began counting her spoils. She sat at the writing desk in her room, placing the stone box that had already been carefully examined and opened by the Zombie Puppet on the table, beginning to inspect the items stored inside. Muhetar’s stone box had significantly less storage space compared to her own magic box, approximately only one-third of Audric’s work, yet still capable of holding a substantial amount.
One by one, Doro meticulously counted the items within the stone box. Aside from extraordinary items, it contained some water, food, and various weapons as emergency supplies. Among the extraordinary items, there were sigils, tools, storage items, secret transmissions, everything one could imagine.
Naturally, Doro focused on the extraordinary items. After conducting an appraisal ritual, she began to evaluate Muhetar’s relics one by one, starting with the sigils.
Although most of Muhetar’s sigils were consumed during battle, a substantial number remained. Primarily, there were sigils Muhetar used to enhance his close-combat ability: one Frenzied Banquet Sigil and one Rapid Movement Sigil. Both of these sigils allowed for a five-point consumption of spirituality to grant their user second-tier “Cup” or “Shadow” level physical capabilities. For a “Cup” or “Shadow” wielder, the enhancement was limited as their base abilities were already at the third tier, rendering further improvements negligible.
‘For those who aren’t ‘Cup’ or ‘Shadow’ related extraordinary beings or ordinary people, this thing offers significant boosts, but it also requires a large amount of external spirituality. Generally, only wealthy extraordinary beings not related to ‘Cup’ and ‘Shadow’ would use such things… and those at the Red Tier wouldn’t lack these.’
As she examined the two different sigils before her, Doro mulled over them in her mind. She had previously used the Frenzied Banquet Sigil, so she was aware of how notable its enhancement effects could be.
Following the two direct enhancement sigils, Doro observed a sigil used by Muhetar to create small explosions. This sigil was named the Combustion Sigil, an aggressive sigil capable of producing a violent eruption of high-temperature flames. Doro had witnessed its power during previous battles; while the explosive damage was relatively limited, the temperature produced by the flames was very high, making it ideal for Muhetar’s self-detonation to escape. Currently, he still had two of these sigils left in the stone box.
‘For Muhetar, the defensive potential of this sigil far outweighs its offensive role. For a bl**d cow, if caught, using this would indeed be a good way to create control immunity.’
After concluding her evaluation, Doro set aside the sigils and began to carefully examine the extraordinary tools within the stone box. Among Muhetar’s tools, the first to catch Doro’s attention was a crystal-clear, beautifully radiant gem. At first glance, she thought it might be a “Lamp” storage item, but upon closer inspection, she realized it was an extraordinary tool, a one-time use item.
The gem was named the Sun Eye Stone, and its function was quite simple: grind it into powder and sprinkle it into the eyes of an extraordinary “Lamp” wielder, significantly enhancing their detection capability.
Once a “Lamp” wielder used it, they could possess an extraordinary long-range vision of up to ten kilometers in a short timeframe. Within this ten-kilometer radius, their sight could penetrate any physical barriers, seeing everything they wished to observe. Additionally, it greatly enhanced the efficiency of extraordinary detection, increasing the detection range to correspond with their line of sight, allowing the user to detect a large number of “Shadow” hidden targets using a minimal amount of “Lamp” spirituality.
More crucially, multiple Sun Eye Stones could be used in conjunction; using several would not only further extend the visual distance but also allow one to pierce through the surface of the world, revealing shallow existences within. The more stones used, the deeper into the inner world one could see. However, after using more than one Sun Eye Stone, the user would need to supply additional “Lamp” spirituality to maintain the state, and this consumption would be significant—the more stones used, the higher the cost.
Even if one could afford the consumption of multiple Sun Eye Stones, “Lamp” wielders could not sustain high-level transcendent vision stretches for long, as excessive use of Sun Eye Stones would burden their eyes. Mild cases would result in vision decline, while more severe cases might lead to blindness, and in extreme situations… it could potentially leave normal vision permanently altered.
‘This thing… is quite powerful, significantly enhancing the perception abilities of “Lamp” wielders. Muhetar probably used one to find me, and judging by his look, he seemed to have used two; this is the last remaining one…’
As Doro held the crystal-clear Sun Eye Stone, she thought to herself that after the battle, she checked her own condition and found that the “Shadow” within her previously empowered Veil Ring had mysteriously vanished. Thus, she concluded that Muhetar must have detected her presence through some means that transcended the surface of the world, and her existence being identified may have been the reason for Muhetar’s ability to retaliate against the commandments covering her.
After observing the Sun Eye Stone for a while, Doro decided this must be a precious item, so she set it aside safely and started checking other belongings. Next were two relatively mundane items: a ring and a talisman.
The ring was named the Soul Spike Ring, an item used by “Silence” extraordinary beings, allowing the holder to weaponize their own soul or the spirituality of “Silence” as an attack, transforming it into a spirit-body sword or spirit-body arrow to strike at enemies. Spirit-body attacks could penetrate all ordinary physical barriers that lacked spirituality, thereby directly injuring enemies while disregarding blocks and armor. However, such effects would not apply to extraordinary tools and enchanted items.
The talisman was called the Floating Spirit Talisman, and its effect was also quite simple: it allowed the wearer to float like a spirit. Although the height was not significant, the speed of floating was still faster than normal running.
‘A ring that weaponizes ‘Silence’ spirituality? Sounds decent! At the time, Muhetar used this to attack Vania. Luckily, Vania had equipped the Heart-Eating Staff Sword as her weapon, which could block spirit-body attacks; otherwise, after Muhetar activated that commandment that prevents evasion, she would have had no means of resistance, unable to flee, dodge, or block, and couldn’t counterattack. This guy has well-designed pairings of tools and commandments.’
‘And this talisman that allows one to float… well, it could be a minor utility tool, I guess. For Muhetar, its main use in allowing him to float would likely be to elevate his status in front of other adherents.’
As she assessed the two items before her, Doro placed them aside and began checking Muhetar’s final extraordinary tool.
This tool was a scroll. At first sight, Doro thought it might be a secret transmission, but after careful examination, she discovered it was actually a tool.
The scroll was named the Soul Contract Scroll; as the name implies, it was used for signing soul contracts, which could take various forms, and the content recorded on this particular scroll was a power borrowing contract.
Muhetar’s Soul Contract Scroll had as its object a being named “Martyr Beast” Bamigula. From the wording of the contract, it appeared that this Martyr Beast was a divine existence residing deep within the Inner Realm. Muhetar had signed a contract with Bamigula using this scroll, allowing him to borrow power at the cost of his own soul.
Once this contract was activated, Bamigula could immediately enhance Muhetar’s extraordinary power as a bearer of the commandments, enabling him to confront the crisis he currently faced. The price of the contract required Muhetar to subsequently sacrifice one-third of his own soul to nourish Bamigula. This feeding involved the essence of the soul, meaning that once Muhetar was consumed by Bamigula over time, his soul would suffer irreparable loss, never to be restored by other means, which explained why Muhetar’s power suddenly surged at the last moment.
Importantly, although this Soul Contract Scroll documented the contract between Muhetar and Bamigula, it was not limited to just this singular contract.
According to the appraisal instructions, Doro understood that this scroll, in her possession, had two uses: first, now that Muhetar was deceased, this contract scroll could be used to contact Bamigula residing in the Inner Realm and replace Muhetar as the new party on the contract. Second, she could erase the contents of this contract scroll, restoring it to a blank state; in this case, it could be used to sign new contracts with other beings or divine existences within the Inner Realm, and the content of the contract could be redefined within the scroll’s supported parameters.
